Softball Hosts Oklahoma Christian
3/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 1, 2005
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#10 BAYLOR (20-3) vs. OKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN (5-7)
March 2, 2005, 5:00 p.m.
Getterman Stadium • Waco, Texas
THE SERIES
Baylor vs. OCU: Baylor leads 4-2
Waco, Texas: Series tied 1-1
Oklahoma City, Okla.: Never Met
Neutral: Baylor leads 3-1
Streak: Baylor won 1
Last Meeting: Baylor 10, OCU 3 (3/16/2004)
LIVE COVERAGE
Radio: None
Live Audio: None
Live Stats: www.BaylorBears.com
Television: None
No. 10 Baylor (20-3) returns to action this week when the Lady Bears host Oklahoma Christian on Wednesday, March 2, at 5:00 p.m.
The meeting with the Lady Eagles marks the seventh time in school history the two teams have met. Baylor owns a 4-2 edge in the series, however, split with Oklahoma Christian last season. In fact, the Lady Eagles handed Baylor one of its two regular-season losses last year with a 3-2 win on April 1, 2004.
QUICK NOTES
• Baylor climbed to No. 10 in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25. The ranking marks the highest for the Lady Bears in school history.
• Baylor is 92-3 over the past four seasons when scoring at least four runs.
• Baylor is 77-8 over the past four seasons when collecting at least eight hits.
• Baylor is 121-12 over the past four seasons when out-hitting its opponent. • Baylor is 81-20 over the past three seasons at Getterman Stadium, including a 27-4 mark at home last season.
• With its opening win of the season over Louisiana-Monroe, Baylor earned its 100th victory at Getterman Stadium. Baylor is now 105-38 all-time in games played at Getterman Stadium
• Baylor's Tessa Lynam was named USA Softball National Player of the Week earlier this year, marking the first time in school history a player from Baylor was recognized for the award.
• Lynam was also named Big 12 Conference Player of the Week. Baylor players earned the honor for three consecutive weeks to start the season (Chelsi Lake, Kim Wilmoth).
• Carrie Leerberg is questionable after suffering a hamstring injury three weeks ago.
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN
Oklahoma Christian enters the contest with the Lady Bears with a record of 5-7 after splitting a pair of games at St. Gregory's University. The Lady Eagles are led by freshman Sandra Darmstadt, who was recently named Sooner Athletic Conference Softball Player of the Week.
Darmstadt, a 5-5 righ-thanded hitting outfielder, batted .500 for the week, going 7-for-14. Included in her hits were a home run and three RBI for the Lady Eagles.
On the season Darmstadt is batting .351, with 13 hits in 37 at bats with two homeruns and 7 RBI's.
BAYLOR AND OSBURN NEAR HOME RUN MILESTONES
Through only 23 games this season, this year's version of the Lady Bears have hit 20 home runs, matching last season's total, and are only eight home runs shy of establishing a new school record for home runs in a season. Chelsi Lake leads the team with six home runs on the season with Tessa Lynam and Kelly Osburn two behind Lake with four round-trippers. Stephanie Pomes has added three home runs for the Lady Bears as Baylor is currently tied with Texas A&M for the conference lead.
While the team is looking to shatter the school single-season home run record, Osburn has already tied Baylor's career home run mark and is just one home run shy from establishing a new career standard. With four home runs this season, Osburn is tied with Ryan Stukel on the career home run charts with 20. Stukel hit 20 home runs for the Lady Bears in her three-year career from 1999-2001.
FERGUSON ONE SHY FROM CAREER SAVE MARK
After tossing three innings of relief in Baylor's 6-1 victory over Sam Houston State at the Compass Bank Invitational, Lisa Ferguson earned her first save of the season and ninth of her career, moving her within one of the Baylor career mark.
Former Baylor pitcher Joni Miller established the standard with 10 saves from 2000-2003. Ferguson is on pace to shatter the school record after finishing second in the NCAA with eight saves her freshman season.
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 691 strikeouts and is now only 109 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 entered the season ranked in both of the national polls and have climbed into the top 10 for the first time in school history as Baylor is currently No. 10 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 and have climbed to No. 11 in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25.
After posting a 3-1 record this past week at the Compass Bank Invitational, the Baylor softball team climbed one spot to No. 10 in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25.
The Arizona Wildcats sit atop this week's poll at No. 1 as the Wildcats claimed the Compass Bank Invitational title after defeating Baylor 1-0.
Baylor is one of six Big 12 Conference teams in this week's rankings as Texas (No. 5), Texas A&M (No. 11), Oklahoma (No. 12), Nebraska (No. 16), and Missouri (No. 22) join Baylor in this week's poll.
Baylor's No. 11 ranking in the latest USA Today/NFCA Top 25 is the highest ranking for the Lady Bears in the NFCA poll in school history.
California, which only lost one player from last year's national runner-up team, is ranked No. 1 in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll released by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
Texas (No. 10), Oklahoma (No. 14), Nebraska (No. 19) and Texas A&M (No. 23) join the Lady Bears in the NFCA rankings as Missouri also earned votes in this week's poll.
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 (6th, 555)
RUNS: Kim Wilmoth (5th, 87)
HITS: Kim Wilmoth (4th, 172)
MULTIPLE-HIT GAMES: Kim Wilmoth (4th, 48); Harmony Schwethelm (5th, 34); Carrie Leerberg (10th, 28)
DOUBLES: Kelly Osburn (6th, 25); Stephanie Pomes (10th, 19)
TRIPLES: Carrie Leerberg (t-1st, 8); Kim Wilmoth (3rd, 7); Kelly Osburn (10th, 4)
HOME RUNS: Kelly Osburn (t-1st, 20); Stephanie Pomes (7th, 11)
TOTAL BASES: Kelly Osburn (4th, 220), Kim Wilmoth (t-6th, 205)
WALKS: Kelly Osburn (1st, 61)
SACRIFICE FLIES: Stephanie Pomes (t-5th, 4); April Luce (t-10th, 2); Erin Sheek (t-10th, 2); Kelly Osburn (t-10th; 2)
SACRIFICE HITS: Kim Wilmoth (8th, 19); Harmony Schwethelm (t-8th, 19)
STOLEN BASES: Kim Wilmoth (1st, 76); Carrie Leerberg (2nd, 56); Harmony Schwethelm (3rd, 53); Kelly Osburn (7th, 48)
STOLEN BASE ATTEMPTS: Kim Wilmoth (1st, 99); Carrie Leerberg (2nd, 67); Harmony Schwethelm (3rd, 65); Kelly Osburn (6th, 58)
PITCHING RECORDS
APPEARANCES: Cristin Vitek (2nd, 144); Lisa Ferguson (7th, 55)
GAMES STARTED: Cristin Vitek (3rd, 96); Lisa Ferguson (6th, 36)
RELIEF APPEARANCES: Cristin Vitek (1st, 47); Lisa Ferguson (8th, 19)
WINS: Cristin Vitek (2nd, 67); Lisa Ferguson (5th, 23)
LOSSES: Cristin Vitek (4th, 34); Lisa Ferguson (t-6th, 9)
DECISIONS: Cristin Vitek (t-2nd, 101); Lisa Ferguson (6th, 33)
COMPLETE GAMES: Cristin Vitek (3rd, 45); Lisa Ferguson (t-5th, 16)
SHUTOUTS: Cristin Vitek (3rd, 17); Lisa Ferguson (4th, 9)
SAVES: Cristin Vitek (3rd, 8); Lisa Ferguson (2nd, 9); Tessa Lynam (t-6th, 2); Nicole Jackson (t-7th, 1)
INNINGS PITCHED: Cristin Vitek (2nd, 677.1); Lisa Ferguson (5th, 244.0) STRIKEOUTS: Cristin Vitek (1st, 691); Lisa Ferguson (7th, 145)
UP NEXT...
Baylor will return to action on Tuesday, March 8, when the Lady Bears host UT-Arlington in a single game at 6:30 p.m.
