Wildcats Split Road Series at Park, Fall to Statesmen at Home

BALDWIN CITY - Completing its second-to-last weekend of the regular season, Baker softball came away with a split on the road at Park on Saturday before falling in both games of its Sunday doubleheader against William Penn in Baldwin City.

The Wildcats fell in a 1-0 heartbreaker to the Pirates in the first game on Saturday in Parkville, Mo., before turning things around and earning a 10-3 victory in the nightcap. Playing at home on Sunday, BU was swept by the Statesmen on scores of 9-1 and 5-4.

Park 1, BU 0
Baker opened up the weekend with a scoreless stalemate through the first six innings against Park, but the Pirates finally broke through in the seventh to win on a 1-0 walkoff.

BU actually outhit Park, 6-3, in the game, but it was a costly error that allowed the Pirates to bring the winning run across in the bottom of the seventh.

Jordyn Beck went toe-to-toe with Pirates starter Hannah Vaught as both pitchers finished with five strikeouts apiece and hung matching scoreless frames throuhgout most of their battle.

BU 10, Park 3
The Wildcats completed a full transformation in game two in Parkville as they rolled to a commanding 10-3 victory. Pitcher Camrynn Yardley picked up her sixth win in the circle this year after striking out four and being tagged with just two of the runs.

Ashlee Jackman went a perfect 3-for-3 at the dish with three RBI, a walk, a stolen base and her team-best sixth home run of the season. She opened up the scoring in the top of the first with an RBI single before coming around to score later on in the inning to make it a 2-0 lead for BU.

After Sydney Kill plated a run in the third, the Wildcats broke open the game with six runs in the top of the fifth, highlighted by Jackman's two-run blast. Taryn Hull, Yarah Zuiver, and Rachel Pederson each chipped in on the scoring in the frame with Pederson driving in a pair on a double to left center.

WPU 9, BU 1 (6 inn.)
Playing at Cavaness Field on Sunday, BU ran into a tough Statesmen squad that started off the doubleheader with a 9-1 run-rule win over the hosts.

Baker's offense was once again held in check and limited to four hits with none of them resulting in its only run of the game. With Park leading, 3-0, Jackman led off the bottom of the fourth with a walk and eventually came around to score on an error from the Pirates outfield on a fly ball from Kill.

William Penn put the game out of reach with a five-run fifth and triggered the mercy rule with a run in the sixth.

WPU 5, BU 4
Baker tried to pull off a seventh-inning rally to force the series and weekend split, but came up just short as WPU held on for a 5-4 win in Sunday's nightcap.

Both sides matched each other with two runs in the first to send the game to a 2-2 tie for most of the early going. Jackman once again capitalized on a WPU error to score and Gracie Gallagher followed in a similar fashion, scoring on a bad throw on a stolen base attempt.

Emilee Burke's RBI single in the bottom of the fourth broke the deadlock and gave BU a 3-2 advantage. The Statesmen tied it back up in the fifth and took a key two-run advantage in the seventh to force BU to try and match again.

The Wildcats put a couple of runners on in the bottom of the seventh and had Pederson make it a one-run game after scoring on Gallagher's at-bat. However, the Statesmen were able to get the final out on a two-out bunt from BU and escape with the one-run victory.

Up next, Baker will close out its 2026 home schedule with a rivalry matchup against (RV) Benedictine on Tuesday, April 21. First pitch from Cavaness Field is set for 5 p.m.

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