Softball Travels to the NCAA Hempstead Regional
5/16/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 16, 2007
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2007 NCAA SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
#7 BAYLOR (45-13) TRAVELS TO THE NCAA
MAY 18-20, 2007
HOFSTRA SOFTBALL STADIUM
THE SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, MAY 18
Game
Game 2 - Hofstra vs. Harvard, 1:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, MAY 19
Game 3 - Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 9:00 a.m.
Game 4 - Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 11:30 a.m.
Game 5 - Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner, 2:00 p.m.
SUNDAY, MAY 20
Game 6 - Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 11:00 a.m.
Game 7 - If necessary game, 30 minutes following Game 6
BAYLOR AGAINST THE FIELD
vs.
vs. Harvard: 0-0
vs. Hofstra: 0-0
LIVE COVERAGE
Radio: ESPN Radio 1660 AM (Fri. and Sat.)
KWGW 104.9 FM (Sunday)
Live Video: None
Live Audio: www.BaylorBears.com
Live Stats: www.BaylorBears.com
Television: None
The No. 7 Baylor softball team returns to action this week as the Lady Bears open play at the NCAA Hempstead Regional on Friday, May 18, at 11:00 a.m. against
The Lady Bears, who have never faced a team in the four-team regional field in school history, earned an at-large bid to the championship and will open play against
The selection for the Lady Bears marks the fourth consecutive season the team has been selected to the NCAA Softball Championship. Baylor owns an 8-6 all-time record in NCAA championship play and captured the 2005 NCAA Auburn Regional title.
The Hempstead regional is paired with the
Every Baylor contest at the NCAA Hempstead Regional can be heard on ESPN Radio 1660 AM (Fri. and Sat.) or KWGW 104.9 FM (Sunday) in the
SCOUTING
Last season,
SCOUTING HOFSTRA
Hofstra makes its 10th consecutive appearance at the NCAA Softball Championship after claiming the Colonial Athletic Association postseason title. Pitcher Kayleigh Lotti leads the Pride as she enters NCAA play with a 22-4 record, including wins in each of her last 16 decisions. The right-hander ranks in the top 15 in the nation in strikeouts per seven innings (9.88) as she enters the tournament with 304 strikeouts.
Offensively, the Pride are led by outfielder
SCOUTING HARVARD
Harvard enters the NCAA Hempstead Regional with a record of 31-13 after capturing the automatic berth as the Ivy League champions. Lauren Murphy leads the Crimson as she leads the team in batting average (.359), home runs (18) and RBI (47). Junior Shelly Madick leads the way in the circle, compiling a 16-4 record and 1.45 ERA in the circle this season while Amanda Watkins has had a solid 7-1 season with a 2.54 ERA as the Crimson's No. 2 starter.
BAYLOR AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The selection to the 2007 NCAA Softball Championship mark the fourth consecutive season the Lady Bears have been invited to NCAA post-season play. Baylor is 8-6 all-time at the championship after going 2-2 last season while advancing to the NCAA Corvallis Regional Final before falling to
In 2005, Baylor came within one win of its first appearance at the Women's College World Series. After capturing the NCAA Auburn Regional title, Baylor faced No. 2 Cal in a best-of-three series to determine who would advance to the series in
Baylor's first-ever contest in NCAA Championship play might have been one of the most memorable in school history as the Lady Bears defeated North Carolina, 1-0, in a 16-inning marathon. The game received national attention as Baylor's Cristin Vitek established a new NCAA, NCAA Championship and Big 12 Conference record with 28 strikeouts to help lead the Lady Bears to the victory over the Tar Heels. Baylor finished the regional with a 2-2 record as the Lady Bears were eliminated with losses at the hands of LSU and
LISA
With a win against
The senior has been a force in the circle this year, posting a 21-7 record and 2.06 ERA on the year.
BAYLOR SOFTBALL LANDS SIX ON ALL-BIG 12 CONFERENCE SQUAD
Kirsten Shortridge was named Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year and Chelsi Lake became the first player in school history to be a three-time first-team all-conference selection as the No. 5 Baylor softball team landed six players on the All-Big 12 Conference squad the conference office announced on Thursday.
Joining
Lake, a senior from Keller, Texas, earns her third selection to the all-conference squad while Shortridge becomes the second consecutive Baylor player to earn Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year honors after Reagan won the award last season.
Monceaux earns her second consecutive first-team all-conference honor as Reagan, who earned second-team honors a year ago, picked up first-team honors for the first time.
Rounding out the members of the first-team is Ferguson. Baylor's career leader in victories, the senior right-hander set a new single-season career high with 21 victories as Ferguson enters post-season play with a 21-7 record and 2.06 ERA.
Romero picked up her first all-conference honor as the senior was named to the second-team.
BAYLOR STREAKING
Baylor enters the championship as one of the hottest teams in the country, winning 19-of-23 contests dating back to the team's trip to the Bank of Hawai'i Invitational. During the hot streak, which included a 13-game winning streak, the Baylor offense has hit at an impressive .305 clip while the pitching staff has been dominant in the circle, posting a 19-4 record and 2.11 ERA while holding opponents to a .213 average.
In the circle, Kirsten Shortridge has led the way during the streak as the freshman has posted an 8-1 record with a 1.92 ERA while holding opponents to an impressive .188 batting average against.
Chelsi Lake MAKING HER MARK ON CAREER CHARTS
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 42 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 has passed during the 2007 campaign as the senior already holds the Lady Bears career record with 175 RBI. In addition, Lake just surpassed Osburn's career total bases mark of 395 as she now has 398 for her career and recently broke Osburn's career doubles mark of 43 with a double in the victory over Oklahoma State.
Ashley Monceaux AND BAYLOR CONTINUE TO PRODUCE
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 .316 batting average on the year and currently ranks second in the league and 11th in the country in the category. In addition, the Lady Bears have hit 52 home runs on the season and have posted an impressive .470 slugging percentage.
Leading the way for Baylor has been senior Ashley Monceaux. Monceaux leads the Lady Bears with a .399 batting average, 16 home runs and 60 RBI. The senior first baseman has posted an almost unbelievable .780 slugging percentage and 131 total bases as she ranks among the top ten in the conference in eight different categories.
As a team, Baylor currently features five players batting over .300 on the season, including freshman Kirsten Shortridge (.364) and
HONORS CONTINUE TO POUR IN FOR BAYLOR SOFTBALL\
Baylor softball players have seen their fair share of recognition throughout the season as a number of players have won individual honors so far this year.
The lengthy list is highlighted by senior Ashley Monceaux, who was recently named one of 25 finalists for the USA Softball National Player of the Year award and was named Big 12 Conference Player of the Week during the final week of the season, marking the second time Monceaux has been given the honor this season.
Earlier this year Baylor swept the national player of the week honors as Alex Colyer captured the USA Softball National Player of the Week award and senior Lisa Ferguson was named NFCA National Player of the Week following the Lady Bears series victory over then-No. 2 Arizona.
With Monceaux's selection on the last week of the season, six Baylor players have been named Big 12 Conference Pitcher of Player of the Week, the most in school history.
Ferguson has picked up a pair of Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honors this year as Colyer and
BAYLOR SOFTBALL IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
The Baylor softball team is currently ranked No. 7 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll. In addition, Baylor earned a No. 8 ranking in the latest USA Today/NFCA Top 25.
Baylor is one of five Big 12 Conference school ranked in both polls as Texas A&M (No. 8, No. 8), Oklahoma (No. 1, No. 3), Missouri (No. 19, RV) and Texas (RV, No. 18) join the Lady Bears in the polls.
After win the Big 12 Conference post-season title, Oklahoma has moved to No. 1 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll while Tennessee is No. 1 in the NFCA national rankings.
Baylor's appearance in both polls marks the 56th consecutive week the Lady Bears have appeared in the NFCA Top 25 and the 55th 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.
SEVERAL LADY BEARS EARN ACADEMIC HONORS
The Baylor softball team placed five players on the first-team Academic All-Big 12 Conference squad the conference office announced. Baylor senior Chelsi Lake led the way with her third selection to the first-team academic all-conference squad.
Joining Lake on the squad are first-time selections Alex Colyer, Lisa Ferguson,
Lake, who also earned first-team all-conference honors, is majoring in political science as fellow seniors Ferguson and Romero join her on the squad for the first time. Ferguson is majoring in general studies while Romero is a fourth-year communications major.
Colyer and Turner make their first appearances on the academic all-conference squads. Colyer is a sophomore majoring in health science studies while Turner is a sophomore majoring in business.
In addition, Colyer and Lake earned first-team CoSIDA Academic All-District VI honors as the duo is now eligible for academic All-America honors.
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 (100, 7th)
HITS: Chelsi Lake (219, 4th)
MULTIPLE-HIT GAMES: Chelsi Lake (55, 5th)
DOUBLES: Chelsi Lake (46, 1st)
TRIPLES: Chelsi Lake (t-10th, 4)
HOME RUNS: Chelsi Lake (1st, 42); Ashley Monceaux (4th, 24);
TOTAL BASES: Chelsi Lake (398, 1st)
SACRIFICE FLIES: Chelsi Lake (t-1st, 9)
PITCHING RECORDS
APPEARANCES: Lisa Ferguson (1st, 167); Ashley Monceaux (10th, 29); Kirsten Shortridge (9th, 30)
GAMES STARTED: Lisa Ferguson (2nd, 114); Kirsten Shortridge (8th, 22)
RELIEF APPEARANCES: Lisa Ferguson (t-1st, 53)
WINS: Lisa Ferguson (1st, 77); Kirsten Shortridge (8th, 16)
LOSSES: Lisa Ferguson (5th, 36); Brittany Turner (t-8th, 5)
DECISIONS: Lisa Ferguson (2nd, 113)
COMPLETE GAMES: Lisa Ferguson (2nd, 59)
SHUTOUTS: Lisa Ferguson (2nd, 27)
SAVES: Lisa Ferguson (1st, 19)
INNINGS PITCHED: Lisa Ferguson (2nd, 762.0); Kirsten Shortridge (8th, 151.2); Ashley Monceaux (10th, 103.1)
STRIKEOUTS: Lisa Ferguson (3rd, 560); Ashley Monceaux (10th, 76); Kirsten Shortridge (9th, 115)
UP NEXT...
Should Baylor advance out of the NCAA Hempstead Regional, the Lady Bears would host a best-of-three series against the winner of the Ann Arbor regional the weekend of May 25-27. Times and dates of the NCAA Super Regional round have yet to be determined.
