Softball Announces Tough 2005 Schedule
9/15/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
2005 Baylor Softball Schedule
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WACO, Texas-Games against 12 NCAA Softball Tournament teams from a year ago, including contests against three of the eight teams that advanced to the 2004 NCAA College World Series, highlight the 2005 Baylor softball schedule released Wednesday.
The Lady Bears, coming off a school record 48-17 season, will take on 2004 CWS participants LSU, Michigan and Oklahoma in a schedule that is one of the most difficult in the program's history.
"This schedule will give the team a chance to prepare for where we want to be at the end of May," head coach Glenn Moore said. "We are playing some of the top teams in the country in hopes it will help us prepare for the tough Big 12 Conference season."
Baylor will play host to 29 contests at Getterman Stadium, highlighted by the season-opening Getterman Classic, scheduled Feb. 4-6, 2005, and the Compass Bank Invitational. A strong Getterman Classic field is led by 2004 NCAA Waco Regional participant Illinois. The Fighting Illini ended the Lady Bears run through the NCAA Tournament with 4-0 win over Baylor in the semi-finals of the regional last season.
The tough 2005 home slate continues the weekend of Feb. 25-27, 2005, when the Lady Bears play host to the Compass Bank Invitational. Arizona, coached by Mike Candrea, who led Team USA to the softball gold medal at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics, highlights the field as Birmingham Southern and Louisiana Tech also visit Getterman Stadium for the tournament.
In addition to hosting two home tournaments, Baylor will travel to play in a pair of prestigious non-conference tournaments during the 2005 season. Feb. 11-13, 2005, the Lady Bears will travel to play in the UNLV Tournament in Las Vegas, Nev., where Baylor will face national-powers Michigan and Oregon in addition to UC Santa Barbara and UC Riverside.
For the second season in a row, Baylor will travel to the Speedline Classic in Tampa, Fla., and the Cougar Invitational in Houston, Texas. Although the field for the Speedline Classic has yet to be set, Houston, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina and Texas State form a strong Cougar Invitational field.
The contest against North Carolina will mark a re-match of Baylor's historic 1-0 win over the Tar Heels in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season. In the 16-inning win, Baylor's Cristin Vitek established a NCAA record with 28 strikeouts in a game.
Included in the non-conference schedule is a rematch against another participant of the NCAA Softball Waco Regional, LSU, who defeated the Lady Bears 7-3 in 10 innings last season and eventually captured the regional title. Baylor travels to Baton Rouge, La., to meet the Tigers on Wed., March 16, at 6:30 p.m.
The 2005 Big 12 Conference schedule begins with four contests against Baylor's in-state conference rivals. The conference season opens with a meeting against Texas A&M on Wed., March 23, at Getterman Stadium before the Lady Bears travel to Lubbock, Texas, to face Texas Tech in a weekend series from March 25-26.
The opening week of the 2005 conference schedule concludes with a visit from Texas, led by Team USA pitcher Cat Osterman, on Wed., March 30, at 6:30 p.m.
The conference schedule continues as Big 12 opponents Oklahoma State, Missouri and defending Big 12 champion Nebraska travel to Getterman Stadium while Baylor will make visits to Kansas, Oklahoma and Iowa State during the course of the season.
Baylor concludes the 2005 regular season with a trip to College Station, Texas, to face Texas A&M on Wednesday, May 4, at 6:30 p.m., before opening post-season play at the Big 12 Tournament on May 11, in Oklahoma City, Okla.
Baylor returns six seniors and seven starters, including first-team all-conference selections Carrie Leerberg and Harmony Schwethelm, from last year's squad that advanced to the NCAA Softball Championships for the first time in school history.
The Lady Bears welcome five newcomers to the squad this year and begin preparing for the 2005 season with the start of fall practice on Friday, Sept. 17.
