Wildcats’ Conference Tournament Run Ends in Extra-Inning Battle

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Making its fourth straight appearance, the Baker softball team put together a resilient showing at the 2026 Heart Softball Championships, splitting Thursday's opening round games before falling to No. 3 Grand View in an extra-inning heartbreaker on Friday.

As the No. 8 seed, BU battled with top-seeded Missouri Baptist in the first game on Thursday, but ultimately fell to the Spartans, 3-0, to drop down to an elimination game against No. 5 William Penn. The Wildcats responded with a 10-2 blowout over the Statesmen to move on to Friday, where they fell to the Vikings in the bottom of the ninth.

Coming into the tournament with Heart Pitcher of the Week honors, Camrynn Yardley pitched all three games for the Wildcats. The junior from Derby, Kan., kept the team in it against a hot-hitting Spartans squad and then allowed just one earned run in the run-rule victory over WPU before tossing all 8.2 innings of the extra-inning matchup to Grand View.

In its first game, Baker stayed within reach of an MBU team that went 23-5 in conference play this season, but couldn't string together enough firepower to pull off the upset. The Spartans hit a solo homer in the second and followed it up with a two-run third to come away with the 3-0 victory.

The Wildcats' best opportunity to spring a rally came in the top of the fourth after Sydney Kill opened the frame with a single and Ashlee Jackman drew a walk right after her to give BU a couple of base runners. Kill would eventually be thrown out at home on an attempted double steal to squash the momentum.

After being held scoreless for just the fourth time all year, Baker busted out a 10-run performance against the Statesmen in an elimination game on Thursday. Yardley delivered another strong effort in the circle and BU exploded for nine runs in the top of the fifth to trigger the mercy rule.

Seven different Wildcats chalked up a hit in the matchup with Ava Greiner going a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with a double and two runs scored. Taryn Hull tallied three RBI, driving in the final two runs on a double in the fifth, while Lily Rowe helped ignite the frame with a two-run double of her own earlier in the rally.

With Baker scoring nine runs on eight hits in the top of the fifth, Yardley managed to work around a WPU run in the bottom half to seal the run-rule win and keep the Wildcats' tournament run alive for at least another day.

On Friday night, BU squared off against the No. 3 seed Grand View and put together a three-run rally in the fifth to tie the game as things eventually went to extra frames. The Vikings were able to break up the deadlock in the bottom of the ninth with back-to-back two-out hits leading to their game-winning run.

After GVU scored three in the bottom of the first, Yardley hunkered down and notched together seven straight scoreless innings to allow the BU offense the chance to come back. Yardley struck out four and only allowed five hits through her scoreless stretch.

Greiner opened up the top of the fifth with a single through the left side, while Hull and Emilee Burke both reached after her on a walk and a hit by pitch. A throwing error on Lily Rowe's at-bat allowed Greiner to score before Gracie Gallagher came through with a big two-run double down the right-field line to tie the game at 3-3.

In the bottom of the ninth, Yardley recorded strikeouts on the first two hitters before Grand View strung together back-to-back singles to the right side, setting up a play at the plate where the runner slid in safely for the walk-off run.

With its conference tournament run coming to an end, the Wildcats closed the books on a 2026 campaign that saw them go 27-23 overall and 14-14 in conference play. They finished off the regular season by picking up key wins against No. 17 Central Methodist and (RV) Benedictine and clinched the final spot for the Heart Championships with a 2-1 victory over MidAmerica Nazarene in the regular-season finale.

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