Baker Tosses Shutout, Wildcats Slip Past No. 5 Friends, 3-0 in NAIA Opening Round

CHICKASHA, Okla. - Backed by a complete game shutout from pitcher Kira Baker, the fourth-seeded Wildcats took down No. 5 Friends, 3-0 in the first game of the 2024 NAIA Softball Opening Round here Monday evening in Chickasha, Okla.

With rain in the area pushing the start time back a couple of hours, the Wildcats scattered six hits and took advantage of three Falcons errors to score their runs, while Baker delivered a brilliant performance out of the circle.

The lefty Baker tallied 11 strikeouts and held Friends to just three hits to earn her eighth shutout of the season. She struck out six of the first nine batters she faced in the contest and had her only wobbles come in the first and sixth innings where the Falcons had their only scoring opportunities thwarted by the BU ace.

After a scoreless first inning, Savannah Bray led off the bottom of the second with her 13th double of the year and moved over to third base on a Riley Phillips groundout. Later in the frame, Bray raced home on a wild pitch to put the Wildcats up, 1-0.

The Wildcats tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the fifth with another leadoff double sparking the rally for BU. Rilee Bell roped an extra-base hit over the centerfielder's head to lead off the inning before coming around to score on a Falcons error during Bailey Shuman's at-bat.

Shuman eventually worked her way around to third base and would come home on another Falcons miscue to make it a 3-0 lead for BU.

Baker used strikeouts to end both Falcons threats in the first and sixth innings, spoiling Friends' sixth-inning rally that saw them have bases-loaded with one out. In the top of the seventh, she got a slick 4-6-3 double play from her defense to seal the 3-0 victory for BU.

Sydney Erlandson went 2-for-2 at the plate with a walk in her first trip to the NAIA postseason.

With the 11 whiffs today, Baker, a sophomore out of Eudora, Kan., eclipsed 500 career strikeouts after bringing her 2024 season total up near the 200-mark (194). She racked up 314 strikeouts last year during her freshman campaign to give her an astonishing two-year total of 508 strikeouts.

Winning four of their last five Opening Round games, the Wildcats move on to face top-seed USAO in the next round of the five-team, double-elimination tournament. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. tomorrow, May 14 in Chickasha, Okla.

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