Softball Hosts Texas A&M in Top 10 Showdown
3/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 22, 2005
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#T-7th BAYLOR (29-3, 0-0) vs. #T-7th TEXAS A&M (28-2, 0-0)
March 23, 2005, 6:30 p.m.
Getterman Stadium - Waco, Texas
THE SERIES
Baylor vs. Texas A&M: Texas A&M leads 36-12-1
Waco, Texas: Texas A&M leads 13-7
College Station, Texas: Texas A&M leads 15-3-1
Neutral: Texas A&M leads 8-2
Streak: Baylor won 1
Last Meeting: Baylor 2, Texas A&M 1 (5/14/2004)
LIVE COVERAGE
Radio: None
Live Audio: Fox Sports Radio 1580 AM
Live Stats: www.BaylorBears.com
Television: BearCast (www.BaylorBears.com)
After a week off, No. 7 Baylor (29-3) opens Big 12 Conference play this week when the Lady Bears host No. 7 Texas A&M (28-3) at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 23, at Getterman Stadium.
The Lady Bears and the Aggies open conference play tied for No. 7 in the nation in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25. Baylor climbed to No. 7, the highest ranking in school history, after sweeping a doubleheader from Northwestern State last week. In addition to the high national rankings, Baylor enters the contest with a 10-game winning streak while the Aggies have currently won 12 straight contests.
Texas A&M enters the contest with the Lady Bears owning a 36-12-1 edge in the series; however, Baylor went 2-1 against the Aggies last year, including a win over Texas A&M in the Big 12 Conference Tournament. The victory over the Aggies in the elimination round gave Baylor head coach Glenn Moore his 300th career victory. Texas A&M owns a 13-7 lead in the series in games played in Waco.
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M
Texas A&M enters the conference opener with the Lady Bears with a 12-game winning streak. The Aggies claimed the FAU Parent's Weekend Tournament championship last weekend, defeating Michigan State 1-0 to move to 28-2 on the season. The Aggies last lost came on Feb. 27 when Texas A&M dropped a 9-1 decision to Long Beach State.
The Aggies, who lead the Big 12 Conference with a .357 team batting average, are led at the plate by standout freshman Megan Gibson. In her first season, Gibson leads the team with a .438 average and also leads the conference with 12 home runs on the year. Another freshman, Amanda Scarborough, has also had an outstanding year-to-date for the Aggies, as she ranks second on the team and ninth in the conference with an average of .420 on the season.
Scarborough also has had an outstanding year in the circle for the Aggies as she leads the team with a perfect 15-0 record on the season. The freshman ranks second in the conference with a 0.45 ERA and has held opponents to a .111 batting average in 94.0 innings of work.
QUICK NOTES
• Baylor climbed to No. 7 in the latest USA Today/NFCA Top 25 and ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25. The rankings marks the highest for the Lady Bears in school history.
• Baylor is 100-3 over the past four seasons when scoring at least four runs.
• Baylor is 84-8 over the past four seasons when collecting at least eight hits.
• Baylor is 128-12 over the past four seasons when out-hitting its opponent.
• Baylor is 82-20 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.
• Baylor players earned the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week honor for three consecutive weeks to start the season (Chelsi Lake, Kim Wilmoth and Tessa Lynam).
• Baylor has established a new school record with 29 home runs this season.
BAYLOR ECLIPSES HOME RUN MILESTONE
Thirty-two games into the 2005 season, this year's version of the Lady Bears have already established a new school record for most home runs in a season. Through 32 games this season, Baylor has blasted 29 home runs, surpassing the 27 home runs hit by the 2002 squad as the most in a single season. Chelsi Lake leads the team with nine home runs on the season with Stephanie Pomes and Tessa Lynam tied for second on the team with home runs for the Lady Bears as Baylor is fourth in the conference in the category.
OSBURN SETS HOME RUN MARK
While the team shattered the school single-season home run record, Kelly Osburn established a new Baylor career home run mark with the 21st home run of her career in the 18-3 win over Oklahoma Christian. On a 1-2 pitch from Lindsey Lawson to lead-off the second inning, Osburn drove the ball over the left field wall for her fifth homer run of the season and 21st of her career, surpassing Ryan Stukel, who hit 20 from 2000-03, for most career home runs.
FERGUSON ONE SHY FROM CAREER SAVE MARK
After tossing 1.2 innings of relief in Baylor's 10-2 victory over Massachusetts at the Speedline Classic, Lisa Ferguson earned her second save of the season and 10th of her career, moving her into a tie for 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 728 strikeouts and is now only 72strikeouts 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. 7 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 and No. 10 in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25.
After sweeping a doubleheader from Northwestern State, the Baylor softball team climbed two spot to No. 7 in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25.
The Michigan Wolverines, who have won 27-straight since a season-opening loss to Baylor, sit atop this week's poll at No. 1 with 13-of-20 first-place votes.
Baylor is one of six Big 12 Conference teams in this week's rankings as Texas (No. 4), Texas A&M (No. 7), Oklahoma (No. 9), Missouri (No. 16) and Nebraska (No. 19) join Baylor in this week's poll.
Baylor's No. 10 ranking in the latest USA Today/NFCA Top 25 is the highest ranking for the Lady Bears in the NFCA poll in school history.
Arizona, with 25 first-place votes, is ranked No. 1 in the poll released by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
Oklahoma (No. 8), Texas (No. 11), Texas A&M (No. 12), Nebraska (No. 18) and Missouri (No. 19) join the Lady Bears in this week's rankings.
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, 578)
RUNS: Kelly Osburn (t-3rd, 104); Kim Wilmoth (5th, 94); Harmony Schwethelm (8th, 78)
HITS: Kim Wilmoth (4th, 179); Harmony Schwethelm (9th, 142); Carrie Leerberg (10th, 139)
MULTIPLE-HIT GAMES: Kim Wilmoth (4th, 50); Harmony Schwethelm (5th, 39)
DOUBLES: Kelly Osburn (6th, 25); Stephanie Pomes (8th, 22)
TRIPLES: Carrie Leerberg (1st, 9); Kim Wilmoth (2nd, 8); Kelly Osburn (t-6th, 6)
HOME RUNS: Kelly Osburn (1st, 21); Stephanie Pomes (t-4th, 14); Chelsi Lake (8th, 10)
TOTAL BASES: Kelly Osburn (4th, 237); Kim Wilmoth (6th, 215)
WALKS: Kelly Osburn (1st, 67)
HIT BY PITCH: Kelly Osburn (2nd, 14); Kim Wilmoth (t-9th, 8) Carrie Leerberg (t-6th, 9)
SACRIFICE FLIES: Stephanie Pomes (t-4th, 5); Kelly Osburn (t-9th; 3)
SACRIFICE HITS: Kim Wilmoth (8th, 19); Harmony Schwethelm (t-8th, 19)
STOLEN BASES: Kim Wilmoth (1st, 84); Harmony Schwethelm (2nd, 60); Carrie Leerberg (3rd, 59); Kelly Osburn (4th, 56)
STOLEN BASE ATTEMPTS: Kim Wilmoth (1st, 106); Harmony Schwethelm (2nd, 72); Carrie Leerberg (3rd, 70); Kelly Osburn (4th, 66)
PITCHING RECORDS
APPEARANCES: Cristin Vitek (2nd, 148); Lisa Ferguson (7th, 58)
GAMES STARTED: Cristin Vitek (2nd, 100); Lisa Ferguson (6th, 38)
RELIEF APPEARANCES: Cristin Vitek (1st, 48); Lisa Ferguson (8th, 20)
WINS: Cristin Vitek (2nd, 72); Lisa Ferguson (5th, 26)
LOSSES: Cristin Vitek (4th, 34); Lisa Ferguson (t-6th, 9)
DECISIONS: Cristin Vitek (2nd, 106); Lisa Ferguson (t-5th, 35)
COMPLETE GAMES: Cristin Vitek (3rd, 46); Lisa Ferguson (5th, 17)
SHUTOUTS: Cristin Vitek (3rd, 18); Lisa Ferguson (4th, 9)
SAVES: Cristin Vitek (3rd, 8); Lisa Ferguson (t-1st, 10); Tessa Lynam (t-6th, 2); Nicole Jackson (t-8th, 1)
INNINGS PITCHED: Cristin Vitek (2nd, 692.0); Lisa Ferguson (5th, 255.1)
STRIKEOUTS: Cristin Vitek (1st, 728); Lisa Ferguson (6th, 165); Tessa Lynam (8th, 47)
GETTERMAN STADIUM KIND TO LADY BEARS
With a win over Louisiana-Monroe to open the season, Baylor claimed its 100th win at Getterman Stadium as the Lady Bears now own a 109-39 career mark on their home field, opened in 1999. The Lady Bears had their best year ever at Getterman Stadium last season as Baylor went 27-4 at home on the year.
Baylor went undefeated in conference play at home last season as the Lady Bears swept season series with Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas Tech and Iowa State. Prior to the NCAA Softball Championships the Lady Bears were 27-2 at Getterman Stadium on the year.
Baylor has lost less than 10 games at home four of the five years the stadium has been open and has never posted a losing record in a season at home.
Arizona's 1-0 win over Baylor at the Compass Bank Invitational was the first loss for Baylor at home since a 3-2 setback to Oklahoma Christian on April 1, 2004, a span of 15 games.
UP NEXT...
Baylor continues Big 12 Conference action this weekend when the Lady Bears travel to Lubbock, Texas, for a two-game weekend series against Texas Tech. The Lady Bears open play against the Red Raiders on Friday, March 25, at 6:00 p.m.
