Vitek Establishes NCAA Strikeout Record as Softball Advances
May 20, 2004
WACO, Texas-Baylor's first NCAA tournament game in school history was one for the record books as Cristin Vitek established new NCAA, Big 12 Conference and NCAA Tournament single-game records with 28 strikeouts as the Lady Bears opened the NCAA Softball Championships with a 1-0 win in 16 innings over North Carolina. "That's what softball is all about. That's the kind of game you live for. Especially the kind of game Cristin (Vitek) played. She is a warrior," head coach Glenn Moore said. "She was locked in. You can look at a pitcher's eyes and tell when she loses focus, but she kept her focus the whole way through."
With a strikeout of Erin Dudley in the top of the 15th inning, Vitek recorded her 27th strikeout of the game to surpass Amy Kyler of Creighton, who struck out 26 against Utah on May 11, 1997, and Michele Granger of California, who struck out 26 versus Oregon on March 20, 1993, to establish a new NCAA single-game record for strikeouts.
After striking out her 28th batter in the 16th inning, the Lady Bears finally gave Vitek the win, as Melissa Maler drove home Kim Wilmoth with a double in the right-center field gap to give the Lady Bears a 1-0 win. The day belonged to Vitek, however, as along the way she became Baylor's career leader in strikeouts, as she now has 635 for her career to surpass Stacey Allison, who held the previous record of 610. For the game, Vitek tossed 185 pitches, 139 for strikes, and had a no-hitter for 10.1 innings before Natashalyn Snipes singled to right-field. The junior left-hander had only two walks on the day, both intentional, as she struck out 10 consecutive Tar Heel batters at one point of the game. The strikeout string started in the fourth inning when North Carolina loaded the bases with only one out. Vitek proceeded to strike out the next two batters on six pitches to get out of the jam, and then struck out the next eight to establish a new Baylor record for consecutive strikeouts. Vitek also broke the Big 12 Conference single game strikeout record of 23, previously held by Texas and Team USA pitcher Cat Osterman, and the NCAA Tournament single game record of 21, previously held by Courtney Blades, who struck out 21 against LSU in 2000. Joni Miller, who struck out 15 batters against Stephen F. Austin on Feb. 9, 2002, saw her single game Baylor strikeout record fall as well. The win pushed Baylor's record to 47-15 on the year, as the win established a new Lady Bears record for wins in a season. The-16 inning game marked the longest in Baylor history, as the previous long was a 14-inning contest against Oklahoma State on March 31, 2001. North Carolina starting pitcher Crystal Cox pitched a gem as well, however, took the loss after allowing only one run on four hits in 15.1 innings of work. Baylor now moves on to face second-seeded Illinois, who defeated Texas-San Antonio in the second game of the day, 3-0. The Lady Bears and the Fighting Illini will face each other at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, March 21. Baylor defeated Illinois 2-1 earlier this season at the Speedline Classic. |
