May 18, 2005
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2005 NCAA SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
#10 BAYLOR (47-12) at the AUBURN NCAA SUB-REGIONAL
Friday, May 20-Sunday, May 22
Auburn, Ala. (Jane B. Moore Field)
THE SCHEDULE
Friday, May 20
(3) Florida State vs. (2) Auburn - 5:00 p.m.
(4) Florida A&M vs. (1) Baylor -7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 21
Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 - 12:00 p.m.
Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 - 2:30 p.m.
Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 - 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 22
Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 - 1:00 p.m.
Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary) - 3:30 p.m.
BAYLOR VS. THE AUBURN REGIONAL
vs. All opponents: 2-2
vs. Auburn: 1-0
vs. Florida State: 1-2
vs. Florida A&M: First Meeting
LIVE COVERAGE
Radio: Fox Sports Radio 1580 AM
Live Audio: www.BaylorBears.com
Live Stats: www.BaylorBears.com
Television: None
No. 10 Baylor (47-12) returns to action as the top-seed in the Auburn Sub-Regional and the No. 15 seed overall when the Lady Bears open action at the NCAA Softball Championships on Friday, May 20, at 7:30 p.m. against Florida A&M (37-31) in Auburn, Ala. In the other first round contest at Auburn, the second-seeded Tigers will take on the third-seed, Florida State, at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, May 20.
The selection into the NCAA Softball Championships marks the second time and second consecutive year the Lady Bears have made the tournament as an at-large participant. Last season, the Lady Bears won their first two games at the Waco Regional; however, fell to LSU and Illinois to be eliminated from the championships.
Baylor is 2-2 all-time against the teams participating in the Auburn Sub-Regional. The meeting with the Rattlers will mark the first in school history against Florida A&M. Baylor is 1-0 all-time against the host school as the Lady Bears defeated the Tigers 2-0 in eight innings last season. Baylor sophomore pitcher Lisa Ferguson tossed a no-hitter in the victory over Auburn.
SCOUTING FLORIDA A&M
Florida A&M (37-11) enters the NCAA Softball Championships after earning the automatic berth as the tournament champion of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Rattlers, who won the MEAC Tournament title with a 4-3 win over Bethune-Cookman, finished second in league play and are making their first appearance in the NCAA Softball Championships since 1999.
Florida A&M is led at the plate by Ashley Walker, who leads the team with a .379 average on the season. Danielle Brown also has had a solid season for the Rattlers, leading the team with 11 home runs and ranking second on the team with 36 RBI.
In the circle, the Rattlers feature Monique Mattingly and Danielle Brown. In 106.1 innings of work, Mattingly has posted an 11-9 record and 2.04 ERA while holding opponents to a .222 average on the season. Brown leads the team in wins with a record of 17-10 on the season with a 2.90 ERA in 188.0 innings of work.
SCOUTING AUBURN AND FLORIDA STATE
Auburn (49-16) and Florida State (33-26) round out this year's sub-regional as the Tigers and Seminoles are making their third and 18th appearances at the NCAA Championships, respectively.
The Tigers enter the tournament as the second-seed in the sub-regional after advancing to the semi-finals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament. Auburn is led by Holly Currie, who leads the team with a .385 average, 15 home runs and 58 RBI. In the circle, the Tigers feature a pair of pitchers. Currie leads the team with a 24-9 record and 2.00 ERA while Beth DiPietro has posted an impressive 22-7 record while sporting a 2.24 ERA.
The Seminoles, who earned an at-large big out of the Atlantic Coast Conference, feature Natasha Jacob who leads the team with a .348 average and 26 runs scored. Casey Hunter has seen the most action in the circle for the Seminoles, leading the team with a 19-16 record and 1.53 ERA in 244.1 innings of work.
QUICK NOTES
• Baylor moved up to No. 10 in the latest USA Today/NFCA Top 25 and ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25. The Lady Bears are No. 13 in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25.
• Baylor is 117-4 over the past four seasons when scoring at least four runs.
• Baylor is 97-11 over the past four seasons when collecting at least eight hits.
• Baylor is 140-13 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.
• This is the second consecutive year the Lady Bears have made the NCAA Softball Championships. Last season, Baylor went 2-2 at the championships.
• Baylor's Chelsi Lake has established new school single-season home run and RBI marks this season. Currently, she has 15 home runs and 61 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 new school records in every major batting category (average, runs, hits, RBI, doubles, triples, home runs, slugging, on-base, stolen bases and total bases).
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.
The senior scored her first career run in the 11-3 win over Iowa State on May 1, 2004, when Tessa Lynam hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning of the win.
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 fourth on the Lady Bears with a .364 batting average and ranks first with 15 home runs and 61 RBI.
The designated player's 15 home runs and 61 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 NUMEROUS BATTING MILESTONES
Heading into the NCAA Softball Championships, this year's version of the Lady Bears have already established new school records for almost every batting category, including home runs and runs scored in a season. Through 59 games this season, Baylor has blasted 54 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 second in the conference with 15 home runs on the season.
This year's version of the Lady Bears have also established a new single-season runs scored record as well. Through 59 games, Baylor has scored 364 runs, an average of 6.17 runs per game, surpassing the 1996 squad (249 runs) for the most runs in a single-season in school history.
Baylor has also established new school records for average (.324), hits (528), doubles (100), triples (25), RBI (300), slugging percentage (.516), on-base percentage (.387) and stolen bases (150).
OSBURN SETS 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 22nd and 23rd home runs of her career while playing at the Big 12 Conference Tournament.
Stephanie Pomes is also chasing the career home run record. Pomes, a senior, 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 before Osburn re-established the record with a pair of home runs at the Big 12 Tournament.
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 59 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 124 runs, four runs shy of the Baylor career mark of 128 held by Michelle Sorrels.
FERGUSON SETS BAYLOR CAREER SAVE MARK
After tossing 1.2 innings of relief in Baylor's 7-3 victory over Missouri at the Big 12 Conference Tournament, Lisa Ferguson earned her third save of the season and 11th of her career, establishing a new career record in the category.
Ferguson breaks the career record held by former pitcher Joni Miller, who 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.
FIVE LADY BEARS NAMED ALL-BIG 12 CONFERENCE
The No. 7 Baylor softball team placed five student-athletes on the coaches' All-Big 12 Conference squad the conference office announced Wednesday. Chelsi Lake, Harmony Schwethelm and Kim Wilmoth earned first-team honors while Tessa Lynam and Kelly Osburn were named second team all-conference.
The five selections to the all-conference team mark the most for the Lady Bears in school history, surpassing the 2004 and 2001 squads that each had four members selected all-conference.
The first-team selection for Schwethelm marks the second consecutive season the junior outfielder has been named first-team all-conference.
Wilmoth and Osburn also earned their second career all-conference selections as Wilmoth earned second-team honors in 2003 while Osburn was named to the second team last year.
Lake and Lynam each earned their first career selections to the all-conference squad.
BAYLOR LANDS THREE ON ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
After finishing 2-2 at the Big 12 Conference Tournament and advancing to the semifinals, the Lady Bears placed three on the All-Big 12 Conference Tournament squad. Kelly Osburn, Kim Wilmoth and Carrie Leerberg all made the team after outstanding performances at the tournament. The three selections to the squad were the most for Baylor in school history.
Leerberg's selection to the squad marks the second consecutive year the second baseman has been named to the all-tournament team. The senior ranked fourth in the tournament with a .455 average, going 5-for-11 with a double, RBI and three runs scored.
Osburn, who was named to the all-tournament team for the first time in her career, had one of the best performances of any player at the tournament, leading the field with a .615 average after going 8-for-13 on the week. The junior outfielder led the tournament in hits (8), home runs (2), doubles (3), on-base percentage (.688) and total bases (17) and ranked second in walks (3), runs (6) and slugging percentage (1.308).
Wilmoth also earned her first selection onto the all-tournament squad after going 5-for-11 on the week for a .455 average. The senior collected two doubles and added four runs as Baylor advanced to the semi-finals for the second time in school history.
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. 10 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 and No. 13 in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25.
After going 2-2 at the Big 12 Conference Tournament, the Baylor softball team dropped to No. 10 in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25.
The Michigan Wolverines sit atop this week's poll as a unanimous No. 1.
Baylor is one of six Big 12 Conference teams in this week's rankings, and one of three in the top ten, as Texas (No. 5), Texas A&M (No. 5), Oklahoma (No. 11), Missouri (No. 16) and Nebraska (No. 24) join Baylor in this week's poll.
Baylor dropped to 13th in the latest USA Today/NFCA Top 25.
Michigan, with 22 first-place votes, is ranked No. 1 in the poll released by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
Oklahoma (No. 10), Texas (No. 7), Texas A&M (No. 5), Missouri (No. 16) and Nebraska (No. 25) 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.
SEVERAL LADY BEARS EARN ACADEMIC HONORS
A number of Baylor players earned prestigious academic honors this past week as seven Lady Bears were named first-team Academic All-Big 12 Conference while four players earned CoSIDA Academic All-District VI honors.
Cristin Vitek, Kim Wilmoth and Kelly Osburn were named first-team CoSIDA Academic All-District VI while Tessa Lynam was named to the second team. Wilmoth (3.91, Accounting) earned her third consecutive first team district honor while Vitek (3.36, Pre-Med and Accounting) was named academic all-district for the second consecutive season.
Osburn (3.53, Health Science and Pre-Physical Therapy) and Lynam (3.75, Health Science and Pre-Physical Therapy) each earned all-district honors for the first time.
Seven players were named to the academic all-conference squad from Baylor. . Kylie Conroy, Lynam, Osburn, Harmony Schwethelm, Vitek and Wilmoth earned first team honors while Chelsi Lake was named to the second team.
Vitek and Wilmoth each earned their third consecutive selection to the academic all-conference squad while Schwethelm (Jr., Health Science Studies) and Osburn were named to the team for the second consecutive season.
Conroy (So., Biology), Lynam and Lake (So., Political Science) each earned their first academic all-conference selections.
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 (4th, 654)
RUNS: Kelly Osburn (2nd, 124); Kim Wilmoth (4th, 109); Harmony Schwethelm (6th, 100)
HITS: Kim Wilmoth (4th, 208); Harmony Schwethelm (5th, 182); Kelly Osburn (6th, 165)
MULTIPLE-HIT GAMES: Kim Wilmoth (2nd, 60); Harmony Schwethelm (5th, 51)
DOUBLES: Kelly Osburn (2nd, 34); Stephanie Pomes (6th, 26)
TRIPLES: Carrie Leerberg (t-1st, 9); Kim Wilmoth (t-1st, 9); Kelly Osburn (t-4th, 7)
HOME RUNS: Kelly Osburn (1st, 23); Stephanie Pomes (2nd, 21); Chelsi Lake (4th, 16)
TOTAL BASES: Kelly Osburn (3rd, 282); Kim Wilmoth (4th, 247)
WALKS: Kelly Osburn (1st, 81)
HIT BY PITCH: Kelly Osburn (2nd, 16); Kim Wilmoth (t-4th, 10)
SACRIFICE FLIES: Stephanie Pomes (1st, 9); Kelly Osburn (t-7th; 3)
SACRIFICE HITS: Kim Wilmoth (t-8th, 22); Harmony Schwethelm (6th, 25)
STOLEN BASES: Kim Wilmoth (1st, 92); Harmony Schwethelm (2nd, 79); Carrie Leerberg (3rd, 67); Kelly Osburn (4th, 63)
STOLEN BASE ATTEMPTS: Kim Wilmoth (1st, 117); Harmony Schwethelm (2nd, 92); Carrie Leerberg (3rd, 78); Kelly Osburn (4th, 76)
PITCHING RECORDS
APPEARANCES: Cristin Vitek (2nd, 163); Lisa Ferguson (5th, 80)
GAMES STARTED: Cristin Vitek (2nd, 109); Lisa Ferguson (6th, 50)
RELIEF APPEARANCES: Cristin Vitek (1st, 53); Lisa Ferguson (5th, 30)
WINS: Cristin Vitek (2nd, 73); Lisa Ferguson (4th, 33)
LOSSES: Cristin Vitek (3rd, 37); Lisa Ferguson (6th, 12)
DECISIONS: Cristin Vitek (2nd, 110); Lisa Ferguson (5th, 46)
COMPLETE GAMES: Cristin Vitek (3rd, 46); Lisa Ferguson (5th, 20)
SHUTOUTS: Cristin Vitek (3rd, 18); Lisa Ferguson (4th, 10)
SAVES: Cristin Vitek (3rd, 9); Lisa Ferguson (1st, 11); Tessa Lynam (6th, 3); Nicole Jackson (t-8th, 1)
INNINGS PITCHED: Cristin Vitek (2nd, 728.2); Lisa Ferguson (5th, 334.1)
STRIKEOUTS: Cristin Vitek (1st, 754); Lisa Ferguson (5th, 234); Tessa Lynam (8th, 79)
UP NEXT...
Should Baylor advance out of the Auburn Sub-Regional, the Lady Bears will face the winner of the Fresno State Regional in a best-of-three series beginning on Friday, May 27.
