May 10, 2007
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2007 BAYLOR SOFTBALL
#5 BAYLOR (45-12) TRAVELS TO THE 2007 BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
MAY 11-12, 2007
ASA HALL OF FAME STADIUM
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA.
THE SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, MAY 11
No. 8 Texas Tech/No. 9 Oklahoma State vs. No. 1 Baylor, 1:30 p.m.
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2007 BIG 12 CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
THURSDAY, MAY 10
Game 1 - No. 7 Kansas vs. No. 10 Iowa State, 5 p.m.
Game 2 - No. 8 Texas Tech vs. No. 9 Oklahoma State - Field 4, 5 p.m.
FRIDAY, MAY 11
Game 3 - No. 2 Oklahoma vs. Game 1 Winner, 11 a.m.
Game 4 - No. 3 Missouri vs. No. 6 Texas - Field 4, 11:30 a.m.
Game 5 - No. 1 Baylor vs. Game 2 Winner, 1:30 p.m.
Game 6 - No. 4 Texas A&M vs. No. 5 Nebraska - Field 4, 2 p.m.
Game 7 - Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner [FSN], 4:30 p.m.
Game 8 - Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY, MAY 12
Game 9 - Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner [FSN] 3 p.m.
Championship Game
BAYLOR AT THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
All-time Big 12 Championship Record: 9-18
vs. Iowa State: 1-1
vs. Kansas: 0-3
vs. Missouri: 2-3
vs. Nebraska: 0-3
vs. Oklahoma: 0-3
vs. Oklahoma State: 1-1
vs. Texas: 1-0
vs. Texas A&M: 3-3
vs. Texas Tech: 1-1
LIVE COVERAGE
Radio: ESPN Radio 1660 AM (Game One)
KYCX 104.9 FM (Games two and three, if applicable)
Available in stadium at 88.5 FM
Live Video: None
Live Audio: www.BaylorBears.com
Live Stats: www.BaylorBears.com
Television: Fox Sports Net (Sat. only)
Fresh off the first Big 12 regular-season softball championship in school history, the No. 5 Baylor softball team will return to action this week at the Big 12 Championship as the Lady Bears enter the single-elimination tournament as the No. 1 overall seed and will face No. 8 Texas Tech or No. 9 Oklahoma State on Friday, May 11, at 1:30 p.m. at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla.
The Red Raiders and Cowgirls will square off in a play-in game on Thursday, May 10, at 5:00 p.m. to determine which team advances to face the top-seeded Lady Bears on Friday.
For the first time in Big 12 history, the championship will be a three-day, single-elimination event. Should the Lady Bears win their quarterfinal contest, Baylor would face the winner of No. 4 Texas A&M and No. 5 Nebraska at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, May 11.
Baylor (45-12, 14-3) compiled a school-record 14 conference wins this season as the Lady Bears clinched the Big 12 title with a thrilling, 5-4, win over Texas A&M on Sunday. In other action in the opening rounds of the championship, No. 7 Kansas will meet No. 10 Iowa State at 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 10 while the Red Raiders and Cowgirls meet at the same time in the other play-in game. On Friday, No. 2 Oklahoma will face the winner of the Iowa State-Kansas contest at 11 a.m. while No. 3 Missouri will take on No. 6 Texas at 11:30 a.m.
Following the two play-in games on Thursday, May 10, the Lady Bears will be presented with the championship trophy as the conference will announce the 2007 All-Big 12 Conference selections as voted on by the league coaches.
BAYLOR AT THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
Baylor enters the 2007 Big 12 Championship as the No. 1 overall seed; however, the Lady Bears are just 9-18 all time at the tournament after going 0-2 at the championship last season, falling to eventual tournament champion Kansas before being eliminated by Nebraska.
For the first time this season, the Big 12 Conference Championship will be a single-elimination tournament. The winner of a play-in game between No. 8 Oklahoma State and No. 9 Texas Tech will determine which team advances to face the top-seeded Lady Bears.
Baylor is 2-2 all-time against its possible quarterfinal opponents as the Lady Bears have split two contests with the Red Raiders and the Cowgirls. The Lady Bears last faced Oklahoma State at the post-season tournament in 2003, when the Cowgirls claimed an 8-0 victory over Baylor. The last meeting between Texas Tech and Baylor at the championship occurred in 2001 when the Red Raiders also claimed an 8-0 win over the Lady Bears.
LISA FERGUSON BREAKS BAYLOR CAREER VICTORY MARK
With a win against Texas State, Baylor senior Lisa Ferguson broke the Baylor career win mark as the right-hander now owns a career record of 77-36 in three-plus seasons. With the victory against the Bobcats, Ferguson broke Stacey Allison's (1996-99) career mark of 75 wins for the most career wins in Baylor softball history. Ferguson is starting to rewrite the Baylor record book as the senior owns the career lead in saves (19) and victories (75) and ranks in the top three in 10 career categories.
The senior has been a force in the circle this year, posting a 21-7 record and 2.06 ERA on the year.
THE BAYLOR JETS
Over the last few seasons, Baylor has always been known for its speed. This year is no different as the Lady Bears head into the contest with the Tigers leading the Big 12 Conference with 131 stolen bases in 153 attempts.
This season, Baylor speed and conditioning coach Brandon Marcello and the Lady Bears coaching staff have created a club called "The Baylor Jets" to honor the speedsters in the Baylor line-up.
Starting this year; while recognizing speedsters from the past, "The Baylor Jets' is an elite club for the fastest players to come through the Baylor softball program. Starting in 2007, each time a player "earns their wings," the player will get a sticker of a jet to go on the back of their batting helmet.
In order to "earn their wings," a player must meet the following criteria: post a time of 2.78 second from home-to-first, record a combination of at least 25 stolen bases and infield singles throughout the year and have a shuttle time average of 62 seconds or less with one time less than 60 seconds.
With the above criteria in mind, Miriam Romero, Tiffany Wesley and Nicole Wesley have all "earned their wings" for the 2007 season and will play the rest of the year with a sticker of a jet on the back of their helmet. Former jets in the Baylor program include Kelly Levesque, Carrie Leerberg, Kim Wilmoth and Harmony Schwethelm.
BAYLOR STREAKING
Baylor enters the championship as one of the hottest teams in the country, winning 18-of-21 contests dating back to the team's trip to the Bank of Hawai'i Invitational. During the hot streak, which included a 13-game winning streak, the Baylor offense has hit at an impressive .311 clip while the pitching staff has been dominant in the circle, posting a 19-3 record and 1.96 ERA while holding opponents to a .210 average.
Brette Reagan has led the attack during the streak, posting a .410 batting average with seven home runs and 25 RBI. Ashley Monceaux has also been hot at the plate, posting a .358 average with seven home runs and 21 RBI. During the streak, five players are currently batting .300 or higher as five players have scored at least 10 runs in the last 21 games.
In the circle, Kirsten Shortridge has led the way during the streak as the freshman has posted a perfect 8-0 record with a 1.52 ERA while holding opponents to an impressive .183 batting average against.
SCOUTING TEXAS TECH AND OKLAHOMA STATE
Baylor will meet either Texas Tech or Oklahoma State in its quarterfinal contest on Friday. The Lady Bears are a perfect 3-0 on the season as the Lady Bears claimed a 14-9 victory over the Red Raiders in Lubbock this year while sweeping Oklahoma State by the scores of 4-3 and 11-3 earlier this season in Waco.
The No. 8 seed, Texas Tech, enters the weekend as winners of three straight after claiming a win at Texas A&M and sweeping Oklahoma State to end the regular season. Ashly Jacobs and Sarah Losleben (junior, RHP, 7-11) lead the pitching staff as Jacobs enters the tournament with a 14-4 record and 2.96 ERA while Losleben enters with a 7-11 mark and 4.03 ERA on the year.
Ashley Parker leads the offense with a .376 batting average and 38 runs scored on the season. Texas Tech is led by head coach Teresa Wilson, who enters the tournament with 799 career victories.
Oklahoma State enters as the No. 9 overall seed after posting a conference record of 3-15 on the year. The Cowgirls enter the weekend as losers of six straight after the Red Raiders swept the team last weekend. The Cowgirls are led by catcher Courtney Totte, who leads the team with an impressive .404 batting average, 14 home runs and 70 RBI. Jessica Hoppock leads the way for Oklahoma State in the circle, posting a 13-17 record and 3.51 ERA in 175.1 innings of work.
CHELSI LAKE MAKING HER MARK ON CAREER CHARTS
With a home run at the Bank of Hawai'i Invitational, Chelsi Lake moved into first place, surpassing former Baylor star Kelly Osburn (2003-06), in the Baylor career home run category. Lake has now hit 42 career home runs as the senior already holds the Baylor single-season home run mark with 18 round-trippers in 2006.
The career milestone is just one of a number of Baylor marks Lake has passed during the 2007 campaign as the senior already holds the Lady Bears career record with 175 RBI. In addition, Lake just surpassed Osburn's career total bases mark of 395 as she now has 398 for her career and recently broke Osburn's career doubles mark of 43 with a double in the victory over Oklahoma State.
Ashley Monceaux AND BAYLOR CONTINUE TO PRODUCE
Over the past few years, the Baylor offense has had tremendous success at the plate and this year has been no different. So far this season, Baylor has posted a .319 batting average on the year and currently ranks second in the league and 11th in the country in the category. In addition, the Lady Bears have hit 52 home runs on the season and have posted an impressive .476slugging percentage.
Leading the way for Baylor has been senior Ashley Monceaux. Monceaux leads the Lady Bears with a .405 batting average, 16 home runs and 58 RBI. The senior first baseman has posted an almost unbelievable .791 slugging percentage and 129 total bases as she ranks among the top ten in the conference in eight different categories.
As a team, Baylor currently features seven players batting over .300 on the season, including freshman Kirsten Shortridge (.362) and Nicole Wesley (.322).
BAYLOR SOFTBALL IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
The Baylor softball team is currently ranked No. 5 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll. In addition, Baylor earned a No. 8 ranking in the latest USA Today/NFCA Top 25. The No. 5 ranking is the highest for Baylor in school history.
Baylor is one of five Big 12 Conference school ranked in both polls as Texas A&M (No. 7, No. 8), Oklahoma (No. 2, No. 3), Missouri (No. 18, RV) and Texas (No. 23, No. 18) join the Lady Bears in the polls.
Alabama has moved to No. 1 in the rankings in both polls.
Baylor's appearance in both polls marks the 55th consecutive week the Lady Bears have appeared in the NFCA Top 25 and the 54th 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. Within the Big 12 Conference, only Texas A&M and Oklahoma have currently appeared in the national polls for more consecutive weeks.
BAYLOR LADY BEARS IN THE CAREER CHARTS
Several Lady Bears are aiming to continue making their way up the career charts in 2007. Below is a list of Lady Bears who currently rank in the top ten in one of the career categories:
BATTING RECORDS
RUNS: Chelsi Lake (100, 7th)
HITS: Chelsi Lake (218, 4th)
MULTIPLE-HIT GAMES: Chelsi Lake (55, 5th)
DOUBLES: Chelsi Lake (46, 1st)
TRIPLES: Chelsi Lake (t-10th, 4)
HOME RUNS: Chelsi Lake (1st, 42); Ashley Monceaux (4th, 24); Brette Reagan (t-5th, 22)
TOTAL BASES: Chelsi Lake (398, 1st)
SACRIFICE FLIES: Chelsi Lake (t-1st, 9)
PITCHING RECORDS
APPEARANCES: Lisa Ferguson (1st, 166); Ashley Monceaux (10th, 29); Kirsten Shortridge (10th, 29)
GAMES STARTED: Lisa Ferguson (2nd, 113); Kirsten Shortridge (8th, 22)
RELIEF APPEARANCES: Lisa Ferguson (t-1st, 53)
WINS: Lisa Ferguson (1st, 77); Kirsten Shortridge (8th, 16)
LOSSES: Lisa Ferguson (5th, 36); Brittany Turner (t-8th, 5)
DECISIONS: Lisa Ferguson (2nd, 113)
COMPLETE GAMES: Lisa Ferguson (2nd, 59)
SHUTOUTS: Lisa Ferguson (2nd, 27)
SAVES: Lisa Ferguson (1st, 19)
INNINGS PITCHED: Lisa Ferguson (2nd, 754.2); Kirsten Shortridge (8th, 147.0); Ashley Monceaux (10th, 103.1)
STRIKEOUTS: Lisa Ferguson (3rd, 576); Ashley Monceaux (10th, 76); Kirsten Shortridge (9th, 110)
UP NEXT...
Baylor will learn its seed and opponents for the 2007 NCAA Softball Championships on Sunday, May 13, between 2:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. as the selections are announced on ESPNews.
