May 14, 2004
Box Score
OKLAHOMA CITY - No. 19 Baylor defeated Texas for the third time this season, defeating the Longhorns 2-1 in an elimination game at the Big 12 Conference Tournament. The Lady Bears improved to 45-14 on the season with the win, as Baylor moves to the next round and will face the loser of the game between Texas A&M and Missouri at 8:00 p.m. tonight. With the loss, the Longhorns saw their season end with a record of 24-25.
"When your backs are against the wall you have to find a way to win," head coach Glenn Moore said. "I was real pleased with the way our team responded after a disappointing outing against Oklahoma."
Baylor grabbed the early lead on the Longhorns with two runs in the first inning. With two outs and runners on first and third, Carrie Leerberg gave the Lady Bears the lead as she scored on a wild pitch from Texas starter Christina Gwyn for the first run of the game.
Following a walk to Danelle Arnold, a two-out single from Stephanie Pomes gave the Lady Bears a two-run lead as Chelsi Lake came around from second to score.
Texas cut the lead in half in the third on a two-out single off the bat of Longhorns left fielder Sarah Wieszczak.
The run turned out to be the final one of the game, as the two teams were held scoreless through the final four innings as Baylor held on for a 2-1 win.
Baylor had several chances to break the game wide open, however, Texas pitchers Gwyn and Lizi Sowers managed to keep the Lady Bears in check after the first inning. For the game, Baylor left 13 runners on base, the most in a seven-inning game this season.
Baylor's Cristin Vitek relieved starter Lisa Ferguson in the fourth inning and tossed four scoreless innings of relief to record the win. Vitek improved to 29-7 on the season; and, with her strikeout of Tina Boutelle in the fifth inning, became only the second Baylor pitcher to record 600 strikeouts on the season as she now has 600 for her career.
Texas tried to mount a rally in the seventh inning, however, the rally ended when Kim Wilmoth fielded a ground ball off the bat of Jaclyn Daniels and started a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.
The win marked the third time this season the Lady Bears have defeated the Longhorns. Heading into this season, Baylor was 1-11 all-time against Texas.
Leerberg led the way for the Lady Bears, going a perfect three for three at the plate while leading Baylor in the field with four assists. Arnold also added two hits for Baylor.
