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BAYLOR
vs.
#21 TEXAS A&M
& TEXAS-ARLINGTON
MARCH 12 * 6 P.M. CST
MARCH 13 * 6 P.M. CST
GETTERMAN STADIUM
WACO, TEXAS
Baylor returns home this week for a pair of midweek, single-game dates at Getterman Stadium. The Lady Bears (28-7) host No. 21 Texas A&M (20-4) at 6 p.m. CST Tuesday in the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams. Wednesday, Baylor hosts Texas-Arlington (9-15) at 5 p.m. CST, this game was originally scheduled for Feb. 6, but was postponed due to inclement weather. Baylor is coming off a 2-0 eight-inning victory Sunday against Boston at the Hallowell Classic in Fresno, Calif.. Live stats for both games will be available at www.GoBaylorBears.com, the official website of Baylor Athletics and a member of the FANSOnly Network.
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 205-71 (.743), he posted a 22-17 mark in his first year as a collegiate head coach at William Carey in Mississippi.
MOORE CLAIMS CAREER WIN No. 200
Baylor head coach Glenn Moore claimed his 200th career victory as a collegiate head coach Feb. 24 when the Lady Bears defeated San Diego State 5-1. Moore, who is 201-69 (.744) in his career, holds a 183-54 record (.772) at the Division I level.
THE TEXAS A&M SERIES
This is the 44th meeting between Baylor and Texas A&M with the Aggies holding a commanding 34-8-1 advantage in the all-time series. However, the Lady Bears have won three of the last four and meetings, Baylor is 6-4-1 against A&M in the last 11 meetings. The Aggies are 14-5 all-time in Waco, but the Lady Bears have won four of the last five such meetings. Baylor and A&M split last season's series, the Lady Bears won the first game of a doubleheader 3-1 at College Station before dropping the nightcap 2-0.
MOORE vs. TEXAS A&M
Baylor head coach Glenn Moore is 1-1 in his career against Texas A&M with both meetings coming last season.
THE TEXAS A&M AGGIES
Texas A&M (20-4, 0-0) is in its sixth year under the direction of head coach Jo Evans, who holds a 194-122-2 record at College Station. Prior to taking over the Aggie program, Evans had stints at Utah (1990-1996) and at Colorado State (1986-1989). In 17 years as a collegiate head coach, Evans has amassed a career record of 507-326-2.
A&M Notes: The Aggies are ranked 21st in the nation according to the March 6 USA Today/NFCA Coaches Top 25. ... A&M has won six straight and 18 of its last 19 after a brief three-game losing skid in early February. The lone defeat in that stretch was a 5-0 loss to Nebraska at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga. ... Freshman RF Adrian Gregory is tops on the team with a .386 average to go along with three homers and 15 RBI. ... Junior C/IF Selean Collins' six homers paces the Aggies, who have hit 19 as a team. ... Sophomore RHP Jessica Slataper anchors the Aggie staff with a 10-2 record and a 1.31 ERA. She tossed a no-hitter last week against Southern Mississippi.
LAST MEETING ... TEXAS A&M 2, BAYLOR 0 - APRIL 2001
Jessica Slataper tossed a two-hit shutout with two walks and nine strikeouts as Texas A&M defeated Baylor 2-0 in the nightcap of a doubleheader. Baylor won the first game 3-1. A&M got a run in the first and another in the second, and Slataper made the two runs stand. Stacey Hundley and Sarah Caudle provided the only hits for Baylor, which lost its first game to Texas A&M in the last four meetings. Joni Miller was saddled with the loss. After handcuffing the Aggies in the first game of the day, Miller was touched for two runs on five hits with a walk and a strikeout in three and one-third innings of work. Jill Smith allowed three hits with one strikeout in two and two-thirds scoreless innings of relief.
THE TEXAS-ARLINGTON SERIES
Baylor is 39-25-1 all-time against Texas-Arlington, having won 14 of the last 15 against the Lady Mavs. This is the third meeting between the teams this season, Baylor defeated UTA 6-1 and 5-0 in the Getterman Classic last month. The Lady Bears hold a 24-6 advantage in games played in Waco, winning eight straight meetings at home.
MOORE vs. TEXAS-ARLINGTON
Baylor head coach Glenn Moore is 6-1 in his career against Texas-Arlington with all seven meetings coming while at Baylor.
THE TEXAS-ARLINGTON LADY MAVS
UTA (9-15) is in its sixth year under the direction of head coach Debbie Nichols-Hedrick. A former all-America pitcher at Louisiana Tech, she holds a career record of 124-154-1, all coming at UTA.
UTA Notes: The Lady Mavs have lost six of their last seven games, including two of three to Northwestern State last weekend.
LAST MEETING ... BAYLOR 5, TEXAS-ARLINGTON 0 - FEBRUARY 2002
Baylor made use of eight hits and a pair of UTA errors to defeat the Lady Mavs 5-0 in the final game of the Getterman Classic. The Lady Bears got a run in the first on a throwing error by UTA. The Lady Mavs committed another error with two outs and the bases empty in the second inning, and Baylor made them pay. Kelly Levesque followed with a home run to center field, giving the Lady Bears a commanding 3-0 lead. BU tacked on two more runs in the sixth on a two-run single by Sarah Caudle. Cristin Vitek picked up the win, allowing no runs on one hit with a walk and four strikeouts in five innings of work. Joni Miller yielded one hit and struck out two over two innings for her first save of the season. At the plate, Caudle went 2-for-4, Levesque's lone hit was the home run as she walked in each of her other three plate appearances.
LAST TIME OUT ... BAYLOR 2, BOSTON 0 (8 innings)
Baylor scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning to defeat Boston 2-0 Sunday in final-day action at the Hallowell Classic, hosted by Fresno State. Kim Wilmoth began the top of the eighth on second base as the international tiebreaker rule was put into affect. Kelly Levesque led off with a bunt single that pushed Wilmoth to third, and Levesque advanced to second when no Boston player covered the bag. A passed ball allowed Wilmoth to score and moved Levesque to third. Levesque then scored on an infield single off the bat of Sarah Caudle. All-tournament selection Cristin Vitek pitched her second gem of the weekend. The freshman southpaw allowed just three hits and one walk with a career-high 12 strikeouts for her fourth complete-game shutout of the season. Levesque and Wilmoth had two hits each to pace Baylor at the plate.
LADY BEARS OFF TO BEST 35-GAME START EVER
At 28-7, Baylor is off to the best 35-game start in the program's history. The 2002 squad has already amassed at least as many wins as 13 previous teams in the 20-year history of Baylor softball. 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 also has enjoyed a 13-game winning streak this season, the longest in school history. In two seasons under head coach Glenn Moore, the Lady Bears own a February record of 42-6.
HOME, SWEET HOME
Baylor plays its first home game in more than two weeks Tuesday, hosting Texas A&M. The Lady Bears returned to Waco late Sunday night after an 11-day road trip that included tournaments in Chattanooga, Tenn., and Fresno, Calif., with a single game at Stanford sandwiched between the two weekends. Baylor finished the trip with a 5-5 record, including a 2-1 victory at No. 10 Fresno State. The Lady Bears are 15-0 this season at Getterman Stadium, 13-7 away from Waco and 2-2 on opponents' home fields
FRESNO STATE VICTORY MAKES HISTORY
Baylor's 2-1, eight-inning victory at No. 10 Fresno State last Friday was just the third win over a top 10 opponent in the program's history. In 1997, the Lady Bears posted two wins at seventh-ranked Louisiana-Lafayette.
BAYLOR RECEIVES VOTES IN NFCA TOP 25
For the second straight week, Baylor received votes in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Top 25 this week. The Lady Bears are three spots out of the national rankings with 19 total points, the same position as last week with a gain of two votes. Baylor spent seven weeks in the Top 25 last season, reaching as high as No. 19.
WHO'S HOT ... WHO'S NOT
HOT: Freshman LHP Cristin Vitek is 4-2 with a 0.49 ERA over her last eight appearances. That includes 44 strikeouts against only five walks in 43 innings of work while holding opponents to a .144 batting average. ... Freshman OF Kelly Levesque is hitting .368 (7-for-19) with five walks and a .500 on base percentage over the last six games.
NOT: Baylor is hitting just .222 (59-for-266) with only 21 runs in its last 10 games. The Lady Bears have scored more than two runs just twice in the month of March. ... No Lady Bear is hitting higher than .281 over the last 10 games, and six regular starters are hitting below .250 during that span. ... Baylor's fielding percentage is .939 with 18 errors in the last 10 games. Sunday's error-free game against Boston snapped a string of 15 straight games with at least one error. ... Junior RHP Joni Miller and sophomore RHP Katie Decker are a combined 1-3 with a 2.42 ERA over the last 10 games.
VITEK'S SURGE GIVES BAYLOR A PAIR OF ACES
Freshman left-hander Cristin Vitek established herself as one of the nation's top freshman pitchers last Friday when she out-dueled Fresno State's Jamie Southern 2-1. Vitek, a product of Taylor High School in Katy, Texas, held the 10th-ranked Bulldogs to one unearned run on two hits with no walks and 10 strikeouts, defeating the reigning national player of the week Southern. Two days later, Vitek solidified her all-tournament status at the Hallowell Classic with an eight-inning, 12-strikeout, three-hit shutout of Boston.
FIRST-INNING SUCCESS
Through the first 35 games, Baylor has scored 24 first-inning runs this season. The Lady Bears are 11-0 this season when scoring in the first inning.
LANCASTER ENDS BEARS' HOMER DROUGHT
Senior 3B Kristen Lancaster slapped a pair of home runs in Baylor's two games last Saturday at the Hallowell Classic in Fresno, Calif. The Pflugerville, Texas, native had a two-run shot in the first inning against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and a leadoff homer in the second inning against San Diego State. Lancaster ended Baylor's 10-game home run drought with the blast against Cal Poly, the Lady Bears' first in 258 at bats. That was the longest dry spell this season for Baylor and for Lancaster, who had not homered since Feb. 16 against McNeese State (18 games).
CAUDLE TIES BOTH TRIPLES MARKS
With four triples on the season, junior OF Sarah Caudle is tied with Lyn Hill (1996-1999) for first all-time at Baylor with seven career triples. Furthermore, Caudle has alread tied the school mark for three-baggers in a season, matching Kristin Barton's 1996 total. Caudle currently ranks in the top 10 on 11 career offensive lists at Baylor.
LEVESQUE, WILMOTH ALREADY IN STEALS TOP 10
Head coach Glenn Moore focused on increasing team speed with his 2001 signing class, and through 35 games that emphasis is apparent. Sophomore OF Kelly Levesque, who transfered to Baylor from Louisiana State, leads the team with 14 stolen bases, that figure already ranks as the fifth-best season total in school history. Meanwhile, freshman SS Kim Wilmoth and junior 2B Stacey Hundley are tied for second on the team with 11 steals each, tied with three others for sixth all-time at Baylor. As a team, the Lady Bears have swiped 69 bases this season, third in school history.
LADY BEARS GO NO-NO CRAZY
Entering the 2002 season, there had been just four no-hitters thrown by Baylor pitchers in the program's history. The Lady Bears have now thrown four in their last 16 games. Katie Decker got things started with a complete-game no-hitter Feb. 15 against Stephen F. Austin. One week later, Joni Miller combined with Cristin Vitek and Decker to no-hit SFA in a five-inning 8-0 victory. The next day, Baylor tossed a pair of no-hitters. Miller pulled the feat in a seven-inning, 3-0 win over Creighton, Vitek and Decker then combined to no-hit SFA again, this time 10-0 in five innings. Baylor pushed its streak of consecutive innings without allowing a hit to 22 innings before Joni Miller surrendered a leadoff home run in the fourth inning of the Feb. 23 Akron game.
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...
Baylor gets a much-needed rest over the weekend before returning to action Wednesday, March 20. The Lady Bears play a 2 p.m. doubleheader at Texas Tech that day. The teams split a doubleheader in Waco last season, but Tech blanked Baylor 8-0 in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament.
