The woman who is being sued for defamation by Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer is fighting back against his claims.

As reported by ESPN, the woman, who previously alleged Bauer had gone too far physically during rough, consensual sex, denied that her accusations were “false, fabricated or bogus,” as her attorneys filed a response to Bauer’s suit this week.

Bauer sued the woman and her attorney, Niranjan Fred Thiagarajah, for alleged defamation and tortious interference back in April.

“[The accuser] fabricated allegations of sexual assault against Plaintiff Trevor Bauer, pursued bogus criminal and civil actions against him, made false and malicious statements about him, and generated a media blitz based on her lies,” Bauer’s lawsuit stated.

“[The accuser’s] motives for making her false claims and statements are now clear. She wanted to destroy Mr. Bauer’s reputation and baseball career, garner attention
for herself, and extract millions of dollars from Mr. Bauer. [The accuser] was aided in those efforts by her attorney, Defendant Niranjan Fred Thiagarajah. Although a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge rejected [the accuser’s] false allegations and the District Attorney for Los Angeles County found them unworthy of criminal charges, the damage to Mr. Bauer has been extreme.”

Bauer’s accuser said last year that the pitcher choked her without her consent, punched her in the face and vagina and scratched her. She filed for a restraining order, but it was denied by the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Bauer has alleged that his accuser continued to pursue him after their first rough sexual experience, and that she doctored photos and deleted electronic communication that would have vindicated him.

“After their first sexual encounter, [the accuser] continued to pursue Mr. Bauer so she could have rough sex with him again, but this time, she told Mr. Bauer she wanted a rougher sexual experience,” Bauer’s lawsuit said. “Unbeknownst to Mr. Bauer, who believed [the accuser] was just expressing her sexual preferences, [the accuser’s] goal was to lure Mr. Bauer into having a rougher sexual experience so she could later claim this sexual experience was not what she requested and thereby lay the groundwork for a financial settlement.

“To implement her plan, [the accuser] unequivocally told Mr. Bauer that she was interested in engaging in even rougher sex on a second occasion, communicating in explicit detail the sexual experience she desired. During their second sexual encounter, the two again engaged in consensual rough sex that involved the rough sexual acts that [the accuser] requested.”

In the counter-filing, the accuser denied that photos of her injuries were “altered or filtered.” She also denied that her statement to police was “false, misleading or defamatory,” or that her restraining order had been sought for an “improper purpose.”

Bauer has also filed lawsuits against the writer Molly Knight (who now writes a Substack, but covered the allegations against him for The Athletic), The Athletic (which has since been acquired by the New York Times) and Deadspin.

The 31-year-old Bauer, who signed a three-year deal worth more than $100 million for the Dodgers last February, has not been charged with a crime connected with the alleged incident. He was initially placed on administrative leave by MLB pending the results of a league investigation. This past April, he was suspended by MLB for a record two years.

Bauer has appealed the ruling, and the appeal has yet to be adjudicated.