It had been three years since Baylor had beaten GPS in softball when Lauren Lybrand stepped to the plate. But after the senior drilled a one-out, 2-2 pitch into the gap with the bases loaded, the Bruisers’ series domination was over and the Lady Red Raiders were set up potentially to claim the Division II-AA East/Middle top seed.
Lybrand’s hit scored Sara Moore to give Baylor a 9-8 home victory over the three-time defending state champions. Both Baylor and GPS travel to Nashville this weekend to play three region games. Should both teams sweep, a coin flip would decide first place for next week’s postseason.
“We’ve struggled so much against them lately, it feels great to finally get one,” said Baylor coach Kelli Smith, whose team had lost three extra-inning games in the last two weeks. “I don’t think our four seniors remembered what it was like to beat them.
“To fall behind again but battle back this time, that should really be a big confidence boost for us as a young team. We’ve lost a lot of close games, so maybe winning one like this is what we need to get things going in the right direction.”
Just as it had in this year’s first meeting, GPS scored three runs in the first inning to take command. However, this time Baylor responded with two runs in the home half of the first, then scored five in the second. After GPS rallied to tie the game with two runs in the sixth, Baylor had the top of its batting order up in the seventh.
Lybrand, a Chattanooga State signee who had reached twice on GPS errors, was playing in her first game back since a strained pectoral muscle kept her sidelined for more than a week.
“I actually thought I had hit it out at first,” said Lybrand, who pitched into the fifth inning — striking out four in the first two innings — before giving way to Katie Sims, who earned the win. “I really wanted to play in this game today, as a senior, against our big rival. So to be able to help us get the win feels really good.”