Softball Hosts Sam Houston State
2/15/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 15, 2005
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
#12 BAYLOR (11-1) vs. SAM HOUSTON STATE (2-7)
Feb. 16, 2005, 4:00 p.m. (DH)
Getterman Stadium • Waco, Texas
THE SERIES
Baylor vs. Sam Houston State: Baylor leads 30-27
Waco, Texas: Baylor leads 15-11
Huntsville, Texas: Sam Houston State leads 12-10
Neutral: Baylor leads 5-4
Streak: Baylor won 15
Last Meeting: Baylor 2, Sam Houston State 0 (3/16/2004)
LIVE COVERAGE
Radio: None
Live Audio: None
Live Stats: www.BaylorBears.com
Television: None
No. 12 Baylor (11-1) returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 16, when the Lady Bears host Sam Houston State (2-6) in a doubleheader at Getterman Stadium beginning at 4:00 p.m.
Baylor enters the contest after posting a perfect 5-1 record over the past week after a doubleheader sweep of McNeese State and a 3-1 record at the Louisville Desert Classic in Las Vegas, Nev.
Sam Houston State enters the twin-bill with a 2-7 record and has lost six straight after defeating McNeese State on Feb. 5.
Baylor owns a 30-27 edge in the series including a 15-11 advantage in games played in Waco Texas. The Lady Bears have won 15 straight in the series dating back to a 7-2 setback on April 27, 1988.
SCOUTING SAM HOUSTON STATE
Sam Houston State enters the doubleheader with Baylor with a 2-7 record. The Bearkats have lost six straight after a win over McNeese State on Feb. 5, 2005.. Baylor owns a 30-27 series advantage against the Bearkats and have won 15 straight, including three victories over Sam Houston State last season.
Sam Houston State is led by Amanda Collier. On the season, Jordan has posted a .222 batting average and leads the Cowgirls in home runs (3) and RBI (7). Stephanie Mosley has also had a strong year for the Cowgirls as she leads the team with five runs scored and currently is batting .478 on the season.
In the circle, Sam Houston State is led by Melissa Collins. Collins currently has an ERA of 5.93 in 27.1 innings of work, however, last season she had a perfect game against the Lady Bears heading into the final inning. Shalayne Blythe has also seen significant time in the circle for Sam Houston State, posting a 1-4 record and 5.40 ERA over 16.2 innings of work.
Chelsi Lake NAMED BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
For the second consecutive week, a Baylor softball player has been named Big 12 Conference Player of the Week the conference office announced Tuesday as Chelsi Lake earned the honor for her play this past week. It is the first career weekly accolade for Lake, who helped lead No. 12 Baylor to a 5-1 record this past week as the Lady Bears improved to 11-1 on the year.
Lake posted a team-high .611 batting average, going 11-for-18 in six games. The sophomore first baseman also led the then 15th-ranked Lady Bears in RBIs (11), hits (11), doubles (4), triples (1), slugging percentage (1.278 percent), walks (2) and on-base percentage (.650). Lake hit the game-winning RBI in four of five games this past week.
While at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic, Lake went 7-for-12 and batted .583 for the tournament. She recorded hits in every game while earning hits in six consecutive at-bats in the Lady Bears' three tournament wins against Michigan, UC Riverside (12-2) and UC Santa Barbara (6-4). On the week, Lake struck out only once and was perfect from the field with 13 putouts.
It is the second consecutive week a Lady Bear softball player has won the honor after Kim Wilmoth was named Big 12 Conference Player of the Week last week.
800th CAREER STRIKEOUT IN SIGHT FOR VITEK
Senior left-handed pitcher Cristin Vitek continues to climb up the career charts in several categories, including strikeouts where she entered the season as Baylor's career leader with 645. In fact, Vitek has a good shot at becoming Baylor's first-ever 800 strikeout performer as the lefty currently has 665 strikeouts and is now only 135 strikeouts shy of the milestone.
Last season, she became only the second player in school history to record 600 strikeouts in her career when she struck out Tina Boutelle of Texas in the sixth inning at the Big 12 Conference Tournament.
BAYLOR IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
The Lady Bears enter the season ranked in both of the national polls as Baylor is currently No. 17 in the USA Today/NFCA Preseason Poll and have climbed to No. 12 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Preseason Top 25.
After posting a 5-1 record this past week, including a 3-1 record at the prestigious Louisville Slugger Classic, the Baylor softball team climbed three spots to No. 12 in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25. The ranking surpasses Baylor's last week's No. 15 ranking in the poll as the highest ranking in school history.
The Arizona Wildcats sit atop this week's poll at No. 1 as the Wildcats will visit Getterman Stadium the weekend of Feb. 25 for the fourth-annual Compass Bank Invitational.
Baylor is one of five Big 12 Conference teams in this week's rankings as Texas (No. 3), Oklahoma (No. 13), Nebraska (No. 23) and Texas A&M (No. 21) in this week's poll.
Baylor's No. 17 preseason ranking in the USA Today/NFCA Preseason Top 25 is the highest preseason ranking for the Lady Bears in school history, surpassing the No. 18 ranking the Lady Bears currently hold in the ESPN.com/USA Softball preseason poll.
California, which only lost one player from last year's national runner-up team, is ranked No. 1 in the USA Today/NFCA Preseason Top 25 poll released by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
Oklahoma (No. 4), Texas (No. 15) and Nebraska (No. 18) join the Lady Bears in the NFCA rankings as Texas A&M, Oklahoma State and Kansas also earned preseason top 25 votes.
The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll is voted on by 30 NCAA Division I coaches, representing each conference. The first regular season poll will be released on Wednesday, Feb. 16.
The ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll is voted on by NCAA Division I coaches representing 15 different ASA regions and 11 different collegiate conferences. The poll is also voted on by selected softball media members. First-place votes are in parentheses.
BAYLOR LADY BEARS IN THE CAREER CHARTS
Several Lady Bears are aiming to continue making their way up the career charts in 2005. Below is a list of Lady Bears who currently rank in the top ten in one of the career categories:
BATTING RECORDS
AT-BATS: Kim Wilmoth (10th, 520)
RUNS: Kim Wilmoth (6th, 81)
HITS: Kim Wilmoth (5th, 155)
MULTIPLE-HIT GAMES: Kim Wilmoth (4th, 41)
DOUBLES: Kelly Osburn (9th, 20)
TRIPLES: Carrie Leerberg (t-1st, 8); Kim Wilmoth (t-4th, 6); April Luce (t-10th, 3)
HOME RUNS: Kelly Osburn (2nd, 19); Stephanie Pomes (t-7th, 9)
TOTAL BASES: Kelly Osburn (8th, 193) Kim Wilmoth (9th, 185)
WALKS: Kelly Osburn (3rd, 54)
HIT BY PITCH: Kelly Osburn (2nd, 13), Carrie Leerberg (8th, 8)
SACRIFICE FLIES: April Luce (t-9th, 2); Erin Sheek (t-9th, 2); Kelly Osburn (t-9th; 2)
SACRIFICE HITS: Kim Wilmoth (8th, 19)
STOLEN BASES: Kim Wilmoth (1st, 72); Carrie Leerberg (2nd, 56); Harmony Schwethelm (6th, 50); Kelly Osburn (7th, 42)
STOLEN BASE ATTEMPTS: Kim Wilmoth (1st, 93); Carrie Leerberg (2nd, 67); Harmony Schwethelm (4th, 61); Kelly Osburn (8th, 52)
PITCHING RECORDS
APPEARANCES: Cristin Vitek (2nd, 138); Lisa Ferguson (7th, 50)
GAMES STARTED: Cristin Vitek (3rd, 92); Lisa Ferguson (6th, 32)
RELIEF APPEARANCES: Cristin Vitek (1st, 46); Lisa Ferguson (8th, 18)
WINS: Cristin Vitek (3rd, 64); Lisa Ferguson (5th, 21)
LOSSES: Cristin Vitek (4th, 33); Lisa Ferguson (7th, 8)
DECISIONS: Cristin Vitek (3rd, 97); Lisa Ferguson (t-6th, 29)
COMPLETE GAMES: Cristin Vitek (3rd, 41); Lisa Ferguson (6th, 14)
SHUTOUTS: Cristin Vitek (3rd, 16); Lisa Ferguson (4th, 9)
SAVES: Cristin Vitek (t-2nd, 8); Lisa Ferguson (t-2nd, 8); Tessa Lynam (t-6th, 2); Nicole Jackson (t-7th, 1)
INNINGS PITCHED: Cristin Vitek (3rd, 637.1); Lisa erguson (7th, 218.2)
STRIKEOUTS: Cristin Vitek (1st, 665); Lisa Ferguson(7th, 127)
UP NEXT...
Baylor travels to Houston, Texas, for the Houston Cougar Invitational. The Lady Bears open play at the tournament on Fri., Feb. 18, at 3:00 p.m. when Baylor faces Kentucky
