Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Baylor
at
Houston
Invitational
Feb. 15-17, 2002
Cougar Softball Complex
Houston, Texas
Baylor returns to action this weekend at the Houston Invitational, hosted by the University of Houston at the Cougar Softball Complex. The Lady Bears see their first action of the weekend Friday at 9 a.m. CST against Ohio State, Baylor also faces Stephen F. Austin State at 1 p.m. Friday. Pool play continues Saturday with Baylor facing McNeese State at 1 p.m. and the host Cougars at 7 p.m. Tournament play begins Sunday.
Head Coach Glenn Moore
Glenn Moore is in his second season as head coach at Baylor, coming to Waco after a stellar three-year tenure at Louisiana State. In his first season at Baylor, Moore led the Lady Bears to a 38-22 overall record and a sixth-place, 7-9 mark in the Big 12 Conference. Along the way, Baylor established school season records for wins, home runs (24), fielding percentage (.963), on base percentage (.329), shutouts (17) and saves (7). The Lady Bears also enjoyed a school-record 11-game winning streak in February. While at LSU, Moore amassed a 117-25 (.820) record in two-plus seasons as the head coach. In that time, he led the Tigers to consecutive Southeastern Conference titles and back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Regionals. He was named head coach at LSU just prior to the 1998 Regionals, giving him three NCAA postseason appearances as a head coach. The Tigers went 56-10 in 1999 en route to the SEC regular season title and the conference tournament championship. Last season, the Tigers finished 59-13, one game shy of the College World Series. LSU finished eighth nationally in team batting average (.310) and ninth in team ERA (1.11). Moore has a career record of 187-65 (.742), he posted a 22-17 mark in his first year as a collegiate head coach at William Carey in Mississippi.
HOUSTON INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE
Friday, Feb. 15, 2002
Ohio State vs. Baylor, 9 a.m. Baylor vs. Stephen F. Austin State, 1 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 16, 2002
McNeese State vs. Baylor, 1 p.m. Baylor vs. Houston, 7 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 17, 2002
Tournament Play
HOUSTON INVITATIONAL FIELD
Baylor is 48-49 all-time against teams participating in the Houston Invitational. Most of that has come against Sam Houston State (24-28) and Stephen F. Austin State (16-16). The Lady Bears are 6-4 against McNeese State, 1-1 against Ohio State and 1-0 against Houston. In neutral settings, Baylor is 14-8 against SHSU, SFA, McNeese State and Ohio State. The Lady Bears have never played at Houston, the Cougars are in only their second year as a program.
MOORE vs. HOUSTON INVITATIONAL FIELD
Baylor head coach Glenn Moore is 10-0 during his career against the teams participating in the Houston Invitational, 3-0 while at Baylor. Moore is 6-0 against McNeese State, 2-0 against Stephen F. Austin State, and 1-0 against both Ohio State and Sam Houston State. SFA and Sam Houston State are the only teams Moore has faced while at Baylor, going 2-0 against the Lady Jacks, including a win last weekend at the UTA College Classic, and 1-0 against SHSU.
BAYLOR'S HOUSTON INVITATIONAL HISTORY
This is Baylor's first-ever participation in the Houston Invitational. The Cougars are in just their second year as a program.
LAST TIME OUT ... BAYLOR 5, STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE 2
Joni Miller notched a Baylor-record 15 strikeouts and Danelle Arnold had a pinch-hit grand slam to propel Baylor to a 5-2 victory over Stephen F. Austin State last Saturday in the quarterfinals of the UTA College Classic. Sunday's winners' bracket games were cancelled due to weather. After yielding a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning, Miller was nearly untouchable against SFA. The junior right-hander allowed a leadoff double in the second, but she did not allow another hit until a two-out single in the sixth. Between, Miller sat down 13 of 14 batters, issuing only a one-out, fifth-inning walk. Miller entered the seventh inning having already broken her personal best of 11 strikeouts with 12 and needing to strikeout the side to break the school record. She struck out the first two batters in six pitches before going 3-0 on Erica Henrion. She then threw three straight strikes to break the record and end the game. Miller allowed just five hits and one walk on the day, she threw 97 pitches with only 24 balls. However, Miller was not the only Lady Bear to provide heroics against the Lady Jacks. Trailing 2-0 in the fourth inning, Baylor got a leadoff single from Kristen Lancaster. Holly Fields followed with a single, and two batters later Stephanie Pomes walked to load the bases. That's when Arnold stepped to the plate and delivered her second home run of the season, a line-drive shot over the right-centerfield wall. Baylor tacked on a run in the top of the seventh on a Lancaster sacrifice fly that plated Kelly Levesque.
LADY BEARS OFF TO BEST 11-GAME START EVER
At 10-1, Baylor is off to its best 11-game start in the program's history. The Lady Bears opened the season at 7-0, matching the 1997 team for the most consecutive victories to start a season in school history. Baylor is now 29-5 in the month of February under Glenn Moore.
FIRST-INNING SUCCESS
Through the first 11 games, Baylor is averaging 1.3 runs per first inning, having scored in the opening frame in six of 11 games. The Lady Bears are 6-0 this season when scoring in the first inning.
A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA
With 17 doubles, six triples and eight home runs, Baylor has amassed 31 extra-base hits through 11 games this season. Projected over a 66-game schedule, the Lady Bears are on pace for 186 extra-base hits this season, shattering the school mark of 92 established in 1999. With 156 total bases through the first 11 games, the Lady Bears are on pace for 936 this season, easily eclipsing the Baylor record of 590 set in 1996.
SUCCESS AT THE TOP
Success starts at the top ... or at least at the top of the order for Baylor. Through 11 games this season, Lady Bears hitting out of the No. 1 spot in the batting order carry a .452 batting average with 12 runs scored, three doubles, one triple, one home run, a .710 slugging percentage and a .564 on base percentage. OF/IF Kelly Levesque has done most of that damage, hitting .444 (12-for-27) with 10 runs, three doubles, three triples and a homer out of the 1-hole. SS Kim Wilmoth was 2-for-2 with two runs in her lone appearance as the Baylor leadoff batter.
CAUDLE CLOSING IN ON TRIPLES MARK
With her sixth-inning triple last Friday against Louisiana-Monroe, junior OF Sarah Caudle moved into a second-place tie with Naomi Fitzgerald all-time at Baylor with six career triples. She now trails only Lyn Hill (7, 1996-1999) in the career category. Furthermore, Caudle has three triples on the 2002 season, one shy of the school mark for three-baggers in a season. Caudle currently ranks in the top 10 on 11 career offensive lists at Baylor.
LADY BEARS NEARING MILESTONES
Baylor is just six wins shy of the program's 500th all-time victory, including games played from 1974 to 1988. The Lady Bears' program currently has an all-time record of 494-487-3 (.502), meaning Baylor will play its 1,000th game by the end of February. Since the program's reinstatement in 1996, the Lady Bears are 198-162 (.550). Statistically, With her run-scoring ground out in the bottom of the first inning Feb. 1 against Northwestern State, junior OF Sarah Caudle collected the 1,000th Baylor RBI since the program's re-instatement in 1996. Baylor is 579 at bats shy of No. 10,000 since 1996.
BAYLOR CLAIMS GETTERMAN TITLE WITH EASE
The Lady Bears outscored their opponents 56-6 en route to a 6-0 record and the team title in last weekend's inaugural Getterman Classic. Baylor hit .429 as a team, while the trio of Katie Decker, Joni Miller and Cristin Vitek combined for a 0.92 staff ERA. The Bears hit five home runs, including a grand slam by senior IF Holly Fields against Texas-Arlington. The Lady Mavs tied Northwestern State for second, both finishing 3-3. Southern was fourth at 0-6. Four Bears were named to the all-tournament team. Vitek joined OF Sarah Caudle, OF/C Carrie Leerberg and OF/IF Kelly Levesque on the 10-member squad.
RECORDS FALL AS BU SLAMS SU
Several records were rewritten last Friday afternoon when Baylor pounded Southern 21-1, however, some of them fell again two days later when the Lady Bears upended the Lady Jaguars 18-1. The 20-run winning margin in the first game is the largest in the program's history. It was also a school record for runs in a season-opener, shattering the previous mark of eight established last season against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Lady Bears tallied a school-record 27 total bases Friday against Southern, that record stood for less than 48 hours as Baylor racked up 38 total bases with a school-record eight extra base hits in the Sunday meeting. The Lady Bears also tied the school record for home runs in a game as SS Stephanie Pomes, C Danelle Arnold and OF Nan Wilkins all went deep.
BIG 12 COACHES TAB BAYLOR SIXTH
Baylor was picked to finished sixth in the Big 12 Conference this season, according to the preseason coaches' poll. The Lady Bears were 38-22 overall last season, finishing sixth in the Big 12 with a 7-9 league mark. Defending champion Nebraska was the overwhelming favorite in the preseason poll, garnering 78 total points and seven of 10 first-place votes. Oklahoma, which claimed the Big 12 Tournament title last year, was picked second with 72 total points and two first-place nods. Texas was third with 65 points and the final first-place selection. Kansas (52 points) was picked fourth, followed by Texas A&M (49), Baylor (42), Oklahoma State (32), Texas Tech (28), Missouri (23) and Iowa State (9).
TRANSFERS FIND HOME AT BAYLOR
Four members of the 2002 Lady Bears' squad transferred to Baylor from other schools, three coming in this season and all three from four-year schools. Last season, Kourtny Westerfeld joined the Baylor program after spending one season at nearby McLennan Community College. This season, the Lady Bears welcome sophomores Danelle Arnold and Katie Decker from fellow Big 12 Conference institution Nebraska, and sophomore Kelly Levesque from Southeastern Conference power Louisiana State.
Player Prev. School StatusDanelle Arnold Nebraska sophomore CKatie Decker Nebraska sophomore RHPKelly Levesque Louisiana State sophomore SSKourtny Westerfeld McLennan CC junior 1B
BAYLOR ADDS 3 EARLY SIGNEES
Head coach Glenn Moore signed four players to National Letters of Intent last fall during the early signing period. Joining the Lady Bears' program next year will be 3B/C Amber Daniel, SS Kelly Osburn and SS/OF Harmony Schwethelm. Daniel, a 1999 graduate of Vanguard High School in Waco, Texas, will come to Baylor from Temple (Texas) College. Osburn preps at Elkins High School in Missouri City, Texas, and Schwethelm attends Smithson Valley High School in San Antonio, Texas.
GOBAYLORBEARS.COM
Baylor's official athletic web site can be found at www.GoBaylorBears.com. The comprehensive site, which includes releases, photos, biographical sketches and audio broadcasts, is part of the FANSonly Network. FANSonly currently hosts sites for more than 100 universities, including eight Big 12 schools.
OVER THE AIR
Selected Baylor softball games can be heard live on KRZI-AM (1660/1580) in Waco this season. John Morris, "Voice of the Bears" and a veteran broadcaster of all sports, will handle play-by-play duties, while Baylor assistant director of media relations Larry Little, a veteran broadcaster of baseball, softball, basketball and soccer, will provide color analysis. Baylor's broadcast schedule for the 2002 season is as follows:
Date Day Opponent TimeMarch 20 Wed. at Texas Tech (DH) 2:00 p.m.March 27 Wed. TEXAS 6:30 p.m.April 6 Sat. at Missouri 7:00 p.m.April 14 Sun. IOWA STATE NoonApril 20 Sat. at Oklahoma State 2:00 p.m.May 1-3 Wed.-Fri. at Big 12 Tournament TBAMay 16-20 Thurs.-Mon. at NCAA Regionals TBA
BAYLOR GAMES ON THE NET
Live stats for all Baylor home games can be accessed by visiting www.GoBaylorBears.com, the official website of Baylor athletics.
INSIDE BAYLOR SPORTS TV SHOW
Inside Baylor Sports, a half-hour look at the world of Baylor athletics, airs weekly throughout Central Texas and the region. The program, co-hosted by John Morris and Lori Scott-Fogleman, airs on KCEN-TV Channel 6, Fox Sports Net Southwest and the College Channel (Waco cable channel 18). KCEN carries the show at 10:30 p.m. Sundays, and it airs at 1 p.m. Wednesdays on FSN Southwest.
UP NEXT...
The Lady Bears return to action Monday, hosting Northwestern State for a 3 p.m. doubleheader at Getterman Stadium. Baylor is 2-0 against NSU this season, defeating the Lady Demons twice during the Getterman Classic two weeks ago.
