Friday, February 9
Waco, Texas
5 PM
Baylor
0-1
2
vs
3
Tennessee
2-0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Tennessee
0
0
0
0
0
1
2
3
3
2
Baylor
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
2
5
2
No. 19 SB Falls to No. 2 Tennessee in Opening-Day Doubleheader
2/10/2024 12:46:00 AM | Softball
Bears look to bounce back in Saturday series finale
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – Baylor softball showed that the gap between a top-5 Tennessee team and the 19th-ranked Bears is very small, out-hitting the Lady Vols in Friday's opening-day doubleheader at Getterman Stadium and getting within one out of an early signature win.
But Tennessee's Destiny Rodriguez crushed a two-out, two-run homer off Aliyah Binford in the seventh inning of a 3-2, game one victory and then the second-ranked Vols (3-0) scored seven two-out runs in the nightcap to complete the sweep, 9-1.
"Make a mistake at shortstop and open the door for them," said Baylor coach Glenn Moore, whose team starts out the season at 0-2, "but that's the difference between a No. 2 team and a (No. 19) team. And I told the girls that. There's not a lot of difference in talent, I don't think, it's just a team that has been there. If you don't give them that foot in the door, it doesn't matter."
Sophomore pitcher RyLee Crandall was dominant through the first five innings of the opener, allowing just three baserunners and taking a no-hit shutout into the sixth.
Emily Hott went 3-for-4, driving in McKenzie Wilson with a double in the gap to left-center field and then blasted a 249-foot home run in the fifth to give the Bears a 2-0 lead.
"Honestly, I had like a God moment in the batter's box before," said Hott, who hit her 10th-career homer. "I was just like, 'I've seen the direction here. And just on my heart, God is my shepherd.' I think it just goes to, we've been hitting after every single practice. It's me, (Shaylon Govan), (Sydney Collazos) and Amber Toven. Putting in that work gives you the confidence to the confidence to go up against anybody."
Rylie West broke up the no-hitter with a two-out double leading off the sixth that hugged the inside of the line and made it all the way into the corner in left. And then, McKenna Gibson followed with a bloop single just in front of rightfielder Ana Watson that got Tennessee on the board.
Baylor came dangerously close to padding its 2-1 lead in the bottom half of the sixth, with Binford hitting a high fly ball to the warning track in left field after Karlyn Pickens hit Collazos to open the frame.
Binford, who came on with two out in the sixth, struck out the first two batters she faced. But the Bears opened the door when Toven misplayed Taylor Pannell's weakly hit grounder to short.
Pinch-hitter Destiny Rodriguez belted a first-pitch homer to dead center field, giving the Lady Vols a 3-2 lead that held up when Pickens (1-0) worked around a pair of walks in the bottom of the seventh.
"I think we put a good face on it and let them know that, 'Hey, we played the same game if we had ended up winning it, and we lost it,''' Moore said. "We barreled up a lot of balls, went to the fence all day long (against) good pitching. You take a lot of positives from that. On the slip side, we take just as many negatives from the second game. I don't like the way we responded after that. That's where we've got to grow."
In the nightcap, the Bears answered a first-inning run by the Lady Vols with one of their own. Hott drew a one-out walk, went to second when Binford was hit by a pitch and scored easily on a Collazos single to right-center field.
Baylor had plenty of chances early, but left seven runners stranded through the first four innings and fell behind 3-1 on back-to-back two-out home runs in the third by Kiki Milloy and West.
The Lady Vols tacked on an unearned run off Dariana Orme in the fourth when Bella Faw reached on a catcher's interference with the bases loaded.
Tennessee blew it open with a five-run spot in the sixth, ending the game by the eight-run mercy rule. West delivered a three-run, bases-clearing double to center and came all the way around to score on freshman shortstop Leah Cran's throwing error.
"Just a testament to how good a team Tennessee is and how good college softball is," Hott said. "There's not a moment where you can let up. I honestly think we beat them in every aspect, they just had a couple more timely hits. Anybody that watched this first game, they would know that (Tennessee) got lucky coming out with that win."
The three-game series will wrap up with a 2 p.m. start on Saturday and will be streamed by Big 12 No2 on ESPN+.
WACO, Texas – No. 19 Baylor Softball dropped both ends of an opening-day doubleheader against No. 2 Tennessee Friday night at Getterman Stadium, losing a 3-2 heartbreaker in game one and then falling 9-1 in the nightcap.
THE RUNDOWN
The Bears came out strong in game one when starting pitcher RyLee Crandall struck out three in the first inning. Emily Hott and Shaylon Govan came out swinging in the bottom half of the inning, recording back-to-back singles and Govan advancing to third on a throwing error, but no Bears would come around to score.
After another 1-2-3 outing for Crandall in the second, Ana Watson singled and Amber Toven reached on a fielder's choice but that would be it for the Bears.
A single Lady Vol reached base in the top half of the third on a BU error, but Baylor returned the favor with McKenzie Wilson reaching base in the bottom half of the inning on an error as well. With Wilson on, Hott barreled up a ball and doubled to left center, bringing home Wilson from first.
The Bears again retired Tennessee in order in the top of the fourth and only walked one in the top of the fifth before a fielder choice and double play ended the threat.
Hott, who was on fire on opening day, homered in the bottom of the fifth to double the Bears' lead and give them the 2-0 advantage.
Crandall took a no-hitter into the sixth, but the Lady Vols had back-to-back two-out hits to plate a run and cut Baylor's lead in half.
Amber Toven singled in the bottom of the sixth, but it wouldn't be enough as Tennessee launched a two-run home run over the fence in centerfield in the top of the seventh to take the 3-2 lead.
The Bears put two runners on via walks in the bottom half of the seventh but couldn't bring them home as Tennessee took game one.
BU had a rocky start in game two as a wild pitch and an error brought home the Lady Vols' first run of the game.
The Bears were able to answer in the bottom half of the first, after Hott walked and Aliyah Binford was hit by a pitch to put two on for Sydney Collazos. The senior catcher roped a line drive into center field, bringing home Hott and knotting the game at 1-1.
Baylor held its own and created chances in the second and third innings, but Tennessee took the 3-1 lead in the third on back-to-back homers.
Binford, Taylor Strain and Govan strung together singles in each of the next three innings, but the Lady Vols took the 4-1 lead into the top of the sixth, when they were able to plate five and take the commanding 9-1 lead.
Strain singled in the bottom of the sixth, but the Bears ultimately fell in game two.
HIGHLIGHTS
Head coach Glenn Moore on the game: "We did. It was tough. Make a mistake at shortstop and give them open the door for them, but that's the difference between a No. 2 team in the country and a No. 22 team, and I told the girls that. It's not a lot of difference in talent, I don't think, it's just a team that has been there. If you don't give them that foot in the door, then it doesn't matter. But we did, and they capitalized on it, so you tip your hat to them. It didn't change the way we played overall, I thought we had an outstanding game. RyLee was amazing, she had a no-hitter into the sixth. That's very promising."
Emily Hott on her performance at the plate: "You know, I honestly had like a God moment in the batter's box before. I was just like, 'I've seen the direction here. And just on my heart, God is my shepherd.' And I think it just goes to, we've been hitting after every single practice, it's me, Shay, Syd and Amber, our little hitting group. And it's just putting in that work gives you the confidence to go up against anybody."
UP NEXT
The Bears will play No. 2 Tennessee in the series finale Saturday, Feb. 10, at 2 p.m. at Getterman Stadium.
-BaylorBears.com-
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – Baylor softball showed that the gap between a top-5 Tennessee team and the 19th-ranked Bears is very small, out-hitting the Lady Vols in Friday's opening-day doubleheader at Getterman Stadium and getting within one out of an early signature win.
But Tennessee's Destiny Rodriguez crushed a two-out, two-run homer off Aliyah Binford in the seventh inning of a 3-2, game one victory and then the second-ranked Vols (3-0) scored seven two-out runs in the nightcap to complete the sweep, 9-1.
"Make a mistake at shortstop and open the door for them," said Baylor coach Glenn Moore, whose team starts out the season at 0-2, "but that's the difference between a No. 2 team and a (No. 19) team. And I told the girls that. There's not a lot of difference in talent, I don't think, it's just a team that has been there. If you don't give them that foot in the door, it doesn't matter."
Sophomore pitcher RyLee Crandall was dominant through the first five innings of the opener, allowing just three baserunners and taking a no-hit shutout into the sixth.
Emily Hott went 3-for-4, driving in McKenzie Wilson with a double in the gap to left-center field and then blasted a 249-foot home run in the fifth to give the Bears a 2-0 lead.
"Honestly, I had like a God moment in the batter's box before," said Hott, who hit her 10th-career homer. "I was just like, 'I've seen the direction here. And just on my heart, God is my shepherd.' I think it just goes to, we've been hitting after every single practice. It's me, (Shaylon Govan), (Sydney Collazos) and Amber Toven. Putting in that work gives you the confidence to the confidence to go up against anybody."
Rylie West broke up the no-hitter with a two-out double leading off the sixth that hugged the inside of the line and made it all the way into the corner in left. And then, McKenna Gibson followed with a bloop single just in front of rightfielder Ana Watson that got Tennessee on the board.
Baylor came dangerously close to padding its 2-1 lead in the bottom half of the sixth, with Binford hitting a high fly ball to the warning track in left field after Karlyn Pickens hit Collazos to open the frame.
Binford, who came on with two out in the sixth, struck out the first two batters she faced. But the Bears opened the door when Toven misplayed Taylor Pannell's weakly hit grounder to short.
Pinch-hitter Destiny Rodriguez belted a first-pitch homer to dead center field, giving the Lady Vols a 3-2 lead that held up when Pickens (1-0) worked around a pair of walks in the bottom of the seventh.
"I think we put a good face on it and let them know that, 'Hey, we played the same game if we had ended up winning it, and we lost it,''' Moore said. "We barreled up a lot of balls, went to the fence all day long (against) good pitching. You take a lot of positives from that. On the slip side, we take just as many negatives from the second game. I don't like the way we responded after that. That's where we've got to grow."
In the nightcap, the Bears answered a first-inning run by the Lady Vols with one of their own. Hott drew a one-out walk, went to second when Binford was hit by a pitch and scored easily on a Collazos single to right-center field.
Baylor had plenty of chances early, but left seven runners stranded through the first four innings and fell behind 3-1 on back-to-back two-out home runs in the third by Kiki Milloy and West.
The Lady Vols tacked on an unearned run off Dariana Orme in the fourth when Bella Faw reached on a catcher's interference with the bases loaded.
Tennessee blew it open with a five-run spot in the sixth, ending the game by the eight-run mercy rule. West delivered a three-run, bases-clearing double to center and came all the way around to score on freshman shortstop Leah Cran's throwing error.
"Just a testament to how good a team Tennessee is and how good college softball is," Hott said. "There's not a moment where you can let up. I honestly think we beat them in every aspect, they just had a couple more timely hits. Anybody that watched this first game, they would know that (Tennessee) got lucky coming out with that win."
The three-game series will wrap up with a 2 p.m. start on Saturday and will be streamed by Big 12 No2 on ESPN+.
WACO, Texas – No. 19 Baylor Softball dropped both ends of an opening-day doubleheader against No. 2 Tennessee Friday night at Getterman Stadium, losing a 3-2 heartbreaker in game one and then falling 9-1 in the nightcap.
THE RUNDOWN
The Bears came out strong in game one when starting pitcher RyLee Crandall struck out three in the first inning. Emily Hott and Shaylon Govan came out swinging in the bottom half of the inning, recording back-to-back singles and Govan advancing to third on a throwing error, but no Bears would come around to score.
After another 1-2-3 outing for Crandall in the second, Ana Watson singled and Amber Toven reached on a fielder's choice but that would be it for the Bears.
A single Lady Vol reached base in the top half of the third on a BU error, but Baylor returned the favor with McKenzie Wilson reaching base in the bottom half of the inning on an error as well. With Wilson on, Hott barreled up a ball and doubled to left center, bringing home Wilson from first.
The Bears again retired Tennessee in order in the top of the fourth and only walked one in the top of the fifth before a fielder choice and double play ended the threat.
Hott, who was on fire on opening day, homered in the bottom of the fifth to double the Bears' lead and give them the 2-0 advantage.
Crandall took a no-hitter into the sixth, but the Lady Vols had back-to-back two-out hits to plate a run and cut Baylor's lead in half.
Amber Toven singled in the bottom of the sixth, but it wouldn't be enough as Tennessee launched a two-run home run over the fence in centerfield in the top of the seventh to take the 3-2 lead.
The Bears put two runners on via walks in the bottom half of the seventh but couldn't bring them home as Tennessee took game one.
BU had a rocky start in game two as a wild pitch and an error brought home the Lady Vols' first run of the game.
The Bears were able to answer in the bottom half of the first, after Hott walked and Aliyah Binford was hit by a pitch to put two on for Sydney Collazos. The senior catcher roped a line drive into center field, bringing home Hott and knotting the game at 1-1.
Baylor held its own and created chances in the second and third innings, but Tennessee took the 3-1 lead in the third on back-to-back homers.
Binford, Taylor Strain and Govan strung together singles in each of the next three innings, but the Lady Vols took the 4-1 lead into the top of the sixth, when they were able to plate five and take the commanding 9-1 lead.
Strain singled in the bottom of the sixth, but the Bears ultimately fell in game two.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Emily Hott went 3-for-6 on the day with a double and a home run, scoring two runs
- Taylor strain went a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate in game two
- Shaylon Govan notched two hits
- Abi Flores made her first appearance after her redshirt freshman season and singled in her first at-bat
- Leah Cran and Lexie Warncke also made their first-career appearances
- RyLee Crandall struck out four in 5.2 innings pitched
- Aliyah Binford made her first appearance after a season-ending knee injury last season
- Seven different Bears recorded a hit
- BU out-hit Tennessee in both games
Head coach Glenn Moore on the game: "We did. It was tough. Make a mistake at shortstop and give them open the door for them, but that's the difference between a No. 2 team in the country and a No. 22 team, and I told the girls that. It's not a lot of difference in talent, I don't think, it's just a team that has been there. If you don't give them that foot in the door, then it doesn't matter. But we did, and they capitalized on it, so you tip your hat to them. It didn't change the way we played overall, I thought we had an outstanding game. RyLee was amazing, she had a no-hitter into the sixth. That's very promising."
Emily Hott on her performance at the plate: "You know, I honestly had like a God moment in the batter's box before. I was just like, 'I've seen the direction here. And just on my heart, God is my shepherd.' And I think it just goes to, we've been hitting after every single practice, it's me, Shay, Syd and Amber, our little hitting group. And it's just putting in that work gives you the confidence to go up against anybody."
UP NEXT
The Bears will play No. 2 Tennessee in the series finale Saturday, Feb. 10, at 2 p.m. at Getterman Stadium.
-BaylorBears.com-
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Karlyn Pickens (1-0)
L: Binford, Aliyah (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Rylie West 1
HR: Destiny Rodriguez 1
RBI: McKenna Gibson 1 ; Destiny Rodriguez 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Rylie West 1 ; Laura Mealer 1 ; Destiny Rodriguez 1
SB: Laura Mealer 1
Batting:
2B: Hott, Emily 1
HR: Hott, Emily 1
RBI: Hott, Emily 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Wilson, McKenzie 1 ; Hott, Emily 1
HBP: Collazos, Sydney 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
2
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
P/INF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
UTL
/ SoftballINF
/ SoftballUTIL
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballOF
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