As soon as the ping of Kamrie Rich's bat meeting the ball echoed through the air, everyone knew that momentum, and the lead, had swung in Baylor's favor.
Rich's fifth-inning home run propelled the Baylor softball team past visiting GPS 9-3 in a clash of Division II-AA East/Middle rivals Thursday night.
Rich's blast came on a two-strike pitch with runners on third and second with two outs and the Lady Red Raiders having just cut the GPS lead to 3-1. The bench erupted and her teammates met her at the plate after she rounded the bases.
"I knew as soon as it came off the bat," Rich said. "Shelby (Walters) is a really good pitcher. I was just trying to look for anything hittable with two strikes. I just saw the ball and hit it well."
The homer capped a four-run fifth inning and opened the floodgate for the Baylor offense.
After a shutdown inning by Baylor pitcher Ace Sellers in the top of the sixth, she extended the Lady Raiders' lead to 6-3 with a two-run homer in the bottom half. Makayla Packer and Abby McNamara followed with RBI singles to break the game open.
"We finally got something going late in the ballgame," Baylor coach Kelli Smith said. "We're a great-hitting team and it just took us a couple of innings to get it going. (Walters) is by far the best pitcher we've seen, in a long time quite honestly."
The win kept Baylor (13-0, 7-0) perfect on the season and in the division.
It also extended the Lady Raiders' overall winning streak to 39 games. The last time they lost was to GPS almost exactly a year ago.
GPS (12-2, 6-1) got on the board first with a first-inning two-run homer by catcher Haley Smith that bounced off the top of the fence.
Bruisers junior Walters struck out 10 through five and a third innings before getting in trouble in the fifth.
Sellers settled down in the circle for Baylor after the first inning, getting into trouble one more time in the top of the fifth. With one out, the bases loaded and one run already in, she got a force-out at home and a pop-up to end the threat.
"More than just the region implication, it's a huge pride game between the two schools," Smith said. "It's red versus blue and it's a huge confidence boost for our girls."
GPS will have a chance to avenge the loss on May 9 at home just before the start of the state playoffs. Both teams will compete in the Soddy-Daisy tournament this weekend.
Contact Kevin Llewallyn at sports@timesfreepress.com