No. 24 Baker Opens 2025 Season in San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - After reaching the NAIA postseason the past two seasons, No. 24 Baker kicked off its 2025 season down in San Antonio, Texas this past weekend where the Wildcats went 2-4 in their games against No. 1 Our Lady of the Lake, (RV) Houston-Victoria and Texas A&M-San Antonio.

BU split its first two series against UHV and TAMUSA on Friday and Saturday before falling to the defending national champion OLLU in both games on Sunday.

TAMUSA 7, BU 2
In Friday's season opener, the Wildcats fell in the first game to Texas A&M-San Antonio, 7-2 after letting a one-run lead slip in the last two innings.

BU scored both of its runs in the first inning with Ava Greiner and Savannah Bray coming across the plate to give Baker a quick 2-0 lead. Greiner smoked a triple in her first collegiate at-bat before coming home to score on a base hit from Ashlee Jackman.

Trailing by one, TAMUSA started to make its comeback in the fifth inning, scoring three runs in the frame before adding another three-run inning in the sixth to steal a win from BU in game one.

BU 3, TAMUSA 1
The Wildcats were able to hold on to their lead in the second game of the day on Friday, pulling out a 3-1 win for the first victory of 2025.

BU starter Breana Barchak tossed six straight scoreless innings to start the outing, allowing just two hits in that span before surrendering the shutout in a one-run seventh inning.

Jackman put Baker on the scoreboard first for the second straight game with another RBI single to make it a 1-0 lead. Bray added a two-run home run in the top of the fifth to provide Barchak a little breathing room as Baker squashed the Jaguars' late-inning rally this time.

UHV 4, BU 2
On Saturday, the Wildcats came up short in the first game against the Jaguars of Houston-Victoria with UHV breaking up a 2-2 tie in the fourth inning.

After falling behind 2-0 in the third, BU responded with a two-run top of the fourth with Riley Phillips plating Kaitlynn Hodges on an RBI single and then coming around to score herself on a UHV error to make it a 2-2 ballgame.

The Jaguars tagged a go-ahead home run in the bottom of the fourth and added an insurance run in the fifth to knock off BU, 4-2.

BU 3, UHV 2
In the second game of the series, Phillips came through with a go-ahead run in the top of the seventh as the Wildcats salvaged a split for the second straight day.

Kira Baker struck out five and allowed just one earned run in her second start of the season, getting a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh to seal the 3-2 victory for BU.

Phillips tallied two of the RBI with her RBI single in the top of fifth tying things up at 1-1. Taryn Hull broke the deadlock in the sixth after sending a ball to right field that allowed Sydney Erlandson to score.

Rachel Pederson, who had three hits in the game, came home to score what would be the game-winning run on Phillips' hit in the seventh to seal a 3-2 victory for BU.

OLLU 7, BU 5
Facing off against the NAIA's top-ranked team, the Wildcats had their late comeback come up short as the Saints took the first game on Sunday by a score of 7-5.

Phillips got BU going in the first inning, bringing in Pederson on an RBI single to open the scoring before coming across on a wild pitch later in the inning to give Baker a two-run lead.

After OLLU busted things open with a seven-run bottom of the first, the Wildcats started to battle back in the later stages with Bray blasting her second home run of the weekend with a two-run blast. Reese Curry got the 'Cats within two with an RBI hit in the top of the sixth, but that would be as close as they would get as OLLU held on to win game one, 7-5.

OLLU 6, BU 3
The Saints came through with another big inning in BU's final game of the weekend, using a five-run fifth to sweep the Wildcats on a 6-3 win.

Phillips continued her season-opening tear with her first home run of 2025 putting Baker on top, 1-0 in the top of the fourth.

OLLU scored six unanswered runs over the fourth and fifth innings to take the lead before Phillips blasted her second homer of the game in the top of the sixth. Pederson's RBI single in the seventh gave BU some life, but the Saints were able to hold on for their second win of the top-25 matchup.

With projected inclement weather wiping out Thursday's home opener and Avila's weekend tournament, the next scheduled game for the Wildcats is the NAIA SB Invite on February 21-22 in Shawnee, Okla.

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