Softball Hosts Compass Bank Invitational
2/20/2003 12:00:00â¯AM | Softball
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BAYLOR
HOSTS THE
COMPASS BANK INVITATIONAL
Feb. 21-23
Getterman Stadium
Waco, Texas
Baylor returns home this weekend after 10 consecutive games away from Getterman Stadium. The Lady Bears welcome Alabama-Birmingham, Louisiana Tech and Tulsa to Waco for the Compass Bank Invitational. Baylor (9-7) and Tulsa (6-4) are listed among teams also receiving votes for the USA Today/NFCA Top 25. UAB enters the weekend with a 6-3 record; Louisiana Tech enters at 1-6. Live stats for all games will be available at www.BaylorBears.com, the official website of Baylor Athletics and a member of the Official College Sports Network.
QUICK NOTES
* Tickets to Saturday's Baylor-Southern California baseball game will also be good for Saturday's Compass Bank Invitational. The same holds true for Sunday's baseball tickets and Saturday's men's basketball tickets (Baylor vs. Nebraska).
* Due to the numerous events taking place at the Jim and Julie Turner Riverfront Complex this weekend, there will be no reserved parking for the Compass Bank Invitational.
* Baylor is 7-31 all-time against teams competing in the Compass Bank Invitational; 5-30 against Louisiana Tech, 2-1 against Tulsa and 0-0 against UAB.
* The Lady Bears are 51-13 in the month of February over the past three seasons.
* Freshman OF/1B Kelly Osburn has drawn a team-best 20 walks this season, half of Baylor's 40 walks as a team. Osburn is already sixth on Baylor's all-time single-season walks list.
* Freshman OF/SS Harmony Schwethelm has hit safely in nine of the 10 games in which she has registered a plate appearance.
* Baylor has won 32 consecutive games when scoring at least four runs.
* Baylor is 23-2 over the past two seasons when collecting at least eight hits.
* Baylor is 43-6 over the past two seasons when out-hitting its opponent.
HEAD COACH GLENN MOORE
Glenn Moore is in his third 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. Last season, he guided the Lady Bears to even greater successes with more than 50 team and individual, single-game and single-season school records. Baylor finished 46-18 overall and 10-8 in the Big 12 Conference, establishing school marks for victories in a season, conference victories in a season and highest conference finish (fourth). Moore also led Baylor to a national ranking for the second straight season and two wins over top 10 teams, as many top-10 victories as the Lady Bears had amassed in the previous 16 seasons of the program's existence. Moore has a career record of 232-88 (.725); he posted a 22-17 mark in his first year as a collegiate head coach at William Carey in Mississippi. Moore is 210-69 (.753) at the Division I level.
COMPASS BANK INVITATIONAL FIELD
Baylor is 7-31 all-time against the teams participating in this weekend's Compass Bank Invitational. Louisiana Tech has won 30 of 35 previous meetings; however, the Lady Bears defeated the Lady Techsters 3-2 last weekend at the Mardi Gras Classic. Baylor leads the Tulsa series 2-1, and this is their first meeting since splitting a doubleheader in Waco during the 1996 season. Baylor and UAB have never met.
COMPASS BANK INVITATIONAL HISTORY
This is the second rendition of the Compass Bank Invitational. Last year, Baylor won the inaugural event, going 5-0 with wins over Akron, Creighton, Oakland, San Diego State and Stephen F. Austin. San Diego State was the runner-up with a 3-2 mark, followed by Creighton (3-2), Akron (2-3), Oakland (1-4) and SFA (1-4). The 2002 version was a six-team, single round-robin affair. This year, the Compass Bank Invitational is following the four-team, double round-robin format used for the Getterman Classic.
UAB BLAZERS
UAB (6-3) is in its fourth season under the direction of head coach Marla Townsend.
UAB Notes: The Blazers have won five straight after starting the season 1-3. That winning streak began with a 6-5 victory over then-No. 8 Oklahoma last weekend in Norman, Okla. ... UAB hits .224 as a team with four home runs and eight stolen bases in 10 attempts. Sophomore 1B Kris Lara (.400-1-3) leads the Blazers in nearly every offensive category, including batting average, hits (10), runs (9), total bases (14), slugging percentage (.560) and on base percentage (.483). ... The Blazers sport a 1.87 staff ERA with three shutouts and an opponents' batting average of .204. Senior RHP Kerri Foster (4-1, 0.74) has started five of UAB's nine games and has gone the distance in all five starts. She has 42 strikeouts in 36.1 innings of work, and opponents are hitting just .168 off the McCalla, Ala., native. ... UAB has a team fielding percentage of .964 with 10 errors in nine games.
LOUISIANA TECH LADY TECHSTERS
Louisiana Tech (1-6) is in its first season under the direction of Sarah Dawson, a former all-America pitcher at Louisiana-Monroe. She replaces 2001 Hall of Fame inductee Bill Galloway, who amassed a record of 933-410-2 in 24 seasons as a collegiate head coach.
TECH Notes: The Lady Techsters were scheduled to play a doubleheader Thursday at Centenary, but the games were postponed due to inclement weather. ... Tech hits .223 as a team with one home run and two stolen bases in three attempts. Freshman OF Jennifer LaRussa (.364-0-2) leads the team in average, followed by sophomore OF Brittany Stanley (.346-0-0). Freshman 1B/3B Alison White (.211-1-7) is tops on the team in homers and RBI. In fact, White has driven in half of Tech's runs in this young season. ... The Lady Techsters have used three pitchers this season with a combined ERA of 6.75. Freshman Kristin Rupp (0-4, 6.38) has seen the most action, tossing 24.0 innings with 12 strikeouts. ... Long known for recruiting Texas athletes in all sports, Louisiana Tech has seven players from the Lone Star State on its 2003 roster.
TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE
Tulsa (6-4) is in its third season with James Pinkerton at the helm. Pinkerton returned to his alma mater as head coach after assistant stops at Virginia and Louisiana-Monroe.
TU Notes: The Golden Hurricane lay claim to the team title of the Mardi Gras Classic last weekend. After going 2-1 in pool play, Tulsa defeated Louisiana-Monroe 1-0 in the championship match. ... Tulsa hits .266 as a team with 10 home runs and five stolen bases in five attempts. Senior IF Brandi McGuire (.467-1-4) leads the Hurricane in batting average, while senior SS/3B Crissy Strimple (.394-4-10) is the team's top power hitter. ... The Hurricane pitching staff has an ERA of 1.91 with four shutouts and an opponents' batting average of .235. Freshman RHP Maren Genow (4-0, 1.31) anchors the staff with 26 strikeouts in 32.0 innings of work. ... Tulsa has a team fielding percentage of .966 with 11 errors in 10 games.
LAST TIME OUT ... UT-ARLINGTON 10, BAYLOR 0 - FEB. 19
It was a night where anything that could go wrong did go wrong. Texas-Arlington scored four runs in the second and six more in the third en route to a 10-0 five-inning victory over the visiting Lady Bears. Amber Petrino got the scoring started for UTA with a one-out RBI. Ali Lommel followed with a run-scoring single, and two batters later she scored on a Melanie Williams single. That is when things got strange. Williams, now at second, tried to steal third. Baylor catcher Carrie Leerberg fired to third, but the throw hit Jenna Fortune's bat and sailed over the fence down the third-base line. With the ball out of play, Williams was awarded home. UTA loaded the bases with two outs in the third inning, setting the stage for another odd play. Lommel bounced a ball to second baseman Stacey Hundley that looked to get the Lady Bears out of the inning. However, the ball took a bad hop three feet in front on Hundley and hit her in the face. Two runs scored, and Hundley was forced to leave the game after nearly a 10-minute delay. UTA added four more runs in the inning, all coming on singles up the middle. Joni Miller (1-2) started and took the loss for Baylor; she lasted just two innings and was touched for four runs, three earned, on four hits with one walk and no strikeouts. Katie Decker spelled Miller and was touched for five runs on three hits with two walks and no strikeouts in just two-thirds of an inning. Sarah Caudle pitched the final four outs and allowed one run on two hits and one walk. Meanwhile, Katie Cox (4-3) kept Baylor's bats off balance all night. She scattered four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. Kelly Osburn, Kim Wilmoth, Hundley and Caudle contributed Baylor's four hits. Osburn also drew a pair of walks, reaching base safely in all three plate appearances.
OSBURN, SCHWETHELM MAKE IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Take a look at the top of Baylor's statistics and two names stand out - Kelly Osburn and Harmony Schwethelm. The true freshmen rank first and second, respectively, in batting average among regular starters. Osburn, a Missouri City, Texas, native, is hitting .462 with two home runs and eight RBI. She also leads the team with 20 total bases, 20 walks, a .769 slugging percentage, a .702 on base percentage and eight stolen bases. Schwethelm, a San Antonio, Texas, native, is hitting .458 with six stolen bases.
LADY BEARS TABBED FOURTH BY BIG 12 COACHES
Along with receiving one first-place vote Baylor was tabbed, along with Texas A&M, to finish fourth in the Big 12 Conference preseason coaches' poll. The Lady Bears and the Aggies, who did not receive a first-place nod, both received 54 total points. Nebraska was the coaches' preseason favorite; the Huskers received five of nine first-place votes and 77 total points. Texas and Oklahoma received two first-place votes each. The Longhorns were picked to finish second with 70 points, while the Sooners were tabbed third with 67 points. Oklahoma State (44 points), Kansas (32), Iowa State (21), Missouri (19) and Texas Tech (12) rounded out the 10-team poll.
HOME, SWEET HOME
Baylor posted a 25-6 record at home last season, establishing a school record for home wins in a season. The Lady Bears also enjoyed a school-record 24-game home winning streak that dated back to 2001 season. In three years under head coach Glenn Moore, Baylor is 46-12 (.793) at Getterman Stadium. The Lady Bears are 60-25 (.706) in the stadium's five-year existence.
GETTERMAN ATTENDANCE CONTINUES TO GROW
In 23 home dates, Getterman Stadium attracted 9,248 fans last season. That is a Getterman record, shattering the 2001 total of 5,556. The per-game average of 402 also topped the 2001 record of 370. Six of the eight largest crowds and eight of the 10 largest crowds in the stadium's four-year history came last season. Baylor finished 13th nationally in total attendance for 2002 and 20th nationally in per-game attendance.
BAYLOR JUST OUT OF NFCA TOP 25
Baylor just missed a preseason ranking as the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Preseason Top 25 was released Wednesday by the sport's governing body. Baylor was the second team among those also receiving votes, just eight points behind No. 25 Massachusetts. UCLA received 18 of 22 first-place votes and was the coaches' pick as the preseason favorite. Fellow Pac-10 powers Arizona and defending national champion California follow in that order with the Wildcats and the Golden Bears earning two first-place nods each. Nebraska and Michigan tied for the fourth spot. Washington, Louisiana State, Oklahoma, Florida State and Cal State Fullerton rounded out the top 10 in that order. Baylor faces five of the top 12 teams this season. Along with Big 12 foes Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas, the Lady Bears face seventh-ranked Louisiana State and 11th-ranked DePaul.
BAYLOR ADDS 4 EARLY SIGNEES
Head coach Glenn Moore signed four high school athletes and one junior college transfer to National Letters of Intent here Wednesday, the first day of the 2002 fall signing period. Kylie Conroy (Carrollton-Creekview [Texas] HS), Lisa Ferguson (Fort Worth-Pascal [Texas] HS), Chelsi Lake (Keller [Texas] HS), Melissa Maler (Temple College/West [Texas] HS) and Erin Sheek (Deer Park [Texas] HS) will join the Lady Bears next fall.
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. In 2001, Kourtny Westerfeld joined the Baylor program after spending one season at nearby McLennan Community College. Last year, 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. This season, Amber Daniel joins the Baylor program after two all-America seasons at Temple [Texas] College.
BAYLORBEARS.COM
Baylor's official athletic web site can be found at www.BAYLORBEARS.com. The comprehensive site, which includes releases, photos, biographical sketches and audio broadcasts, is part of the Official Colles Sports Network. OCSN currently hosts sites for more than 100 universities, including eight Big 12 schools.
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.
BAYLOR SOFTBALL RADIO NETWORK
The Baylor radio crew will again this season provide live play-by-play broadcast for selected Baylor softball games. John Morris handles play-by-play duties for home games,while Larry Little, Baylor's media relations contact for softball, handles play-by-play duties for road games. Former Baylor softball standout Kristen Lancaster joins the softball radio crew this season and will provide color analysis for all games. All Baylor games can be heard on flagship station KRZI-AM 1660/1580AM in Waco. Every Baylor game is also available worldwide on the internet at www.BaylorBears.com and Yahoo!Broadcast.com.
2003 Radio ScheduleMarch 26 at Texas 6:30 p.m.March 29 at Oklahoma NoonApril 2 Texas A&M 6:30 p.m.April 5 Nebraska 2:00 p.m.April 16 Texas 6:30 p.m.April 24 at Texas A&M 6:30 p.m.May 1-4 Big 12 Tournament TBAMay 14-18 NCAA Regionals TBAMay 21-26 College World Series TBA
UP NEXT...
Baylor begins a 10-day road trip that starts in Corpus Christi, Texas, and ends in Honolulu, Hawai'i. The Lady Bears play Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a single game Feb. 27 at 1 p.m. before participating in the Islander Invitational over the weekend. From there, Baylor travels to Hawai'i for the Malahini Tournament.
