Kaci West took it personally when Texas Tech pitched around Leah Cran to get to her in the bottom of the seventh inning.
She made the Red Raiders pay.
With two on and two out, West drilled a single up the middle to lift No. 21 Baylor to a 2-1 win over Texas Tech in the second game of a three-game series Saturday afternoon at Getterman Stadium.
“I’ve been kind of struggling lately, so I’ve been reciting this Bible verse that God’s with me,” West said. “God has put me in this position for a reason, and I really just took that to heart and leaned fully on Him.”
It was West’s first hit in her last 15 at-bats dating back to the road series at Kansas in early March.
“We’ve always seen a kid that, when the game is on the line, she would come through time and time again,” Baylor head coach Glenn Moore said.
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RyLee Crandall earned her 10th win of the season, allowing one run on five hits with four strikeouts in seven innings.
Emily Hott hit her team-leading eighth home run of the season, and Cran finished a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate. West, Shaylon Govan, Sydney Collazos and Ashlyn Wachtendorf all had one hit apiece for the Bears.
The No. 21 Bears snap a two-game losing streak and improve to 4-10 in Big 12 play. They’ve won three of their last five conference games and close out the three-game series against the Red Raiders on Sunday at 1 p.m.
“The fact that we’ve played a harder schedule than anybody else is going to work in our favor eventually,” Moore said. “Not that it’s going to happen because of one game, but hopefully, today was the start of that.”
Hott led off the game with a bang, blasting the third pitch of the game over the wall in right field.
Back-to-back hits by Texas Tech in the fourth put a runner in scoring position, but Wachtendorf ended any threat with a heads-up laser of a throw from center field to home plate to keep the Red Raiders off the board.
“Ashlyn plays 100% every time she’s out there,” Moore said. “Outfielders don’t get the chance to showcase their arms often. When she sees a ball hit with a runner at second base, she’s chomping at the bit to have that opportunity.”
Down to their final two outs, Kennedy Crites hit a solo home run in the top of the seventh to tie the game.
Six of Baylor’s 14 losses have come after the Bears were leading or tied entering the final inning.
“When the home run is hit, human nature says, here we go again,” Moore said.“To have something left in the tank shows their maturity and obviously that they’re not throwing the towel in, and they can still win games.”
Saturday was different.
Collazos led off the bottom half of the inning with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Presleigh Pilon. Cran was intentionally walked two batters later to bring up West, and the rest is history.
“I’m just really proud of this team because we fought until the very last pitch,” West said.
