THE FLATS – Georgia Tech softball and coach Aileen Morales announced the official signing of Texas A&M transfer Cayden Baker to the program on Friday.
A native of Knoxville, Tenn., Baker returns closer to home to join the Yellow Jackets. The incoming infielder will arrive on The Flats as a sophomore following her stellar freshman campaign in the SEC as she helped propel the Aggies to the Norman Regional final, where they fell to eventual national champion Oklahoma.
A regular starter throughout her first collegiate season, Baker made 43 starts in 52 appearances at Texas A&M. In those outings, the incoming Jacket tallied 31 hits for 17 RBI, including two home runs, a triple, a double and 15 runs scored. Batting .261 on the year, Baker averaged a .336 slugging percentage and a .276 on-base percentage against the stiff competition of the SEC. The infielder also swiped four bags and is yet to make a collegiate error, owning a perfect fielding percentage with 54 putouts. Baker concluded the season with six multi-hit and multi-RBI games.
Among Baker’s notable performances, she picked up her first career hit against UT Arlington. Baker also recorded her first career triple and generated two RBI against Sam Houston State. The incoming Jacket swung on multi hit games against ranked opponents such as No. 20 Auburn and No. 2 Alabama. Other strong performances over the course of the season include two hits, one run and two RBI against Texas Southern as well as solid series outings such as picking up a hit in two of the three games against No. 21 LSU and recording a hit in each game of the series against No. 25 Missouri. Baker hammered her first career home run against Abilene Christian, not to mention a career-high three RBI in the same contest, followed by her second against No. 5 Arkansas. On the base path, Baker stole a career-high two bases against Incarnate Word. The highly regarded infielder also scored a career-high two runs in one of the biggest games of her young career, a win over Minnesota at the Norman Regional.
Courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics
Prior to joining the collegiate ranks, Baker attended Powell High School, playing four seasons for head coach Jeff Inman. While there, Baker helped the Panthers win their District State Championship in 2018, following that season by leading her team to the Regional finals in 2019. On the travel circuit, Baker played for the Tennessee Mojo under coach Brooks Cherry. The highly touted recruit powered her team to win the Junior Olympics Cup twice. Individually, Baker was ranked top 60 by Flo Softball her freshman year, improved her recognition to the Flo Softball top 50 her sophomore year, jumped into the Flo Softball top 40 her junior year and landed a Flo Softball rank of top 23 her senior year. Along with softball, Baker began her high school career as a dual-sport athlete, also playing basketball her freshman year. In the classroom, Baker excelled, receiving first honors each year in high school. The future Jacket was also a member of the National Honor Society.
The infielder bolsters a signing class including three incoming freshman that were each ranked in the top 50 of Extra Inning Softball’s 2022 Extra Elite 100. The freshman class provides depth to each level of the field being composed of one catcher, one infielder and one outfielder. The crop of incoming young talent will join 18 Jacket returners, including five regular starters in the field, on The Flats next season. Namely, all-ACC catcher Emma Kauf and Tech’s dynamic duo in the circle of Blake Neleman and Chandler Dennis will each pick up where they left off in Tech’s first Regional in a decade.
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