Feb. 12, 2005
Box Score
LAS VEGAS, Nev.-After falling to No. 9 Tennessee 4-0 in the opener of the Louisville Desert Classic, the No. 15 Baylor softball team rebounded to defeat No. 12 Michigan 7-6 in the Lady Bears second game of the day. With the split against nationally-ranked clubs, Baylor moves to 9-1 on the season.
In the opener against the Lady Vols, Baylor was unable to muster any offense against the duo of Meghan Rhodes and Monica Abbott. The pair held the Lady Bears to only three hits as Rhodes picked up the win, tossing six scoreless innings as she improved to 2-0 on the season.
With the score tied at 0-0 heading into the sixth, Tennessee (6-0) managed to score four runs in the bottom of the inning to take control of the game. Kristi Durant put the Lady Vols on top with her RBI single and Katherine Bell provided the key hit with her three-run blast over the left-center field wall.
Abbott came into the game in the seventh and retired the Lady Bears in order as Baylor lost for the first time on the year.
Vitek dropped to 3-1 on the season with the loss as she allowed four runs on six hits over six innings of work.
Baylor managed to rebound in the second game of the day; however, as the Lady Bears jumped out to leads of 4-0 and 7-2 against Michigan before holding on for a 7-6 win.
The Lady Bears jumped on Michigan early, grabbing a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning. After Kelly Osburn scored on a fielding error by the third baseman to give Baylor a 1-0 lead, Stephanie Pomes made the Wolverines pay with a tree-run blast to left-center field to give Baylor a four-run lead.
Michigan managed to cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning, however, as Giampaolo hit a two-run homer over the left field wall with nobody out.
Baylor starter Lisa Ferguson settled down after the home run as she shut down the Michigan attack over the next five innings as the Lady Bears extended the lead to five runs with runs in the third, fifth and sixth inning.
After Tessa Lynam scored in the third to extend the lead to three, Lake singled to right field to score Jordan Daniels in the fifth to give the Lady Bears a 6-2 lead.
Lake provided another key RBI hit in the sixth as she doubled home Osburn to give the Lady Bears a five-run cushion.
The cushion proved to be just enough as Michigan responded for four runs in the bottom of the seventh. After cutting the lead to 7-6, Lynam managed to hold the lead for the Lady Bears as she forced Danis into a ground out with two outs to end the game and give the Lady Bears their third win over a ranked team this season.
Ferguson picked up the win and improved to 4-0 on the season. Lynam recorded her second save of the season, allowing no runs while recording the final three outs of the contest.
Motyka (0-1) picked up the loss for Michigan (0-1), allowing six runs on seven hits.
Baylor will conclude action at the Louisville Desert Classic with a pair of games on Sunday, Feb. 13. The Lady Bears will face UC Riverside at 12:30 p.m. before a meeting with UC Santa Barbara at 2:30 p.m.
