SB Set for Conference Series Against Kansas

BAYLOR (10-11) vs KANSAS (10-7)

Friday, March 7 • vs Kansas • Waco, Texas | Getterman Stadium • Radio: 101.3 FM • Watch: ESPN+
Saturday, March 8 • vs Kansas • Waco, Texas | Getterman Stadium • Radio: 101.3 FM • Watch: ESPN+
Sunday, March 9 • vs Kansas • Waco, Texas | Getterman Stadium • Radio: 101.3 FM • Watch: ESPN+

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

WACO, Texas – Baylor softball (10-11) has certainly been tested by fire in the first month of the season, playing six top-10 teams and two other ranked teams in a brutal opening schedule.

"The thing you worry about is getting beat up so bad that you lose confidence, and it takes you a while to recover from that," said Baylor coach Glenn Moore, whose Bears open "the next season" when they host Kansas (10-7) for a conference-opening, three-game weekend series at Getterman Stadium.

"We've certainly been punched hard in a few of our games, and we've lost some confidence with several players. We had to build them back. But you don't get better by playing weaker competition. You ultimately get better and are fire-tested by playing strong competition."

Including Wednesday's 4-0 loss to No. 1-ranked Texas, when the Bears were one-hit by the Longhorns' Teagan Kavan, the offense has struggled at times. Baylor is hitting .264 as a team with 35 extra-base hits and averaging 4.7 runs per game.

Houston transfer Turiya Coleman, who's hitting .500 with one homer and four RBIs, returned to the lineup for the Texas game after missing the previous nine games with an eye injury and had the Bears' only hit.

"One bat in your lineup can make a huge difference for the rest of the lineup," Moore said. "Shay (Govan) has done that for the last couple years, giving us some confident when others can't hit a pitcher, and she steps in there and make it look easy. We've got two now that can do that. We've got more than that, but we've got two that are All-Americans, potentially, back-to-back. And I think that's going to make a difference."

A two-time All-American, Govan is still the anchor of the lineup, hitting .350 with four home runs, eight RBIs and a .750 slugging percentage. She has protection in the lineup with Coleman as the 4-hole hitter and bookend .300 hitters in sophomore Leah Cran (.345) and Washington transfer Brooklyn Carter (.328, eight stolen bases).

"Getting Brooklyn Carter back going like she was earlier in the year is going to make a difference," Moore said. "We've got a lot of weapons in this lineup, and I'm very confident right now that we're going to turn it around. Whether it's going to happen in one game or not, I just feel this team has too much potential."

One area of promise is a pitching staff that has improved while developing more clear roles over the first four weekends of the season.

After a rough patch that saw her give up 19 earned runs in her first six appearances, with an inflated 8.67 ERA, seventh-year senior Dariana Orme (3-2, 5.51) has allowed just two earned runs in 11.1 innings in her last four outings (1.26 ERA).

"We're seeing, every outing with Dari, a better pitcher," Moore said. "We'd like to see the velocity pick up. We keep saying that, but that may never happen. So, we're focusing on what she has, her God-given ability, where she is speed-wise right now.

"And (pitching coach Britni) Newman is doing a great job of working different planes and keeping hitters off-balance. And her wisdom out there adds two or three miles an hour to the velocity of the pitch, just because she knows what she's doing. And she's certainly got a great defense behind her, to allow her to do that."

Without a clear-cut No. 1, freshman Sadie Ross (2-4, 3.86) and redshirt freshman Lexie Warncke (4-2, 3.14) are splitting starting duties with Orme, while Duke transfer Lillie Walker (1-3, 4.91, two saves) is settling into more of a middle reliever/closer role.

With Orme, Ross and Warncke all coming back from offseason surgeries, Moore said they have to "find out day-to-day how they're feeling, how far they can go, how they match up against the offense we're going to face."

"I think they're in a good place, but every day is a different day," he said. "They come in, I ask them how they feel. I may hear they're feeling great, but I may not, because they're different every day."

Kansas, which is 0-4 against Power 4 teams, is hitting .296 as a team with 12 home runs and a 2.80 staff ERA. Junior outfielders Aynslee Linduff and Presley Limbaugh are hitting .415 and .400, respectively. There's little separating the top three pitchers, but Lizzy Ludwig is 3-3 with a team-best 2.68 ERA.

"You can never really tell what team is going to show up with Kansas," Moore said of the Jayhawks, who swept Baylor last year in Lawrence, "but they're a well-coached team that's probably not real flashy but does a lot of things really well. And they're not going to beat themselves. . . . We're expecting a battle this weekend."

Starting with Friday's 6:30 p.m. game, all three games this weekend will be streamed by ESPN+. Saturday's game starts at 2 p.m., followed by Sunday's 12 p.m. series finale.

STORY LINES
• Baylor Softball is set to begin conference play this week as they welcome the Kansas Jayhawks to town for a three-game series March 7-9.
• Throughout the conference season, the Bears will play eight of the 10 conference opponents and will not face Utah or Arizona during the regular season.
• The Bears have just completed their tournament schedule where they played five games a weekend for the first four weekends of the season.
• Competing in its first midweek contest of the season, Baylor faced No. 1 Texas Wednesday, March 5 in Austin, Texas and fell 4-0 against the top-ranked team.
• During the 2025 season, the team comes back to the diamond with a veteran squad that consists of 12 seniors and 15 upperclassmen.
• After ending the 2024 campaign back in a Super Regional for the first time since 2017, the Bears are looking to build on last year's season while returning 15 off of the 2024 squad, while adding four transfers and seven freshmen.
• The Bears four transfers include Brooklyn Carter (Washington), Turiya Coleman (Houston), Carson Frier (UCF) and Lillie Walker (Duke). Coleman and Frier add depth to the Bears infield/catching position, while Carter adds speed to the outfield and Walker tosses left-handed in the circle.
• After starting with a five-game tournament at Texas A&M where they went 3-2, the Bears hosted a three-team tournament during the second week of play, the Getterman Classic, where they welcomed No. 3 Oklahoma and Hofstra to town. the Bears went 3-2 at the Getterman Classic defeating Hofstra three times and falling against the defending National Champions, Oklahoma, twice.
• At the Bears' third tournament of the season the Mary Nutter Classic, the Bears recorded a walk-off win over Nevada before falling in four-straight games against ranked opponents.
• Finishing up its tournament schedule hosting the Baylor Invitational, the Bears went 3-2 on the weekend as they welcomed North Texas, Sam Houston and California Baptist to town.
• Getting ready for its matchup against Kansas, the Bears lead the all-time record, 45-33, including the 25-12 lead in Waco. Last time the Bears faced the Jayhawks, Kansas swept Baylor in a three-game series in Lawrence, Kansas last year.
• The Bears faced six opponents in the month of February who were either ranked or receiving votes in the preseason ESPN poll for a total of seven games. Those teams include: No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 6 UCLA, No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 13 Arkansas, No. 15 Missouri and No. 16 Nebraska. Seven of Baylor's 10 losses on the season have come against opponents ranked in the Top 25.
• Making her return to the field after being out for nine games due to injury, Turiya Coleman recorded the Bears' only hit against Texas in its midweek bout after she laid down a bunt.
• Freshman Karynton Dawson led the Bears last weekend during the Baylor Invitational with a .583 batting average, picking up two doubles and her first-career home run. Leah Cran and Shaylon Govan also notched .500 batting averages on the weekend.
• Lillie Walker and Sadie Ross each posted 0.00 ERA's during the Baylor Invitational with 12 strikeouts combined. Neither pitcher gave up an extra-base hit on the weekend, while Walker picked up two saves.
• Leading Baylor offensively so far this season, Turiya Coleman is hitting .519 but missed the last weekend of play due to injury.
• Baylor's leading hitter last year, Shaylon Govan, is back for her senior season for the Bears after being named a unanimous First-Team All-American last year. The two-time All-American hit .444 last season while setting Baylor single season records in walks (48) and on base percentage (.579). Her on base percentage led the nation, while her batting average was top seven in the nation.
• Head coach Glenn Moore is in his 25th season at the helm of the Baylor Softball program. In a quarter of a century, Moore is Baylor Athletics' active all-time wins leader across all sports. He has progressed up the active NCAA coaching ranks, now ranking No. 17 in total victories among active Division I head coaches.

- BaylorBears.com -

SB Set for Conference Series Against Kansas

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Players Mentioned

Brooklyn Carter

Turiya Coleman

Leah Cran

Karynton Dawson

Carson Frier

Shaylon Govan

Dariana Orme

Sadie Ross

Lillie Walker

Lexie Warncke

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