Baker’s No-Hitter Seals NAIA Opening Round Victory for Wildcats
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Indiana Southeast | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
Baker (KS) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | X | 3 | 4 | 0 |
BALDWIN CITY, Kan. – Wildcats pitcher Kira Baker recorded her sixth no-hitter of the year to help lead Baker softball to a 3-0 victory over Indiana Southeast in the first game of the 2023 NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round, held at Cavaness Field in Baldwin City on Monday afternoon.
Sluggers Savannah Bray and Makayla Akin each hit a home run in the game to back Baker in the circle, who struck out 10 hitters in the shutout. For Bray, it was her fourth long ball of the postseason after hitting three home runs against MidAmerica Nazarene in the first round of the Heart Softball Conference Tournament last week.
The only blemish to Baker's start was a hit-by-pitch in the top of the fifth, which was quickly negated by the BU catcher Morgan Loggins who threw out a would-be Grenadiers base stealer during the next at-bat. The lefty Baker tallied two strikeouts in each of the first four innings en route to her 19th outing with double-digit strikeouts this season.
With just one hit through the first three innings, the Wildcats got a boost from their designated hitter Akin who crushed a one-out double down the left field line in the bottom of the fourth. It was the seventh double in eight games for the senior from Topeka, Kan. as she continued her postseason tear with another multi-hit performance.
Following Akin's extra-base hit, Bray connected on a 2-0 pitch and launched a two-run shot over the fence in center to break the scoreless deadlock and give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.
Akin added a bit of insurance in the bottom of the sixth with a home run of her own as she smacked a solo blast for her third homer of the spring to cap the 3-0 win for BU.
It became the first NAIA Opening Round win for the Wildcats since the 2019 team won the first two games of their postseason tournament.
The Wildcats will face top-seed College of Idaho in tomorrow's semifinals with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m. at Cavaness Field in Baldwin City, Kan.
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