Box Score

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

Sometimes, it's better to be lucky than good.

In the case of the 13th-ranked Baylor softball team's 9-6 win over Iowa State on Sunday, when the Lady Bears committed a season-high four errors, coach Glenn Moore will take an ugly win over a pretty loss.

"It wasn't pretty at all, (but) there were some good things that happened," said Moore, whose team improved to 8-1 in Big 12 play and 35-6 overall, matching the program's best-ever record through 41 games (2005). "We were able to get a complete game out of (Shelby) McGlaun and we had some people playing out of position. . . . We accomplished a lot and we got the sweep, so I'll walk away with a smile on my face."

Making her first conference start, McGlaun (6-2) certainly wasn't at her best, either. But, the freshman right-hander went the distance, giving up six runs (three earned) on 10 hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

"Any pitcher that cares about their game and gives up that many hits . . . I hope they're not happy with themselves," Moore said. "She didn't pitch as efficiently as we would want her to, if she had thrown a lot. But, she hasn't been in the circle a lot. That's what I tried to tell her at the end of the game. . . . To be able to come in and throw a complete game with a freshman in a Big 12 game, it's big. They put the ball in play hard at times and forced us to make some mistakes, and we played sloppy defensively."

Errors led to the first three runs for the Cyclones (15-27, 0-9), who plated one in the second and tied it up at 3-3 with two more in the third.

Baylor answered immediately, scoring two runs in the home half of the third with singles by Ari Hawkins, Lindsey Cargill and Taylor Ellis and Sydney Christensen's two-out, two-run single. The Lady Bears scored all nine of their runs with two outs.

"I've noticed with this team that when the pressure is on, we get it done," said Cargill, who went 3-for-4 to extend her hitting streak to 19 games, tying the school record set by Kelly Osburn in 2005-06. "That's the good thing about this team. We don't care what the situation is, we're going to hit, we're going to get this and we're going to score."

Cargill also had two of the team's four errors, but moved into a third-place tie in the record books with 230 career hits, matching Kathy Shelton and Kayce Walker.

"Defensively, I think she's struggled a little bit, thinking too much defensively instead of the reactionary ball she played for a while," Moore said of Cargill. "But, it hasn't carried over to her offense. She'll get that together. Every time she gets up there, I expect good things to happen."

McGlaun helped her own cause with an RBI single in the fourth, Kyla Walker came through with a two-run single in the fifth and freshman Maddison Kettler extended the Lady Bears' lead to 9-3 when she drove in Cargill with an opposite-field single to left-center in the sixth.

Iowa State pieced together its own two-out rally in the seventh, scoring three runs on four hits. But, McGlaun forced a pop fly to shallow center to end the game and complete the three-game sweep of the last-place Cyclones.

"While we didn't play a clean game defensively, we scored enough runs to allow a few of those mistakes," Moore said. "So, in the grand scheme of things, you measure it like that. . . . I like the way they're responding to the mistakes they're making rather than letting it bottle up inside their head and go south."

Baylor hosts Texas State at 6 p.m. Wednesday in its only game this week before a pivotal series the following week at No. 9/11 Oklahoma (35-7, 6-0), which is tied with Oklahoma State (25-15, 6-0) atop the Big 12 standings.

Shelby McGlaun (6-2) took home her first win in Big 12 play, working the complete game in the circle for the Lady Bears. "Goose" McGlaun allowed just three earned runs, all coming in the top of the seventh, adding four strikeouts.

Despite committing a season-high four errors on defense, the Lady Bears posted another big day on offense to counteract, spreading 13 hits and nine runs over the six innings at the plate.

Iowa State took the early lead on two BU errors, plating a run in the top of the second to take the 1-0 lead.

The Lady Bears answered with a three-spot in the home half of the second, using three hits and two errors to take the lead back at 3-1.

Lindsey Cargill got the rally going with a single up the middle, stealing second to move into scoring position with two outs.

A grounder through the ISU third baseman's legs allowed Cargill to score and kept Christensen on first with two outs.

Maddison Kettler roped a single into the gap in left center, scoring Christensen from first. Kettler would advance all the way to third after the throw into the infield ended up in the ISU dugout.

A bunt single by Scroggins allowed Kettler to evade the tag at home, plating the third run of the inning to put BU up 3-1 through two.

The Cyclones squared it back at even with two unearned runs in the top of the third, but the Lady Bears bounced back again, taking control in the home half of the frame.

Ari Hawkins led off with a single up the middle, trading places with Shelby Friudenberg on a fielder's choice.

With two outs, Cargill laced another single to centerfield, moving Friudenberg into scoring position.

Taylor Ellis drilled a single off the leg of the ISU pitcher, loading the bases for Christensen.

The junior came through with another clutch hit, driving in two on a single to right field, giving BU the 5-3 advantage after three.

Adding on in the bottom of the fourth, Kyla Walker singled down the line, moving to second on a four-pitch walk for Hawkins.

With another two-out rally, McGlaun helped her own cause, singling through the middle of the infield to score Walker, moving the lead to 6-3.

In the bottom of the fifth, after a lead-off walk for Ellis and Maddison Kettler reaching safely on an error, a sac bunt by Jessie Scroggins moved both runners into scoring position, again with two outs.

Walker came through for the Lady Bears, bouncing a single up the middle to score both Kettler and Ellis, moving the BU lead to 8-3 after five.

Baylor kept the pressure on and the runs coming in the bottom of the sixth, with Cargill leading off with a single.

Pinch hit groundouts for Abby Langkamp and Riley Browder moved Cargill to third.

Kettler took the first pitch she saw to the opposite field gap, stroking a two-out RBI single into left center to give BU the 9-3 lead through six.

The Cyclones battled back in the top of the seventh, piecing together their own two-out rally to plate three, but McGlaun forced a pop-fly to escape with the 9-6 victory.

HIGHLIGHTS
- Lindsey Cargill, the team and Big 12's leading hitter, extended her hitting streak to 19, a career high and the team's season high streak.
- Cargill moved into a tie with Kelly Osburn (19, 2004-2005) for the longest hitting streak in program history.
- Cargill's three hit outing took her career hit total to 230, tying Kathy Shelton (230, 2010-2013) and Kayce Walker (230, 2009-2012) for the No. 3 spot on Baylor's career hit list.
- Ari Hawkins extended her on-base streak to 28 games and counting, holding sole possession of the No. 3 spot in the program's on-base streak leaders list. She now trails Shelby Friudenberg (33, 2017) for the second-longest streak for BU.
- Baylor claimed its sixth-straight Big 12 series, and has won seven-straight conference games.
- Baylor matched the 2005 squad for the best record through 41 games, now out to a 35-6 record.
- Baylor is off to the program's second best start to conference play in school history at 8-1, trailing only the 2007 squad, which started a perfect 9-0 in Big 12 play.
- Baylor has posted eight or more hits in all nine Big 12 games, including 10+ hitting efforts in five of those games.

TOP QUOTES
"You know it wasn't pretty at all. There were some good things that happened and we were able to get a complete game out of McGlaun. We had some people playing out of position, our subs playing at different times, and we were able to sub late in the game. So, we accomplished a lot and we got the sweep and I'll walk away with a smile on my face." - Baylor head coach Glenn Moore

"I've noticed with this team that when the pressure is on we get it done. We don't care what the situation is, we're going to hit and get on base and score." - Baylor third baseman Lindsey Cargill

"I didn't pitch very well. I was just excited to get that first start out of the way. When [the hitting or pitching] is off, it's frustrating, so I try to use the other side to counteract that. I like doing both, I've done that for a while so it's normal for me." - Baylor pitcher Shelby "Goose" McGlaun

STAT OF THE GAME
9 - All nine of Baylor's runs came on two-out rallies, with five of the six Iowa State runs also coming with two outs.

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor will trek to San Marcos to take on the Texas State Bobcats on Wednesday, April 12, at 6 p.m., the only game of the week for the Lady Bears on the team's lone bye weekend of Big 12 play.

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