March 24, 2006
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#19 BAYLOR (18-13, 0-1) HOSTS TEXAS TECH (11-19, 0-0)
MARCH 25, 2006 - 2:00 PM
MARCH 26, 2006 - 1:00 PM
GETTERMAN STADIUM
WACO, TEXAS
THE SCHEDULE
SATURDAY, MARCH 25
Texas Tech at Baylor, 2:00 p.m.
SUNDAY, MARCH 26
Texas Tech at Baylor, 1:00 p.m.
THE SERIES
BAYLOR LEADS 27-7
Waco: Baylor leads 10-4
Lubbock, Texas: Baylor leads 9-2
Neutral: Baylor leads 8-1
Since 1996: Baylor leads 20-5
Current Streak: Baylor won 4
Baylor W-L Last 10: 8-2
LIVE COVERAGE
Radio: KRZI-1580 AM
Live Audio: www.BaylorBears.com
Live Video: www.BaylorBears.com
Live Stats: www.BaylorBears.com
Television: None
The No. 19 Baylor softball returns to action this weekend when the Lady Bears host Texas Tech in a two-game, Big 12 Conference series beginning on Saturday, March 25, at 2:00 p.m. The series concludes with a single game on Sunday, March 26, at 1:00 p.m.
Baylor (18-13, 0-1) is coming off a hard-fought loss at the hands of Texas A&M as the Lady Bears dropped a 4-3 decision in eight innings against the Aggies on Wednesday. The loss was the seventh straight for the Lady Bears, the longest losing streak for Baylor since an eight-game skid in 2003.
Texas Tech enters the weekend with a record of 11-19, but are winners of six of their last nine contests.
Baylor owns a 27-7 edge in the series and a 10-4 all-time record in games played in Waco. The Lady Bears have won four straight in the series after sweeping the Red Raiders last season in Lubbock.
Fans can purchase tickets to the weekend series by calling 1-800-BAYLOR-U or 254-710-1000. In addition, the weekend series will be available on KRZI 158-AM in the Waco area as well live, streaming audio and video on www.BaylorBears.com.
LAST TIME VERSUS TEXAS TECH: BAYLOR PICKS UP SWEEP OVER RED RAIDERS
The No. 7 Baylor softball team exploded for five runs in the first and four more in the second as the Lady Bears cruised to a 10-2 six-inning win over Texas Tech in action at Rocky Johnson Field.
Nicole Jackson picked up the win for Baylor, allowing only two hits and no runs in 3.2 innings of relief to improve to 3-0 on the season.
Kelly Tucker took the loss for Texas Tech, allowing five runs on three hits as she fell to 0-2 on the season.
Chelsi Lake and Harmony Schwethelm led the way with two-hits each in the victory as senior April Luce picked up three RBI in the victory.
The two-game series sweep on the road was the first for Baylor since the Lady Bears took two games at Missouri on April 6-7, 2002.
LADY BEARS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF CLUTCH HITTING
Off to an 18-13 start on the season, the Baylor softball team has taken advantage of clutch hitting in key situation as high percentage of the Lady Bears' runs have come with two outs in the inning. Of the 142 runs scored by Baylor so far this season, 64 (44 percent) have come on two-out RBI hits.
Freshman Brette Reagan leads the team with 17 RBI with two outs as the tandem is currently leading a Baylor team that is hitting .288 (77-of-267) on the year with two outs while opponents are only hitting .226 (57-of-252) in the same situation.
SCOUTING TEXAS TECH
The Red Raiders enter the weekend with a record of 11-19, but are winners of six of their last nine contests, during which time they have compiled a .328 team batting average.
Sophomore right fielder Whitney Riley brings a team-best and career-high nine game hitting streak to the series. For the season, Riley is hitting .333 to lead the team and has added 12 RBI on the year.
In the circle, Erin Crawford has seen the majority of the action for the Red Raiders. On the year, Crawford has posted a 6-8 record and 2.70 ERA in 93.1 innings of work. Crawford has struck out 77 batters on the year while holding opponents to a .254 average on the season.
Texas Tech has lost four straight in the series with the Red Raiders last victory against the Lady Bears coming on April 8, 2003, in Waco.
SCHWETHELM REACHES 200 CAREER HITS
With four hits in the double-header sweep of Texas State, Baylor outfielder Harmony Schwethelm became only the fifth player in school history to reach the 200-hit plateau for her career. Schwethelm has pushed her career total to 216 after collecting a hit in the loss against Texas A&M.
Schwethelm ranks third on Baylor's career hits list and is now 32 hits shy of breaking the Baylor career record of 247 held by Naomi Fitzgerald (1998-2001).
Senior Kelly Osburn is also closing in on the 200-hit mark as the outfielder is only seven hits shy of the milestone.
SCHWETHELM BREAKS CAREER STOLEN BASE RECORD
With a steal of second in the 6-5 win over No. 13 Washington, Harmony Schwethelm became Baylor's career stolen base leader, surpassing Kim Wilmoth (91, 2002-05) with 92 in her career. For her career, Schwethelm now has 93 stolen bases in 108 attempts as the senior closes in on 100 stolen bases for her career.
Schwethelm, who has only been caught stealing 15 times in her career, has a stolen base percentage of .861 to rank second on the Baylor career charts.
Chelsi Lake BREAKS RBI CAREER MILESTONE
With a RBI single to make the score 6-4 against No. 13 Washington, junior Chelsi Lake recorded the 102nd of her career as she became Baylor's career leader in the category, surpassing Sarah Caudle who drove in 101 runs from 2000-2003.
Earlier in the year, Lake became only the second player in school history to pass the career 100-RBI club as the junior will shatter the previous career record. Heading into this weekend, Lake has recorded 107 RBI during her two-plus year career.
Senior Kelly Osburn is also close to the RBI century mark as the senior has drove in 84 runs during her career and is 16 RBI shy from the milestone.
LADY BEARS PICKED THIRD IN BIG 12 CONFERENCE PRESEASON POLL
In a pre-season vote conducted by league coaches, the Baylor softball team has been picked to finish third in the Big 12 Conference the conference office announced Thursday. The third-place preseason prediction marks the highest the Lady Bears have appeared in the league preseason vote. Prior to the third-place selection, the highest the Lady Bears have been tabbed in the preseason poll was fourth, in 2003 and 2005.
Defending Big 12 Conference champion Texas A&M was picked to repeat as league champion while Texas was selected to finish second.
BAYLOR SOFTBALL IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
On a seven-game losing streak, the Lady Bears are ranked No. 19 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll released Tuesday. In addition, Baylor earned a No. 21 ranking in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25.
Baylor is one of five Big 12 Conference school ranked in the current polls as Texas (No. 4 ESPN.com/No. 4 USA Today), Texas A&M (No. 16, No. 15), Oklahoma (No. 15, No. 15) and Nebraska (No. 17, No. 20) join Baylor in the rankings.
UCLA, with a 26-1 record, claimed the top spot for the first time this season in both polls.
Baylor's appearance in both polls marks the 33rd consecutive week the Lady Bears have appeared in the NFCA Top 25 and the 32nd consecutive week the team has appeared in the USA Softball Top 25. The last time Baylor failed to appear in either poll was March 16, 2004.
BAYLOR LADY BEARS IN THE CAREER CHARTS
Several Lady Bears are aiming to continue making their way up the career charts in 2006. Below is a list of Lady Bears who currently rank in the top ten in one of the career categories:
BATTING RECORDS
RUNS: Kelly Osburn (1st, 139); Harmony Schwethelm (3rd, 121)
HITS: Harmony Schwethelm (3rd, 216); Kelly Osburn 6th, 193)
MULTIPLE-HIT GAMES: Harmony Schwethelm (2nd, 61); Kelly Osburn (6th, 45)
DOUBLES: Kelly Osburn (2nd, 37); Chelsi Lake (t-5th, 27); Tessa Lynam (t-9th, 24)
TRIPLES: Harmony Schwethelm (t-3rd, 8); Kelly Osburn (t-5th, 7); Chelsi Lake (t-10th, 4)
HOME RUNS: Kelly Osburn (1st, 28); Chelsi Lake (t-2nd, 22); Tessa Lynam (5th, 19)
RBI: Chelsi Lake (1st, 107); Kelly Osburn (5th, 84); Tessa Lynam (8th, 71)
TOTAL BASES: Kelly Osburn (1st, 328); Harmony Schwethelm (5th, 252); Chelsi Lake (7th, 236)
WALKS: Kelly Osburn (1st, 93)
HIT BY PITCH: Kelly Osburn (2nd, 20); Kylie Conroy (t-7th, 9)
SACRIFICE FLIES: Kelly Osburn (t-7th; 3); Chelsi Lake (t-7th, 3); Tessa Lynam (t-7th, 3)
SACRIFICE HITS: Harmony Schwethelm (6th, 25)
STOLEN BASES: Harmony Schwethelm (1st, 93); Kelly Osburn (3rd, 70)
STOLEN BASE ATTEMPTS: Harmony Schwethelm (2nd, 108); Kelly Osburn (3rd, 86)
PITCHING RECORDS
APPEARANCES: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 105); Tessa Lynam (8th, 40); Nicole Jackson (10th, 24)
GAMES STARTED: Lisa Ferguson (5th, 67); Tessa Lynam (8th, 14)
RELIEF APPEARANCES: Lisa Ferguson (t-3rd, 37); Tessa Lynam (6th, 25); Nicole Jackson (7th, 23)
WINS: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 45); Tessa Lynam (8th, 15)
LOSSES: Lisa Ferguson (6th, 17); Tessa Lynam (t-9th, 4)
DECISIONS: Lisa Ferguson (5th, 66); Tessa Lynam (8th, 19)
COMPLETE GAMES: Lisa Ferguson (5th, 32); Tessa Lynam (10th, 4)
SHUTOUTS: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 15); Tessa Lynam (t-9th, 1)
SAVES: Lisa Ferguson (1st, 13); Tessa Lynam (t-5th, 4); Nicole Jackson (t-8th, 1); Sarah Hausner (t-8th, 1)
INNINGS PITCHED: Lisa Ferguson (5th, 450.2); Tessa Lynam (8th, 111.1)
STRIKEOUTS: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 319); Tessa Lynam (8th, 101)
Kelly Osburn BREAKS PAIR OF CAREER RECORDS
With her solo home run to lead-off the game against Houston, Baylor senior Kelly Osburn pushed her career runs scored total to 129, breaking Michelle Sorrels (1996-99) career record of 128 runs scored. In three-plus seasons as a Lady Bear, Osburn has now scored 139 runs.
The record is just one of several where Osburn will hold the career lead once her career is over. Already Baylor's career leader in home runs (28), walks (93), runs scored (139) and total bases (328), the senior ranks second in doubles (37) and fourth in triples (7).
With a strong showing this week, Osburn could become Baylor's career leader in doubles as the senior left-fielder is currently one double shy of Caudle (38) for the career lead in the category.
UP NEXT...
Baylor continues Big 12 Conference play when the Lady Bears travel to Texas to take on the Longhorns on Wednesday, March 29, at 6:30 p.m.
