April 3, 2009

The Baylor softball team (27-14, 3-3) returns home for a weekend conference series with Oklahoma State (27-9, 3-1) beginning Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and wrapping up Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

Baylor is 18-2 at home so far this season and is coming off a 2-2 road trip at North Texas and No. 12 Oklahoma.

Oklahoma State completes the back end of a nine-game road streak this week when the Cowgirls travel to Waco and College Station. The Cowgirls have lost three of their last five after winning 20 of their previous 22.

The weekend will match up two of the conferences best pitchers in Baylor's Whitney Canion (15-11, 1.72) and OSU's Anna Whiddon (13-5, 1.68).

Saturday's game will be "Power In Pink Day" as the Lady Bears will wear pink uniforms in support of breast cancer awareness. Their will also be a silent auction held over the weekend in which fans can bid for any of the 18 players' uniforms.

Live audio and video can be found by visiting www.baylorbears.com.

SCOUTING OKLAHOMA STATE
Oklahoma State completes the back end of a nine-game road streak this week when the Cowgirls travel to Waco and College Station. The Cowgirls are 3-2 so far during the road streak.. The Cowgirls have lost three of their last five after winning 20 of their previous 22.

BLANKING BOOMER
The Lady Bears 5-0 victory over Oklahoma on April 1 was the first shutout win for Baylor in the history of the series with the Sooners.

WALKER WOWING
Kayce Walker's batting average of .415 not only leads the Baylor, but is the highest batting average for a freshman in the Big 12.

LAST YEAR NOT THE NORM
Baylor has surpassed last season's win total of 23, as the Lady Bears have already totaled 27 wins in 2009. One key has been protecting home turf, as BU has 18 wins this season compared to just 11 in 2008.

TIFANY WESLEY BATTING RUNS IN
Junior Tiffany Wesley has a career high 16 RBI, surpassing last season's previous high mark of 10. The Baton Rouge, native, is also on a nine game hitting streak entering Tuesday's contests.

3 LIKES 2
Kayce Walker (No. 3) has found her niche at the two hole ever since being moved out of the leadoff spot on Feb. 21. The freshman has been hitting .476 with a two doubles, two triples, eight RBI and 12 stolen bases after hitting just .276 in 11 games as the leadoff.

NO-HITTER? No PrOBLEM
Whitney Canion has two no-hitters to her credit thus far in her freshman campaign. The lefty threw her first no-no on Feb. 28 against Rutgers and tossed the second on March 17 versus Prairie View A&M. Each game lasted just five innings.

REAGAn TEARS ACL
Three-time All-American, Brette Reagan, tore her ACL in the top of the third against No. 1 Washington on March 6. Reaganis scheduled to return to the lineup on April 10 at Iowa State.

COLYER SAVES BEST FOR LAST
Senior Alex Colyer is having her best season as a Lady Bear. Heading into 2009, Colyer was a career .281 hitter, but the first-year first baseman has come alive to hit .388 entering this weekend.

CANION'S STRIKEOUTS GRAND
Whitney Canion went over the 200 strikeout mark for the season on March 21 at Texas Tech, becoming the second Baylor player in history to do so. Cristin Vitek had 264 in 2004.

The freshman's 240 strikeouts lead the Big 12 by 94 over Rachel Zabriskie's 146. Entering the week, she was tied for fourth in the country for most strikeouts.

Canion already has 11 games of 10-plus strikeouts in her young career. The freshman sits two away from tying the school's all-time mark of 13 set by Cristin Vitek.

NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP
Baylor is a perfect 14-0 when leading after six innings. In addition, the Lady Bears are 10-0 when they score at least one run in the first inning.

CANION'S CANNON
Freshman left-hander Whitney Canion was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week for the third-straight time the league office announced Feb. 24. It marked the first time in Lady Bear softball history that a Baylor player has won the award in back-to-back weeks. Canion is the first freshman in league history and first since 2006 (Cat Osterman, Texas) to win pitcher honors in the first three weeks of the season.

BRING ON THE BEST
Head coach Glenn Moore knew what kind of non-conference schedule his team had in front of them entering 2009, but even he could not forese playing the No. 1 team six times. Baylor has played a team ranked No. 1 in the country six times so far in 2009, and holds a 1-5 mark. The Lady Bears have played at Florida, at Alabama and a neutral site game against Washington.

In addition, Baylor has played 15 games against ranked teams, going 3-12.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Lady Bears are 18-2 at home this season, surpassing the win total of 11 in 2008.