Wildcats Defeat (RV) Grand View, Post 3-1 Outing in Heart Road Trip

DES MOINES, Iowa/CANTON, Mo. - After sweeping its first four conference games last weekend, Baker softball took three out of four in its first road trip of the Heart of America Conference season, splitting with (RV) Grand View on Friday, followed by a Saturday sweep at Culver-Stockton.

The Wildcats came out on top of a one-run battle in the weekend opener, defeating the Vikings, 1-0, before falling in the nightcap on Friday, 11-2. BU went on to take both games in Canton, Mo. on Saturday, besting C-SC on scores of 3-0 and 2-1.

BU 1, GVU 0
Kira Baker notched the first of her back-to-back shutouts for the weekend by blanking a Vikings squad that had only been held scoreless once this season, resulting in a 1-0 victory for BU to start the weekend.

Rachel Pederson logged the game's lone run with a solo home run in the top of the third for her second home run of the year.

K. Baker cruised the first four innings in Des Moines, allowing just one hit and striking out five, until a leadoff single from GVU in the fifth looked to create a scoring opportunity for the hosts. Baker was backed up by a heads-up play from her defense as a sac bunt resulted in two outs with Savannah Bray throwing down to second to catch the leadoff runner rounding the bag.

Grand View put a couple of runners on in the sixth and a runner on in the seventh, but K. Baker was able to complete the shutout and finish with a total of nine strikeouts for her fifth straight win.

GVU 11, BU 2
After being shut out in game one, the Vikings responded by putting up 11 runs in the final game of the doubleheader to split the series.

GVU scored two runs in the bottom of the first before taking a commanding lead with a five-run fourth inning.

A double from Reese Curry put the Wildcats on the scoreboard in the fifth and she would come around to score later on in the inning on a sac fly from Ava Greiner.

The Vikings scored two more runs in the bottom of the fifth and triggered the run-rule with two runs in the sixth.

BU 3, C-SC 0
K. Baker followed up her scoreless outing on Friday with another gem in game one against Culver-Stockton, racking up 11 strikeouts and allowing just two hits all game.

BU produced leadoff hits in three of the first five innings, but were unable to bring a run in until the sixth with a leadoff single by Pederson setting the table for a three-run frame.

Pederson scored on an RBI single from Greiner before Taryn Hull came through with a clutch two-out double that drove in a couple of runs to make it a 3-0 advantage for BU.

After tallying six strikeouts through the first three innings, K. Baker worked around a leadoff double in the seventh by inducing a couple of flyouts and recording her 11th and final strikeout of the game to seal the 3-0 victory.

BU 2, C-SC 1
Breana Barchak carried over the pitching success from game one to hold C-SC to just one run in the nightcap as BU completed the sweep with a 2-1 win.

Barchak allowed just one run in her six innings of work for her third win of 2025, while K. Baker came in and closed things out in the seventh for her first save of the season.

A sac fly from Bray put BU on the board in the top of the first with Pederson racing home on the long fly ball.

BU was able to manufacture a run in the second inning with a leadoff single from Riley Phillips resulting in the senior shortstop coming around to score on a walk by Curry. As Curry looked to steal second immediately following the walk, Phillips sprinted home on the throw down to second and was able to slide in safely to give BU a 2-0 lead.

C-SC scored its only run of the series to make it a one-run game in the third, but Barchak worked out of trouble in the fifth and K. Baker struck out the side in the seventh to preserve the 2-1 win for BU.

Up next, Baker will square off against Park, who started off the year like the 'Cats with a 4-0 conference record, on Wednesday, April 1 with the midweek doubleheader scheduled to start at 1 p.m. in Parkville, Mo.

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