Softball Set to Host Compass Bank Invitational
3/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 2, 2006
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#18 BAYLOR (11-5) HOSTS THE COMPASS BANK INVITATIONAL
MARCH 3-5, 2006
Getterman Stadium • Waco, Texas
THE SCHEDULE
Friday, March 3
Bowling Green vs. Washington, 10:00 a.m.
Washington vs. Mississippi State, 12:30 p.m.
Baylor vs. Bowling Green, 3:00 p.m.
Mississippi State vs. Baylor, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 4
Bowling Green vs. Mississippi State, 10:00 a.m.
Mississippi State vs. Washington, 12:30 p.m.
Baylor vs. Washington, 3:00 p.m.
Bowling Green vs. Baylor, 5:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 5
Bowling Green vs. Washington, 9:00 a.m.
Washington vs. Baylor, 11:00 a.m.
Mississippi State vs. Bowling Green, 1:00 p.m.
Baylor vs. Mississippi State, 3:00 p.m.
THE SERIES
Baylor vs. Bowling Green: Bowling Green leads 2-0
Baylor vs. Mississippi State: Never Met
Baylor vs. Washington: Never Met
LIVE COVERAGE
Radio: None
Live Audio: www.BaylorBears.com
Live Stats: www.BaylorBears.com
Television: None
The No. 18 Baylor softball team looks to extend its three-game winning streak as the Lady Bears return to action to host the Compass Bank Invitational beginning Friday, March 3. Baylor opens play at the tournament at 3:00 p.m. when they face Bowling Green before a meeting with Mississippi State at 5:30 p.m.
No. 13 Washington (12-3), Mississippi State (15-0) and Bowling Green (6-0) join the Lady Bears at the fifth-annual rendition of the tournament as the tournament opens when Bowling Green faces Washington at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, March 3, at 10:00 a.m.
Baylor is 0-2 all-time against the field at this year's tournament as the Lady Bears have never faced Washington or Mississippi State and last met Bowling Green in 1988, falling to the Falcons 11-1 in Houston, Texas.
Baylor has had a strong showing at past Compass Bank Invitationals as the Lady Bears own an 18-1 record all time at the annual event. Fans can listen to a live audio feed of the Baylor games at the tournament by visiting www.BaylorBears.com; or, can purchase tickets by calling (254) 710-1000 or 1-800-BAYLOR-U.
QUICK NOTES
• Baylor is No. 20 in the latest USA Today/NFCA Top 25 and No. 18 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25.
• Baylor's appearance in both polls marks the 30th consecutive week the Lady Bears have appeared in the NFCA Top 25 and the 29th consecutive week the team has appeared in the USA Softball Top 25.
• Baylor is 130-5 over the past five seasons when scoring at least four runs.
• Baylor is 108-13 over the past four seasons when collecting at least eight hits.
• Baylor is 153-16 over the past five seasons when out-hitting its opponent.
• Baylor is 54-12 over the past two seasons at Getterman Stadium, including a 23-6 mark at home last season.
• Baylor's Chelsi Lake and Harmony Schwethelm were named to the ASA Softball National Player of the Year Preseason Watch List. The selection to the watch list marked the first time in school history Baylor players have been named to the preseason list.
• Baylor's Harmony Schwethelm was one of 20 players in the country selected in the inaugural PFX Tour Draft and was also the 13th overall selection in the NPF Draft (Philadelphia Force).
THE COMPASS BANK INVITATIONAL
Baylor returns home to host the Compass Bank Invitational March 3-5, 2006, at Getterman Stadium. Bowling Green, Mississippi State and Washington travel to Baylor to participate in the round-robin tournament. Baylor will open the tournament against Bowling Green on Friday, March 3, at 3:00 p.m. The tournament will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Friday with Bowling Green facing Washington in opening round action. Live stats for all games will be available at www.BaylorBears.com, the official website of Baylor Athletics and a member of the College Sports Television.
This is the fifth rendition of the Compass Bank Invitational. Last year, Arizona won the tournament going 4-0 with wins over Baylor, Birmingham Southern, Louisiana Tech and Sam Houston State. Baylor is 18-1 all-time at the tournament with the only setback coming during the 2005 tournament as the Lady Bears lost to No. 1 Arizona 1-0 in the championship game.
COMPASS BANK INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE CHANGE
The Baylor-Washington game scheduled for Sunday, March 5, at 1:00 p.m. has been moved to 11:00 a.m. due to Washington's travel plans. The Mississippi State-Bowling Green contest scheduled for 11:00 a.m. will now be played at 1:00 p.m.
SCOUTING BOWLING GREEN (6-0)
Bowling Green, out of the Mid-American Conference, enters this weekend riding a six-game winning streak after sweeping through the Panera Challenge as the Falcons are off to their best start in school history.
Bowling Green is led by Gina Rango who leads the team with a .556 average, three home runs and six RBI. Four players have scored four runs each on the season as the Falcons have outscored opponents 28-9 this year.
In the circle, the Falcons are led by Liz Vrabel who is currently 3-0 on the season with a 0.95 ERA in 14. 2 innings of work.
Bowling Green owns a 2-0 edge in the series; however, the teams have not met since 1988.
SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE (15-0)
Mississippi State, which is coming off of a sweep of Samford on Wednesday, enters the Compass Bank Invitational riding a school record 15-game winning streak as the Bulldogs enter the tournament with a perfect 15-0 record.
The Bulldogs, who are hitting an impressive .329 as a team, are led by Hayle Guess who leads the team with a .521 average and 18 runs on the year. In addition, Mississippi State features Courtney Bures, who is hitting .475 on the season and leads the team with two home runs and 19 RBI on the year.
Much of the success for the Bulldogs fast start can be attributed to the strong pitching staff as the team has posted an impressive 0.55 ERA in 97.0 innings of work. Ragan Blake leads the way for Mississippi State as she has posted an impressive 8-0 record and 0.54 ERA in 52.0 innings of work. Stephanie Comeaux is also off to a fast start for Mississippi State, posting a perfect 7-0 record and 0.81 ERA in 43.0 innings of work.
Baylor's meeting with Mississippi State will mark the first in school history between the two schools.
SCOUTING NO. 13 WASHINGTON (12-3)
Washington, which will be the fourth Pac-10 Conference school the Lady Bears will face this season, enters the Compass Bank Invitational after sweeping through the field at the Husky Fever Classic. After opening the season with a loss to Kentucky, Washington has rolled through the rest of its schedule, falling only to nationally-ranked LSU on two occasions.
Washington features Marnie Koziol who leads the team with a .462 batting average. Ashlyn Watson provides the power in the Washington line-up as she leads the team with three home runs and ranks second on the squad with 11 RBI.
In the circle, Washington is led by freshman Danielle Lowrie as the right-hander leads the team with a 7-1 record and 1.38 ERA in 55.2 innings of work. The first-year player has also struck out 84 on the season and has held opponents to a .158 average on the year. Caitlin Noble has also seen significant time in the circle for Washington, posting a 5-2 record and 1.56 ERA in 40.1 innings of work.
Harmony Schwethelm REACHES 200 CAREER HITS
With four hits in the double-header sweep of Texas State, Baylor outfielder Harmony Schwethelm became only the fifth player in school history to reach the 200-hit plateau for her career. In the pair of wins over Texas State, Schwethelm pushed her career total 202 with four hits as she collected the milestone base hit with a single in the fifth inning in Baylor's 9-1 win over the Bobcats in game one.
Schwethelm ranks fifth on Baylor's career hits list and is now 46 hits shy of breaking the Baylor career record of 247 held by Naomi Fitzgerald (1998-2001).
Senior Kelly Osburn is also closing in on the 200-hit mark as the outfielder is only 17 hits shy of the milestone.
Chelsi Lake REACHES 100 RBI FOR HER CAREER
Not only did Chelsi Lake's solo home run in the sixth inning against Texas State prove to be the game-winner in a 4-3 Baylor victory; but, the RBI for Lake on the solo home run marked the 100th RBI of her career as the junior became only the second player in school history to reach 100 RBI for her career.
Heading into this weekend, Lake is only two RBI shy of establishing a new Baylor career record as Sarah Caudle (2000-03) currently holds the record with 101.
Kelly Osburn is also close to the RBI century mark as the senior has drove in 81 runs during her career.
GETTERMAN STADIUM KIND TO LADY BEARS
Baylor's home field of Getterman Stadium has been kind to the Lady Bears as BU owns a career 126-46 mark at the home park since the stadium opened in 1999. Last year, Baylor went 23-6 in the friendly confines of Getterman Stadium as no Lady Bears team has lost more than 10 games at home in a single season.
Baylor's best mark at home came during the 2004 campaign when the Lady Bears enjoyed a 26-4 record at home, including a 24-2 mark during the regular season.
In the stadium's five years of existence, attendance has steadily risen as Baylor set a pair of attendance records last season. Last season, Baylor averaged 652 fans a game, a new school record, as the Lady Bears set a single-game attendance record when 1,288 fans attended the BU-Texas A&M game on May 23, 2005. The Lady Bears ranked 11th nationally in average and total attendance last season as 12,384 fans saw Baylor play during the year.
BAYLOR SOFTBALL IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
After going 3-2 last week at the Palm Springs Classic, the Lady Bears are ranked No. 18 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll released Tuesday. In addition, Baylor earned a No. 20 ranking in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25.
Baylor is one of five Big 12 Conference school ranked in the current polls as Texas (No. 3 ESPN.com/No. 2 USA Today), Texas A&M (No. 14, No. 14), Oklahoma (No. 10, No. 10) and Nebraska (No. 17, No. 17) join Baylor in the rankings.
Arizona, with a 15-1 record, claimed the top spot in both polls this week.
Baylor's appearance in both polls marks the 30th consecutive week the Lady Bears have appeared in the NFCA Top 25 and the 29th consecutive week the team has appeared in the USA Softball Top 25. The last time Baylor failed to appear in either poll was March 16, 2004.
BAYLOR LADY BEARS IN THE CAREER CHARTS
Several Lady Bears are aiming to continue making their way up the career charts in 2006. Below is a list of Lady Bears who currently rank in the top ten in one of the career categories:
BATTING RECORDS
RUNS: Kelly Osburn (1st, 135); Harmony Schwethelm (3rd, 115)
HITS: Harmony Schwethelm (5th, 202); Kelly Osburn 6th, 183)
MULTIPLE-HIT GAMES: Harmony Schwethelm (t-2nd, 59); Kelly Osburn (6th, 43)
DOUBLES: Kelly Osburn (2nd, 37); Chelsi Lake (t-5th, 27); Tessa Lynam (10th, 22)
TRIPLES: Harmony Schwethelm (t-2nd, 8); Kelly Osburn (t-4th, 7); Chelsi Lake (t-10th, 4)
HOME RUNS: Kelly Osburn (1st, 26); Chelsi Lake (4th, 19); Tessa Lynam (5th, 17)
RBI: Chelsi Lake (2nd, 100); Kelly Osburn (5th, 81); Tessa Lynam (10th, 65)
TOTAL BASES: Kelly Osburn (1st, 312); Harmony Schwethelm (6th, 237)
WALKS: Kelly Osburn (1st, 87)
HIT BY PITCH: Kelly Osburn (2nd, 18); Kylie Conroy (t-7th, 9)
SACRIFICE FLIES: Kelly Osburn (t-7th; 3); Chelsi Lake (t-7th, 3); Tessa Lynam (t-7th, 3)
SACRIFICE HITS: Harmony Schwethelm (6th, 25)
STOLEN BASES: Harmony Schwethelm (2nd, 91); Kelly Osburn (t-3rd, 69)
STOLEN BASE ATTEMPTS: Harmony Schwethelm (2nd, 106); Kelly Osburn (3rd, 83)
PITCHING RECORDS
APPEARANCES: Lisa Ferguson (5th, 94); Tessa Lynam (8th, 35)
GAMES STARTED: Lisa Ferguson (5th, 59); Tessa Lynam (t-8th, 13)
RELIEF APPEARANCES: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 35); Tessa Lynam (t-7th, 22); Nicole Jackson (t-8th, 21)
WINS: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 42); Tessa Lynam (8th, 13)
LOSSES: Lisa Ferguson (6th, 15); Tessa Lynam (t-9th, 4)
DECISIONS: Lisa Ferguson (5th, 57); Tessa Lynam (8th, 17)
COMPLETE GAMES: Lisa Ferguson (5th, 25); Tessa Lynam (10th, 4)
SHUTOUTS: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 13); Tessa Lynam (t-9th, 1)
SAVES: Lisa Ferguson (1st, 11); Tessa Lynam (t-5th, 4); Nicole Jackson (t-8th, 1); Sarah Hausner (t-8th, 1)
INNINGS PITCHED: Lisa Ferguson (5th, 397.0); Tessa Lynam (8th, 104.2)
STRIKEOUTS: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 286); Tessa Lynam (8th, 94)
Kelly Osburn BREAKS PAIR OF CAREER RECORDS
With her solo home run to lead-off the game against Houston, Baylor senior Kelly Osburn pushed her career runs scored total to 129, breaking Michelle Sorrels (1996-99) career record of 128 runs scored. In three-plus seasons as a Lady Bear, Osburn has now scored 133 runs.
In addition to the runs scored record, with 10 total bases last weekend, Osburn pushed her career total to 304, surpassing Sarah Caudle (303, 2000-03) for the career lead in the category.
The records are just two of several where Osburn will hold the career lead once her career is over. Already Baylor's career leader in home runs (25), walks (87), runs scored (135) and total bases (312). The senior ranks second in doubles (37) and fourth in triples (7).
With a strong showing this weekend, Osburn could become Baylor's career leader in doubles as the senior left-fielder is currently one double shy of Caudle (38) for the career lead in the category.
UP NEXT...
Baylor concludes a 10-game home stand when the Lady Bears face Houston in a double-header on Wednesday, March 8, at 4:00 p.m.
