No. 5/5 Softball falls at No. 20/21 Baylor

Saturday, May 6

Waco, Texas

6 p.m.

University of Texas

40-11-1, 0

Baylor

38-15, 0

Texas

Baylor

05.06.2023 | Softball

Box Score

Texas leaves nine runners on base in series-deciding matchup against Baylor in Waco

By: Chris Allen Brown

WACO, TX – Following a two-run bottom of the first inning, Texas spent the remaining six innings of its 5-2 loss at Baylor looking for a timely hit or a bad bounce. Unfortunately, neither occurred.

After Baylor scored two, two-out unearned runs in the bottom of the first, Texas was on the verge of an immediate response after Leighann Goode and Reese Atwood led off the top of the second with back-to-back singles. But the next three Longhorn batters were retired on four pitches.

Following a bottom of the third that featured the Bears adding a single run, Texas broke through in the run column when Vanessa Quiroga sent an 0-2 pitch off the top of the centerfield wall for a two-out, run-scoring double.

An inning later, the Longhorns looked primed to continue cutting their deficit after Bella Dayton led off the frame by reaching first. She was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt off the bat of Lou Gilbert. Ashton Maloney followed with an infield single to put two runners on. Following a fielder's choice off the bat of Mia Scott that erased Maloney at second but moved Dayton to third, Scott stole second to put two runners in scoring position.

However, a groundball back to the Baylor pitched ended the threat.

In the sixth, Quiroga and Jordan Whitaker attempted to spark a two-out rally with an infield single and being hit by a pitch, but another groundball halted the opportunity. Baylor, though, managed to extend its lead by two more runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Down to its final three outs in the top of the seventh, Texas brought the game-tying run to the plate in the form of Atwood — after Viviana Martinez and Goode combined for back-to-back two-out singles — but a popup closed out the game.

FROM HEAD COACH MIKE WHITE

"Obviously, it was a tough loss to the series. Unfortunately, we gave up those two runs in the first inning and just weren't quite able to come back. We hit some pitches pretty hard, but they were right at people. Right now, it's just a bit of a struggle for us. Things just aren't quite working out, but we have to persevere through it. Things are happening for a reason. We just have to come out and play better, that's the bottom line."

GAME NOTES

By leading off the game by drawing a full-count walk, Ashton Maloney extended her on-base streak to a team-high four consecutive games.
- Maloney, four innings later, extended her hitting streak to four straight games when she was credited with an infield single to third base.
Jordyn Whitaker's sixth inning hit by pitch marked the first time a Texas softball student-athlete had been hit by a pitch since Alyssa Washington was hit by a 2-1 pitch against Kansas on Friday, April 14, 2023.
Vanessa Quiroga's fourth inning run-scoring double marked the first run-scoring plate appearance for the sophomore since hitting a two-run home run during the top of the sixth inning at Iowa State on Friday, April 7.
With her seventh-inning single to score Lou Gilbert, Viviana Martinez has now driven in 47 runs on the season, which is tied for the fourth most in the Big 12 Conference.
- Martinez' 47 RBI on the season are also the most by any Big 12 freshman softball student-athlete.
With her sixth-inning strikeout to end the frame, Sophia Simpson has now struck out at least one batter in her last five consecutive pitching appearances.
- Of her 22 pitching appearances entering the final regular season game on Sunday afternoon, Sophia Simpson has struck out at least one batter in 20 appearances.
Saturday night's performance at the plate marked the first multiple hit game for sophomore Vanessa Quiroga since going 2-for-4 with a run scored at Iowa State on Saturday, April 8, 2023.

UP NEXT

Texas (40-11-1, 11-6) will conclude its 2023 regular season with Sunday's series finale against Baylor (38-15, 7-10) scheduled for 1 PM CT.

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For the latest information on the team, follow @TexasSoftball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at @TexasLonghorns on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.