March 2, 2007
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#16 BAYLOR (17-4) HOSTS LOUISIANA TECH (13-8)
March 3, 2007 - 2:00 PM (DH)
March 4, 2007 - 1:00 PM
Getterman Stadium
Waco, Texas
THE SCHEDULE
SATURDAY, MARCH 3
Louisiana Tech at Baylor, 2:00 p.m. (DH)
SUNDAY, MARCH 4
Louisiana Tech at Baylor, 1:00 p.m.
THE SERIES
Baylor vs. Louisiana Tech: Louisiana Tech leads 30-8
Waco, Texas: Louisiana Tech leads 13-5
Ruston, La.: Louisiana Tech leads 12-0
Neutral: Louisiana Tech leads 5-3
LIVE COVERAGE
Radio: None
Live Audio: www.BaylorBears.com
Live Stats: www.BaylorBears.com
Television: None
The No. 16 Baylor softball team returns to action this week as the Lady Bears step out of tournament play to host Louisiana Tech for a three-game series beginning on Saturday, March 3 at 2:00 p.m. The Lady Bears will face Louisiana Tech for a doubleheader on Saturday before closing out the series with a single game on Sunday, March 4, at 1:00 p.m.
Baylor (17-4) enters the series winners of 7-of-10 after the Lady Bears swept a mid-week doubleheader from Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday. Ashley Monceaux leads the way for Baylor as the senior leads the Big 12 Conference with a .525 batting average, seven home runs and 26 RBI.
Freshman Kirsten Shortridge, who earned NFCA Leadoff Classic all-tournament honors last week, is also off to a fast start on the year, ranking second on the team with a .414 batting average and leading the team in the circle with a perfect 6-0 record and 1.84 ERA.
Louisiana Tech (13-8) has dominated the series with the Lady Bears, owning a 30-8 all-time record against Baylor and posting a 13-5 record in the series in games played in Waco. However, Baylor has won the last five in the series and is a perfect 4-0 against Louisiana Tech in games played in Waco since the program was reinstated.
For tickets to the series, please contact the Baylor Ticket Office at 1-800-BAYLOR-U or 254-710-1000.
SCOUTING LOUISIANA TECH
Louisiana Tech enters the weekend with a record of 13-8 on the season after sweeping a pair of games from Alcorn State on Wednesday. The Lady Techsters, led by head coach Sarah Dawson, have won 6-of-10 heading into the three-game series with the Lady Bears.
Louisiana Tech is led by Rochelle Sandberg, who leads the team with a .381 batting average, two home runs and 15 RBI. As a team, Louisiana Tech is hitting an impressive .304 on the season and has blasted 14 home runs on the year.
A number of pitchers have seen time in the circle for Louisiana Tech; however, Krissi Oliver has seen the most work, posting an 8-5 record on the year with a 3.47 ERA in 76.2 innings of work. Mandi Bertsch has also seen significant time in the circle for Louisiana Tech, posting a 4-2 record on the season with a 4.90 ERA in 40.0 innings.
Finally, new to the Louisiana Tech roster this season is Laura Dugas, a transfer from Baylor who was the Lady Bears team manager a season ago. Dugas has appeared in two games for the Lady Techsters this season, scoring one run on the year.
QUICK NOTES
• Baylor is No. 16 in the latest USA Today/NFCA Top 25 and No. 16 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25.
• Baylor's appearance in both polls marks the 46th consecutive week the Lady Bears have appeared in the NFCA Top 25 and the 45th consecutive week the team has appeared in the USA Softball Top 25.
• Baylor is 161-9 over the past six seasons when scoring at least four runs.
• Baylor is 135-18 over the past five seasons when collecting at least eight hits.
• Baylor is 188-19 over the past five seasons when out-hitting its opponent.
• Baylor is 81-18 over the past four seasons at Getterman Stadium, including a 10-0 mark at home this season.
• Baylor's Kirsten Shortridge was named to the NFCA Leadoff Classic all-tournament team for her performance last week.
• Baylor's Chelsi Lake and Brette Reagan were named to the ASA Softball National Player of the Year Preseason Watch List. The selection to the watch list marked the second time in school history Baylor players have been named to the preseason list.
• Baylor's Chelsi Lake was selected as a first-team ESPN.com Preseason All-America at the catcher position.
• Jordan Daniels is out indefinitely with an arm injury.
• For the first time in history, live, streaming audio will be available for every Baylor softball game. Sign-up for audio is free and fans can listen to every Baylor softball game by visiting www.baylorbears.com.
HEAD COACH Glenn Moore REACHES CAREER MILESTONE
With a 7-2 win over Iowa State at the Ragin' Cajuns Invitational, Baylor head coach Glenn Moore reached a career milestone as he recorded his 400th career victory with the win. In 10-plus seasons as a head coach, Moore now has a career record of 408-168.
While at Baylor, Moore has posted a career record of 269-126 as he has posted at least 30 wins in each of his first six seasons with the Lady Bears and has posted at least 35 wins in all but one season.
Moore has led Baylor to three consecutive NCAA Championship appearances, the first appearances in school history, as the Lady Bears captured the 2005 NCAA Auburn Regional title and advanced to the NCAA Super Regional round while reaching the 2006 NCAA Corvallis Regional final a year ago.
Chelsi Lake TIES CAREER HOME RUN MILESTONE
With a home run at the Ragin' Cajuns Invitational, Chelsi Lake moved into a tie with for Baylor star Kelly Osburn (2003-06) for the Baylor career lead in the category. Lake has now hit 38 career home runs as the senior already holds the Baylor single-season home run mark with 18 round-trippers in 2006.
The career milestone is just one of a number of Baylor marks Lake will likely pass during the 2007 campaign as the senior already holds the Lady Bears career record with 158 RBI. In addition, Lake is just 36 total bases shy of surpassing Osburn's career total bases mark of 395.
Ashley Monceaux AND BAYLOR OFFENSE OFF TO HOT START
Perhaps no team in the country had a more successful start at the plate than Baylor to start off the 2007 season. So far this season, Baylor has posted a .351 batting average on the year and currently ranks second in the league in the category. In addition, the Lady Bears have hit 22 home runs on the season to lead the Big 12 Conference and have posted an impressive .533 slugging percentage on the year.
Leading the way for Baylor has been senior Ashley Monceaux. Monceaux, who earned Big 12 Conference Player of the Week honors earlier this season, leads the Lady Bears with a Big 12 Conference leading .525 batting average, seven home runs and 26 RBI. The senior first baseman has posted an almost unbelievable 1.017 slugging percentage and 60 total bases as she leads the conference in six hitting categories.
As a team, Baylor currently features eight players batting over .300 on the season, including freshman Kirsten Shortridge (.414), Nicole Wesley (.348), Tiffany Wesley (.333), Kelsey Sage (.308) and Courtney Oberg (.302).
GETTERMAN STADIUM KIND TO LADY BEARS
Since the stadium opened, Getterman Stadium has been kind to the Lady Bears as Baylor owns a 153-52 mark all-time at the stadium since it opened in 1999. So far this season, Baylor is a perfect 10-0 at home this season as last year Baylor went 21-8 in the friendly confines of Getterman Stadium. Since the stadium opened, 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 six years of existence, attendance has steadily risen as Baylor set a pair of attendance records last season. Last season, Baylor set a single-game attendance record when 1,455 fans attended the BU-Texas game to close out the home portion of the schedule.
BAYLOR SOFTBALL IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
The Baylor softball team is currently ranked No. 16 in the preseason ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll released at the start of the season. In addition, Baylor earned a No. 16 ranking in the latest USA Today/NFCA Top 25.
Baylor is one of four Big 12 Conference school ranked in both polls as Texas A&M (No. 4, No. 5), Oklahoma (No. 6, No. 7) and Texas (No. 10, No. 10) join the Lady Bears in the polls.
Tennessee, after opening the year No. 2 in the national polls, has moved to No. 1 in the rankings in both polls.
Baylor's appearance in both polls marks the 46th consecutive week the Lady Bears have appeared in the NFCA Top 25 and the 45th 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. Within the Big 12 Conference, only Texas A&M and Oklahoma have currently appeared in the national polls for more consecutive weeks.
BAYLOR LADY BEARS IN THE CAREER CHARTS
Several Lady Bears are aiming to continue making their way up the career charts in 2007. Below is a list of Lady Bears who currently rank in the top ten in one of the career categories:
BATTING RECORDS
RUNS: Chelsi Lake (93, t-7th)
HITS: Chelsi Lake (186, 7th)
MULTIPLE-HIT GAMES: Chelsi Lake (48, 7th)
DOUBLES: Chelsi Lake (41, 2nd)
TRIPLES: Chelsi Lake (t-10th, 4)
HOME RUNS: Chelsi Lake (t-1st, 38); Brette Reagan (t-8th, 14)
TOTAL BASES: Chelsi Lake (359, 2nd)
SACRIFICE FLIES: Chelsi Lake (2nd, 7)
PITCHING RECORDS
APPEARANCES: Lisa Ferguson (3rd, 139); Ashley Monceaux (t-10th, 27)
GAMES STARTED: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 95)
RELIEF APPEARANCES: Lisa Ferguson (2nd, 44)
WINS: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 62)
LOSSES: Lisa Ferguson (5th, 32); Brittany Turner (t-9th, 4)
DECISIONS: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 94)
COMPLETE GAMES: Lisa Ferguson (t-3rd, 47)
SHUTOUTS: Lisa Ferguson (2nd, 23)
SAVES: Lisa Ferguson (1st, 16)
INNINGS PITCHED: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 627.1); Ashley Monceaux (9th, 97.1)
STRIKEOUTS: Lisa Ferguson (3rd, 473); Ashley Monceaux (9th, 72); Kirsten Shortridge (10th, 51)
SAM HOUSTON STATE DOUBLEHEADER RESCHEDULED
The Baylor softball team doubleheader with Sam Houston State scheduled for Wed., Feb. 14, at 4:00 p.m. was postponed due to the threat of bad weather conditions. The doubleheader with the Bearkats has been rescheduled for Wednesday, March 7, at 4:00 p.m.
Tickets for the originally scheduled contests will be honored at the March 7th doubleheader.
UP NEXT...
Baylor will return to action on Wednesday, March 7, when the Lady Bears host Sam Houston State for a doubleheader beginning at 4:00 p.m.
