The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Baylor
No. 25 Baylor rallies for 5-4 win over No. 5/6 Softball
04.18.2012 | Softball
April 18, 2012
WACO, Texas - Megan Turk's double off the glove of Torie Schmidt with two outs Wednesday gave the No. 25 Baylor Bears the 5-4 walk-off win in eight innings over the No. 5/6 Texas Longhorns. The Bears rallied with two runs in the seventh before getting the win in the first Big 12 meeting this season between the two schools (both teams will meet again in Waco on May 1 before the final game on May 13 in Austin).
Turk finished with two RBI and two walks for Baylor (27-14, 4-8) in front of 1,408 fans, the ninth-largest in Baylor history while Kayce Walker went 3-for-4 with three RBI. Holly Holl added a 3-for-4 game for the Bears.
Nadia Taylor, the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week, had a home run for the Longhorns (35-6, 9-4) while Brejae Washington and Schmidt collected two hits each. Blaire Luna (15-3) took the loss after giving up five runs (four earned) on nine hits with four walks and seven strikeouts.
After Washington hit a one-out single in the first, Taylor cranked her fourth homer in four games with the two-run shot to left to put the Longhorns on the scoreboard with a 2-0 lead.
Washington hammered a triple to right center in the Texas third, scoring on Courtney Craig's RBI double to left center as the Longhorns led, 3-0. Turk led off the Baylor half of the third with a walk, advanced to second on a groundout by Kathy Shelton and scored the Bears' first run of the game on Walker's single to left.
Turk reached again on a one-out walk in the fifth, stealing second. After advancing to third on Shelton's ground out, Walker plated Turk again after hitting Luna's 2-2 pitch up the middle to make it 3-2 Texas. Holl followed with a single with Washington's fielding error allowing Walker to get to third, but Shelbi Redfearn popped up to short as the Longhorns stayed ahead.
With two outs in the sixth, Karina Scott drilled a double off the wall in center and would make it a 4-2 lead for the Longhorns after Schmidt slapped an RBI single down the third base line.
With an out in the seventh, Shelton hit a single off Thom's diving effort and stole second. Walker knocked in her third run with a single to center and Washington's throwing error, allowing her to reach third base as the tying run. Holl then hit a hard shot off Texas first baseman Kim Bruins' foot to score the tying run. Luna came back to strike out pinch-hitter Sarah Crockett and get Clare Hosack to fly out to send the game to extra frames.
The Longhorns were able to put runners at the corners in the eighth with two outs, but Kim Bruins' bloop to left was caught by Sydney Wilson. With Jordan Strickland aboard on a single, Turk hit a fly ball to left that turned around Schmidt, who was unable to make the grab as Strickland scored the winning run.
Texas continues Big 12 play with a home series against Oklahoma State this weekend, Friday-Sunday (April 20-22). Game times for the Oklahoma State series will be 5 p.m., 1 p.m. and 11 a.m. with all three games broadcast on Longhorn Network. Gametracker live stats, along with a live Twitter feed (@TexasSoftball), for all three games will be available on TexasSports.com.
Notes: Texas lost for the first time in extra innings this season (2-1 record)...Nadia Taylor has hit four home runs in her last four games...Taylor is 7-for-14 (.500) during her current five-game hitting streak.
TEXAS 201-001-00---4-8-2 BU 001-010-21---5-9-0Note: Two outs, one runner LOB when game ended.
WP - Repka (13-7) LP - Luna (15-3) Records: Texas (35-6, 9-4), Baylor (27-14, 4-8)
Luna and Ogle. Repka and Hosack.
Post-Game Quotes
Head coach Connie Clark
On team defense tonight: I think offensively we kept trying to stay on the attack and had some balls that were hit hard. But defensively, we did not look good. We did not look like the more confident team. We got rushed up on some things. We made some throws to bases that allowed the winning run to get into scoring position and it's too late in the season for that. We are better than that, but I don't think mentally we played very well in pressure situations. We had opportunities to make plays and play the percentages of the game. I don't think we did very well in that so we just have to come back to work in practice. That is what we are trying to simulate. We have to get back to work on it tomorrow.
On five of the next seven games at home: It's nice to be at home for this next window. Anytime you can be at home and comfortable with your crowd in pressure situations. I thought (Baylor's) crowd was great tonight in helping with the momentum. We just need to get back to work and play hard for our fans.
