WACO, Texas – The Lamar University softball team saw its upset bid against 19^th-ranked Baylor come up just short as the Lady Bears rallied for a 5-4 win over the Cardinals in a non-conference game Tuesday.
 
LU (21-14) held a 4-2 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth before Baylor (32-7) scored three runs in the frame to take the lead for good.
 
"We gave it a great effort," LU coach Holly Bruder said. "We made a couple of mistakes that proved costly. We weren't able to overcome that."
 
The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Jenna Holland's double scored Kelly Meeuwsen, but the Cardinals left the bases loaded in the inning, without doing any further damage. Baylor responded with two unearned runs in the bottom of the first, taking advantage of three errors by the LU infield.
 
"We have to be better defensively," Bruder said. "They scored two runs and never got the ball out of the infield."
 
The Cardinals regained the lead with two unearned runs of their own in the third inning, taking advantage of two Baylor issues, before making it 4-2 in the fifth on Ashley McDowell's double to right, a shot that hit the top of the wall, missing being a home run by a matter of inches. McDowell stole third, but ended up stranded there.
 
"I thought it was gone when it left the bat," Bruder said of McDowell's shot. "Unfortunately, it just missed."
 
Those few inches proved to be costly to LU, as Baylor took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the sixth thanks to back-to-back run-producing doubles. The Bears tied the game at 4 on a two-run double Caitlin Charlton. Charlton scored the go-ahead run when Sydney Christensen doubled down the left-field line off LU starter Ciara Luna (10-4). LU's Laura Napoli came on to get the final two outs of the inning.
 
LU's Sable Hankins would single in the seventh off of Baylor closer Heater Stearns, but Stearns pitched a scoreless seventh to record her sixth save of the season.
 
Luna allowed seven hits and five runs, three earned, over 5 1/3 innings. She walked one and struck out two.
 
"I thought Ciara pitched well," Bruder said. "But give Baylor credit. Good teams make adjustments throughout the game, and they did that."
 
Kelsee Selman (4-3), the third of four pitchers used by Baylor, got the win by pitching a scoreless inning.
 
Hankins, McDowell and Holland had two hits apiece for the Cardinals, who stranded nine runners. Baylor left four runners on the day.
 
"Again, we struggled coming up with the timely hit," Bruder said, "But I loved the way we competed. If we give this type of effort the rest of the season, we'll be in good shape."
 
The Cardinals return to action this weekend when they host Southeastern Louisiana in a three-game Southland Conference series. LU enters the weekend in third place in the SLC with an 8-4 record. The teams will play a single game at 5 p.m. Friday and a doubleheader at 2 p.m. Saturday.
 
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