Liberty University
6-12
Baylor
21-5
No. 15 Baylor Outlasts Liberty, 2-1
3/16/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
The Liberty softball team took No. 15 Baylor to the limit, falling 2-1 on Friday to the 2011 Women's College World Series participant at Getterman Stadium.
Liberty and Baylor both registered six hits for the game, while the Bears' two-run second inning providing enough runs to offset Liberty's run in the fourth inning.
The Lady Flames (6-12) have gone eight games without a win. Baylor is now 21-5, including 17-2 at home, with a seven-game winning streak at present.
Jenny Law hit 2-for-3 against Baylor, while Kaylee West recorded an RBI base hit. Jill Stephens went 1-for-2, walked and scored a run. Kelby Allen and Sammi Shivock both recorded singles. Alyssa DiMartino (3-9) yielded one run on six hits, getting Baylor to ground into two double plays.
The Bears' Shelbi Redfearn batted 2-for-3 with one run scored. Jordan Strickland and Courtney Repka both drove in one run. Repka (9-2) allowed one run on six hits during the complete-game victory.
The Lady Flames went in order in the top of the first inning, while DiMartino got Baylor's Megan Turk to ground into a 1-6-3 double play to end the frame.
Following a three-batter Liberty second, Baylor put runners on first and third with one out. Jordan Strickland plated Redfearn with a squeeze bunt, giving the Bears a 1-0 lead. Repka followed with an RBI base hit to right, as Delaney Guy scored from second. A pair of outs on ground balls ended the frame.
Both teams posted three-up, three-down at bats in the third inning.
The Lady Flames trimmed the deficit in half in the fourth. Shivock gave Liberty its first hit of the day, with a leadoff single during the fourth stanza. Stephens walked, moving Shivock to second. West singled in Stephens to make it 2-1. Liberty left two runners on base when Kelly Strickland flied out to left.
Holly Hall opened the fourth inning by singling to center. Guy drew a walk, and then Strickland struck out for the first out. Baylor stranded two, as Sydney Wilson popped out to center.
Law sent a single to left in the top of the fifth. Shivock drove a fly into the gap in left center, and Kathy Shelton ran it down to close out Liberty's half of the inning. DiMartino retired the Bears on three consecutive groundouts in a scoreless fifth frame.
Allen reached base on a two-out base hit during the sixth inning, and then West grounded to third, leaving a 2-1 ledger through five and a half. An inning-ending double play by the Lady Flames brought Liberty to bat in the top of the seventh.
Jenny Law hit a two-out single to center to keep Liberty alive. Repka shut the door with a strikeout of Amber Donovan, sealing the 2-1 win for the Bears.
Liberty has concluded its competition in Texas, and will host Radford on Wednesday, with the conference opener set to begin at 4 p.m. at Liberty Softball Field.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Repka, Courtney (9-2)
L: DiMartino, Alyssa (3-9)
Batting:
RBI: West, Kaylee 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Stephens, Jill 1
Batting:
RBI: Strickland, Jordan 1 ; Repka, Courtney 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Redfearn, Shelbi 1 ; Guy, Delaney 1
