WACO, Texas – No. 18 Baylor softball (32-9, 5-2) fell in heartbreaking fashion to No. 12 Oklahoma (29-7, 5-1), downed by an extra inning grand slam, 4-0, on Saturday evening at Getterman Stadium.
Heather Stearns (15-4) was lights out over the first seven frames, locked in an epic pitchers’ duel with Oklahoma’s Paige Parker (16-3).
A game-high eight strikeouts over 7.1 innings for Stearns had the Sooners on the ropes, but the BU offense couldn’t piece together a steady rally.
For OU, back-to-back singles and a runner reaching safely on an infield error loaded the bases with one out in the top of the eighth.
Kady Self launched a grand slam well over the left-field fence, securing the 4-0 lead and effectively putting the game out of reach.
QUOTES
Baylor Head Coach Glenn Moore
On Stearns and the pitchers’ duel…
“Heather did a great job of making adjustments from yesterday to today. She wasn't terrible yesterday, but it certainly wasn't her best. Today she gave us a chance for seven innings. I think she kind of ran out of gas. We started noticing her missing some spots toward the end.
It's going to happen. Sooner or later you've got to give her a run, and we didn't do that. Sarah Smith's ball to the second baseman was as hard a hit ball as anybody hit all day long but we didn't get a break with that. It was really a pitcher's duel today.”
On BU’s game plan against Parker compared to yesterday…
“We had a plan. We had a plan yesterday that was different than today, and neither one worked out. That's a credit to her. 88 pitches was very efficient. We had a more aggressive approach. We worked on it this morning, talked about it this morning, and she was just better.”
On Parker’s performance…
“Sometimes it's not your hitters not doing their jobs, you just have a great pitcher out there. Great pitching usually beats great hitting in this game. Our great pitching was beating their great hitting for a while.”
On winning Sunday…
“If we win tomorrow we're still ahead statistically in the Big 12. It's huge. It's a matter of what everybody does from here on out. It's a very desperate day for us.”
Senior Heather Stearns
Thoughts on her performance…
“I felt good, I was hitting my spots, using every pitch; messing with their heads, so I felt good.”
On how to prepare for tomorrow…
“I think we’ll come out fighting like we did today. Obviously, it did not go our way, but come out fighting. New day tomorrow, maybe make adjustments offensively; keep messing with their heads pitching-wise.”
Sophomore Jessie Scroggins
On Parker’s pitching…
“She was doing a good job of keeping us off balance; throwing the pitches that we’re not hitting really well. She did a good job of mixing the ball around.”
On bouncing back Sunday…
“I think we can bounce back, I have faith in my team. We just need to push a little harder, but I think we can do that.”
STAT OF THE GAME #1
15 – the on-base streak for Sarah Smith, matching Jessie Scroggins’ team season-high mark
STAT OF THE GAME #2
200 – career hit total for Sarah Smith, joining Linsey Hays as the two Lady Bears to surpass the 200-hit mark this season. Smith is the 12th hitter in program history to top 200.
STAT OF THE GAME #3
9 – the number of runs scored by Oklahoma this weekend, all scored on a total of four home runs (solo, pair of two-run shots on Friday; grand slam on Saturday)
STAT OF THE GAME #4
3-0 – Baylor’s record in nationally-televised games over the last two seasons, including shutouts of Oklahoma and Texas last season, as well as a 6-5 walk-off thriller over Texas earlier this season. Sunday’s series finale will be broadcast to a national television audience on ESPN2.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Lady Bears hope to bounce back and avoid the sweep by Oklahoma on Sunday, April 10 at 2:00 p.m. at Getterman Stadium.
