Long Ball Leads No. 4 Baker to Conference-Opening Sweep at Culver-Stockton

CANTON, Mo. – The fourth-ranked Baker softball team smashed four home runs – including two from senior Morgan Loggins – and kept the home-sided Wildcats hitless through the first nine innings as BU took both games of its doubleheader at Culver-Stockton on Monday for its opening series of Heart of America Conference play.

Baker tallied eight extra-base hits in total in Canton, Mo. with four doubles to go along with its four long balls. Loggins and Savannah Bray combined to collect eight of BU's 13 RBI in the doubleheader with Bray going 3-for-5 at the plate.

In the circle, BU got another pair of brilliant performances from its decorated pitching arsenal with Kira Baker posting her third straight no-hitter and Skylar Gorrell following suit in the second game with a four-hit shutout to give the Baker Wildcats its fifth straight shutout overall and bring its scoreless inning streak up to now 38 consecutive innings without giving up a run.

BU 9, CSC 0 (5 inn.)
Baker smacked the cover off the ball in the opening game of the series as they registered 10 hits with six of those going for extra-bases on three doubles and three home runs. Loggins, Bray and Kerstyn Finch each bagged the home runs for BU, while Emma Ancira had two of the doubles to give her a team-high six on the year.

After a wild pitch allowed Parker Straight to score the game's opening run, Bray blasted a two-run shot over the fence in left center to make it a 3-0 ballgame before the home half of the first inning.

In her next plate appearance in the top of the third, Bray just missed on a second straight home run and settled for a stand-up double, but scored on Ancira's extra-base hit as the BU sluggers connected on back-to-back two-out doubles.

Then, in the fourth inning, a bit of irony led to Finch smashing her third homer of the season after a hit-by-pitch wasn't given due to intent. Facing a 2-2 count, Finch took a ball off the shoe, but was ruled to stay put, so the lefty came back on the next pitch to pull another two-run BU bomb over the wall and push Baker's advantage to a six-run cushion.

Ancira collected her second RBI of the contest in the top of the fifth to bring Hailey Hatfield across to score. Loggins followed with Baker's third two-run home run of the game – and the BU catcher's first of the year – to trigger the run-rule and cap the scoring at 9-0.

BU 5, CSC 0
In Game 2 of the day, starter Gorrell held the CSC lineup in check through the first four innings and received some heads-up plays from her defense to blank the hosts for the second straight game.

Following her game-sealing homer in the opener, Loggins hit her second straight home run to begin her outing in the nightcap as she clubbed a three-run jack in the top of the second to piggyback off the BU derby from the first game.

After four straight clean innings to open the game, Gorrell ran into her first threat in the bottom of the fifth as Culver-Stockton finally notched their first hits of the day. With runners at second and third, Gorrell was able to knock down a two-out ball that came right back at her and preserve the three-run lead for BU.

Baker's top of the order started things off in the sixth inning to provide some insurance with Straight and Finch leading off with back-to-back singles. Finch, later, came around to score on a Bray single to put Baker up, 4-0.

The speedster Straight pestered the CSC defense yet again in the seventh as she followed a double from Mary Grace Hess with an infield single that triggered a CSC error and allowed Hess to score to close out Baker's scoring at 5-0.

Facing a bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the seventh, Gorrell got one final key play from her defense with third baseman Sydney Goss snagging a grounder to end the game and complete the sweep to mark BU's 14th straight win.

Baker continues its conference-opening road trip tomorrow, March 28 with a doubleheader against Grand View slated to start at 1 p.m. in Des Moines, Iowa.

#BakerBuildsChampions