May 15, 2014
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17/17 Baylor
(42-13) | Northwestern State (30-20) | 18/18 Tulsa
(50-7) | Houston
(32-21) |
| Download the 2014 Baylor Softball Postseason Media Guide | Tournament Central
(Tickets, Streaming and Fan Information)
Baylor Game Notes Bracket
Game 1, May 16, 4:30 p.m., Houston vs. 18/18 Tulsa
Game 2, May 16, 7:00 p.m., Baylor vs. Northwestern State
Game 3, May 17, Noon, Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 Game 4, May 17, 2:30 p.m., Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 Game 5, May 17, 5:00 p.m., Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3
Game 6, May 18, 1:00 p.m., Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5 Game 7, May 18, 3:30 p.m., Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (If necessary)
Local Fan Note:
All Baylor games will be broadcast in Waco on 101.3 FM and 1590 AM. |
WACO, Texas - After a grueling 55-game regular season where the Baylor softball team played 35 games away from Getterman Stadium, the No. 17-ranked Lady Bears (42-13) will begin their attempt to return to the Women's College World Series in the friendly confines of Waco.
Baylor will take on Northwestern State (La.) Friday at 7 p.m. to begin the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Getterman Stadium, which also includes Houston and No. 18-ranked Tulsa. The Cougars (32-21) and the Golden Hurricane (50-7) open the double-elimination tournament Friday at 4:30 p.m.
The Lady Bears are coming off a second-place finish in the Big 12, which was the second-best finish in the school's history behind the 2007 Big 12 championship team. Baylor boasts the No. 6-ranked ERA (1.58) in the country and will have to go through Northwestern State Friday to get to Tulsa, who ranks No. 4 in the nation in the same category at 1.51.
Baylor's No. 12 ranking in the RPI was good enough to earn the host, but the selection committee did not take it easy on the Lady Bears with strength of opponents. Northwestern State won the Southland Conference Tournament to earn an automatic bid while Tulsa ranks No. 24 in RPI and Houston No. 47 to place three top 50 teams at one site.
The Lady Demons of Northwestern State took an 11-0 win over McNeese State Sunday to win the SLC championship to earn their fifth trip to the NCAA Tournament. NSU enters with a season-best seven game winning streak with shortstop Tara McKenney leading the offense with a .396 average while Kaylee Guidry leads the Lady Demons in the circle with a 12-3 record and a 2.57 ERA.
Tulsa won the Conference USA Tournament Saturday with an 8-0 win over Marshall and the Golden Hurricane has won 15 of its last 18 contests. Leading the nation's No. 4 pitching staff is senior right hander Aimee Creger. Creger carries a 27-1 record with a 1.25 ERA in 191 innings of work. Offensively, Tulsa's Jill Barnett, a senior shortstop, leads the team with a .453 batting average.
Houston comes in as the fourth-place team out of the American Athletic Conference, but led the league with 5.6 runs per contest. Haley Outon is the Cougars' leading source of power finishing the regular season with 15 home runs and 53 RBI while her sister Diedre Outon is UH's top pitcher with a 15-9 record and a 2.68 ERA. Houston and Baylor are the only two teams to have played each other in the 2014 season; the teams split a doubleheader in Houston April 8.
Baylor is led by senior left-handed pitcher Whitney Canion who boasts a 26-9 record and a Big-12 leading 1.43 ERA. Offensively, Baylor is hitting .309 as a team and is ranked No. 17 in the nation in home runs per game at 1.18; the Lady Bears have 65 on the season, just three shy of the school record of 68 set in 2006.
The Lady Bears' NCAA Tournament appearance is the ninth in school history. All have come in the last 11 season and all have come under head coach Glenn Moore. Moore will be taking on his alma mater, NSU, in the opening game.
The winners of the first two games will play Saturday at Noon, while the first elimination game between the losers of the first two games is at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. The winner of that game will face the loser of the Noon game, which will decide the final two teams for championship Sunday at 1 p.m. The winner of the bracket will advance to the NCAA Super Regional Round.
Baylor will be playing host to the first round of the NCAA Regional for the first time since 2009. All-time, the Lady Bears are 20-8 in the opening round and have a 50 percent success rate reaching the Super Regional from the first round four times in the past eight appearances.
