PROVO, Utah — Violet Zavodnik and Huntyr Ava homered as BYU softball dropped the series opener against Baylor, 8-7, on Friday afternoon at Gail Miller Field.
BYU recorded seven runs on 11 hits as the Bears scored six unanswered runs to end the Cougars' four-game win streak.
Player Highlights
The Cougars took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first, highlighted by a 3-run home run from Ava. Ailana Agbayani recorded her first triple of the season to lead off the inning with Maddie Bejarano putting runners on the corners with no outs as the senior was hit by the first pitch of her at-bat. Following the first out of the inning, Ava sent the 1-0 offering from RyLee Crandall into the pine trees in left center for her team-leading 10th home run of the season.
Baylor cut into the lead in the top of the fourth with back-to-back home runs. Shaylon Govan went opposite field for her sixth homer of the season prompting a pitching change for the Cougars with Ailana Agbayani replacing Gianna Mares in the circle. Aliyah Binford took the first pitch she saw deep to center to make it a 3-2 game.
BYU responded with four runs in the bottom half of the inning to push its lead to 7-2 after four complete innings. Pinch runner Lexie Bennett scored on a wild pitch after replacing Keila Kamoku, who led off the inning with a single through the left side. Back-to-back walks with two outs set the stage for Zavodnik, who sent the 1-0 offering from Crandall to deep center for the Cougars second 3-run homer of the game.
The Bears got back-to-back singles in the top of the sixth from Sydney Collazos and Aliyah Binford. They would advance into scoring position on a wild pitch before coming around to score on an error on a hard-hit grounder from Ana Watson. A two out single from Ashlyn Wachtendorf put runners on first and third before Emily Hott emptied the bases with a triple to right field. Presleigh Pilon would tie the game at 7-all on the next pitch with a blooper into left center.
Baylor would take its first lead of the game in the top of the seventh on a RBI single up the middle from Watson. Collazos reached base for the second consecutive inning with a leadoff walk, advancing to second on a wild pitch The senior advanced to third on a groundout before coming around to score on Watson first hit of the game.
Hailey Morrow reached base in the bottom of the seventh on an error but two straight outs would see Kate Dahle fall to 6-6 on the season as the freshman allowed six runs (one earned) on five hits in 11/3 innings.
On Deck
Game two of Thursday’s doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 5:10 p.m. MT at Gail Miller Field.