Pitching Takes Center Stage in Wildcats’ Top-25 Showdown Against Vikings

DES MOINES, Iowa – No. 4 Baker softball split its Tuesday road tilt at No. 16 Grand View with a pair of pitching battles – including an eight-inning, instant-classic in game one – where BU starters Kira Baker and Skylar Gorrell held GVU to just two runs on the day.

The lefty Baker went toe-to-toe with Vikings ace Jessica Walljasper in the opener, racking up a season-high 17 strikeouts, while Gorrell picked up right where Baker left off in the nightcap to toss seven innings of one-run ball and tally four K's of her own.

GVU 1, BU 0 (8 inn.)
Coming into today with three consecutive no-hitters, Baker saw her 19-inning hitless streak snapped on the first batter of the game, but immediately bounced back and struck out the next eight Viking hitters, while holding them scoreless through the first seven frames.

The Wildcats didn't get their first hit until the top of the seventh, coming on a Savannah Bray single that gave BU its first scoring opportunity with Emma Ancira advancing to second, but another swing-and-miss from Walljasper halted the threat.

Baker looked to finally break through in extras with Morgan Loggins leading off the eighth with a single and pinch-runner Bailey Shuman swiping second to put a Wildcat within scoring distance for the second straight inning. That's as close as BU would get though after a couple of flyouts.

After having just four baserunners up to that point, the Vikings put their first three hitters on to load the bases in the decisive eighth inning before Abby Sutten's walk-off sac fly broke Baker's 14-game winning streak and handed the Wildcats their first loss in almost a month (March 3).

BU 3, GVU 1
Runs were hard to come by in the latter game of the doubleheader as well with Baker doing all of its scoring in a three-run fourth inning and starter Gorrell holding Grand View scoreless over the final six innings to take the second pitcher's duel of the day.

The game started off looking to be more of an offensive outing with GVU putting a run up in the first inning, but the veteran Gorrell maintained her composure and picked up key outs along the way for her fifth victory of the season.

After being held in check for most of the day, the Baker bats came alive in its big fourth inning with Rylee Seymour sparking the rally on a leadoff double. Later in the inning, Bray tied the game with a double of her own to bring pinch-runner Shuman around to score before Gorrell's monster two-run shot swung the momentum to the visitor's side and provided all the cushion she would need in the circle.

The Vikings produced a bit of drama in the bottom of the sixth after back-to-back singles put the tying runs on, but Gorrell got the next two batters to roll over on a couple of groundouts to squash the threat.

Gorrell's homer in the fourth was her second of the year and Baker's fifth of the road trip after the Wildcats smacked four against Culver-Stockton on Monday.

Baker hosts its first conference games of the 2023 season this weekend with doubleheaders against Clarke (April 1) and Mount Mercy (April 2) both scheduled to start at 1 p.m. at Cavaness Field in Baldwin City.

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