California Baptist University
8-10
Sam Houston
7-9
Softball Splits Opening Day Action at Baylor Invitational
2/28/2025 8:14:00 PM | Softball
WACO, TEXAS - California Baptist softball opened the Baylor Invitational on Friday afternoon by defeating Sam Houston State 6-2 before falling to host Baylor 5-3. The Lancers now stand at 8-11 on the season with three more games left to play in Waco.
GAME ONE: CBU 6 - SAM HOUSTON 2
The Lancers opened the Baylor Invitational against former Western Athletic Conference member Sam Houston State. Despite previously sharing a conference home, this would be the first meeting between the two sides in softball, as the old division format never pitted the two against each other in the regular season.
The Bearkats struck first plating two runs in the top of the second on a bases-loaded fielders choice and a fielding error. They would threaten again in the top of the third, but an overzealous baserunner challenged Sydney Soto's arm in center field and Valerie Alvarez's plate defense and was thrown out at home attempting to score from second base.
The Lancers would respond offensively in the bottom of the third, first by patiently loading the bases on two singles and a walk, then loudly with a three-run triple from Alvarez to right center. It's just her second career triple, but it gave the Lancers a 3-2 lead.
CBU would double its run total in the next inning. Another sequence of single, single, walk set up Ashlee Annett for an RBI single down the left field line, scoring Matti Severns. The next batter, Soto, doubled to left center, scoring pinch runner Jasmine Goins and Kate Penberthy.
Starter Annika Hollingsworth easily moved past the early runs to control the game from the circle. She struck out two, but she went three-up, three-down in two of the following three innings, frustrating the Bearkat hitters. Morgan McConnell came in to close out the game and protect the four-run advantage. She allowed a leadoff single, struck out the next hitter, then started the game-ending double play after that, fielding a liner back to her in the circle and tossing the ball over to Annett at first to force out the baserunner that got too far off the bag.
GAME TWO: CBU 3 - BAYLOR 5
The Lancers struck first for the second time on Friday, wasting no time scoring Priscilla Estrada on a fielders choice ball from Kalena Burns to take the early 1-0 lead. The Bears wouldn't wait long to answer, though, putting up two runs in the second and three more in the third on a sacrifice bunt, a single, and a three-run shot.
CBU stayed active after Baylor took the lead, taking advantage of a 2-out error to score two more runs in the fifth inning to start what felt like a shift in momentum. The Lancer pitching staff allowed just one hit in the final two innings, but the Baylor staff was up to the task in the sixth and seventh, not allowing any Lancer baserunners.
The Lancers will be up bright and early on Saturday morning to play in the first game of the day against North Texas, winners of both of their games on Friday, 4-2 against Sam Houston and 7-6 against the host Bears. The Mean Green will enter Saturday's contest winners of ten-in-a-row and owners of a 15-2 record overall. The time and opponent for Saturday's second game will be decided after Sam Houston and Baylor play the 12:30 p.m. game, and seeding for Saturday night and Sunday morning are determined.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hollingsworth, Annika (5-4)
L: Amy Abke (2-3)
Batting:
RBI: Kyla Heine 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Brodie Quinlan 1 ; Morgan Holliday 1
SB: Morgan Holliday 1 ; Kyla Heine 1
HBP: Jenny Robison 1
Batting:
2B: Soto, Sydney 1
3B: Alvarez, Valerie 1
RBI: Annett, Ashlee 1 ; Soto, Sydney 2 ; Alvarez, Valerie 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Severns, Matti 1 ; Penberthy, Kate 2 ; Goins, Jasmine 1 ; Wellbaum, Bella 1 ; Lopez, Lexi 1
