WACO — Randee Crawford’s RBI single in the top of the ninth lifted UTSA to a 2-1 win over No. 14 Baylor on Wednesday night at Getterman Stadium.
Megan Low went 2-for-2 with her team and Conference USA-leading 16th homer of the season for the Roadrunners (32-17), who snapped a 12-game losing streak against the Lady Bears (34-13). Nicole Merrill picked up the win in relief to improve to 10-7 with two scoreless innings to help UTSA to a win in Waco for the first time since March 21, 2001. Starter Chelsea Parker yielded 10 hits, but allowed just one unearned run with a pair of strikeouts in seven innings.
Kaitlynn Thumann led Baylor, who left 13 runners on base, with a 3-for-5 night at the plate, while Ari Hawkins drove in the home squad’s only run and went 1-for-4.
Parker escaped a jam in the second inning, but the Lady Bears got on the board with an unearned run in the bottom of the third.
After a mishandled grounder allowed Lindsey Cargill to reach base, the sophomore stole second and she came around to score on Hawkins’ two-out single to right-center field.
However, Low evened the score in the top of the fourth when she launched her 16th homer of the season to center field. The senior worked the count full against Baylor starter Kendall Potts and took the 3-2 pitch over the scoreboard beyond the center field wall, which sits 220 feet from home plate.
The score remained tied headed to the bottom of the seventh and Thumann started the inning with a double to left-center. A sacrifice bunt put the potential winning run on third base before UTSA loaded the bases with a pair of intentional walks. The Roadrunners escaped the jam on a pair of fly outs to extend the game.
Potts worked a scoreless eighth for the Lady Bears and Baylor opened the bottom of the panel with another double to left.
The double from Caitlin Charlton chased Parker for the game in favor of Merrill. The sophomore righty got a pop up before a walk to Robin Landrith. With Thumann batting, the Lady Bears tried a double steal, but catcher Tess Soefje’s throw to Courtney Buchman at third base nabbed pinch runner Jessica Tomchesson for the second out of the inning. Merrill then got Thumann to ground out to end the threat.
With the momentum in the top of the ninth, UTSA had Buchman on first with one out and Potts pitched around Low for a four-pitch walk. The walk, which was the senior’s single-season record 38th of the spring, put the go-ahead run on second. After a pop-up, Crawford stepped to the plate and deposited a 2-1 pitch to right-center field that scored Buchman and pushed the lead to 2-1.
Cargill led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk and she advanced to second following a one-out grounder. With two down, Merrill struck out Linsey Hays to end the contest and give the Roadrunners their second win over a ranked team for the first time since 2001.
UTSA will close out the regular season with a three-game C-USA series against Louisiana Tech (31-15, 12-6 C-USA) this weekend at Roadrunner Field. The Roadrunners and Lady Techsters will meet for a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday before the 1 p.m. finale the following day.