Baylor
LIU
Softball Takes Two at Speedline Classic
3/10/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 10, 2005
CLEARWATER, Fla. - The No. 9 Baylor softball team opened the Speedline Classic with a pair of victories in action at Edward C. Moore Field, defeating Temple 7-1 before cruising past Long Island 8-0 in five innings in the second game of the day. With the wins, Baylor improved to 24-3 on the season, surpassing the 2002 (23-4) squad for the best record through 27 games in school history.
As has been the case for most of the year, Baylor got off to a quick start in game one as the Lady Bears scored three runs in the first inning against Temple (6-12) to take a 3-0 lead. Harmony Schwethelm put the Lady Bears up 1-0 when she singled to center field to score Kelly Osburn to give Baylor a 1-0 lead. Chelsi Lake then put Baylor up 2-0 when she tripled home Schwethelm with one out as Stephanie Pomes followed with a RBI single as the Lady Bears took a three-run lead.
After Osburn scored her second run of the game in the second to give Baylor a four-run lead, the Lady Bears hitters handed the game over to Baylor starter Cristin Vitek, who retired all 12 batters she faced as the game went into the fifth inning.
Pomes then provided Vitek with a five-run cushion as she hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Jordan Daniels in the top of the fifth inning.
Lake provided the finishing touches on the victory over the Owls as she blasted a two-run home run, her team-leading eighth of the season, over the left field wall in the seventh inning to give Baylor a 7-1 lead.
Although Temple broke-up Vitek's perfect game in the fifth inning, the left-hander went on to record her seventh win of the season as she improved to 7-2 on the year after allowing one run on two hits in 5.2 innings of work. Nicole Jackson worked the final 1.2 innings for the Lady Bears, allowing one hit and zero runs to close out the win.
Jen Nacianceno fell to 0-3 on the season in the loss, allowing seven runs on eight hits in seven innings of work.
Lake and Tessa Lynam each had two hits in the win as Lake also added three RBI for the Lady Bears.
The Baylor offense continued its strong play in game two, pounding out eight runs on ten hits as the Lady Bears claimed an 8-0 win over Long Island (0-9) in five innings.
After being held scoreless in the first inning, Baylor grabbed a 1-0 lead over LIU with a run in the second when Lake scored on a Katie Ottens single to center field.
Baylor then exploded for four runs in the third inning to grab control of the game. Kim Wilmoth provided the key hit in the inning as she hit a two-run double to left field, scoring Lynam and Osburn, as Baylor took a 4-0 lead. Ottens then hit her second RBI single of the game, scoring Wilmoth, to give Baylor a commanding 5-0 lead.
After Kylie Conroy and Osburn scored in the fourth, Pomes blasted a solo home run, her sixth of the season, with two outs in the fifth as Baylor grabbed an eight-run lead.
Jackson relieved Lynam in the bottom of the fifth and retired the side as Baylor captured its eighth run-rule victory of the season.
Ottens led the way with three hits for the Lady Bears while Osburn and Conroy scored two runs each as Baylor scored at least eight runs for the 11th time this season.
Lynam pitched four scoreless innings for Baylor, allowing no runs on two to improve to 6-0 on the season as she lowered her team-leading ERA to 0.18 on the year.
Chelsea Crosby dropped to 0-5 on the year after allowing eight runs on 10 hits in five innings of work.
Baylor will look to remain perfect in the Speedline Classic when the Lady Bears return to action to face Northern Illinois at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 11.
