PROVO, Utah — A little altitude did a lot of good for the Baylor bats.
The Bears smashed four total home runs to take both games of a series-opening doubleheader on the road against BYU on Thursday. Baylor won the first game 8-7 before rallying for a 12-9 win in the second game of the day.
Baylor (27-19, 10-13 Big 12) has won five straight conference games and has clinched a record above .500, a requirement to make the NCAA Tournament.
Shaylon Govan hit her sixth home run of the season, while Sydney Collazos and Ana Watson both hit their second of the season and Presleigh Pilon smacked the first of her college career on Thursday.
It was BYU that started things off with a bang, hitting a three-run home in the bottom of the first inning to jump out to an early lead in the first game.
People are also reading…
Govan and Collazos launched back-to-back solo home runs in the fourth to cut into the lead, but the Cougars scored four runs on two hits, including another three-run home run, in the bottom half of the inning.
The Bears fought back in a big way over the final two innings.
Collazos and Binford led off the sixth with back-to-back singles, and Ana Watson reached on a fielding error to drive in a run. Four batters later, Emily Hott drove in two more runs with a triple to right field.
Presleigh Pilon tied the game with a two-out single in the next at-bat.
Watson sealed the win with her only hit of the game in the seventh to drive in Collazos.
Kaci West earned her fourth win of the season after giving up no runs on two hits in three innings of relief. Starter RyLee Crandall gave up seven runs on eight hits with two strikeouts in four innings.
The power surge continued in the second game of the doubleheader when Pilon hit a solo home run in the second at-bat of the game. After two more Baylor hits, Watson drove in a run with a single to right.
BYU scored two runs on two hits in the bottom half of the inning.
Collazos drove in another run in the third, but the Cougars answered with another solo home run.
A sac fly by Govan plated another run for the Bears in the fourth inning, but once again, the Cougars had an answer, scoring four runs on three hits, including a steal of home to take a two-run lead.
There were two separate rain delays in the fifth inning, but when it stopped for a moment, Watson smashed a three-run home run. Pilon finished off the fie-run inning for the Bears with a two-run single to center.
One run in the bottom of the fifth for BYU was quickly offset by two more runs for the Bears in the sixth.
Binford struck out four of the final seven batters she faced and finished with eight strikeouts in a complete game to earn her ninth win of the season.
Baylor and BYU finish off their three-game series Friday at 6 p.m.