April 4, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

The Baylor softball team (19-12, 2-5 Big 12) returns home to Getterman Stadium for a weekend conference series against Kansas (28-9, 2-2 Big 12) at 4 p.m. on Saturday and 12 p.m. on Sunday.

 The Lady Bears are coming off a dramatic 5-4 win at Texas on Wednesday, snapping a five game losing streak.

 After splitting a doubleheader with Creighton Wednesday afternoon, the Kansas softball team heads into this weekend's games winning five of its last six games and seven of its last 10.

 Baylor swept the season series last season, 2-0 in Lawrence and has taken three of the last four. Kansas leads the all-time series 20-13, but the Lady Bears have won eight of the last 10. Kansas' last win over BU was on May 11, 2006 in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament in Oklahoma City.

  Tune in for live play-by-play on baylorbears.com as Derek Smith and Chelsi Lake bring you all the action.

scouting kansas
 After splitting a doubleheader with Creighton Wednesday afternoon, the Kansas softball team takes a 28-9 overall record into this weekend's games winning five of its last six games and seven of its last 10.
 Junior Dougie McCaulley has been the team's most consistent offensive performer as she boasts a .395 batting average, good enough for third in the Big 12, and ranks third in the conference with her team-leading 45 hits. Junior Val Chapple is tops on the team with 22 RBIs and shares a team-best six home runs with sophomore Amanda Jobe.
 In the circle, Kansas is fourth in the Big 12 with a 1.90 team ERA led by junior Val George (1.19 ERA) who is third among conference pitchers. George has 123 strikeout in 112.0 innings of work and is 14-3 in 25 appearances.

Lady bears have recent Success against Jayhawks
 Baylor swept the season series last season, 2-0 in Lawrence and has taken three of the last four. Kansas leads the all-time series 20-13, but the Lady Bears have won eight of the last 10. Kansas' last win over BU was on May 11, 2006 in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament in Oklahoma City.

You played them too?
 Baylor and Kansas have played two of the same opponents: Texas State and Central Florida. Baylor is 0-2 against the competition, while Kansas is 2-0.

In the Last 10 games
 The Lady Bears have been outscored 43-27 in their last 10 games, compiling a 3-7 record. Baylor is hitting .266 in its last 10 games with a 4.22 ERA.
 Courtney Oberg has come on strong, batting .375 (9-for-24) with three doubles and nine RBI.

Finally!
 Baylor had gone 35.1 straight innings without holding a lead in a ballgame until the top of the sixth in Wednesday's game against Texas, when Meagan Weldon hit a sac fly to right to score Oberg and give BU a 2-1 advantage.

buck the trend
 The Lady Bears' come from behind win on Wednesday was just their second of the season when trailing after six innings. The other happened on March 8 against Illinois-Chicago when Baylor scored three in the seventh to win 7-6.

Lady bears lead big 12 offense
 Baylor's .320 team batting average still leads the Big 12 by nearly .12 points, with Oklahoma in second with a .308 average.
 The Lady Bears have five of the top 20 individual batting averages in the Big 12. Kirsten Shortridge (.388) is fifth, Brette Reagan (.367) is 10th, Jordan Daniels (.364) is 11th, Nicole Wesley (.359) is 13th and KJ Freeland (.343) is 19th.
 No other conference foe has as many players in the top 20.

Near No-Hitter
 On March 2 against Louisiana-Monroe, freshman Shaina Brock found herself one out away from a no-hitter. A comebacker to the circle that would have been the third out was bobbled by Brock allowing another batter to come to the plate. She doubled down the left field line, ending the no-no, however Brock got the next batter out, recording the 19th one-hitter is Baylor softball history.

Rain, Rain, Go Away
 The weather has been just another foe that they Lady Bears have had to focus on this season. Baylor has had seven games cancelled due to weather. Included in those rainouts were two games at the Baylor's Getterman Classic, a doubleheader at home against Oklahoma Christian and a game against Team USA that was scheduled for March 6.

Reagan Rips on Roadtrip
 Junior Brette Reagan found the softball parks very friendly on the team's recent roadtrip to San Antonio and Florida. She hit .522 (15-for-27) with two home runs and eight RBI to help lead Baylor to a 5-3 mark.

Stealing this much should be criminal
 The 2008 Lady Bears are off to a hot start on the base paths, stealing 68 bases in their first 31 games. That mark is second in the conference behind Missouri, who has played 12 more games. Last season Baylor had 76 stolen bases through 28 games.
 The Baylor team record for most stolen bases in a season is 155, set by the 2005 team, which had 83 stolen bases in its first 28 games.