March 9, 2004
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Baylor travels to San Marcos, Texas, to face Texas State before returning home for a pair of exhibition games against Team USA. The Lady Bears are coming off an impressive showing at the Speedline Invitational where Baylor advanced to the championship game before falling to South Florida 3-1.
Along the way, Baylor established a new school record for consecutive victories with 14 prior to the loss to the Bulls. While competing at the tournament, Baylor faced Team USA in an exhibition game, falling to the national team 10-0 in five innings.
Baylor travels to San Marcos for the first time since 2001, when Texas State handed the Lady Bears a pair of the defeats. The meeting marks the 36th meeting between the two Texas schools, with Baylor currently holding a 23-12 series lead. The series is tied, 6-6, in San Marcos.
HEAD COACH Glenn Moore
Glenn Moore is in his fourth season as Baylor's head coach, coming to Waco after a stellar three-year stint 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. The following 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 led Baylor to a third straight 30-win season in 2003, and the Lady Bears cracked the NFCA Top 25 for the third consecutive year. During the 2003 season, Moore claimed his 100th victory as Baylor's head coach with the Lady Bears 3-0 triumph against Texas Tech. He is now 136-75 (.626) in three-plus seasons at Baylor.
Moore has a career record of 275-117 (.694); he posted a 22-17 mark in his first year as a collegiate head coach at William Carey in Mississippi. Moore is 252-98 (.713) at the Division I level.
SCOUTING TEXAS STATE AND TEAM USA
The toughest competition the Lady Bears will face all season will come when Baylor faces Team USA in a pair exhibition games on Thursday, March 11. Team USA, who will represent the United States at the Olympics in Athens, Greece, have compiled an unbelievable streak of 132 wins in a row. On the current 'Aiming for Athens' tour, the United States team is 16-0 and has out-scored opponents 148-8.
The pair of games in Waco will mark the second and third times the teams have faced on the current tour, as Baylor fell to Team USA 10-0 at the Speedline Invitational. The Lady Bears did manage three hits off of former Texas pitcher Cat Osterman, with Melissa Maler going two for two at the plate against the standout.
Team USA features the top softball players in the world, including household names such as pitchers Jennie Finch and Lisa Fernandez.
Texas State figures to be another tough match-up for the Lady Bears as well, as the Bobcats feature standout pitcher Nicole Neuerburg. The pitcher is currently 13-2 on the season, striking out 120 batters in 101.1 innings of work.
At the plate, the Bobcats are led by Kristen Zaleski, who has pounded out 38 hits in 76 at-bats this season for a .500 average. On the base paths, Zaleski has stolen 20 bases this season in 21 attempts and leads the team with 22 runs scored.
Baylor will look to avenge a pair of losses in 2001, the last time the teams met in San Marcos, when the Lady Bears fell 2-0 and 8-0 to the Bobcats.
BAYLOR ESTABLISHES NEW RECORD FOR MOST CONSECUTIVE WINS
After opening the week with a victory over Texas-Arlington, Baylor won the opening six games at the Speedline Invitational to stretch the Lady Bears winning streak to 14 games before falling to No. 22 USF in the championship game of the tournament. The 14 game winning streak established a new school record for Baylor as the last loss the Lady Bears suffered prior to the USF game was a 9-0 defeat to No. 1 UCLA at the Palm Springs Classic on February 20.
The loss to USF also snapped an impressive four-game winning streak against ranked opponents. Along the way, Baylor defeated No. 11 Tennessee twice, No. 20 Cal-State Fullerton and No. 22 Iowa.
Baylor dominated opponents during the winning streak, allowing the opposition to score more than two runs only once while the Lady Bears scored three or more runs nine times. In all, Baylor out-scored the competition 53-13 during the historic win streak.
Cristin Vitek THROWS CONSECUTIVE NO-HITTERS
Cristin Vitek became the first pitcher in Baylor history to throw back-to-back no-hitters after she no-hit Boston and Northern Illinois at the Speedline Invitational in Tampa, Fla. After walking the first batter against Boston, the Katy, Texas, lefty sat down the next 21 batters for her first complete-game no-hitter of her career. She followed with another no-hitter against Northern Illinois, retiring the first 12 batters of the game before walking the first batter of the fifth inning.
During the victory over the Huskies, Vitek struck out 13 batters, tying a career high and ranking third on Baylor's single game strikeout list. Vitek went 4-1 on the week with a save, with her only loss coming at the hands of No. 22 South Florida in the championship game of the Speedline Classic. Before the loss to South Florida, Vitek had won nine straight decisions.
For the week, Vitek allowed only 12 hits in 29 innings pitched, striking out 44 batters while only walking three. Her 0.97 ERA on the week was aided by an opponent's batting average of only .121. She was also victorious over No. 22 Iowa, tossing four innings while allowing one earned run. Vitek added a save against Tennessee-Chattanooga, pitching three innings, allowing only one hit and no runs.
For her performance at the Speedline Invitational, Vitek was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Pitcher.
The performance also garnered the junior her second Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week honor this season.
Vitek was not the only Lady Bear to have an outstanding week, as Stephanie Pomes, Melissa Maler and Kelly Levesque were named the the all-tournament team. LADY BEARS AT THE TOP OF BIG 12 CHARTS
In the latest statistical information released by the Big 12 Conference, Baylor's pitching and hitting rankings reflect why the team is off to a 21-6 start this season. Baylor currently ranks first in the conference in team pitching with an ERA of 1.12 and is third in the conference in hitting with an average of .278.
Baylor pitchers Cristin Vitek (0.79 ERA) and Lisa Ferguson (0.97 ERA) are dominating the pitching categories, as the pair rank first and second in the conference in ERA, respectively. Part of the success on the mound can be attributed to the team's ability to pitch strikes, as Baylor walks only 0.86 batters per seven innings, well ahead of Nebraska, which ranks second in the category with 1.97 walks per seven innings.
Although Baylor does not have a batter in the top five in the conference in batting average, the Lady Bears still rank third in the conference in batting average with the help of a balanced attack. Carrie Leerberg currently ranks seventh in the conference with a .375 batting average, with Harmony Schwethelm at eighth in the conference while batting .368 on the year.
Once the Lady Bears reach base, the team has been effective moving runners into scoring position, as the team leads the league with 60 stolen bases on the season and first in the conference with 26 sacrifice hits.
LADY BEARS STIR UP DUST ON THE BASE PATHS
Last season, the Lady Bears established a new single-season record for stolen bases with 119. This season, Baylor is off to another fast start in the category as the Lady Bears have swiped 37 bases through the first 20 games of the year.
At the Getterman Classic, Baylor established a new Big 12 Conference record for most steals in a game, with 11 in an 8-4 victory over Wichita State. Kelly Osburn had three, April Luce had two as six others added a steal each. The 11 steals marked the 10th highest total in NCAA history.
Carrie Leerberg currently leads the team in steals with 14 as 12 Lady Bears have stolen at least one base this season.
While Baylor has stolen 60 bases on 79 attempts this season, opponents have been much more timid. So far this season, opponents have only six steals on ten attempts.
FERGUSON THROWS NO-HITTER VERSUS AUBURN
Freshman Lisa Ferguson tossed the seventh no-hitter in Baylor history with her eight-inning, complete game performance against Auburn University.
The Lady Bears won the game with two runs in the top of the eighth inning as Ferguson retired the Tigers in order in the bottom of the inning to record the first no-hitter since Cristin Vitek and Katie Decker combined to shut-down Stephen F. Austin on Feb. 22, 2002.
LADY BEARS APPEAR ON THE PRICE IS RIGHT
The Baylor softball team appeared on the 6,000th episode of The Price is Right on March 1, 2004.
The Lady Bears attended a taping of the popular game show while in Los Angeles, Calif., before heading to Palm Springs, Calif., to play in the Palm Springs Classic.
"We always try to include a unique experience for the team each time we travel," head coach Glenn Moore said. "The fact we were a part of television history means it was an experience we will never forget."
In the episode, Lady Bears freshman infielder Kylie Conroy appeared as a contestant. Although Conroy was one of the first contestants called to contestant's row, she was unable to get on stage with host Bob Barker as she was never closest to the actual price without going over.
GETTERMAN ATTENDANCE CONTINUES TO GROW
In 18 home dates, Getterman Stadium attracted 8,157 fans last season. Baylor ranked 13th nationally in total attendance for the second consecutive season. Getterman's average attendance of 453 fans established a school record, breaking the 2002 mark of 402, and ranked 18th nationally, a program best.
Six of the 13 largest crowds in the stadium's five-year history came last season, including the two largest crowds - 979 vs. Texas (April 16) and 840 vs. Nebraska (April 5).
Baylor has finished 21st or better in total attendance and 23rd or better in average attendance nationally each of the past three seasons.
BAYLOR-TEAM USA TICKETS ON SALE
Tickets still remain for Baylor softball's March 11 two-game exhibition with the U.S. Olympic Team at Getterman Stadium are on sale through the Baylor Ticket Office. The Lady Bears and Team USA play at 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.
The games are part of the Olympic Team's college tour in preparation for the Games of the 28th Olympiad in Athens, Greece this summer. The event is in association with Texas ASA District 23.
Single-game tickets are $15; tickets for both games can be purchased together for $25. The Team USA doubleheader is not part of the Baylor softball season ticket package.
The Baylor Ticket Office is located in the North end zone complex at Floyd Casey Stadium. Ticket orders also can placed via phone at (254) 710-1000 or (800) BAYLOR-U ext. 7.
TRANSFERS FIND HOME AT BAYLOR
Six members of the 2004 Lady Bears' squad transferred to Baylor from other schools, two coming in this season and four coming from four-year schools.
In 2002, Danelle Arnold and Katie Decker transferred to Baylor from Nebraska, while Kelly Levesque transferred from Louisiana State. Last season, Amber Daniel joined the Baylor program after two all-America seasons at Temple [Texas] College.
This year, Baylor adds two more transfers. Melissa Maler followed Daniel from Temple College, while Tessa Lynam followed Levesque from Louisiana State. Both are juniors for the 2004 season.
UP NEXT...
Baylor will host Houston in a doubleheader at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 15, before travelling to face Sam Houston State on Tuesday, March 16, in a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m.
