Every game counts.
Just a few days after getting swept by top-ranked Texas, Baylor (22-18, 5-13 Big 12) lost its fourth game in a row, falling 4-3 to UT Arlington (17-26, 8-8 WAC) in a midweek contest Tuesday night at Getterman Stadium.
“When you look at where (UT Arlington) is in the RPI, that's a game you have to win, and it really hurts you to lose that game,” Baylor head coach Glenn Moore said.
Starting for the third time in four games, sophomore pitcher RyLee Crandall allowed two runs on three hits in two innings.
West suffered her second loss of the season after giving up two runs on four hits with five strikeouts in five innings of relief.
“Kaci probably threw one of her better games when she went in,” Moore said. “I was really happy with what she did overall. Although she wasn't able to hold the lead, I thought she threw one of her better performances of the year tonight.”
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The Bears out-hit the Mavericks 8-7.
Six different Baylor players recorded at least one hit, and Sydney Collazos and Ana Watson both finished with two hits to lead the offense. Watson drove in two runs and Aliyah Binford finished with one RBI.
Watson has six hits in her last five games.
“(We had) a lot of inconsistency early and a lot of people fighting for playing time,” Moore said. “It's hard to get consistency when you go game and then you sit out two games or maybe even more. Lately, we've been able to let her settle in, and we're seeing the Ana we've seen in the past.”
On the first pitch of the second inning, Lindsey Franklin hammered a solo home run over the wall in left field. Two UT Arlington batters later, Nikki Donahue roped her own home solo shot in the same direction.
Watson continued the trend in the bottom half of the inning, hitting her second home run of the season.
The Bears found some sort of groove in the third, as Shaylon Govan walked early in the inning, and Aliyah Binford and Watson came through with back-to-back extra-base hits to give Baylor its first lead of the game.
Two walks and two hits for UTA in the fifth inning plated two more runs for the Mavericks.
Emily Hott doubled early in the bottom of the seventh, but UTA made a circus catch in center field on a pop fly by Presleigh Pilon, and Collazos flew out to center to end the game.
“I thought we played well offensively,” Moore said. “The run production didn't show it, but I thought the positive plate appearances, the quality at-bats, the barrels to (the) ball, we had just as much as we did in any game this year.
“We just can't push runs across. So, it’s kind of been that way most of the year for us.”
The Bears welcome in red-hot UCF — winners of nine straight games — to Getterman Stadium for the penultimate home series of the regular season beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m.
“None of these last 10 games that we have are going to be easy,” Moore said. “They're all going to be challenges for us, especially with the health of our bullpen and our pitchers not able to go the distance. Now we've got to work a little bit harder.”