No. 13/14 Baylor softball (34-6, 7-1 Big 12) clinched the series win over the Iowa State Cyclones (15-26, 0-8 Big 12), taking a 7-0 win on Saturday afternoon at Getterman Stadium.
Gia Rodoni (11-1) finished off her second complete game shutout of the season, working the full 7.0 frames and allowing just five hits with eight strikeouts and zero walks.
The Baylor bats battled out to the early lead, piecing together a two-out rally in the bottom of the second.
Lindsey Cargill got the hits rolling with a triple to the corner in left field.
Taylor Ellis took a four-pitch walk, putting runners on the corners, still with two outs.
Ellis drew the Cyclones into a rundown on the bases, allowing Cargill to steal home to put the first run on the board.
With a 2-1 count, Sydney Christensen drilled a two-run bomb over the camera stand in left-center field, giving the Lady Bears a 3-0 lead through two frames.
Adding on in the bottom of the fourth, Ellis led off with a full-count walk, moving to second on an infield single for Maddison Kettler.
Jessie Scroggins worked a four-pitch walk to load the bases with one out.
Kyla Walker drove in Ellis, looping a single over the defense into left field, followed by an RBI ground out by Ari Hawkins to score Kettler, giving BU the 5-0 lead after four.
The Lady Bears kept the runs coming in the bottom of the fifth, with McGlaun leading off with a walk, moving to second on a single for Cargill.
A sac bunt for Ellis moved both runners in scoring position, with Christensen reaching safely on a ground ball fielder’s choice to third base, loading the bases.
Kettler picked up the RBI on a walk, plating the sixth run of the game.
An RBI ground out for Scroggins brought Cargill across, giving BU the 7-0 advantage after five.
Rodoni closed out the game by retiring the Cyclones in order in back-to-back innings, completing the shutout and clinching the series win for the Lady Bears.
HIGHLIGHTS
Lindsey Cargill, the team and Big 12’s leading hitter, extended her hitting streak to 18, a new career high and the team’s season high streak.
Cargill holds sole possession of No. 2 in the program’s record books for the longest hit streak. Cargill now trails only Kelly Osburn (19, 2004-2005) for the top spot, with a chance to tie in Sunday’s game.
Cargill’s single bumped her career hit total to 227, passing Linsey Hays (225, 2012-2016) and tying Kaitlyn Thumann (227, 2012-2015) and Chelsi Lake (227, 2004-2007) for the No. 5 spot.
Ari Hawkins extended her on-base streak to 27 games and counting, taking sole possession of the No. 3 spot in the program’s on-base streak list. She now trails Shelby Friudenberg (33, 2017) for the second-longest streak for BU.
Baylor claimed its sixth-straight Big 12 series, and has won six-straight conference games.
Baylor has its second-best record through 40 games in program history, trailing only the 2005 team (35-5) for the best start to a season.
TOP QUOTES
“With the exception of the last two innings offensively, I thought we kind of lost focus. We swung at some pitches outside the zone when we had a chance to put the game away completely. It’s hard to keep the focus for 21 straight innings, and I think we got away from that a little bit. So I challenged them to come out tomorrow ready to play. Maybe it’ll be good for us, wake us up a little bit and stay focused for tomorrow, because you can’t take anything for granted at this level.” – Baylor head coach Glenn Moore
“I was very pleased with my performance today. I made a deal with [team sports psychologist Dr. Don Corley] that I was going to throw a no-hitter. That didn’t happen but we’re setting high goals and standards and I think keeping a focus like that helped me get through that game. Setting high goals and expecting that out of myself that I can do it. Setting the bar real high and trying to get that every game.
We knew even last year when we played them, they’re an aggressive team so we came into today knowing that’s their strength. We just had to attack them and we knew we were going to be fine.” – Baylor pitcher Gia Rodoni
“The wind was blowing in so hard, so I was saying, 'Oh my gosh, please go over.' I was sprinting to first and Coach Price, our first base coach said, ‘Good job, you hit it over.’ Thank goodness, because I kind of lost it when I tucked my head and was running. I was just hoping for the best and I hit it pretty solid.” – Baylor catcher Sydney Christensen
STAT OF THE GAME
.850 – the winning percentage for the Lady Bears through 40 games, the second best start in program history (.875, 2005).
WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor will go for the sweep on Sunday, looking to secure its second-consecutive Big 12 sweep on Sunday at 12:05 p.m. at Getterman Stadium.
