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TWU
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Life > Athletics > Softball > Archives > 2003
News > March 2
PIONEER
SOFTBALL TAKES THIRD PLACE IN THE
SILVER BRACKET OF LEADOFF
CLASSIC
Dianne
Baker records 700th career victory
IRVING,
TX—Texas
Woman's University (12-9) used some clutch hitting to pull
out two victories in the final
day of the NFCA/Schutt Sports Division II Leadoff Classic.
The Pioneers recorded four runs off of five hits in the final
two innings to beat conference rival Eastern New Mexico, 5-1,
to begin the day, then scored three runs in the bottom of the
sixth inning to beat Oklahoma Panhandle State by
the score of 3-0. Dianne Baker moved
up the record books as one of the winningest coaches in softball
as she reached another
milestone by recording her 700th career victory,
coming against OPSU. Her overall record now stands at 700-408-2
in 22 years of coaching, with a winning percentage of .632.
Baker's record at TWU is now 200-116-1 in six-plus seasons.
“We had a really tough weekend and I was proud that our
kids came back and fought today. The team is a little beat
up right now, but I am glad that we were able to leave the
tournament with a 3-3 record,” Baker
said. “The team played well today and got some good hits
in crucial times to give us two victories. I have to take my
hat off to Dawn England and Amanda Chambless because they pitched
a lot of innings and gave us some good hitting all through
the tournament.”
Jennifer
Collins (Forney, TX/Grayson C.C.) put the
Pioneers on the board first against Eastern New Mexico when
she hit a single into right center field, allowing Sascha
Taylor (Mansfield, TX/Stephen F. Austin) to score from
second base. The score remained 1-0 through five innings until Amanda
Chambless (Collinsville, TX/ Collinsville H.S.) hit a
ball down the right field line, scoring Amanda Arnold (The
Colony, TX/The Colony H.S.) and Collins in the top of
the sixth. The Zias loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth
inning, but could only get one runner across the plate. TWU
added two more runs in the top of the seventh and Chambless,
who came in for relief in the sixth inning, retired the final
three ENMU batters to preserve the 5-1 win. Dawn England
(Graham, TX/Graham H.S.) moved her record to 8-2 on the
season by recording the win as she went 5 2/3 innings and allowed
one run on three hits while striking out eight. Chambless earned
her first save of the season by allowing just one hit in the
final 1 1/3 innings.
In the Silver Bracket consolation finals, TWU and Oklahoma
Panhandle State found it hard to score a run as both starting
pitchers allowed just three hits through the first five innings.
The Pioneers started generating runs in the bottom of the sixth
inning when Nikki Boudreaux (Orange, TX/Navarro College) hit
a single down the left field line, scoring Courtney Martin
(Lake Dallas, TX/Lake Dallas H.S.) from second base.
After Boudreaux stole third base, Teresa Flores (Corpus
Christi, TX/Miller H.S.) sent her home with a double
to center field in the next at-bat to make the score 2-0. Flores
scored the final run of the game when Collins hit
a RBI-single to center field. England (9-2) kept the Lady
Aggies off the bases through most of the game, allowing just
four hits and striking out six in the complete-game shutout.
“I think about winning 700 ball games and then I think
that 200 of those came here at TWU. I told the team after the
game that I was proud to be a Pioneer because this is still
a fairly new program and to have the success that we have had
here is great,” Baker said. “I am just proud to coach
all of these young people and to share my knowledge and love
for the game of softball to them. If these girls don't come
out and play hard for me day end and day out, I wouldn't have
700 victories, so a lot of the credit goes to my players.”
Up
next, the Pioneers travel to Lawton, Oklahoma, to play Cameron
University on Thursday, March 6 in a double
header to begin at 2:00 p.m. TWU lost their only meeting of
the season to the Lady Aggies 1-3 on Feb. 14, 2003 in the Lone
Star Conference First Pitch Classic.
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