It had to feel like it was worth getting out of bed Tuesday morning for GPS's Hannah Kincer.
The right-handed pitcher held a potent Baylor offense in check through eight innings and additionally was an offensive standout, leading the Bruisers past the Lady Red Raiders 2-1 in softball at GPS.
Although it was the first Division II-AA East/Middle Region game for both, it's the only one of two meetings between the schools that will count in the league standings. And despite competing in the same region, GPS has played in a state softball final in 10 of the last 11 years and Baylor has advanced to six consecutive state finals.
"You really want to win your region games, especially when there's travel involved in the postseason," Baylor coach Kelli Smith said. "You want to host. We need to take care of business against the Nashville teams."
It's been the Bruisers having to take the long road to the Spring Fling lately.
"It's huge," GPS coach Susan Crownover said of the victory. "We've struggled to beat Baylor in the regular season. You don't want to have to travel too far. This might help us in the long run."
Kincer doubled with two out in the eighth and Sydney White followed with a single that found a soft spot in the defense in left-center field that scored the winning run. Kincer, who was 2-for-3 and was nicked by a pitch in the first inning, scored the tying run in the bottom of the fourth on Ariana Whatley's sharp single to center.
GPS (11-6) also got a single that inning from Haley Smith, and Hannah Sanders coaxed a walk. The reason there were two outs when the Bruisers scored was because second baseman Abby McNamara turned a line drive into an unassisted double play.
Losing pitcher Kayla Hughes gave up five hits and five walks. She had two strikeouts.
"I'm very proud of Kayla's performance," Smith said. "Any time you hold a good-hitting team like GPS to one run in regulation and two through eight, you feel like she should've gotten a win. Kayla and the defense played great. No complaints about that at all. Hannah pitched a good game, too. But we're a much better offensive team than we showed today. We looked at a lot of pitches, some called third strikes, which is never good."
Kincer allowed two hits, singles by A.J. Johnson in the first and fourth innings. Johnson stole a base and scored the run in the fourth, an inning that included one of Kincer's two walks and two of the Bruisers' three errors.
Baylor (11-4) loaded the bases with none out in the fourth but managed one run. Kincer totaled eight strikeouts.
"Hannah was amazing," Crownover said. "She made some huge pitches at some big, big, big times. Getting out of that bases-loaded situation like we did I think gave us some confidence. Not to mention she scored both runs."
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/ KelleySmiddie.