ABILENE - Redshirt freshman Emma Rote tried to tame the 16th-ranked Baylor softball team, driving in three runs and tossing 5.1 innings of relief during Thursday's 15-6 home loss at Poly Wells Field in which the visitors scored eight of their runs between the fifth and sixth innings.
Winners of seven straight, the Bears (32-9) jumped on Abilene Christian starter
Talia Nielsen for six runs in a third of an inning. No. 2 batter Amber Toven hit a two-run shot to right field to get Baylor on board, and that was followed by a run-scoring hit from Ana Watson and sacrifice fly RBI courtesy of Josie Bower.
The Wildcats, however, did not shrink and began chipping away at their sizable deficit with two runs in the first and four in the second. With two outs in the first and
Olivia Taylor at second base, Rote seemed to have your everyday RBI single back up the middle. Except - the ball she chopped in front of home plate skied over the head of starting pitcher RyLee Crandall, bounced off the second base bag, then glanced off the tip of Toven's glove at shortstop into shallow center field.
That misdirection froze center fielder McKenzie Wilson for just a microsecond, but it was long enough for the ball to get past her on the left. Wilson attempted to dive on top of the ball as it kept spinning away toward the outfield wall, and by the time she reached the cutoff, Rote already was being waved around third base.
The throw home came up the first-base side, allowing Rote to slide safely behind catcher Zadie LaValley.
The Wildcats' next at-bat started with them trailing, 7-2, but they quickly loaded the bases again vs. Crandall and reliever Kaci West with one out. Taylor then hit a grounder to third, which went under the glove and through the legs of Sydney Collazos, resulting in two runs. A second error - this time a high throw home by the shortstop Toven - resulted in a third run plus an extra base for
Sammie Shelander. Rote then made it a one-run game at 7-6 with a sacrifice fly to left field.
Unfortunately, that was as close as the Wildcats would get to their in-state rivals as the Bears added a fifth-inning insurance run plus seven more in the sixth.
Rote faced seven Baylor batters in the second inning, but left the bases loaded in limiting the Bears to one run. She then began to find her stride, retiring six straight between the third and fourth innings.
Baylor, however, scratched out a run against Rote on two hits in the fifth, while all of its sixth-inning damage came with two outs. Watson hit a three-run home run off reliever Lauren Schiek that made it a 11-6 score, and the Bears continued to pile on with four additional hits and a walk.
The Wildcats continued to threaten in the latter innings, but didn't score any runs past the second inning as they left 10 on base through seven walks and three extra-base hits.
ACU has a quick turnaround as it heads to Arlington tomorrow for the start of a three game WAC series vs. the Mavericks. The two sides play Friday at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday (DH) at noon.
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