No. 19 Baylor Hosts No. 20 Nebraska
5/6/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
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No. 19 Baylor (37-12, 8-7) vs No. 20 Nebraska(35-10, 5-7) | |||
SUNDAY, MAY 8 | NOON Watch  |  Listen | |||
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Scouting Nebraska
The Huskers enter the weekend winners of three of their last four after a series split against Texas Tech last weekend. Nebraska is led by freshman Taylor Edwards' .371 average, 16 home runs and 58 RBI, which is tied for the conference lead. In the circle, junior Ashley Hagemann has been the workhorse with a 25-9 mark and 1.90 ERA, while carrying a 2.51 ERA in Big 12 play. The righty has 265 strikeouts in 209.2 innings of work this season.
Series
Nebraska leads the all-time series, 33-11 and 9-5 in Waco. The two squads have split five of the last six series with Baylor taking home a sweep in 2007.
RPI
Baylor comes into the week with an RPI of 13, while Nebraska is 22nd.
Stealing The Century Mark
Baylor eclipsed the century mark for stolen bases (102) during its weekend series with Iowa State, making it the ninth time in the last 10 years that the Lady Bears have had at least 100 steals. The program record is 155 set by the 2005 squad.
5 And Under
Baylor is 37-6 when holding its opponents to five runs or less, including a 32-1 mark when allowing two runs or less. On the flip side, BU is 0-6 when allowing six or more runs.
Score First, Score A Win
The Lady Bears are 12-1 this season when scoring in the first inning and 30-3 when scoring first. When leading after four innings, Baylor is 31-2, and when having a lead after six, it is 27-1. The lone loss came on a walk-off, two-run homer at Texas A&M on March 27.
Top 25 Terrorizers
The Lady Bears enter this week's contests with a 12-7 mark against ranked opponents, including 8-3 away from Getterman Stadium.
Rare Losing Streaks
Until a pair of losses to No. 17 Oklahoma State on April 22-23, Baylor had not lost back-to-back games all season. The win over Iowa State on May 1 snapped only its second string of two-straight losses
Hosack Homers Twice
Freshman Clare Hosack became just the second Baylor player this season to homer twice in a game when she belted a pair in a 10-1 win at Iowa State on May 1. Dani Leal was the other, doing so at Texas A&M on March 27.
Best Start Since 2007
The 37-12 start is the best record since the 2007 WCWS squad was 39-10 through 49 games.
All Acquaintance Be Forgot
It's a new year, and nothing makes that more clear than looking at the Lady Bears' record. After going 28-25 in 2010, they already have 37 wins entering this weekend. The difference? At this time last season, BU had a 2.89 ERA, while it enters the week with a 1.57 ERA. But in Big 12 play, through 15 games in 2010 the Lady Bears had a 3.16 ERA. Through 15 games in 2011, they sit with a 2.03 ERA. Offensively through 15 conference games in 2010 BU was hitting .232, while it has amassed a .309 clip in 15 games so far in 2011.
Armed And Ready
The Baylor pitching staff has been nothing short of stellar, entering the weekend with a 1.87 ERA, third in the Big 12 Conference and ninth nationally. Canion's 1.35 ERA is good for 20th in the country and fourth in the league, while Liz Paul (1.51) is sixth and Courtney Repka is 13th with a 2.27 mark.
Look Out For Leal
Senior Dani Leal, has been stellar in her second year in green and gold, leading the team and 14th in conference in batting average (.365), home runs (14), RBI (37) and slugging percentage (.762). Her 14 home runs put her in sixth on the single-season home run mark and sixth on the career home run list with 23. The shortstop from Mexico City, Mexico, set a new Getterman Classic for home runs in the tournament, smashing quatro.
Canion Grand In Circle
Canion has been outstanding in the circle for BU, with a 21-9 record and 1.35 ERA, while her 8.91 strikeouts per seven innings is good for fourth in the league.
Canion Climbing The Charts
Canion now sits second all-time in career strikeouts at Baylor with 733. Just a redshirt sophomore, she needs 27 to break Cristin Vitek's career record 759.
Shelton's Speed
Kathy Shelton was a perfect 37-for-37 on the base paths in her career until she was thrown out for the first time in her career at Texas Tech on April 6. She is now 47-49 in her career and 30-32 this season. As a team, Baylor is second in the Big 12 with 102 stolen bases on the year.
Walker Heating Up
A two-time first-team All-Big 12 selection, Kayce Walker is heating up at the right time. She leads the team and is fourth in the conference with a .404 batting average in Big 12 play. She has had a hit in 10 of her last 12 games and reached safely in 11 of those games, totaling 17 hits in 39 at-bats for a .436 average.
Freeland's Final Stand
KJ Freeland is having an outstanding senior season. She entered 2011 with a career average of .252 and career totals of one double, 11 RBI and 16 stolen bases. This year she is fifth on the team with a .321 mark to go with career high marks of two doubles, eight RBI and 11 stolen bases.
Hosack's Hose
Teams are thinking twice before stealing on freshman catcher, Clare Hosack. The North Palm Beach, Fla., native has thrown out 11-of-24 runners this season while adding two pickoffs.
