April 18, 2006
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#19 BAYLOR (28-17, 7-5) TRAVELS TO #15 TEXAS A&M (30-12, 9-3)
APRIL 19, 2006 - 6:30 PM
AGGIE SOFTBALL COMPLEX
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS
THE SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19
Baylor at Texas A&M, 6:30 p.m.
THE SERIES
TEXAS A&M LEADS 39-13-1
Waco: Texas A&M leads 15-7
College Station, Texas: Texas A&M leads 16-3-1
Neutral: Texas A&M leads 8-3
Since 1996: Texas A&M leads 14-12-1
Current Streak: Texas A&M won 1
Baylor W-L Last 10: 4-6
LIVE COVERAGE
Radio: KRZI-1580 AM
Live Audio: www.BaylorBears.com
Live Video: None
Live Stats: www.BaylorBears.com
Television: None
The No. 19 Baylor softball team returns to action this week when the Lady Bears continue a five-game Big 12 Conference road swing, travelling to College Station, Texas, to face No. 15 Texas A&M on Wednesday, April 19, at 6:30 p.m.
Baylor enters the key contest tied for third in the Big 12 Conference after Nebraska lost to Iowa State on Tuesday. The Lady Bears split at Nebraska last weekend and enter the game with the Aggies with a 7-3 record in their last 10 games.
Chelsi Lake leads the way for Baylor as the junior leads the team with 16 home runs and 47 RBI while batting an impressive .386 on the season. Big 12 Conference Player of the Week Kelly Osburn has also carried a hot bat for the Lady Bears as the senior recently became the first player in Big 12 history to surpass 200 hits, 150 runs scored, 30 home runs, 40 doubles, 100 RBI, 100 walks and 75 stolen bases for her career.
Lisa Ferguson leads the way for Baylor in the circle as the junior has posted a 15-11 record with a 1.54 ERA on the season.
Texas A&M, led by reigning Big 12 Conference Player of the Year Amanda Scarborough, enters the contest in second place in the conference after splitting a weekend series at Iowa State.
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M (30-12, 9-3)
Texas A&M enters the single game against the Lady Bears in second place in the Big 12 Conference after splitting a weekend series with Iowa State.
The Aggies are looking for the season sweep of Baylor after defeating the Lady Bears 4-3 in eight innings earlier this season in Waco. Texas A&M holds a commanding 39-13-1 advantage in the series as Baylor has not won at College Station since a 3-0 victory on April 17, 2002.
Third baseman, Jamie Hinshaw's eight-game hitting streak has her leading the Aggie batters with a .333 average. She has six doubles, two triples, five home runs and 24 RBI on the season. Hinshaw is currently leading the Big 12 with the most hits in conference play.
In the circle, Megan Gibson (14-4) has a 2.66 ERA. Gibson has logged 118.1 innings of work. She's struck out 84 batters this season while allowing 31 free passes.
LAST TIME VERSUS TEXAS A&M: AGGIES COME AWAY WITH EXTRA INNINGS WIN
The No. 19 Baylor softball team fought hard; however, came up just short in a wild start to the Big 12 Conference season as the Lady Bears fell to No. 15 Texas A&M, 4-3, in eight innings.
Baylor got on the board first with a run in the second inning as Miriam Romero's double down the left field line scored Ashley Monceaux to give the Lady Bears the early 1-0 lead.
With Texas A&M holding a 2-1 lead heading into Baylor's final at-bat, Kelly Osburn came to the plate to lead-off the bottom of the seventh inning. The senior responded by blasting a solo home run over the right-center field wall, her fifth of the season and 28th of her career, as the Lady Bears tied the game at 2-2.
After Texas A&M scored two runs in the eighth to make the score 4-2, Baylor refused to go quietly as Tessa Lynam led off the bottom of the inning with her fifth home run of the season over the left field wall to cut the lead to one.
With runners at first and second, Osburn stepped up to the plate and smashed a 3-2 pitch down the first base line; however, Texas A&M first baseman Megan Gibson made a tremendous back-handed catch to give the Aggies the win and send the Lady Bears to the hard fought loss.
LADY BEARS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF CLUTCH HITTING
With a 28-17 record 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 225 runs scored by Baylor so far this season, 84 (37 percent) have come on two-out RBI hits.
Freshman Brette Reagan leads the team with 20 RBI with two outs as the tandem is currently leading a Baylor team that is hitting .277 (103-of-372) on the year with two outs while opponents are only hitting .227 (85-of-375) in the same situation.
Kelly Osburn ACCOMPLISHES BIG 12 FIRST
With a walk against Nebraska, senior outfielder Kelly Osburn became the first player in Big 12 history to surpass 200 hits, 150 runs scored, 30 home runs, 40 doubles, 100 RBI, 100 walks and 75 stolen bases for her career.
For her career, the senior has posted 211 hits, 152 runs scored, 34 home runs, 41 doubles, 100 RBI, 100 walks and 75 stolen bases as she helped lead Baylor to consecutive NCAA Softball Championship appearances. A two-time all-Big 12 Conference selection, Osburn is Baylor's career leader in five categories.
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 225 after collecting a pair of hits in the series split of Nebraska.
Schwethelm ranks second on Baylor's career hits list and is now 23 hits shy of breaking the Baylor career record of 247 held by Naomi Fitzgerald (1998-2001).
Senior Kelly Osburn also joined Schwethelm in the 200-hit club after collecting five in the sweep of Sam Houston State. The senior left fielder now has 211 for her career.
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 95 stolen bases in 110 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 .864 to rank second on the Baylor career charts.
CHELSI LAKE BREAKS CAREER RBI MARK
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 week, Lake has recorded 129 RBI during her two-plus year career.
Senior Kelly Osburn recently became the third player in school history to surpass the 100-RBI plateau as the outfielder's seventh-inning home run against Nebraska gave her 100 RBI for her career.
BAYLOR SOFTBALL IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
After splitting a weekend series against Nebraska, 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. 19 ranking in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25.
Baylor is one of five Big 12 Conference schools ranked in the current polls as Texas (No. 2 ESPN.com/No. 2 USA Today), Texas A&M (No. 16, No. 17), Oklahoma (No. 19, No. 21) and Nebraska (No. 15, No.15) join Baylor in the rankings.
Baylor's appearance in both polls marks the 36th consecutive week the Lady Bears have appeared in the NFCA Top 25 and the 36th 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.
Chelsi Lake SETS SINGLE SEASON HOME RUN MARK
With a pair of home runs in the series split against Nebraska, junior Chelsi Lake broke the Baylor, single-season home run mark as the catcher blasted her 15th and 16th home runs of the season. Lake broke the record she had set last year after hitting 15 round-trippers during the 2005 campaign.
Lake, who ranks second on the career list with 32 home runs, is only three home runs shy of teammate Kelly Osburn (34) from establishing a new career mark.
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, 152); Harmony Schwethelm (2nd, 130)
HITS: Harmony Schwethelm (2nd, 225); Kelly Osburn 5th, 211)
MULTIPLE-HIT GAMES: Harmony Schwethelm (2nd, 62); Kelly Osburn (6th, 50)
DOUBLES: Kelly Osburn (1st, 41); Chelsi Lake (3rd, 33); Tessa Lynam (t-8th, 25)
TRIPLES: Harmony Schwethelm (t-3rd, 8); Kelly Osburn (t-5th, 7); Chelsi Lake (t-10th, 4)
HOME RUNS: Kelly Osburn (1st, 34); Chelsi Lake (2nd, 32); Tessa Lynam (t-3rd, 22)
RBI: Chelsi Lake (1st, 129); Kelly Osburn (3rd, 100); Tessa Lynam (6th, 82)
TOTAL BASES: Kelly Osburn (1st, 368); Harmony Schwethelm (5th, 263); Chelsi Lake (t-3rd, 292)
WALKS: Kelly Osburn (1st, 100)
HIT BY PITCH: Kelly Osburn (2nd, 21); Kylie Conroy (t-6th, 10)
SACRIFICE FLIES: Kelly Osburn (t-8th; 3); Chelsi Lake (t-6th, 4); Tessa Lynam (t-8th, 3)
SACRIFICE HITS: Harmony Schwethelm (6th, 25)
STOLEN BASES: Harmony Schwethelm (1st, 95); Kelly Osburn (3rd, 75)
STOLEN BASE ATTEMPTS: Harmony Schwethelm (2nd, 110); Kelly Osburn (3rd, 91)
PITCHING RECORDS
APPEARANCES: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 116); Tessa Lynam (8th, 40); Nicole Jackson (10th, 24)
GAMES STARTED: Lisa Ferguson (5th, 77); Tessa Lynam (8th, 14)
RELIEF APPEARANCES: Lisa Ferguson (2nd, 39); Tessa Lynam (5th, 26); Nicole Jackson (6th, 25)
WINS: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 51); Tessa Lynam (8th, 15)
LOSSES: Lisa Ferguson (5th, 25); Tessa Lynam (t-9th, 4)
DECISIONS: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 76); Tessa Lynam (8th, 19)
COMPLETE GAMES: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 40); Tessa Lynam (10th, 4)
SHUTOUTS: Lisa Ferguson (t-3rd, 18); Tessa Lynam (t-9th, 1)
SAVES: Lisa Ferguson (1st, 14); Tessa Lynam (t-5th, 4); Nicole Jackson (t-8th, 1); Sarah Hausner (t-8th, 1)
INNINGS PITCHED: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 512.0); Tessa Lynam (8th, 115.2)
STRIKEOUTS: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 375); Tessa Lynam (8th, 102)
Kelly Osburn BREAKS TRIO 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 152 runs.
In addition, in the 7-0 win over Missouri, Osburn hit two doubles to push her career total to 39, breaking the career record of 38 previously held by Sarah Caudle (2000-2003).
The records are just one of several where Osburn will hold the career lead once her career is over. Already Baylor's career leader in home runs (34), walks (100), runs scored (152), total bases (368) and doubles (41) and ranks fourth in triples (7) and third in stolen bases (75).
OSBURN NAMED BIG 12 CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Baylor softball senior outfielder Kelly Osburn was named Big 12 Conference Player of the Week the conference office announced Tuesday. The selection is Osburn's second of her career and marked the second consecutive week a Baylor player has been chosen for the award after Chelsi Lake earned the honor last week.
Osburn compiled a .563 batting average along with three home runs, while driving in a team-high seven runs as she led Baylor to a 3-2 record this past week, including a pair of wins over nationally-ranked opponents. The Missouri City, Texas, native went 9-for-16 on the week and scored six runs as she posted 19 total bases and recorded a 1.188 slugging percentage. Osburn led the team with a .632 on-base percentage and was 2-for-2 in stolen bases.
Against No. 19 Oklahoma, Osburn went 2-for-4 with two homers and four RBI as she tied a Baylor single-game record for most home runs in a game.
UP NEXT...
Baylor returns to action for a non-conference twin-bill when the Lady Bears host Nicholls State in a doubleheader on Thursday, April 20, beginning at 4:00 p.m.
