1 week Ago
Emry McDonough won’t soon forget Friday night. With Baylor holding a seven-run lead over Abilene Christian in the fourth inning, the senior stepped up and blasted a game-ending grand slam to give the Bears an 11-0 win over the Wildcats. “We live for those really intense moments,” McDonough said.
“All that I was thinking about was praise God that I’m the one that gets to be in this box right now and my teammates were on base. All I had to do was get the ball in play and they were scoring. They made it easy on me.
“It was a special one, for sure.” It was the first home run of her four-year Baylor career. “She’s kind of the heart of the team,” Baylor head coach Glenn Moore said.
“She is the one who is going to have her hand up first when you need something done and is the role model that everybody would like their daughter to grow up and be like. She’s a really special person.” McDonough, a Waco native and graduate of Bosqueville High School, has never been a full-time starter for the Bears.
She appeared in a career-high 24 games with 14 starts as a freshman in 2022. Friday’s late-inning appearance was just her 11th of this season, while the hit was her fifth of the year. Playing time and stats are only part of the reason why she’s stayed loyal to the Bears.
“Baylor was always the dream growing up,” McDonough said. “I wanted to stay close to home so I could be with my family. Being able to be here and have an awesome night is so special.
God is so good.” McDonough’s highlight night was boosted by another explosive night for the Baylor offense. The Bears had nine total hits from eight different batters.
Turiya Coleman went 2-for-2 with two runs scored, a double and a walk, Shaylon Govan and Abi Flores each recorded two RBIs and Shannon Vivoda had a double. It was the 16th game this season with eight or more hits by the Baylor offense and the third time in the last four outings. Senior Lillie Walker won her second game in a row, and game up just two hits with four strikeouts in 4.
1 innings. Freshman Sadie Ross didn’t give up a hit in two-thirds of an inning in relief. The Bears (20-21, 7-8 Big 12) have won five games in a row and are one game under .
500 on the season. Baylor and Abilene Christian finish off the two-game series Saturday at 2 p.m.
“This series is just as important as any other series,” McDonough said. “It’s a great day to come out, play softball and get some wins. Wins are important, especially as we get closer to the postseason.
It keeps us motivated and moving forward.” Coleman doubled to left field in the bottom of the first inning for the Bears and then came around to score on an error after a throw from the ACU right fielder sailed over the third baseman’s head. The Wildcats nearly put a run on the board in the top of the second, but Karynton Dawson tracked down the long fly ball on the warning track.
Dawson came around to score on a single up the middle by Amber Toven in the second, and Shannon Vivoda drove in Toven with a double off the wall in center field. Flores pounded her third home run in five games — and the third home run of her career — with a two-run shot in the third to give Baylor a 5-0 lead. “I can't tell you how important that is for (Flores) to start putting numbers in the home run column when she's backing up (Govan),” Moore said.
“Now that people see three home runs, they're not thinking she just mishit one. She's capable of leaving the yard. If we pitch around Shay, they've got to pick their poison a little more.
That's huge." Baylor loaded the bases in the fourth inning, and two runs came home when Govan flew out to deep center field. Abilene Christian loaded the bases in the top of the fifth inning, but Ross came in and escaped with no damage.
Freshman Gigi Lindsey drew a walk to load the bases with one out in the bottom of the fifth before McDonough stepped up and launched her no-doubter of a home run over the left-field wall. Be the first to know Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items..
