WACO, Texas – No. 18 Baylor softball (32-10, 5-3) pushed back, but could not finish off No. 12 Oklahoma (30-7, 6-1), falling 7-4 on Sunday afternoon at Getterman Stadium.
Heather Stearns (15-5) came on in relief with a 2-2 tie game, but her weekend struggles against the OU lineup continued, giving up five runs and six hits over the final 4.0 frames.
For Oklahoma, Paige Parker (17-3) made her third straight start against the Baylor lineup, with the Lady Bears able to pile up 11 hits and four runs, outhitting the Sooners, 11-10.
After OU took an early lead 2-0 lead, with Kelsee Selman starting and Kendall Potts working in relief, the Baylor bats scored the first BU runs of the weekend in the home half of the third.
Back-to-back singles by Lindsey Cargill and Jessie Scroggins put runners on second and third with one out.
Shelby Friudenberg drilled a single down the left-field line, scoring both runners to tie the ballgame.
Back in the bottom of the fourth, the bats were back again, with Sarah Smith roping a double to the fence in right-center, scoring on an RBI single into the left-field corner by Ari Hawkins, giving Baylor its first lead of the weekend.
OU would take the lead right back, with a three-run home run in the top of the fifth, putting the Sooners ahead, 5-3.
The Lady Bears were able to cut back into the lead, taking a run back in the bottom of the sixth after Ari Hawkins led off with a walk, coming around to score on two OU errors and a stolen base to cut the lead to one.
The Sooners dropped two more runs across in the seventh, pushing the lead to three, with Baylor unable to rally back in the bottom of the seventh.
QUOTES
Baylor Head Coach Glenn Moore
On the effort today…
“We fought today. We gave ourselves a chance to win. They answered. So again, I tip my hat to them each game, I’ll do it again. They’re a good team. We fought today. That’s what I asked our girls to do, come out and fight and give us a chance to win. We fought, we had a chance to win. It was a good softball game, one we needed to win, and we didn’t come out on top.”
On the Big 12 race…
“They came here and won three games from the team that was leading. We’ve got plenty to fight for, and we didn’t get it done. Simple as that, we didn’t get it done. They’re a good team, they’re capable of doing this to many teams, and they have done it. We’ve got to play better ball than we played to beat them. I thought we matched up better against them than we apparently did, because they outplayed us all three games this weekend. But having said that, the girls responded well today and they fought really hard.”
Junior Lindsey Cargill
On getting to OU’s Parker today…
“We changed our system and the way we batted. We started to do slash-hitting, and I feel like that really helped us focus in on the ball and see it and drive it.”
On bouncing back…
“We’re going to bounce back, no matter what. No matter if it’s Oklahoma, no matter if it’s Texas, anybody, because that’s the type of team we are.”
Freshman Kyla Walker
On frustrations after losing another close game…
“It was frustrating. We knew it was going to be tough with them, it always is with Oklahoma. We thought we were the better team, which we didn’t show it this weekend, but I still think we are. The pitching, the pitch-calling, [Parker] did a good job of keeping us guessing. We’re going to bounce back no matter what.”
On moving forward after the sweep…
“We just forget about it. That’s how you have to play the game, you have to move on, next at-bat, next pitch, next game. You have to move on. You can’t sit here and dwell on it, it’s done.”
STAT OF THE GAME #1
16 – the on-base streak for Sarah Smith, setting a new team season-high
STAT OF THE GAME #2
.500 – the batting average for both Sarah Smith and Kyla Walker in conference play, tied for the highest in the Big 12
STAT OF THE GAME #3
11 – the number of hits by the Baylor offense, the most allowed by OU’s Parker in her career and just the second double-digit hit game allowed in her two seasons in the circle
WHAT’S NEXT
The Lady Bears hit the road for five straight road games, playing a Tuesday doubleheader at Houston and then a weekend series in Stillwater against Oklahoma State.
