SB Heads West For Cathedral City Classic

Softball 2/24/2010 12:00:00 AM

Feb. 24, 2010

Friday, Feb. 26
Baylor vs. Utah, Noon
Baylor vs. San Diego State, 2:30 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 27
Baylor vs. Cal State Fullerton, 2:30 p.m.
Baylor vs. #3 UCLA, 5:00 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 28.
Baylor vs. #2 Arizona, 11:00 a.m.

- All times Central
- All games played at Big League Dreams Sports Park

The Series
Baylor vs. Utah: Baylor leads, 2-1
Baylor vs. San Diego State: Series tied, 2-2
Baylor vs. Cal State Fullerton: CSF leads, 3-2
Baylor vs. UCLA: UCLA leads, 2-0
Baylor vs. Arizona: Arizona leads, 11-2

Live Coverage
Radio: None
Live Audio (All games): www.BaylorBears.com
Live Stats: www.BaylorBears.com
Live Video: None

Rankings (NFCA, ESPN.com)
Baylor (6-4)- RV, RV
Utah (7-3)- NR, NR
San Diego State (7-3)- RV, RV
Cal State Fullerton (2-9)- RV, NR
UCLA (10-1)- 5, 3
Arizona (7-1)- 2, 2

The Baylor softball team (6-4) will head west for five games in three days, taking part in the Cathedral City Classic beginning Friday in Palm Springs.

The Lady Bears play two games against ranked teams and two others against teams receiving votes. Baylor will face Utah (7-3) at Noon and San Diego State (7-3) at 2:30 p.m. Friday, then take on Cal State Fullerton (2-9) at 2:30 p.m. and No. 3 UCLA (10-1) at 5:00 p.m.. Finally, BU will wrap up the tournament with No. 2 Arizona (7-1) at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday. All times are central.

All games can be heard live on baylorbears.com as Derek Smith and Kyle Cornish bring you all the action.

SCOUTING THE FIELD
Utah is 7-3 and led by Tia Paulani's four home runs, 15 RBI and .450 batting average. Ashley Smuda has been the workhorse in the circle, going 7-0 with a 1.74 ERA with 40 strikeouts in 44.1 innings.

San Diego State is coming off a 2-2 weekend at the Campbell/Cartier Classic. As a team, SDSU is batting .284 with redshirt senior Monica Alnes leading the offense with a .353 average and six RBI. Samantha Beasley leads the pitching staff with a 5-1 record and 0.99 ERA in 35 1/3 innings. She has 54 strikeouts and just six walks.

Cal State Fullerton (2-9) is on a seven game losing streak, batting just .183 as a team and recording a 6.74 ERA as a team.

No. 3 UCLA is 11-1 and has won nine-straight games. Megan Langenfeld is batting .586 with five home runs and 17 RBI to go with a 1.172 slugging percentage and a .700 on-base percentage. In the circle, the staff has a team ERA of 0.45 and are holding opposing teams to a .134 batting average.

No. 2 Arizona is coming off a split series with Missouri in Tuscon. The Wildcats are 7-1 overall and are hitting .302 as a team. The staff is led by freshman Kenzie Fowler, who is 5-0 with a 0.92 ERA. She has struck out 52 batters in 30.1 innings, allowing just nine hits.

GOING GOING, BACK BACK, TO CALI CALI
Baylor is returning to the Cathedral City Classic for the first time since 2008 and for the third time overall. The Lady Bears are 8-6 all-time in the tournament. The last time BU was there, they went 3-2, with the pair of losses coming to Arizona and UCLA, both of whom they play this season. WALKER GETS HER GROOVE BACK
Kayce Walker bounced back from a tough opening weekend that saw her go 2-for-21 (.095) with six strikeouts. For comparison, Walker struck out just eight times all of 2009. Last weekend at the QTI Getterman Classic, Walker went 12-for-18 (.667), stole five bases and currently has a five-game hitting streak. Walker set career highs for hits and stolen bases in a game with four and three, respectively, against Central Arkansas on Feb. 19.

Nicole Wesley HEATING €ˆUP
Nicole Wesley went 7-for-12 (.583) over the QTI Getterman weekend to raise her average from .143.

NIETEN WAS ALL SHE NEEDED
Maybe it was a change in the name, but Courtney Nieten (who was formerly Courtney Oberg and until her wedding in December) has busted out and swung a hot bat. She blasted two home runs and had eight RBI last weekend at the QTI Getterman Classic. In addition, she is a perfect 4-for-4 in RBI opportunities with runners on third and less than two outs, proving she can come through in the clutch.

VANNATTA BREAKS €ˆOUT
Jordan Vannatta came into the season with one home run and 13 RBI in her career, as well as a batting average of .179. She has busted out this season, hitting .407 with three homers and 11 RBI. In addition, she is slugging over .550 higher than her career average.

RARE BACK-TO-BACK BLASTS
On Feb. 13, Vannatta and Bree Hanafin hit back-to-back home runs, making it the first time it had happened since Feb. 9, 2007 when Kirsten Shortridge and Kelsey Sage hit a pair at home against Southern Miss.
But Baylor didn't have to wait long for it to happen again, as Vannatta and Nieten went back-to-back on Feb. 19 against Central Arkansas.

CANION'S SORE CANNON
Whitney Canion was forced to sit out of the QTI Getterman Classic with a minor stress reaction in her pitching arm. Her status is listed as day-to-day.

Tiffany Wesley HOLDS ERRORLESS STREAK
Senior left fielder Tiffany Wesley has gone 82-straight games without making an error (a program record), dating back to her last error on March 30, 2008 at Oklahoma State.

Print Friendly Version