Wildcats Roll Through Bobcats, Yellowjackets in Weekend Home Sweep

BALDWIN CITY - After posting a pair of Senior Day victories over Peru State on Friday, the Baker softball team returned to Cavaness Field on Sunday to dismantle Graceland in back-to-back run-rule performances to complete a 7-3 homestand for the Wildcats.

With the weather once again altering its schedule, the Wildcats opened the weekend with gritty 6-2 and 5-1 wins over the Bobcats before the offense hit a high gear on Sunday, outscoring the Yellowjackets by a combined 36-5 margin - headlined by a 22-run explosion in the opener - to secure the dominant conference sweep.

Following the doubleheader on Friday, Baker celebrated its Senior Day by honoring four seniors for their dedication and contributions to the BU softball program. These seniors include Kira Baker, Gracie Gallagher, Taryn Hull and Rachel Pederson.

BU 6, PSC 2
In a tight matchup to start, the Wildcats staged an emphatic late-inning comeback in the opener against Peru State, exploding for five runs in the bottom of the sixth to erase a 2-1 deficit and secure a 6-2 victory.

Jordyn Beck picked up her 11th win in the circle, allowing two runs on seven hits and striking out five, while going toe-to-toe with the PSC starter for most of the game.

With the Bobcats scoring in the first, Baker tied things up in the bottom of the second on an RBI groundout from Pederson. The game remained tied at 1-1 until a two-out, RBI double from PSC gave them the one-run advantage again.

Emilee Burke and Yarah Zuiver each reached on singles to begin BU's big sixth inning before Miley Rowe drove them both in to push the Wildcats in front. Ashlee Jackman's two-run single later in the inning capped the frame and Beck finished off the win with a scoreless top of the seventh.

BU 5, PSC 1
Baker completed its Senior Day sweep with a 5-1 victory in game two, once again stringing together key runs to pull away late.

While Kira Baker got to throw out the first pitch, Camrynn Yardley came in and delivered a brilliant performance, racking up nine strikeouts and allowing just three hits in her fourth win of the spring.

Jackman laced an RBI double in the third to give Baker a one-run lead before Peru State tied it up in the top of the fifth. The Wildcats struck back with three runs in the bottom half, sparked by Sydney Kill's two-run single.

Pederson tacked on a final run in the bottom of the sixth, dropping a one-out single into left field that easily scored Ava Greiner, who reached on her third triple of the season.

BU 22, GU 5 (5 inn.)
The Wildcats put on a scoring clinic against the Yellowjackets in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader, piling up 19 hits and 22 runs in a performance highlighted by an eight-run surge in the third and career outings from Burke and Miley Rowe, who each drove in five runs.

Baker scored four runs in the first and followed up with a five-run second, sparked by two-RBI hits from Burke and Miley Rowe. Hull, Jackman, and Kill all had multi-RBI games as well, with Jackman and Kill both knocking in a run in the first and Hull ripping an RBI single in the second.

Leading 9-3, BU opened the floodgates in the third, pouring on eight runs to push the game out of reach before adding five runs in the final two innings to cap the 17-run blowout.

BU 14, GU 0 (5 inn.)
Baker followed up the game-one slugfest with a 14-0 shutout in the final game of the weekend, marking Yardley's first scoreless outing against a conference opponent this year.

Yardley, a junior from Derby, Kan., notched seven strikeouts and allowed just three baserunners all game long as the Yellowjackets only stuck two hits against her.

Burke was once again the RBI leader, sharing the honor with Hull this time as both tallied three RBI apiece. Burked opened up the scoring in the third and smacked a two-run double later on in the matchup. Hull also had a two-RBI double, coming on her next at-bat after driving in Burke on a single in the fourth.

In the Wildcats' six-run fifth, Gallagher drove in a run, Jackman plated a pair on a single, Hull tagged her two-run double, and Kill finished it all off with an RBI triple.

Following up the 10-game home stand, Baker will be back in action next with a road matchup at Park on Saturday, April 18, starting at 1 p.m. in Parkville, Mo.

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