April 12, 2016 Box Score
HOUSTON, Texas ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢' ¬" No. 18 Baylor softball (33-11) split a midweek road doubleheader with the Houston Cougars (19-22), taking game one, 4-0 ,before slipping, 8-5, in game two on Tuesday evening at Cougar Softball Stadium.
In game one, Kendall Potts (11-1) worked a masterful complete-game shutout, taking a no-hitter down to the last out before the Cougars squeezed out a pair of two-out singles.
Over 7.0 innings of work, Potts fanned eight of the Cougar batters, allowing only three UH hitters on base.
Houston's Julana Shrum kept the Baylor offense off the board through the first four frames, but the 14 BU hits peppered in throughout the game broke through for the game's first score in the fourth.
A lead-off walk and stolen base for Ari Hawkins put a runner in scoring position, with Hawkins advanced to third on a sac bunt by Sarah Smith.
A single to right-field by Shelby Friudenberg drove in Hawkins, giving the Lady Bears the 1-0 advantage.
Back in the top of the fifth, a double from Hawkins put a runner in scoring position for Sarah Smith.
Smith roped a single down the left-field line, easily scoring Hawkins to put Baylor up 2-0.
Adding some breathing room in the top of the seventh, back-to-back singles by Kyla Walker and Hawkins brought up Friudenberg with two outs.
The sophomore slugger came through again, driving home both runners to put BU up 4-0, standing as the final in game one.
In the second leg of the doubleheader, Gia Rodoni (2-1) took the start in the circle, starting off near flawless before tripping in the bottom of the fourth, finishing with 4.0 innings of work, five hits and four runs.
Abby Langkamp and Sarah Beth Toben both made brief appearances, struggling through the explosive fifth frame for the Cougars.
Kendall Potts closed out a perfect sixth frame, giving the Lady Bears a chance at a comeback.
The Baylor bats cracked through in the top of the third, with Jessie Scroggins leading off with a single.
Scroggins would steal second, moving to third on a single by Lindsey Cargill.
After Cargill stole second, Friudenberg would step up clutch again, driving in both runners for her fourth and fifth RBI of the day, jumping Baylor out to the 2-0 lead.
The Cougars responded in the bottom of the fourth, plating a pair of runs on a two-run home run.
UH jumped on Rodoni, Langkamp, and Toben, stringing together six runs on five hits, including a grand slam, to take an 8-2 lead.
The Lady Bears fought back in the sixth, with Linsey Hays singling and Jessica Tomchesson walking to set up for a three-run bomb by Sydney Christensen.
The late push fell short, with the Baylor batters retired in order in the top of the seventh to fall in game two, 8-5.
STAT OF THE DAY #1
6.2 ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢' ¬" the number of no-hit innings pitched by Kendall Potts in game one, with Houston avoiding the no-hitter with a pair of two-out singles
STAT OF THE DAY #2
5 ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢' ¬" RBI count over the two games for Shelby Friudenberg, driving in over half of Baylor's nine runs, while batting .429.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Lady Bears finish the second leg of a five-game road trip, trekking north for a three-game weekend series in Stillwater against Oklahoma State.
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