SB Kicks Off NCAA Tournament Play in College Station

May 17, 2018

GAME 1

BAYLOR vs. McNeese

MEDIA INFORMATION

GAME 1 | McNEESE | MAY 18:
TV: ESPN3 / WatchESPN App
Talent: Tyler Denning (pxp), Amanda Freed (analyst)
Radio: Baylor IMG Sports Network / ESPN Central Texas (101.3 FM) / TuneIn App
Talent: Dan Ingham (pxp), Jonathan Hill (analyst)
Live Stats/In-Game Home: NCAA.com
Twitter: @BaylorSoftball | #SicMcNeese

MATCHUP

BAYLOR

36-16, 12-6 Big 12
Ranking: 18 - Coaches, 16 - ESPN, 14 - RPI
Head Coach: Glenn Moore (Northwestern State, 1993)
Career Record: 875-381 (21st season)
BU Record: 736-340 (18th season)

McNEESE

40-19, 18-9 Southland
Ranking: NR - Coaches, NR - ESPN, 41 - RPI
All-Time Series: BU leads, 22-6
Neutral: BU leads, 4-2
NCAA Tourney: Never met
Moore Era: BU leads, 16-2

TEXAS A&M

40-16, 13-11 SEC
Ranking: 14 - Coaches, 14 - ESPN, 15 - RPI
All-Time Series: TAMU leads, 51-19-1
Neutral: TAMU leads, 24-6-1
NCAA Tourney: Tied, 2-2
Moore Era: TAMU leads, 18-15

PRAIRIE VIEW A&M

20-21, 12-6 SWAC
Ranking: NR - Coaches, NR - ESPN, 240 - RPI
All-Time Series: BU leads, 8-0
Neutral: Never met
NCAA Tourney: Never met
Moore Era: BU leads, 8-0

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

€‹At least from an outside perspective, it's hard to look past 15th-seeded Texas A&M (40-16) and 18th-ranked Baylor (36-16) in the four-team College Station Regional that starts Friday at brand-new Davis Diamond.

€‹But, with a difficult first-round test against McNeese State (40-19) at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Baylor coach Glenn Moore insists that "you can't keep your eyes focused on the mountaintop, you've got to see the trees in front of it. And McNeese is a big tree."

€‹Baylor saw just how big that tree was on April 11, when the Lady Bears committed three errors in a 7-3 loss to the Cowgirls in the back end of a midweek series at Getterman Stadium. At the time, Moore called it "one of the worst efforts I've seen in a Baylor uniform since I've been here."

€‹"I think if we had swept McNeese and had we done it with relative ease, then I would have had a bigger job of getting this team prepared for this first game," he said. "And that's when upsets happen. . . . Now that they've beaten us, I think it makes kids pay a little closer attention to film. You hate to say that a loss is good, but that's when it is. That's when you benefit from it, when it can prepare you for this time of year."

€‹This is the fourth meeting between the two teams this season, with Baylor downing the Cowgirls, 7-1, on Feb. 16 at the Black & Gold Invitational in Hattiesburg, Miss., and then winning the front end of the midweek series, 10-2, in six innings. The Lady Bears lead the all-time series, 22-6, including a 4-2 record in neutral-site meetings and 16-2 in the Moore era.

€‹"I think we scheduled tough to put ourselves in a position to either host or be a strong 2 seed somewhere," Moore said. "When you schedule tough, you're going to have more of a likelihood of seeing somebody in postseason. McNeese State is a great team, and it just so happens that we've seen them three times."

€‹Junior outfielder Kyla Walker, who is second in the Big 12 and seventh nationally with a .457 batting average, said the Lady Bears "haven't even talked about A&M at all."

€‹"All season, we've kind of taken one game at a time," Walker said. "So, we're definitely focusing on McNeese. During the season, we split with them, so it's not a team we should ever overlook. We're definitely focusing on them."

€‹Whether Baylor starts Gia Rodoni (22-11, 2.11 ERA) or Regan Green (11-4, 2.62) in the circle, they will have to get past a pair of big boppers in McNeese State's lineup. Four-time Southland Conference Player of the Year and two-time All-American Erika Piancastelli is hitting .384 with 22 home runs and 59 RBI, while senior Morgan Catron is hitting .317 with 15 homers and 55 RBI and earned Southland Conference Tournament MVP honors.

€‹In last year's Waco Regional, Rodoni tossed back-to-back no-hitters in wins over Kent State and 12th-ranked James Madison to help the Lady Bears eventually reach the Women's College World Series for the fourth time in program history.

€‹"I think a lot of people have been trying to figure her out all season," McNeese head coach James Landreneau said. "She elevates her game in the postseason. We know that she is a quality pitcher and can attack the zone from both sides of the plate. And she changes speed really well. You get one pitch to hit when you face her, so we better be ready to take it and attack that pitch."

€‹The Cowgirls will likely counter with sophomore Alexsandra Flores (18-9, 2.91) or freshman Caroline Settle (10-6, 3.85), who won two games apiece in helping McNeese claim its third consecutive SLC Tournament championship. Freshman Amber Coons (6-2, 3.75) got the win against Baylor earlier this year, tossing six shutout innings in relief and giving up just two hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

€‹"We've definitely become more of a team since then, and I think that definitely helped," Walker said. "The last time we faced McNeese, we kind of fell apart. But now, we're a stronger team. Honestly, I have no idea what happened. Sometimes, like even last year, we would have a game where we would just fall part. It's just one of those days where nobody has it. You have those days."

€‹Texas A&M faces Prairie View A&M in the other first-round game at 6 p.m. Friday, with the winners meeting at 1:30 p.m. and the losers at 4 p.m. Saturday in the first of two elimination games. Sunday's schedule has the championship game at 1:30 p.m., and the if-necessary game at 4.

€‹Last year, Baylor was the No. 15 national seed and upset second-seeded Arizona in the Tucson Super Regional before falling to third-ranked Oregon and eventual national champion Oklahoma at the World Series.

€‹As a No. 9 seed last year, A&M defeated Texas, 3-1, in the College Station Region final, then took two of three at eighth-seeded Tennessee before bowing out of the World Series with losses to Florida and UCLA.

€‹"We understand their talent, their history and how good they are," A&M coach Jo Evans said of Baylor. "We understand that it would be a great opportunity for us, and we would have to play well to beat them. We don't often play Big 12 teams, so this is unique for us to play them but not unique in postseason. The last two years, we've seen Texas in postseason, so it's not unusual in postseason for us to see a Big 12 opponent. It's been a while since we've played Baylor."

STORY LINES
• Baylor extended its program-record with its eighth-straight postseason berth, the 13th appearance all-time, all coming under 18th-year head coach Glenn Moore.
• Baylor is 45-28 all-time in NCAA Tournament play, including a 31-11 mark in the regional rounds.
• Baylor has advanced to the Super Regional round a total of six times and is coming off of the program's fourth Women's College World Series berth.
• Although Baylor has entered postseason as a Top 16 RPI team each of the last three seasons, in both 2016 and 2018 the Lady Bears have started tournament play on the road.
• Baylor is the only team in the country with two batters in the Top 15 of the nation's batting averages rankings, with Kyla Walker (.457, 7th) and Jessie Scroggins (.449, 10th) leading the way for BU's offense.
• Walker and Scroggins continue to stay in lock-step in battle for the program's single-season batting average record, set in 2017 by Lindsey Cargill (.430).
• Baylor went 1-2 in the Big 12 Softball Championship, making the program's first appearance in the title game before falling, 6-4, to the two-time defending national champions, No. 3/3 Oklahoma.
• Shelby Friudenberg punched her way to the top of Baylor's career leaderboard, drilling her 45th career home run in Sunday's series finale at Texas Tech, passing Chelsi Lake (44, 2004-2007) as the program's all-time record holder in base knocks.
• Friudenberg passed Lake's career RBI mark (184, 2004-2007) on a two-RBI single in the first inning of the series finale at Iowa State on April 29.
• After missing 11 games due to an ankle injury, Kyla Walker is back in the lineup, a huge boost for the Lady Bears as the program's career batting average leader and the fifth-highest career hitting mark among all active student-athletes in Division I softball, the second-highest among non-freshmen.
• Jessie Scroggins is making a strong case for consideration as the nation's top centerfielder, holding the 10th-highest batting average in the nation (.449) entering the weekend, the second-highest among the country's centerfielders (.461, Paige Murphy, EKU) and the highest among CFs from Power 5 conferences.
• Scroggins also leads the Big 12 in stolen bases per game (0.35) and ranks fifth nationally with 79 hits on the year, good for first among the conference's hitters.
• Scroggins now sits atop the program's record book for career hits, passing Lindsey Cargill (253, 2014-2017) for the top spot with a single vs. Kansas on April 20.
• A 2-for-3 performance by Scroggins against BYU on March 24 marked the 70th career multi-hit game of her career, passing Naomi Fitzgerald (69, 1998-2001) to set a new Baylor program record.
• Scroggins became the ninth Lady Bear in program history taken in the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) College Draft, selected by the Chicago Bandits as the No. 15 overall pick in the third round.
• Scroggins added to her impressive accolade collection, named a Top 25 Finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, the only centerfielder in the country named to the list.
• Gia Rodoni made it seven-straight seasons that a BU pitcher has notched 200-plus strikeouts in a season, leading the Big 12 in both strikeouts and strikeouts per seven innings, ranking in the Top 20 in the country in both categories.
• Rodoni also made it six-straight seasons that a BU pitcher has posted 20 or more victories in the circle.
• Baylor had seven named to the Academic All-Big 12 teams, marking 11-straight seasons with six or more selections, and five or more for the 16th-straight year.
• Baylor had four All-Big 12 first team selections, with Gia Rodoni, Kyla Walker, Goose McGlaun, and Jessie Scroggins all earning top conference honors.
• Baylor had five All-Region selections, including tying for the second-most first team honorees in the country. Gia Rodoni, Kyla Walker, Jessie Scroggins, and Carlee Wallace all were named to the first team, with Goose McGlaun earning second team honors.

The Diamond Club is an exclusive support club that enhances the Baylor Softball program. Joining the Diamond Club allows you to get an insider look at Baylor softball. For more information on the Diamond Club, visit Baylor.edu/bearfoundation or call 254-710-2582.

Keep up with the team all season long by following Baylor Softball on the team's official Twitter (@BaylorSoftball), Facebook (Baylor Softball), and Instagram (@BaylorSoftball).

#SicEm