No. 21 Baylor SB Tops No. 25 Mississippi State, 10-6

[Pirtle, Krista]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Feb. 28, 2021

No. 21 SB Tops No. 25 Mississippi State, 10-6
Lady Bears secure first ranked win of the season
Media link: http://baylorbea.rs/BaylorSoftball
For more information contact: Krista Pirtle, 254-447-8610, Krista_Pirtle at baylor.edu<mailto:Krista_Pirtle at baylor.edu>

THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – No. 21 Baylor softball closed the Lone Star State Invitational with a 10-6 win over No. 25 Mississippi State Sunday morning at Getterman Stadium.

After Mississippi State (8-4) started things off with a two-run home run in the top of the first, the Lady Bears (5-3) came out with a vengeance to not only answer but take the lead.

Nicky Dawson led things off with a single through the left side, and Lou Gilbert followed with a bunt single. The two moved into scoring position when the Mississippi State pitcher threw the ball past the first baseman trying to get Gilbert out on her hit.

Goose McGlaun got the Lady Bears on the board when she scored Dawson with a single. The game tied things up three batters later when Ana Watson got plunked with the bases loaded to bring in a run, and then Baylor took the lead when Josie Bower scored on a wild pitch.

Zadie LaValley kept things going as the freshman catcher crushed her first career double to right field to score two more and put BU up by three.

After retiring the Bulldogs in order in the next inning, the Baylor bats stayed hot despite the pitching change by Mississippi State. Dawson led things off with a walk, and Gilbert laid down her second-straight bunt single.

The two speedy outfielders then executed a double steal before adding an extra base on a throwing error by the catcher. McGlaun followed with another RBI single to give Baylor seven runs on the morning.

Mississippi State wasn’t done, however, as the Bulldogs added four more runs in the third and fourth innings. But the Lady Bears kept coming home. Baylor added three more runs in the fourth inning as the Lady Bears began the frame with five straight singles by the top of the order. McGlaun, Josie Bower and Aliyah Binford each had an RBI.

Sidney Holman-Mansell picked up the win for the Lady Bears to move to 2-0 on the season. Gia Rodoni came on in relief and held the Bulldogs scoreless off four hits with three strikeouts through three innings of work for the save.

HIGHLIGHTS

  *   Nicky Dawson recorded a hit in every game this weekend. With her single in the first inning, she’s now had a hit in five-straight games overall.
  *   Zadie LaValley hit her first career double in the first inning and recorded a pair of RBI.
  *   Goose McGlaun finished the day 3-for-4 with three RBI.
  *   Lou Gilbert tied her career high with three hits in the game.
  *   Baylor is now 1-1 vs. ranked opponents.
  *   Josie Bower went 2-for-4 at the plate.
  *   Gia Rodoni picked up her seventh career save which ties her for seventh in program history alongside Courtney Repka (2010-13).

STAT OF THE DAY
10 – Number of hits by the top of the order for Baylor (Dawson 2, Gilbert 3, McGlaun 3, Bower 2).

TOP QUOTES
Baylor head coach Glenn Moore on the win…
“Especially after a short night with our game against UConn, I challenged our pitchers and hitting crew. They played very well, but there is certainly room for improvement. I’m really pleased with how we played today.”

Nicky Dawson on her game…
“I feel really comfortable. I was seeing the ball really well this weekend. Sometimes that can be scary because you want to hit everything. I need to stay patient at the plate. Coach Moore talks a lot about passing the bat, so I need to focus on getting on base and keeping the lineup moving.”

Gia Rodoni on closing things out…
“I didn’t want to have the same feeling of losing that we had last night. Watching the teams go back and forth gave me the confidence I needed to go in there and perform the way I did.”

UP NEXT
The Lady Bears head to the state of Louisiana where they will face No. 9 Louisiana in Lafayette in a doubleheader on Thursday, March 4 at 4 p.m. before traveling to Ruston to take part in the Louisiana Tech Invitational against Louisiana Tech and Tarleton State over the weekend.

www.BaylorBears.com

Krista Pirtle | Associate Director of Athletics Communications
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
O: 254-710-3065 | C: 254-447-8610

[signature_690053996]<http://www.baylorbears.com/>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/localmedia/attachments/20210228/d3ec72d4/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 28754 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/localmedia/attachments/20210228/d3ec72d4/attachment-0001.png>