No. 4 Baker Falls to No. 2 Grand View on Heart Championship Walk-Off

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - No. 4 Baker softball suffered a 3-2 walk-off at the hands of No. 2 Grand View for the second straight day as the Vikings claimed the 2025 Heart Softball Conference Championship on an extra-inning game-winner here Sunday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

In a game that featured plenty of deja vu from their semifinals matchup, the Wildcats, who were playing in the title series for the first time in six years, had a game-changing home run wiped out once again by the Vikings with GVU tying things in the sixth to send the game to extras.

Grand View scored on a play at the plate in the bottom of the eighth to clinch the Heart championship and walk-off the Wildcats in back-to-back matchups after also defeating BU on a 3-2 walk-off in yesterday's Heart Semifinals.

After Grand View reached the scoreboard first in the bottom of the fourth, BU tied the game in the top of the fifth with an RBI single from Braxton Stainbrook scoring the first run for the Wildcats.

Taryn Hull opened up the fifth with a double and pinch-runner Kaitlyn Hodges moved over to third on a sac bunt. Hodges then raced home on Stainbrook's pop-up bunt that got over the glove of the GVU first baseman and allowed Hodges to slide in safely and knot the game at 1-1.

With the score tied at 1-1, Savannah Bray led off the top of the sixth with a solo home run to left field to push the Wildcats out in front, 2-1.

The Vikings countered with a sac fly RBI in the bottom of the sixth to spoil Bray's homer as a scoreless seventh sent the championship game to extra innings.

GVU led off the bottom of the eighth with a double and moved the runner over to third on a sacrifice bunt. The winning run came across on a squeeze bunt on the next at-bat as Ashlee Jackman's flip from first wasn't in time to catch the Vikings runner.

Baker outhit the Vikings, 7-5, in the game with Hull (2-for-3) having the only multi-hit game between either team. Bray's go-ahead homer in the sixth was her sixth of the season and second of the tournament after hitting one against No. 5 Benedictine on Thursday.

Making her fourth start of the tournament, Kira Baker held the Vikings to one run through the first five innings and finished with three strikeouts. The junior from Eudora, Kan. had a gutsy performance in the conference tournament, starting four of the five games and totaling 30 innings pitched with a shutout against top-seed Central Methodist.

Following the conclusion of the game, the Wildcats had three players earn a spot on the 2025 Heart Softball All-Tournament Team with K. Baker, Bray and Reese Curry all making the postseason list.

The Wildcats closed out an incredible 2025 conference tournament run that saw them reach the Heart Championship for the first time since 2019. BU went 3-2 overall for the weekend with a victory over the regular-season champion Eagles on Friday and a couple of walk-off wins over the Ravens.

Baker will wait to see if it earns an at-large bid for the 2025 NAIA Softball Tournament with the NAIA Selection Show scheduled for Wednesday, May 7 at 5 p.m.

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