Kira Baker Sweeps National, Conference Awards for Second Straight Week

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. - For the second straight week, Baker University pitcher Kira Baker earned both NAIA and Heart of America Conference Pitcher of the Week honors after tallying three straight shutouts last week.

Baker pitched over 20 innings of scoreless ball to go 3-0 last week, including back-to-back no-hitters at the McPherson College Classic. She racked up 26 strikeouts between her two scoreless starts in McPherson, helping the Wildcats to take a pair of shutouts against the Bulldogs (4-0) and Briar Cliff (2-0).

The lefty from Eudora, Kan. began the week with a season-high 16 K's in BU's 7-0 victory over Kansas Wesleyan on March 8. She started off the game by striking out the side in the first two innings and never had a playable ball leave the infield until a one-out Coyotes single in the seventh.

In her freshman season, Baker boasts a 10-0 record, 152 strikeouts and has allowed just one lone run in 73.1 innings of work. Currently, she carries a 43-inning scoreless stretch with her season's only run coming against her in the first inning of the Wildcats' 3-1 win against Central Baptist back on March 3.

The Wildcats are scheduled to open league play on the road on March 25 with a doubleheader against Culver-Stockton in Canton, Mo.

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