May 3, 2006
Box Score
WACO, Texas - Shannon Thomas' two-out, three run triple in the fourth inning proved to be the difference as the No. 2 Texas softball team claimed a 6-3 win over No. 18 Baylor in front of a Getterman Stadium record crowd of 1,475 in action on Wednesday night. With the loss, Baylor falls to 36-18 on the season, 12-6 in Big 12 Conference play as Texas improves to 49-5, 15-2 with the victory.
After a scoreless first two innings of play, Texas jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a run in the third. Baylor answered the run; however, with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead. Kelly Osburn put the Lady Bears on the board with a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Jordan Daniels from third, before Harmony Schwethelm's single scored Miriam Romero to give the Lady Bears a one-run advantage.
Texas answered the run; however, as the Longhorns grabbed control of the game with a four-run fourth inning to take a 5-2 lead. With the bases loaded and two outs, Thomas delivered a triple to the right-center field wall on a 3-1 pitch to give the Longhorns a 4-2 lead. Thomas would then score on a fielding error as Texas took a three-run cushion heading into the bottom of the inning.
Baylor was unable to cross the plate in the bottom of the inning; but, Tessa Lynam cut the Longhorn lead to two with a solo home run in the fifth inning to make the score 5-3. The solo blast was Lynam's 13th of the season, tying her career high set last year, and was Baylor's Big 12 Conference leading 63rd home run of the year.
The run would be the only one Baylor could muster the rest of the way; however, as Texas added an insurance run in the seventh on their way to a 6-3 victory.
Lisa Ferguson took the loss for Baylor and fell to 18-12 on the year after allowing four earned runs on seven hits in seven innings of work. Meagan Denny picked up the win and improved to 17-4 on the season after allowing three runs, one earned, on four hits in the complete game victory.
Despite the loss, Baylor finished the regular season with a school best 12-6 record in conference play and will finish no lower than third-place in the Big 12 Conference standings, establishing a school record for highest conference finish. Baylor can finish second in the standings with a pair of Missouri wins over Nebraska this weekend; however, a Husker win this weekend will mean the Lady Bears will enter the Big 12 Conference Championships as the No. 3 seed.
Should Baylor finish as the three-seed, the Lady Bears next game will take place against the No. 6 seed at the Big 12 Conference Championships on Thursday, May 11, at 11:00 a.m. in Oklahoma City, Okla. If Baylor enters the championships as the No. 2 seed, the Lady Bears will take on the winner of the play-in game between the No. 7 and No. 10 seeds on Wednesday, May 10, at 7:30 p.m.
