Orme throws No-Hitter as No. 25 Baylor Softball cruises past No. 21 Maryland

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - Dariana Orme – the reigning national pitcher of the week – fired a no-hitter while striking out a career-high 11, leading No. 25 Baylor to a 5-0 win over No. 21 Maryland in the opener of the Baylor Invitational, on Friday afternoon at Getterman Stadium.

Baylor (9-1) saw Orme (4-1) work her second career no-hitter, just a week after she worked the first seven-inning perfect game in program history, a 7-0 win over Stephen F. Austin last Friday. Orme, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association National Pitcher of the Week, used 95 pitches – 66 for strikes – only issuing a two-out walk in the second inning and working around a leadoff error in the third.

Orme, junior out of Vacaville, Calif., retired 21 of the 23 hitters she faced, starting 18 off with first-pitch strikes. She lowered her ERA to 0.58 and has worked 24 innings on the year, allowing only 13 hits.

The Bears have now shutout four of their last five opponents, with the only blemish coming in a 4-3 win over No. 1 Oklahoma on Sunday at Getterman Stadium, Baylor’s first win over a top-ranked foe since 2009.

Orme worked four innings in a start vs. the Sooners, allowing only an unearned run, before being relieved due to pitch-count limitations. The Fresno State transfer has not allowed an earned run over her last three starts, and has worked 18.1 consecutive innings without an earned run scoring.

The play of the game came in the seventh inning with one out, when Maryland clean-up hitter Amelia Lech drilled a sinking line drive into leftfield. Baylor’s Taylor Strain made a hard-charging, diving grab towards the foul line to rob Lech of a knock and preserve the no-hitter for the Bears.

The Bears now own a 1.88 team ERA through their first 67 innings of 2023, fanning 75 and allowing only 44 hits.

Maryland starter Courtney Wyche (4-2) suffered the loss, allowing four runs on four innings. Nicole Bodeaux worked two innings in relief for the Terrapins.

The Terps had a seven-game winning streak snapped with the loss to the red-hot Bears. Maryland has earned wins over No. 3 Oklahoma State and No. 22 Oregon on the year and entered the Baylor Invitational with its highest ranking in any poll since 1999. Maryland opened the Baylor Invite with a five-inning perfect-game win over Texas A&M-Commerce and are coming off a weekend that saw them sweep two-game sets with Virginia and North Carolina.

Baylor plated a run in the second inning, three in the third and one in the fifth.