Familiar Foe: Softball Opens WCWS vs. Oklahoma State
6/2/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
 vs.  |
| No. 11 Baylor (45-13) vs. Oklahoma State (42-18) Thursday, June 2, 2011 | 2:30 p.m. CDT Oklahoma City, Okla.| ASA Hall of Fame Stadium (7,300) TV: ESPN2 & ESPN2-HD | Radio: ESPN Central Texas  Notes |  Tournament Central |  Tickets Watch |  Listen |  |  In-Game Blog |
 |
MEDIA INFORMATION
Date: Thursday, June 2, 2011
Location: Oklahoma City, Okla.
Stadium: ASA Hall of Fame Stadium (7,300)
Television: ESPN2 & ESPN2-HD
Talent: Pam Ward (pxp), Michelle Smith (color), Holly Rowe (field reporter)
Radio: ESPN Central Texas (1660 AM, 106.5 FM, 100.9 FM, 101.3 FM)
Talent: Derek Smith (pxp), Kyle Cornish (color)
Video Web Stream: www.ESPN3.com (free)
Audio Web Stream: www.BaylorBears.com (free)
Gametracker: (free)
In-Game Blog: www.BaylorBears.com (free)
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA STATE
Oklahoma State took two-of-three from Houston in the Stillwater Super Regional to advance to its seventh WCWS and first since 1998. Alysia Hamilton leads an offense with a .400 batting average, while Chelsea Garcia has a team-leading 12 home runs and 55 RBI. Kat Espinosa is their ace in the circle, going 23-8 with a 2.13 ERA and 146 strikeouts in 207.0 innings.
SERIES VS. COWGIRLS
Oklahoma State leads the all-time series 28-16, including winning four-straight. The Cowgirls knocked off the Lady Bears 4-2 and 5-1 (9) during their regular season series on April 22-23 in Waco. This will mark the first time these two Big 12 programs have met in NCAA postseason play.
BAYLOR IN THE NCAA'S
Baylor, which is making its second trip to the WCWS (2007, 2011), owns a 21-13 mark all-time at the NCAA €ˆSoftball Championship with a four regional titles (2005, 2007, 2009, 2011) and two super regional championships (2007). In the Lady Bears' last and only trip to the WCWS, they went 1-2, falling to Arizona 2-1 before knocking off Texas A&M 7-4 and eventually falling to Northwestern, 7-0.
OFFENSE ABUNDANT IN ATHENS
The Lady Bears' offense was outstanding in the Super Regional wins against Georgia. BU hit .316 to go with four home runs, a .506 slugging percentage and a .413 on-base percentage. In their two victories, the Lady Bears hit a combined .345 with a .424 OBP and .603 slugging percentage.
WALKER HEATING UP
Kayce Walker, who is on a seven-game hitting streak, has been a dangerous threat in the postseason, batting .500 with a triple, .643 slugging percentage, .632 OBP and three RBI in Baylor's six NCAA games.
KETTLER STEPS IN, STEPS UP
After the freak injury to starting catcher Clare Hosack, Kelsi Kettler stepped up with an 0-2 count and delivered a base hit on the first pitch she saw in game one of the Super Regional. That set the tone for the sophomore the rest of the way, as she came in to hit and catch the rest of the Super Regional, going 4-for-7 (.571) with 2 RBI and throwing out the lone runner that tried to steal against her. Before Saturday's relief appearance, Kettler last caught a game on April 20 against UTSA.
5 AND UNDER
Baylor is 45-5 when holding its opponents to five runs or less, including a 40-1 mark when allowing two runs or less. That percentage is the second-lowest in the country, behind Louisiana-Lafayette's 46-1 mark. On the flip side, BU is 0-7 when allowing six or more runs.
SCORE FIRST, SCORE A WIN
The Lady Bears are 14-1 this season when scoring in the first inning and 35-3 when scoring first. When leading after four innings, Baylor is 35-2, and when having a lead after six, it is 33-1. The lone loss came on a walk-off, two-run homer at Texas A&M on March 27.
HOW FAR BAYLOR HAS COME
How far has the Baylor softball team come just to get to Oklahoma City? 4,942 miles. That's the total distance to and from its Regional in College Park, Md., Super Regional in Athens, Ga. and trip to Oklahoma City.
