Lady Raiders crank up power in run-rule win

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Baylor had a blast in its opening game at the TSSAA Division II-AA softball state tournament — four of them, to be exact.

Macy Ann McKnight hit two of the Lady Red Raiders’ four home runs and powered their 12-1 six-inning victory over St. Benedict on Wednesday at McKnight Park.

Baylor (25-3) is scheduled to play rival GPS (21-6) at 12:30 p.m. EDT today at Starplex No. 3.

The Lady Raiders’ game against the Lady Eagles (16-15) was supposed to be held on McKnight’s No. 3 field. But after bad weather Wednesday morning, workers decided it was easier to make No. 4 playable.

Baylor was up 5-1 before Makayla Packer hit a three-run home run, and Kamrie Rich added a two-run shot in the bottom of the fifth. McKnight’s second homer was a two-run walk-off.

“When we first got over there, the wind was blowing dead in,” Baylor coach Kelli Smith said. “It changed throughout the game.”

Smith then admitted the shots she watched fly out of the park would’ve gone even without the wind.

“We hit the ball extremely well,” said Smith, whose team totaled 17 hits. “We had a couple of big hits. We played some small ball ahead of that and got some speed on the bases, too. One through nine, it was a great effort.”

Emily Rye was 3-f0r-3 and scored a run for Baylor, and Abby McNamara and Rich each went 3-for-4 with three RBIs. McNamara had two doubles, and Rich had one.

McKnight and Packer each went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs. Winning pitcher Ace Sellers, an eighth-grader, chipped in a 2-for-4 performance.

Sellers started and allowed one hit while striking out six in five innings. Freshman McKnight threw the sixth and gave up the Lady Eagles’ other hit.

Smith noted it was the first state-tournament exposure in the pitching circle for both.

“We wanted to get them both some experience today,” Smith said.

Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.