On Sunday, the Baylor Bears‘ softball season came to an unfortunate end in the Super Regional Round with a 5-3 loss to the No. 4 Florida Gators.
Baylor lost Game 1 on Friday Night 4-2 before rallying back to win the second game of the series 5-2 on Saturday, forcing a win-and-advance Game 3.
The Gators got off to a fast start against Baylor in the final game of the series, posting two runs in the first inning. Baylor pitcher RyLee Crandall surrendered a walk and two hits in the first inning, paving the way to RBIs for both Jocelyn Erickson and Reagan Walsh.
Florida would then add a pair of runs on a two-run bomb in the second inning from freshman infielder Mia Williams, which knocked out starting pitcher RyLee Crandall after just one and 1/3 IP. Junior pitcher Aliyah Binford came in for Crandall and got the Bears out of the inning down four.
The bottom of the third inning was a huge momentum change for Baylor and it came in an incredibly high-stakes moment. After Florida loaded the bases, a coaching challenge came in from the Baylor dugout, challenging if Florida base runners left early. The challenge was successful, which gave the Bears their first out, and the second two came on a swift double play from Aliyah Binford. She then led off for Baylor in the top of the fourth and came around to score to cut the Florida lead to three.
With the Bears inching close to making it a game, enter Emily Hott. The senior crushed a two-run home run in the fifth inning to pull her team within one score of the Gators. Aliyah Binford would escape with the bases-loaded yet again in the fifth but surrendered one run to Florida in the process.
Unfortunately for the Bears, the late rally was not enough, and Florida cruised to a 5-3 win, ending Baylor’s season. The Bears’ season came to a close with an overall record of 36-23 despite some impressive performances in both the Regional Round and the Super Regional Round.
The Women’s College World Series will begin on May 30th in Oklahoma City.
