SB Faces No. 12 Oregon in Home Opener

BAYLOR (5-0) vs. OREGON (5-0)

Friday, Feb. 18 • vs. Oregon (DH 1) • Waco, Texas | Getterman Stadium • Radio: 101.3 FM • TV: Big 12 Now ESPN+
Friday, Feb. 18 • vs. Oregon (DH 2) • Waco, Texas | Getterman Stadium • Radio: 101.3 FM • TV: Big 12 Now ESPN+
Saturday, Feb. 19 • vs. Oregon • Waco, Texas | Getterman Stadium • Radio: 101.3 FM • TV: Big 12 Now ESPN+

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Even after a 5-0 start, Glenn Moore's not sure if his Baylor softball team is ready for this weekend's three-game series at Getterman Stadium against 12^th-ranked Oregon (6-0).
            "But, I think it's time for it," said Moore, whose team overcame a 2-0 first-inning deficit to defeat SFA, 7-3, on Tuesday in Nacogdoches after winning four-straight at last weekend's Lady Demon Classic in Natchitoches, La.
            "I like the challenge," he said. "I set it up this way for a reason, so that we would hopefully get some wins under, build a little bit of confidence and grow some young players, some inexperienced players and see what our pitching looks like."
            A young Baylor squad that includes seven freshmen and four transfers will be tested by an Oregon team that returns seven starters and most of its pitching from last year's 40-17 NCAA region finalist.
            In Baylor's home-opening weekend, the Bears will face the Ducks in a doubleheader at 2:30 p.m. Friday and the series finale at noon Saturday.
            "It will be a big challenge for us, but we're ready," said sophomore second baseman Emily Hott, who's hitting .375 with a homer and three RBI. "Coach Moore has us prepared. We've got a good report on them. It's going to be a good test to see how our skills are going to match up against theirs."
            Hitting .323 as a team, Baylor's offense is led by sophomore center McKenzie Wilson, a sophomore transfer from Fresno State who's hitting .625 (10-for-18) with two doubles, two triples and a team-high six RBI.
            "Believe it or not, it has taken some time," said Wilson, who is also 4-for-4 on stolen bases. "Not playing for two years, it will do some stuff to you. Just getting reps, I'm seeing it like a beach ball right now."
            Among everyday starters, sophomore catcher Sydney Collazos is hitting .400 and sophomore third baseman/pitcher Aliyah Binford is hitting .333 and is 1-0 in the circle with a 0.90 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 10.0 innings.
            "We're going to face at least three pitchers that are better than any pitcher we've faced so far," Moore said. "I want to see how our offense adjusts to those pitchers, how our offense competes, how they react to maybe failure as well."
            While third-team All-American Brooke Yanez hasn't pitched yet, the Ducks are led in the circle by Makenna Kliethermes (3-0, 1.33 ERA, 29 strikeouts), Jordan Dail (2-0, 1.31) and Stevie Hansen (1-0, 2.21).
            "They have two lefties, and we have a team of lefty hitters, which is going to be a challenge," Moore said. "But, there are some schools in our conference that have the same thing, so it's good to see that early on. I think their strength is their pitching, but there are no slouches anywhere in their game."
            Having already scored in double figures twice in six games, Oregon is hitting .355 as a team with five home runs and 14 doubles. The Ducks have seven hitters batting over .300, including returning All-Pac-12 second baseman Allee Bunker (.375, 1 homer, 6 RBI, 4 stolen bases).
            Baylor's pitching staff is led by Binford and Dariana Orme, a Fresno State transfer who is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings. Freshman Kaci West also tossed a complete-game one-hitter with six strikeouts and two walks in Sunday's 10-0 run-rule victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
            "Dari has phenomenal speed. She hit 74 mph over the weekend. We've never had a pitcher throw that hard," Moore said. "And then bringing in Aliyah Binford after that, who can throw in the upper-60s, but mixes her speeds from 63- to 67. That's a good combination right there that you don't see often."

STORY LINES

Baylor Softball is set to host No. 12 Oregon in its home opener this weekend at Getterman Stadium. The Bears and Ducks will face off in a three-game series featuring a doubleheader Friday and a single game Saturday. This will mark Baylor's first matchup against a ranked opponent so far this season.
BU and Oregon have previously met 11 times, with Baylor leading the all-time record 6-5. These two teams last met in the 2017 WCWS where Oregon won, 7-4.
Both Baylor and Oregon have started their season 5-0, ahead of Oregon's Thursday night game at Texas State.
Baylor's perfect start to the season started at the Lady Demon Classic in Natchitoches, La and continued with a midweek matchup against Stephen F. Austin. This marks the Bears first perfect start to a season since 2018, when the Bears started the season 9-0. The Bears defeated UT Martin (8-6), tournament host Northwestern St. (5-0), Chattanooga (10-5), and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (10-0) at the Lady Demon Classic.
The Bears midweek matchup with the Lady Jacks, saw Baylor come from behind in an early 2-0 deficit in the first inning. The pitching combination of Dariana Orme and Aliyah Binford produced eight strikeouts. McKenzie Wilson shined at the plate going 3-for-3 and a home run away from hitting for the cycle.
Baylor is outscoring their opponents 40-14 so far this season.
After the first five games this season, Wilson is leading all of the Big 12 in batting average (.625), hits (10), triples (2), and stolen bases (4).
Two freshmen got starts at the Lady Demon Classic, as Rylie Bouvier started two games at third base and Kaci West was the starting pitcher in the matchup against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. West pitched a complete run-rule game only allowing one hit and striking out six. Bouvier recorded a hit and two walks in her outings with three assists.
Baylor currently has the Big 12 record for stolen bases in a game with six. Those stolen bases came in the matchup against Arkansas-Pine Bluff where Wilson and Hott each had three.
Five total freshmen saw playing time this past weekend, as well as Taylor Strain who did not play last season. Strain has started all five games in left field.
The same four starting batters have led off every game for the Bears so far this season, Emily Hott, McKenzie Wilson, Ana Watson and Aliyah Binford.
All four transfers and 20 of the teams 21 players have seen playing time to start the season.

SB Faces No. 12 Oregon in Home Opener

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Players Mentioned

Aliyah Binford

Sydney Collazos

Emily Hott

Dariana Orme

Taylor Strain

Ana Watson

Kaci West

McKenzie Wilson

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