March 7, 2006
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#18 BAYLOR (16-6) HOSTS HOUSTON (16-7)
MARCH 8, 2006 - 4:00 PM (DH)
GETTERMAN STADIUM
WACO, TEXAS
THE SERIES
Baylor leads 4-3
Waco: Baylor leads 2-0
Houston, Texas: Houston leads 2-1
Neutral: Baylor leads 1-0
Since 1996: Baylor leads 4-3
Current Streak: Houston won 2
Baylor W-L Last 10: 4-3
LIVE COVERAGE
Radio: None
Live Audio: www.BaylorBears.com
Live Stats: www.BaylorBears.com
Television: None
The No. 18 Baylor softball team closes out a 10-game home-stand on Wednesday, March 8, when the Lady Bears host Houston in a doubleheader beginning at 4:00 p.m.
Baylor enters the contest winners of 8-of-9 as the Lady Bears captured the 2006 Compass Bank Invitational title with a 5-1 record at the tournament. Chelsi Lake, Tessa Lynam and Lisa Ferguson each earned all-tournament honors as Baylor claimed the team title for the fourth time in the five year history of the event.
Houston enters the mid-week twin-bill with a record of 16-7 after finishing second at the Time Warner Texas Invitational tournament.
The Cougars and the Lady Bears have already met once this season as Houston claimed a 4-2 victory over Baylor at the Marriott Houston Hobby Invitational. In fact, Houston has won two straight against the Lady Bears; however, the Cougars have never won at Getterman Stadium. Overall, Baylor still holds a slight, 4-3 edge in the series.
Fans can listen to a live audio feed of the Baylor-Houston doubleheader by visiting www.BaylorBears.com; or, can purchase tickets by calling (254) 710-1000 or 1-800-BAYLOR-U.
LAST TIME VERSUS THE HOUSTON COUGARS
In the first meeting against Houston this season, the Lady Bears grabbed an early lead on Kelly Osburn's solo home run to lead off the game as Baylor went up 1-0.
The run scored by Osburn pushed her career total to 129 as the senior surpassed Michelle Sorrels (128, 1996-99) for Baylor's career lead in the category.
After Baylor was held scoreless the next two innings, Houston rallied for a run in the bottom of the third to tie the game when Jessica Valis scored on a wild pitch with two outs.
The Cougars then grabbed the lead in the fifth when four straight batters walked with one out as Houston grabbed a one run cushion.
Baylor rallied to tie the game in the sixth; however, as Osburn scored her second run of the game on a wild pitch by Candi Kloecker with two outs to make the score 2-2.
Houston managed to take the lead for good in the bottom of the inning when Elaina Nordstrom delivered a two-run, two-out single to make the score 4-2.
Baylor was unable to rally in the seventh as Kloecker picked up the win as Crystal Briscoe earned the save.
SCOUTING HOUSTON (16-7)
Houston enters the weekend after a strong showing at the Time Warner Texas Invitational, finishing in second-place at the tournament after falling to No. 4 Texas 3-2 in the championship game.
The Cougars defeated the Lady Bears earlier this season, 4-2, at the Marriiott Houston Hobby Invitational and has won two straight in the series against Baylor. The Lady Bears have never lost to Houston at Getterman Stadium; however, as Baylor claimed a doubleheader sweep of the Cougars, 4-3 and 2-0, the last time the two teams met in Waco.
Heading into the week, Houston is led at the plate by Jessica Valis who leads the team with a .382 average and 17 runs scored on the season. As a team, Houston is hitting .283 on the year as Laura Durham provides the pop in the line-up. leading the team with five home runs and 15 RBI on the season.
In the circle, Houston features Candi Kloecker who leads the team with a 6-2 record and 0.45 ERA. In 62.1 inning pitched this season, Kloecker has struck out 65 batters while holding opponents to a .142 batting average. Angel Shamblin is also off to a fast start for Houston as she holds a 5-3 record and 1.29 ERA in 48.2 innings of work.
QUICK NOTES
• Baylor is No. 20 in the latest USA Today/NFCA Top 25 and No. 18 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25.
• Baylor's appearance in both polls marks the 30th consecutive week the Lady Bears have appeared in the NFCA Top 25 and the 29th consecutive week the team has appeared in the USA Softball Top 25.
• Baylor is 131-5 over the past five seasons when scoring at least four runs.
• Baylor is 109-13 over the past four seasons when collecting at least eight hits.
• Baylor is 156-16 over the past five seasons when out-hitting its opponent.
• Baylor is 59-13 over the past two seasons at Getterman Stadium, including a 23-6 mark at home last season.
• Baylor's Chelsi Lake and Harmony Schwethelm were named to the ASA Softball National Player of the Year Preseason Watch List. The selection to the watch list marked the first time in school history Baylor players have been named to the preseason list.
• Baylor's Kelly Osburn and Lisa Ferguson successfully underwent off-season surgery and are available for the start of the 2006 season.
• Baylor's Harmony Schwethelm was one of 20 players in the country selected in the inaugural PFX Tour Draft and was also the 13th overall selection in the NPF Draft (Philadelphia Force).
Harmony 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. In the pair of wins over Texas State, Schwethelm has pushed her career total to 209 as she collected the milestone base hit with a single in the fifth inning in Baylor's 9-1 win over the Bobcats in game one.
Schwethelm ranks fifth on Baylor's career hits list and is now 39 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 14 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 an 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 Wednesday, Lake has recorded 106 RBI during her two-plus year career.
Senior Kelly Osburn is also close to the RBI century mark as the senior has drove in 82 runs during her career and is 18 RBI shy from the milestone.
GETTERMAN STADIUM KIND TO LADY BEARS
Baylor's home field of Getterman Stadium has been kind to the Lady Bears as BU owns a career 131-47 mark at the home park since the stadium opened in 1999. Last year, Baylor went 23-6 in the friendly confines of Getterman Stadium as no Lady Bears team has lost more than 10 games at home in a single season.
Baylor's best mark at home came during the 2004 campaign when the Lady Bears enjoyed a 26-4 record at home, including a 24-2 mark during the regular season.
In the stadium's five years of existence, attendance has steadily risen as Baylor set a pair of attendance records last season. Last season, Baylor averaged 652 fans a game, a new school record, as the Lady Bears set a single-game attendance record when 1,288 fans attended the BU-Texas A&M game on May 23, 2005. The Lady Bears ranked 11th nationally in average and total attendance last season as 12,384 fans saw Baylor play during the year.
BAYLOR SOFTBALL IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
After going 7-1 last week with a doubleheader sweep of Texas State and going 5-1 at the Compass Bank Invitational, the Lady Bears are ranked No. 18 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll released Tuesday. In addition, Baylor earned a No. 20 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. 3 ESPN.com/No. 2 USA Today), Texas A&M (No. 19, No. 14), Oklahoma (No. 14, No. 10) and Nebraska (No. 17, No. 17) join Baylor in the rankings.
Arizona, with a 20-1 record, claimed the top spot in both polls this week.
Baylor's appearance in both polls marks the 30th consecutive week the Lady Bears have appeared in the NFCA Top 25 and the 30th 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, 137); Harmony Schwethelm (3rd, 118)
HITS: Harmony Schwethelm (5th, 209); Kelly Osburn 6th, 186)
MULTIPLE-HIT GAMES: Harmony Schwethelm (2nd, 60); Kelly Osburn (6th, 44)
DOUBLES: Kelly Osburn (2nd, 37); Chelsi Lake (t-5th, 27); Tessa Lynam (10th, 23)
TRIPLES: Harmony Schwethelm (t-2nd, 8); Kelly Osburn (t-4th, 7); Chelsi Lake (t-10th, 4)
HOME RUNS: Kelly Osburn (1st, 27); Chelsi Lake (3rd, 21); Tessa Lynam (5th, 18)
RBI: Chelsi Lake (1st, 106); Kelly Osburn (5th, 82); Tessa Lynam (10th, 67)
TOTAL BASES: Kelly Osburn (1st, 318); Harmony Schwethelm (6th, 244); Chelsi Lake (7th, 223)
WALKS: Kelly Osburn (1st, 90)
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, 85)
PITCHING RECORDS
APPEARANCES: Lisa Ferguson (5th, 99); Tessa Lynam (8th, 37); Nicole Jackson (10th, 24)
GAMES STARTED: Lisa Ferguson (5th, 61); Tessa Lynam (8th, 14)
RELIEF APPEARANCES: Lisa Ferguson (t-3rd, 37); Tessa Lynam (t-7th, 23); Nicole Jackson (t-7th, 23)
WINS: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 44); Tessa Lynam (8th, 14)
LOSSES: Lisa Ferguson (6th, 16); Tessa Lynam (t-9th, 4)
DECISIONS: Lisa Ferguson (5th, 60); Tessa Lynam (8th, 18)
COMPLETE GAMES: Lisa Ferguson (5th, 27); Tessa Lynam (10th, 4)
SHUTOUTS: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 14); 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, 417.0); Tessa Lynam (8th, 109.2)
STRIKEOUTS: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 305); Tessa Lynam (8th, 96)
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 137 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 (27), walks (90), runs scored (137) and total bases (318), 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 opens up a tough five-game road swing when the Lady Bears travel to Tucson, Ariz., to face top-ranked Arizona for the start of a three-game series beginning on Friday, March 10, at 8:00 p.m.
