Softball Hosts Nebraska to Open Big 12 Play

March 23, 2007

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

#12 BAYLOR (28-9, 0-0) HOSTS NEBRASKA (20-9, 0-0)

March 24, 2007 - 2:00 PM

March 25, 2007 - 1:00 PM

Getterman Stadium

Waco, Texas

THE SCHEDULE

SATURDAY, MARCH 24

Nebraska at No. 12 Baylor, 2:00 p.m.

SUNDAY, MARCH 24

Nebraska at No. 12 Baylor, 1:00 p.m.

THE SERIES

Baylor vs. Nebraska: Nebraska leads 28-6

Waco, Texas: Nebraska leads 8-2

Lincoln, Neb.: Nebraska leads 8-2

Neutral: Nebraska leads 12-2

LIVE COVERAGE

Radio: ESPN Radio 1660 AM (Sat. only)

Live Video: www.BaylorBears.com (Sat. only)

Live Audio: www.BaylorBears.com

Live Stats: www.BaylorBears.com

Television: None

The No. 12 Baylor softball team begins Big 12 Conference play as the Lady Bears host Nebraska for the start of a two-game series beginning on Saturday, March 24, at 2:00 p.m. Game two of the series against the Huskers is slated for Sunday, March 25, at 1:00 p.m.

Baylor enters the series with the Huskers with a record of 28-9 on the year after sweeping a pair of games from Oklahoma Baptist on Thursday.

The Lady Bears are led at the plate by senior first baseman Ashley Monceaux. On the season, Monceaux has posted a team-leading .422 batting average with 10 home runs and 39 RBI.

Senior Lisa Ferguson continues to be a steady presence for the Lady Bears in the circle, leading the way with a 12-4 record and 1.77 ERA in 102.2 innings of work.

Although entering the contest with two straight losses, Nebraska enters the Big 12 opener as winners of 12-of-14 and has posted an impressive 4-1 record against ranked opponents. Ashley DeBuhr leads the way for the Huskers, posting an impressive 3-1 record, allowing only one earned run, in 31.1 innings against ranked opponents this season.

For tickets to the weekend series, contact the Baylor Ticket Office at 1-800-BAYLOR-U or 254-710-1000. Both games can be heard on the official website for Baylor Athletics, www.BaylorBears.com.

SCOUTING NEBRASKA

Nebraska enters the weekend riding a two-game losing streak; however, the Huskers have won 12-of-14 as they enter with a 20-9 record on the season, including a 4-1 mark against ranked opponents. Led by head coach Rhonda Revelle, Nebraska leads the all-time series with Baylor, 29-7, including owning a 10-4 advantage in Waco. The Huskers have won nine of the last 11 meetings and NU had a six-game winning streak in Waco before Baylor pulled out a 10-inning victory on Chelsi Lake's walk-off grand slam in the team's last meeting at Getterman Stadium.

Nebraska is led by pitcher Ashley DeBuhr. DeBuhr, who is coming off an ankle injury, has posted a 9-4 record and 1.53 ERA in 91.2 innings of work.

Crystal Carwile leads the Huskers attack at the plate, posting a .283 average on the season and leading the team with 16 runs scored and 15 RBI.

QUICK NOTES

• Baylor is No. 17 in the latest USA Today/NFCA Top 25 and No. 12 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25.

• Baylor's appearance in both polls marks the 49th consecutive week the Lady Bears have appeared in the NFCA Top 25 and the 48th consecutive week the team has appeared in the USA Softball Top 25.

• Baylor is 168-10 over the past six seasons when scoring at least four runs.

• Baylor is 140-18 over the past five seasons when collecting at least eight hits.

• Baylor is 199-20 over the past five seasons when out-hitting its opponent.

• Baylor is 90-19 over the past four seasons at Getterman Stadium, including a 19-1 mark at home this season.

• For the first time in school history, Baylor swept the national player of the week honors after taking two-of-three from No. 2 Arizona. Alex Colyer was named USA Softball National Player of the Week while Lisa Ferguson was named Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week. Both earned Big 12 Conference player of the week honors as well.

• 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.

• 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 419-173.

While at Baylor, Moore has posted a career record of 280-131 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 BREAKS CAREER HOME RUN MILESTONE

With a home run at the Bank of Hawai'i Invitational, Chelsi Lake moved into first place, surpassing former Baylor star Kelly Osburn (2003-06),in the Baylor career home run category. Lake has now hit 39 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 164 RBI. In addition, Lake is just 20 total bases shy of surpassing Osburn's career total bases mark of 395 and has tied Osburn's career mark with 43 doubles.

Ashley Monceaux AND BAYLOR OFFENSE OFF TO HOT START

Over the past few years, the Baylor offense has had tremendous success at the plate and this year has been no different. So far this season, Baylor has posted a .326 batting average on the year and currently ranks second in the league in the category. In addition, the Lady Bears have hit 31 home runs on the season and have posted an impressive .479 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 .422 batting average, 10 home runs and 39 RBI. The senior first baseman has posted an almost unbelievable .804 slugging percentage and 82 total bases as she ranks among the top five in the conference in nine different categories.

As a team, Baylor currently features seven players batting over .300 on the season, including freshman Kirsten Shortridge (.356), Nicole Wesley (.378) and Tiffany Wesley (.308).

GETTERMAN STADIUM KIND TO LADY BEARS

Since the stadium opened, Getterman Stadium has been kind to the Lady Bears as Baylor owns a 160-53 mark all-time at the stadium since it opened in 1999. So far this season, Baylor is an impressive 19-1 at home 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. 12 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll. In addition, Baylor earned a No. 17 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. 3, No. 4), Oklahoma (No. 4, No. 3) and Texas (No. 10, No. 11) 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 49th consecutive week the Lady Bears have appeared in the NFCA Top 25 and the 48th 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.

LADY BEARS PICKED THIRD IN BIG 12 CONFERENCE PRESEASON POLL

In a pre-season vote conducted by league coaches, the Baylor softball team has been picked to finish second in the Big 12 Conference. The second-place preseason prediction marks the highest the Lady Bears have appeared in the league preseason vote.

The Lady Bears return eight players, including NFCA All-Americans Brette Reagan and Chelsi Lake, from last year's squad that finished 38-22 on the season and finished third in the Big 12 Conference and advanced to the NCAA Corvallis Regional final.

Texas A&M (80 points) was picked to win the league and received eight of the possible 10 first-place votes to edge out second-place Baylor, which earned 69 points, including one first-place tally.

Nebraska was ranked third followed by Oklahoma, defending-conference champion Texas, and 2006 postseason winner Kansas.

The Sooners also claimed a vote for first place. Filling the remaining spots in the preseason poll were Oklahoma State, Missouri, Texas Tech and Iowa State, respectively.

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 (94, t-7th)

HITS: Chelsi Lake (197, 7th)

MULTIPLE-HIT GAMES: Chelsi Lake (49, 7th)

DOUBLES: Chelsi Lake (43, t-1st)

TRIPLES: Chelsi Lake (t-10th, 4)

HOME RUNS: Chelsi Lake (1st, 39); Ashley Monceaux (6th, 18); Brette Reagan (t-7th, 15)

TOTAL BASES: Chelsi Lake (375, 2nd)

SACRIFICE FLIES: Chelsi Lake (2nd, 8)

PITCHING RECORDS

APPEARANCES: Lisa Ferguson (3rd, 150); Ashley Monceaux (10th, 29)

GAMES STARTED: Lisa Ferguson (3rd, 103)

RELIEF APPEARANCES: Lisa Ferguson (2nd, 47)

WINS: Lisa Ferguson (3rd, 68)

LOSSES: Lisa Ferguson (5th, 33); Brittany Turner (t-8th, 5)

DECISIONS: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 96)

COMPLETE GAMES: Lisa Ferguson (3rd, 52)

SHUTOUTS: Lisa Ferguson (2nd, 25)

SAVES: Lisa Ferguson (1st, 17)

INNINGS PITCHED: Lisa Ferguson (4th, 681.0); Ashley Monceaux (9th, 103.1)

STRIKEOUTS: Lisa Ferguson (3rd, 524); Ashley Monceaux (10th, 76); Kirsten Shortridge (9th, 77)

UP NEXT...

Baylor will step out of conference play to host Texas-San Antonio for a doubleheader on Tuesday, March 28, beginning at 4:00 p.m.

Softball Hosts Nebraska to Open Big 12 Play

Players Mentioned

Alex Colyer

Lisa Ferguson

Chelsi Lake

Ashley Monceaux

Kelly Osburn

Brette Reagan

Kirsten Shortridge

Brittany Turner

Nicole Wesley

Tiffany Wesley

Footer

Softball Hosts Nebraska to Open Big 12 Play

Related News

Players Mentioned

Alex Colyer

Lisa Ferguson

Chelsi Lake

Ashley Monceaux

Kelly Osburn

Brette Reagan

Kirsten Shortridge

Brittany Turner

Nicole Wesley

Tiffany Wesley

Related Videos

Promotional Background Photo

Footer