SB Heads to OKC for Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship

No. 5 BAYLOR (28-23, 6-12) at PHILLIPS 66 BIG 12 SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Thursday, May 12 • No. 4 Iowa State • 12PM CT • OKC|HOF Stadium • Radio: 101.3 FM • Watch: ESPNU
Friday, May 13 • No. 1 Oklahoma • 1PM CT • OKC|HOF Stadium • Radio: 101.3 FM • Watch: ESPNU
Saturday, May 14 • vs. TBD • 2PM CT • OKC|HOF Stadium • Radio: 101.3 FM • Watch: ESPN2

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Likely faced with a win-or-stay-home scenario at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, fifth-seeded Baylor softball (28-23) will face fourth-seeded Iowa State (27-26) at noon Thursday at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.
            "I don't think we can be outcome-oriented right now," Baylor coach Glenn Moore said. "We have to be right in the moment on every pitch."
            With the Big 12 tournament winner receiving the league's automatic bid, that's the Bears' best path to an NCAA regional. But, that means first getting through an Iowa State team that beat them twice just two weeks ago, setting up a semifinal matchup at 1 p.m. Friday against No. 1-ranked Oklahoma (48-1).
            "They're the better team player-for-player, with anybody in the country they are. So, it's not just us," said Moore, whose team was an out away from beating the Sooners before Tiare Jennings hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning for a 3-1 OU win on March 27.
            "We had them one out from winning a game. We can carry that confidence into a game that we have with them, if we get to that point. But again, we have to get to that point, and Iowa State has already taken two of three from us."
            Fresno State transfer Dariana Orme (12-14, 3.18 ERA) tossed a four-hit shutout in beating the Cyclones, 1-0, in the series opener at Getterman Stadium. But, Baylor scored just three runs combined in the three-game series, losing the next two by identical 6-1 scores.
            "I think because we did lose, and knowing that we shouldn't have, we do have that extra motivation to put it on them and show them that this is what we do," said Orme, who took both losses in last weekend's series against 10^th-ranked Texas. "You got a little lucky with the first one, we gave that to you, but now it's time to show you what we have."
            Iowa State scored five seventh-inning runs to overcome an early 1-0 deficit in Game 2, then Saya Swain (8-4, 4.45) and Ellie Spelhaug combined on a two-hitter in Sunday's series-clinching 6-1 win on Baylor's Senior Day.
            "Especially since we lost the series on Senior Day," said sophomore outfielder McKenzie Wilson, a Fresno State transfer who has hit .411 with a team-high 27 RBI and 26 stolen bases to earn first-team All-Big 12 honors. "I'm not a senior, but I know that playing your last game on Getterman, it kind of stings a little bit. So, we're kind of going out for revenge this game."
            While Orme has been Baylor's ace most of the season and earned second-team all-conference honors, Moore said he plans to start sophomore Aliyah Binford (9-6, 2.66) in Thursday's game against the Cyclones.
            Binford went the distance in Saturday's 17-3 blowout win over Texas, giving up just three runs on six hits and one walk with five strikeouts. The Bears had season highs for hits (16) and runs, exploding for 10 runs in the seventh.
            "It proved that our offense is more than capable of putting runs on the board," said Wilson, who went 2-for-3 with two walks and four runs scored in the game. "Unfortunately, it didn't transition to Sunday's game (6-0 loss). I wish we could kind of tack on runs from Saturday's game and put them on Sunday's game, but that's not how it works. For us, once we have that momentum, the key is to keep it going."
            Also a second-team All-Big 12 pick, Binford is hitting .318 with four homers, 14 doubles and 23 RBI. Kaci West and Taylor Strain were named to the All-Freshman Team, giving Baylor its most Big 12 honorees (5) since 2017.
            If the Bears get to Friday's game against OU, Wilson said they won't be intimidated by the "name across the chest."
            "I always say, we lace up the cleats the same way. We wake up and prepare for game day just about the same," Wilson said. "The only thing that's different is, yeah, they're Oklahoma, and they might have a small little No. 1 by their name. But, that's it."
            The Thursday and Friday games will be broadcast on ESPNU, with Saturday's 2 p.m. tournament final on ESPN2.
            In Thursday's other first-round games in the single-elimination tournament, second-seeded and seventh-ranked Oklahoma State (38-12) will play seventh-seeded Kansas (16-33) at 3 p.m., followed by third-seeded and 15^th-ranked Texas (37-16-1) versus sixth-seeded Texas Tech (22-26) at 6 p.m. Both games will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
            "Just get it done, I think that's where we're at right now," Orme said. "We've done some work on the field during conference, and now it's like we need to show what we can do, because I don't think we did that all the way throughout. We saw a spark of it against Texas. So, I think the getting-it-done mentality is what we're going to be holding on to."

STORY LINES
• Baylor softball heads north to Oklahoma City for the 2022 Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship this weekend. The fifth-seeded Bears will take on fourth-seeded Iowa State Thursday at noon on ESPNU. The winner of Thursday afternoons game will then take on top-seeded Oklahoma Friday at 1 p.m. in the tournament semifinals.
• Baylor is 13-29 in the Big 12 tournament. Against current conference foes, BU is 7-19. The Bears are 2-2 against Iowa State in the tournament (L 3-6 in 2000, L 4-6 in 2008, W 15-4 in 2010, W 4-0 in 2017).
• The Bears are returning to the Big 12 conference tournament after losing three-straight in Oklahoma City during the 2021 season. The last time Baylor advanced to the Big 12 title game was in 2018 when they fell to top seeded Oklahoma 6-4.
• McKenzie Wilson was named to the All-Big 12 First Team on Wednesday afternoon. This marks the first Bear placed on the first team since the 2018 season. Wilson who has become a staple in the top of the lineup with her .608 percentage reached as a leadoff batter, was the only Bear placed on the first team.
• Also picking up award this week were Aliyah Binford and Dariana Orme who were both placed on the All-Big 12 Second Team. Both dominant pitchers in the circle, Orme leads the team in strikeouts and innings pitched, while Binford works as a three-way player for the Bears leading the team in homeruns and doubles.
• Freshman Kaci West and Taylor Strain were both placed on the All-Big 12 Freshman Team as well, marking the first time a Bear has been on the All-Freshman team since 2017. West and Strain both add an offensive spark to the lineup as well as defensive talents in their various positions this season.
• Baylor as a team is third in the conference in team pitching and fourth in team batting. BU is also leading the league in sacrifice bunts (22).
• The Bears broke the Texas record books last weekend as they defeated No. 14 Texas 17-3 in the second game of the series. Baylor's 17 runs are the most Texas had ever given up in their history, as well as their 15 walks issued to Baylor batters being the most they had ever issued in a game. All but one Bear got a hit in the game.
• After being out with an injury, Emily Hott moved back into the top of the lineup with her .325 batting average, good for second best on the team.
• With everyone on the team playing a crucial part, Baylor currently has four players with over 20 RBI and three more with 19.
• Wilson has led the Big 12 all year in triples with five and stolen bases with 26. She is also tied for second in hits with 60.
• Kaci West is the only player this season to pick up a Big 12 weekly award, as she received Pitcher of the Week honors March 8, 2022 for tossing the first perfect game in Baylor softball history.
• Josie Bower is leading the league in hit by pitches (10), while Taylor Strain leads in sacrifice bunts (8).
• Dariana Orme and Aliyah Binford are sitting at No. 2 and No. 3 for striking out batters looking, Orme has 46 and Binford has 52.
• This season, the Bears were never ranked in the top 25 polls, marking the first season in head coach Glenn Moore's time at Baylor that he hasn't had a team ranked.

- BaylorBears.com -

SB Heads to OKC for Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship

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Players Mentioned

Aliyah Binford

Josie Bower

Emily Hott

Dariana Orme

Taylor Strain

Kaci West

McKenzie Wilson

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