Feb. 26, 2009

Complete Release in PDF Format

The No. 24 Baylor softball team (12-3) will host its second and final tournament of the season with the QTI Invitational beginning this Friday, Feb. 27-March 1. The tournament begins at 10:00 a.m. on Friday with Baylor’s first game starting at approximately 3:00 p.m.

The Lady Bears are on a six game win streak and have won 12 of their last 13 games. Baylor is coming off a pair of sweeps, going 3-0 versus Sam Houston State and taking a doubleheader from Oklahoma Christian Tuesday.

This will be the sixth year of the tournament, formerly known as the Compass Bank Invitational, but the first since 2006. Baylor is 23-2 all-time in the tournament.

The field also includes Louisiana Tech (6-5), Louisiana-Monroe (5-9) and Rutgers (1-3).

The Invitational begins on Friday morning at 10:00 a.m. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for youth.

SCOUTING ULM
After dropping a tight 5-4 contest to its I-20 rival Centenary, the ULM softball team traveled to Tulsa, Okla. for the Tulsa Select Festival. The Warhawks went 2-2 at the tournament and pounded out a season-high eight runs against South Dakota State. Brianna Love got back to her hitting ways as she upped her batting average for the season to .316 for the season. Kandace Causey pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings against Creighton and struck out 12 for her second-highest total of the season.

The Warhawks will play Texas in a doubleheader on Thursday night before making the trip north to Waco.

Baylor leads the all-time series, 13-6, including a 5-0 mark in Waco.

SCOUTING RUTGERS
Rutgers enters the tournament coming off a 1-3 mark at the Bulldog Classic in Starkville, Miss. last weekend. The Scarlet Knights are led by Amanda Heller, who is batting .556 on the year, while Holly Johnson leads them in the circle with a 1-0 record and a 2.33 ERA in nine innings of work.

The series is tied 1-1, with both games having been played on a neutral site.

SCOUTING LOUISIANA TECH
Louisiana Tech comes to Waco with a 6-5 record and winners of back-to-back games and 3-of-4 at the Southern Miss Tournament this past weekend. Amberly Watts paces the Lady Techster attack with a .423 average, three doubles, a triple, nine RBI and four stolen bases. Meghan Krieg is 3-1 with a 0.72 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 25 innings of work.

The Lady Techsters lead the series 30-11, including a 13-8 advantage in Waco.

CANION’S CANNON
Freshman left-hander Whitney Canion was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week for the third-straight time the league office announced Tuesday. It marks the first time in Lady Bear softball history that a Baylor player has won the award in back-to-back weeks.

Canion is the first freshman in league history and first since 2006 (Cat Osterman, Texas) to win pitcher honors in the first three weeks of the season. Making four appearances through Baylor's five games, Canion struck out 41 batters in 26.2 innings of work. She allowed only four runs and four walks, holding her opponents to a .194 batting average. She threw a complete-game extra inning win over Sam Houston State, compiling 16 strikeouts in 10 innings. Her performance placed her second on the Baylor single-game strikeout list. Canion now has 96 strikeouts on the season, and is averaging 10.45 per seven innings pitched.

CANION’S STRIKEOUTS GRAND
Canion already has six games of 10-plus strikeouts after just nine starts heading into the weekend. The freshman now has six 10-plus strikeout games on the season and sits one away from tying Stacey Allison for second on the all-time list, and is seven away from Cristin Vitek’s mark of 13.

NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP
Baylor is a perfect 8-0 when leading after five innings. The Lady Bears have outscored their opponents 41-9 from the fifth inning on this season.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Lady Bears are 10-0 at home this season, and are one win away from matching their home win total of 2008.