Kira Baker Tosses Perfect Game, Wildcats Stay Red-Hot With 4-0 Weekend

SHAWNEE, Kan. - Freshman pitcher Kira Baker recorded a perfect game in the Wildcats' Sunday finale to punctuate a fantastic weekend for the Baker softball team that won all four of its games at the 2023 Spring NAIA Invite in Shawnee, Kan.

The Wildcats notched back-to-back shutouts to begin their weekend with a 7-0 win against Avila, followed by an 8-0 win versus No. 16 Columbia on Saturday. Then, BU rallied from behind to top Concordia 5-3 in Sunday's opener before Baker's perfect outing against (RV) St. Mary of the Woods put a bow on the weekend with a 5-0 victory.

After falling to defending champions Oklahoma City in their season opener, the Wildcats have won eight straight games to begin their 2023 campaign with half of those wins coming against teams that are ranked or receiving votes in the NAIA Top-25 Poll. Baker defeated No. 3 Science & Arts and (RV) Oklahoma Panhandle State on Feb. 11 prior to adding its wins against the Lions and the Pomeroys this past weekend.

BU 7, AU 0
The Wildcats scratched across a couple of early runs before breaking the game open in the later stages to snag a 7-0 victory over Avila in the weekend opener.

Makayla Akin tossed all seven scoreless innings and struck out nine Eagles to earn her first win of the season. Parker Straight and Skylar Gorrell each had three hits and an RBI in the game, while Akin helped her cause with a solo home run in the second inning.

Kersteyn Finch drove in three runs against the Eagles with an RBI double to the gap in left center in the fifth inning and a shot up the middle that scored a couple of runs in the seventh inning.

BU 8, CC 0 (6 inn.)
Scoring a run in all but one inning, Baker cruised to another shutout victory by blanking the 16th-ranked Lions, 8-0 in Saturday's nightcap.

The lefty Baker and Gorrell teamed up to throw six scoreless innings with Gorrell coming in for relief to start the fifth inning. Baker fanned nine and allowed just two hits in her four innings of work, while Gorrell added a couple more strikeouts.

The Wildcats had 10 different players contribute to the team's 14 hits in the contest with Sydney Goss going a perfect 3-for-3 at the dish with an RBI single in the sixth inning that forced the run-rule.

Hailey Hatfield smacked her first home run of the year with a solo shot in the bottom of the third to put the Wildcats up, 4-0. BU took advantage of a few Lions miscues in the second and third inning to score three runs, including a wild pitch that allowed Gorrell to race home safely.

BU 5, CU 3
Facing a tough Bulldogs team, Baker overcame a two-run deficit to continue its hot streak with a 5-3 come-from-behind win over Concordia.

The Wildcats were first to the scoreboard with a Morgan Loggins sac fly in the bottom of the second, but the Bulldogs responded in the following frame with a three-run third inning. In the bottom half of the third, a double steal triggered an errant throw from the Concordia defense that allowed Straight to score and pull BU within one.

Goss and Mary Grace Hess launched the Wildcats ahead with a pair of extra-base hits in the bottom of the fourth. Goss legged out an RBI triple before Hess knocked her in with a double to left center to put Baker on top, 4-3. Savannah Bray added some insurance in the bottom of the fifth with her first dinger of the season.

After relieving Gorrell in the third inning, Baker came in and silenced the Lions bats by striking out 12 of the 14 batters she faced, including getting whiffs from her first seven hitters. Baker slammed the door shut in the seventh inning by striking out the side for the third and final time to secure the 5-3 win.

BU 5, SMWC 0
Coming into the game with 21 K's on the weekend, Baker capped her stellar two-day stretch by facing the minimum and tallying a perfect game against the Pomeroys as the Wildcats rode their freshman hurler to a 5-0 win.

Before ever stepping in the circle, Baker got a nice lift from her offense in the opening frame with Finch hitting a first-inning bomb to put the Wildcats up 1-0 right out of the gate before Akin came through with an RBI double that resulted in Akin coming all the way around to score on a Pomeroys error.

The 3-0 lead would be all that the pitcher Baker needed in this one as she struck out the side in the bottom of the first inning before going on to tally two strikeouts in five of the final six innings to rack up a total of 14 in the game.

Finch and Akin both added RBI hits in the seventh inning to provide even more of a cushion for the locked-in Baker, who closed out her flawless outing with back-to-back strikeouts.

Up next for the red-hot Wildcats is a trip to the Gulf Coast Invitational for games against Central Baptist, Morningside and William Woods on March 3-5 in Gulf Shores, Ala.

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