April 28, 2006
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#18 BAYLOR (34-17, 10-5) HOSTS IOWA STATE (23-23, 5-9)
APRIL 29, 2006 - 2:00 PM
APRIL 30, 2006 - 12:00 PM
GETTERMAN STADIUM
WACO, TEXAS
THE SCHEDULE
SATURDAY, APRIL 29
Iowa State at Baylor, 2:00 p.m.
SUNDAY, APRIL 30
Iowa State at Baylor, 12:00 p.m.
THE SERIES
SERIES TIED 8-8
Waco: Baylor leads 4-3
Ames, Iowa: Iowa State leads 4-2
Neutral: Baylor leads 2-1
Since 1996: Iowa State leads 8-7
Current Streak: Baylor won 1
Baylor W-L Last 10: 4-6
LIVE COVERAGE
Radio: KRZI 1580-AM
Live Audio: www.BaylorBears.com
Live Video: www.BaylorBears.com
Live Stats: www.BaylorBears.com
Television: None
Winners of six in a row, the No. 18 Baylor softball team hosts Iowa State in an important two-game, Big 12 Conference series beginning on Saturday, April 29, at 2:00 p.m. Game two of the series with the Cyclones is set for Sunday, April 30, at 12:00 p.m.
The series with the Cyclones marks the start of a race for second-place in the Big 12 Conference standings between the Lady Bears, Nebraska and Texas A&M over the final two weeks of the regular season.
The Huskers currently stand in second in the conference with a 10-4 record with Texas A&M only percentage points behind in the standings with an 11-5 mark. Baylor stands in third, only one-half game behind the Huskers and the Aggies. Should the teams finish in a tie in the standings, Baylor owns the tie-breaker against Texas A&M and Nebraska as the Lady Bears look to finish among the top-three in the conference for the first time in school history.
In order to do so; however, the Lady Bears will have to contend with an Iowa State team that has defeated three ranked teams in the past week and enter the series with a record of 23-23, 5-9 in Big 12 Conference play.
The series with the Cyclones is knotted at 8-8 after the teams split in Ames last season; however, the Lady Bears have won three of the last four meetings.
Sunday will serve as Senior Day for the Baylor softball team as Sarah Hausner, Tessa Lynam, Kelly Osburn and Harmony Schwethelm will be recognized prior to the contest.
SCOUTING IOWA STATE (23-23, 5-9)
Iowa State, which has split its last three Big 12 Conference series, enters the weekend after a split with Missouri last week. The Cyclones have defeated three ranked teams in the past two weeks as Iowa State claimed wins over No. 15 Texas A&M, No. 21 Oklahoma and No. 17 Nebraska.
The Cyclones are lead at the plate by Ashley Killeen, who leads the team with a .338 batting average, seven home runs and 40 RBI on the year. Katie Reichling has also had a good season for the Cyclones, hitting .323 on the season with six home runs and 29 RBI.
In the circle, Iowa State features Alyssa Ransom, who leads the team with a 12-13 record and 2.59 ERA in 145.2 innings of work this season. Amie Ford has also seen significant time in the circle for Iowa State, posting a 10-10 record and 2.60 ERA in 142.2 innings of work.
Baylor and Iowa State split the series last season as the Cyclones claimed game one in extra innings before the Lady Bears responded with an 11-3 win in game two.
LADY BEARS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF CLUTCH HITTING
With a 31-17 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 264 runs scored by Baylor so far this season, 96 (36 percent) have come on two-out RBI hits.
Freshman Brette Reagan leads the team with 22 RBI with two outs as the tandem is currently leading a Baylor team that is hitting .291 (120-of-419) on the year with two outs while opponents are only hitting .225 (95-of-422) 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 218 hits, 159 runs scored, 36 home runs, 43 doubles, 104 RBI, 104 walks and 77 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 228 after collecting a hit in the win over North Texas.
Schwethelm ranks second on Baylor's career hits list and is now 19 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 218 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 has reached 104 RBI for her career.
BAYLOR SOFTBALL IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
After going a perfect 5-0 this past week, 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. 18 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. 15, No. 17), Oklahoma (No. 23, No. 22) and Nebraska (No. 16, No.16) join Baylor in the rankings.
Baylor's appearance in both polls marks the 38th consecutive week the Lady Bears have appeared in the NFCA Top 25 and the 37th 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 five home runs shy of teammate Kelly Osburn (36) 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, 159); Harmony Schwethelm (2nd, 133); Tessa Lynam (10th, 80)
HITS: Harmony Schwethelm (2nd, 228); Kelly Osburn 5th, 218); Chelsi Lake (8th, 161)
MULTIPLE-HIT GAMES: Harmony Schwethelm (2nd, 62); Kelly Osburn (6th, 52); Chelsi Lake (7th, 51)
DOUBLES: Kelly Osburn (1st, 42); Chelsi Lake (3rd, 35); Tessa Lynam (t-7th, 26)
TRIPLES: Harmony Schwethelm (t-1st, 9); Kelly Osburn (t-5th, 7); Chelsi Lake (t-10th, 4)
HOME RUNS: Kelly Osburn (1st, 36); Chelsi Lake (2nd, 32); Tessa Lynam (3rd, 26)
RBI: Chelsi Lake (1st, 129); Kelly Osburn (2nd, 104); Tessa Lynam (5th, 92)
TOTAL BASES: Kelly Osburn (1st, 383); Harmony Schwethelm (5th, 271); Chelsi Lake (3rd, 300)
WALKS: Kelly Osburn (1st, 104)
HIT BY PITCH: Kelly Osburn (2nd, 23); 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, 77)
STOLEN BASE ATTEMPTS: Harmony Schwethelm (2nd, 110); Kelly Osburn (3rd, 93)
PITCHING RECORDS
APPEARANCES: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 119); Tessa Lynam (8th, 40); Nicole Jackson (10th, 29)
GAMES STARTED: Lisa Ferguson (5th, 80); Tessa Lynam (8th, 14)
RELIEF APPEARANCES: Lisa Ferguson (2nd, 39); Tessa Lynam (5th, 26); Nicole Jackson (5th, 26)
WINS: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 52); Tessa Lynam (8th, 15)
LOSSES: Lisa Ferguson (5th, 25); Tessa Lynam (t-9th, 4)
DECISIONS: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 77); Tessa Lynam (8th, 19)
COMPLETE GAMES: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 41); Tessa Lynam (10th, 4)
SHUTOUTS: Lisa Ferguson (t-3rd, 19); Tessa Lynam (t-9th, 1)
SAVES: Lisa Ferguson (1st, 15); Tessa Lynam (t-5th, 4); Nicole Jackson (t-8th, 1); Sarah Hausner (t-8th, 1)
INNINGS PITCHED: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 524.1); Tessa Lynam (8th, 115.2)
STRIKEOUTS: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 381); 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 156 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 (36), walks (104), runs scored (159), total bases (383) and doubles (43) , Osburn ranks fourth in triples (7) and third in stolen bases (77).
UP NEXT...
Baylor concludes the regular season when the Lady Bears host No. 2 Texas on Wednesday, May 3, at 6:30 p.m.
