GULFPORT, Miss. -- Four the fourth consecutive weekend, No. 12 Baylor finished 4-1 at a five-game tournament. This time, the Gulf Coast Classic was capped by Heather Stearns’ 1-hitter that lifted the Lady Bears to a 2-1 win against UTSA on Sunday afternoon. Baylor improved to 16-4 on the season behind Stearns’ seventh win of the season; she struck out 11 and only allowed a solo home run to UTSA’s Megan Low.
Ari Hawkins doubled to leadoff the top of the fourth and was brought around to score by a Sarah Smith single. Lindsey Cargill hit her third home run of the season, a solo shot in the sixth to extend the lead to 2-0. UTSA broke up the no-hit bid with two outs in the bottom of the sixth when Low took one over the 230-foot centerfield wall.
Still, it was one of Stearns’ better outings of the season, and she competed her second game in a row. Stearns alllowed just one earned run in 15 innings of work at inagural Gulf Coast Classic. Smith had her first three-hit game of the season; it was the fourth three-hit game of the sophomore’s career and it was the fifth time in 2014 that she had at least two hits.
It was the 28th one-hitter in BU history and Stearns’ first, although Stearns had a no-hitter as a freshman Feb. 9, 2013 versus Northern Illinois.
