April 26, 2005
# 8 BAYLOR (43-8) at NORTH TEXAS (10-29)
April 28, 2005, 6:00 p.m.
Denia Park • Denton, Texas
THE SERIES
Baylor vs. North Texas: Baylor leads 16-3
Waco, Texas: Baylor leads 10-1
Denton, Texas: Baylor leads 4-2
Neutral: Baylor leads 2-0
Streak: Baylor won 6
Last Meeting: Baylor 8, North Texas 3 (4/28/2004)
LIVE COVERAGE
Radio: None
Live Audio: None
Live Stats: www.BaylorBears.com
Television: None
No. 8 Baylor (43-8) closes out its non-conference portion of the schedule when the Lady Bears travel to Denton, Texas, to face North Texas (10-29) on Wednesday, April 27, at 6:00 p.m.
The meeting with the Mean Green marks the 20th in the series as Baylor owns a commanding 16-3 edge in contests against North Texas. Baylor has won the last six in the series, however, the team have only met twice since North Texas reinstated its softball program last year.
Last season, Baylor won a pair of contests over the Mean Green as the Lady Bears swept a doubleheader from North Texas (4-0, 8-3) on April 28, 2004.
SCOUTING NORTH TEXAS
North Texas enters the non-conference contest with the Lady Bears losers of 9-of-11 after being swept in a pair of conference games against No. 14 Louisiana-Lafayette this past weekend. The Mean Green, who are playing in only their second year after reinstating the program last season, currently stand at 10-29 on the season heading into the contest against the nationally-ranked Lady Bears.
At the plate, North Texas is led by Stephanie Cramner, who leads the team with a .317 average and 10 runs scored on the season. As a team, the Mean Green are batting .190 in the season and have scored 80 runs on the season.
In the circle, the Mean Green are led by Kristina Fowler. In 29 appearances this season, Fowler has posted a 7-16 record and 3.42 ERA as the hurler has struck out 89 batters on the season.
QUICK NOTES
• Baylor remained No. 8 in the latest USA Today/NFCA Top 25 and ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25. The Lady Bears are No. 12 in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25.
• Baylor is 113-3 over the past four seasons when scoring at least four runs.
• Baylor is 93-8 over the past four seasons when collecting at least eight hits.
• Baylor is 137-12 over the past four seasons when out-hitting its opponent.
• Baylor is 91-23 over the past three seasons at Getterman Stadium, including a 27-4 mark at home last season.
• With its opening win of the season over Louisiana-Monroe, Baylor earned its 100th victory at Getterman Stadium. Baylor is now 121-42 all-time in games played at Getterman Stadium.
• Baylor's Chelsi Lake has established new school single-season home run and RBI marks this season. Currently, she has 15 home runs and 59 RBI this season.
• Baylor players earned the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week honor for three consecutive weeks to start the season (Chelsi Lake, Kim Wilmoth and Tessa Lynam).
• Baylor has established a new school records with 45 home runs and 318 runs scored this season.
Emily Gipe ADDED TO BAYLOR ROSTER
Emily Gipe, a senior from Waco, Texas, is a late addition to the 2005 Baylor softball roster as the infielder joins the team to serve primarily as a pinch-runner in late-game situations. The senior will provide immediate help on the base-paths for the Lady Bears as she has been clocked in a time of 2.69 seconds from third-to-home, one of the fastest times on the team.
The 5-8 senior joins the Lady Bears after serving as a student intern in the Baylor Athletics marketing office for the past season, where her primary duty was to help with the marketing efforts for the Baylor softball team.
Gipe graduated in 2001 from Midway High School where she lettered in basketball for four seasons and helped lead the team to the regional semifinals her junior and senior seasons. The senior played for the junior varsity softball team her freshman and sophomore seasons and played summer softball with the Waco Stars, coached by her father, Jamie Gipe.
LAKE SETS PAIR OF SINGLE SEASON RECORDS
In a year that has seen a number of single season team and individual batting records fall, sophomore Chelsi Lake has provided the biggest spark for the Lady Bears at the plate. Heading into this week's action, Lake ranks near the top in three key categories as she ranks third on the Lady Bears with a .381 batting average and ranks first with 15 home runs and 59 RBI.
The designated player's 15 home runs and 59 RBI have already established new single season records at Baylor, surpassing the 11 home runs hit by Bri Chambliss in 1997 and 40 RBI by Kristin Barton in 1996.
BAYLOR PASSES HOME RUN AND RUNS MILESTONES
Fifty-one games into the 2005 season, this year's version of the Lady Bears have already established new school records for most home runs and runs scored in a season. Through 51 games this season, Baylor has blasted 45 home runs, surpassing the 27 home runs hit by the 2002 squad as the most in a single season. Chelsi Lake leads the team and is tied for the conference lead with 15 home runs on the season with Stephanie Pomes second on the team with 13 home runs. Currently, Baylor is fourth in the conference in the category.
This year's version of the Lady Bears have also established a new single-season runs scored record as well. Through 51 games, Baylor has scored 318 runs, an average of 6.24 runs per game, surpassing the 1996 squad (249 runs) for the most runs in a single-season in school history.
OSBURN AND POMES SET CAREER HOME RUN MARK
While the team shattered the school single-season home run record, a pair of Baylor players have reached the career Lady Bears milestone.
Kelly Osburn established a new Baylor career home run mark with the 21st home run of her career in the 18-3 win over Oklahoma Christian. On a 1-2 pitch from Lindsey Lawson to lead-off the second inning, Osburn drove the ball over the left field wall for her fifth homer run of the season and 21st of her career, surpassing Ryan Stukel, who hit 20 from 2000-03, for most career home runs.
Stephanie Pomes tied Osburn's mark with her 13th home run of the season, a solo shot that tied game one in the series against Missouri, pushing her career total to 21 on the year.
OSBURN ALSO ESTABLISHES RUNS SCORED RECORD
With a run scored in Baylor's 2-0 win over No. 4 Texas on March 30, Kelly Osburn pushed her team-leading runs scored total to 42, establishing a new single-season school record in the category. Osburn's total, which has now reached 52 runs, eclipses the previous record of 41 runs, held by Sheeley Green, who established the mark during the 1996 season. In two-plus seasons as a Lady Bear, Osburn has scored 118 runs, 10 runs shy of the Baylor career mark of 128 held by Michelle Sorrels.
FERGUSON ONE SHY FROM CAREER SAVE MARK
After tossing 1.2 innings of relief in Baylor's 10-2 victory over Massachusetts at the Speedline Classic, Lisa Ferguson earned her second save of the season and 10th of her career, moving her into a tie for the Baylor career mark.
Former Baylor pitcher Joni Miller established the standard with 10 saves from 2000-2003. Ferguson is on pace to shatter the school record after finishing second in the NCAA with eight saves her freshman season.
800TH CAREER STRIKEOUT IN SIGHT FOR VITEK
Senior left-handed pitcher Cristin Vitek continues to climb up the career charts in several categories, including strikeouts where she entered the season as Baylor's career leader with 645. In fact, Vitek has a good shot at becoming Baylor's first-ever 800 strikeout performer as the lefty currently has 748 strikeouts and is now only 52 strikeouts shy of the milestone.
Last season, she became only the second player in school history to record 600 strikeouts in her career when she struck out Tina Boutelle of Texas in the sixth inning at the Big 12 Conference Tournament.
BAYLOR IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
The Lady Bears entered the season ranked in both of the national polls and have climbed into the top 10 for the first time in school history as Baylor is currently No. 8 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 and No. 9 in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25.
After a weekend sweep of Missouri, the Baylor softball team remained at No. 8 in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25.
The Michigan Wolverines sit atop this week's poll at No. 1 with 17-of-20 first-place votes.
Baylor is one of six Big 12 Conference teams in this week's rankings, and one of four in the top ten, as Texas (No. 6), Texas A&M (No. 4), Oklahoma (No. 9), Missouri (No. 20) and Nebraska (No. 25 join Baylor in this week's poll.
Baylor's No. 12 ranking in the latest USA Today/NFCA Top 25 marks the second consecutive week the Lady Bears have not been ranked in the top ten in the poll.
Michigan, with 22 first-place votes, is ranked No. 1 in the poll released by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
Oklahoma (No. 5), Texas (No. 6), Texas A&M (No. 3) and Missouri (No. 17) join the Lady Bears in this week's rankings.
The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll is voted on by 30 NCAA Division I coaches, representing each conference. The first regular season poll will be released on Wednesday, Feb. 16.
The ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll is voted on by NCAA Division I coaches representing 15 different ASA regions and 11 different collegiate conferences. The poll is also voted on by selected softball media members. First-place votes are in parentheses.
BAYLOR LADY BEARS IN THE CAREER CHARTS
Several Lady Bears are aiming to continue making their way up the career charts in 2005. Below is a list of Lady Bears who currently rank in the top ten in one of the career categories:
BATTING RECORDS
AT-BATS: Kim Wilmoth (5th, 628)
RUNS: Kelly Osburn (2nd, 118); Kim Wilmoth (5th, 102); Harmony Schwethelm (6th, 95)
HITS: Kim Wilmoth (4th, 197); Harmony Schwethelm (5th, 168); Carrie Leerberg (9th, 146)
MULTIPLE-HIT GAMES: Kim Wilmoth (3rd, 56); Harmony Schwethelm (5th, 48)
DOUBLES: Kelly Osburn (2nd, 31); Stephanie Pomes (t-7th, 24)
TRIPLES: Carrie Leerberg (t-1st, 9); Kim Wilmoth (t-1st, 9); Kelly Osburn (t-4th, 7)
HOME RUNS: Kelly Osburn (t-1st, 21); Stephanie Pomes (t-1st, 21); Chelsi Lake (4th, 16)
TOTAL BASES: Kelly Osburn (3rd, 262); Kim Wilmoth (5th, 237)
WALKS: Kelly Osburn (1st, 77)
HIT BY PITCH: Kelly Osburn (2nd, 16); Kim Wilmoth (t-9th, 8) Carrie Leerberg (t-6th, 9)
SACRIFICE FLIES: Stephanie Pomes (1st, 7); Kelly Osburn (t-7th; 3)
SACRIFICE HITS: Kim Wilmoth (9th, 21); Harmony Schwethelm (t-6th, 24)
STOLEN BASES: Kim Wilmoth (1st, 89); Harmony Schwethelm (2nd, 74); Carrie Leerberg (3rd, 66); Kelly Osburn (4th, 63)
STOLEN BASE ATTEMPTS: Kim Wilmoth (1st, 113); Harmony Schwethelm (2nd, 87); Carrie Leerberg (3rd, 77); Kelly Osburn (4th, 75)
PITCHING RECORDS
APPEARANCES: Cristin Vitek (2nd, 158); Lisa Ferguson (5th, 72)
GAMES STARTED: Cristin Vitek (2nd, 106); Lisa Ferguson (6th, 47)
RELIEF APPEARANCES: Cristin Vitek (1st, 52); Lisa Ferguson (5th, 25)
WINS: Cristin Vitek (2nd, 72); Lisa Ferguson (4th, 31)
LOSSES: Cristin Vitek (t-3rd, 36); Lisa Ferguson (6th, 10)
DECISIONS: Cristin Vitek (2nd, 108); Lisa Ferguson (5th, 41)
COMPLETE GAMES: Cristin Vitek (3rd, 46); Lisa Ferguson (5th, 19)
SHUTOUTS: Cristin Vitek (3rd, 18); Lisa Ferguson (4th, 10)
SAVES: Cristin Vitek (3rd, 9); Lisa Ferguson (t-1st, 10); Tessa Lynam (6th, 3); Nicole Jackson (t-8th, 1)
INNINGS PITCHED: Cristin Vitek (2nd, 718.0); Lisa Ferguson (5th, 315.0)
STRIKEOUTS: Cristin Vitek (1st, 748); Lisa Ferguson (5th, 209); Tessa Lynam (8th, 70)
UP NEXT...
Baylor will return to action on Saturday, April 30, when the Lady Bears travel to Ames, Iowa, to face Iowa State at 2:00 p.m. for the start of a two-game conference series.
