Baylor
South Carolina
No. 18 SB Opens Season at Puerto Vallarta College Challenge
2/5/2019 10:44:00 PM | Softball
Lady Bears open 2019 campaign with first international tournament in program history
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BAYLOR LADY BEARS (0-0) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Glenn Moore (Northwestern St., 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
BAYLOR (0-0) vs. SOUTH CAROLINA (0-0) February 7, 2018 • 12:30 p.m. CT Puerto Vallarta, Mexico • Campo de Softball Nancy Almaraz LIVE STATS DAY ONE: South Carolina | BYU LIVE STATS DAY TWO: North Carolina LIVE STATS DAY THREE: Liberty | Washington WATCH: FloSoftball ($) Baylor Social Media:    |
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SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS (0-0) Location: Columbia, S.C. Conference: SEC Head Coach: Beverly Smith (North Carolina, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
With an eye on 2020, Baylor softball coach Glenn Moore could have one of the most talented rosters he's ever had with a pair of fifth-year seniors in pitcher Gia Rodoni and outfielder Kyla Walker.
The problem is that Rodoni and Walker won't be a part of the 2019 team that opens the season on Thursday with games against No. 9 South Carolina and BYU at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Walker, a career .422 hitter, had already been ruled out for the season following hip surgery in the fall. And then Moore announced Tuesday that Rodoni, an undisputed ace who had won 41 games over the last two seasons, will also sit out after undergoing a knee surgery.
"Nobody wants to lose a pitcher. You certainly don't want to lose your ace, so that's a huge blow to our program," Moore said. "But, it's not going to dictate where this team goes, completely. Fortunately, we have one of the deepest pitching staffs we've had in quite a few years with great potential. We just have to develop that bullpen a little quicker."
That starts with Regan Green, the lone remaining senior on the active roster. The Mississippi State transfer was 12-5 with a 2.89 ERA and two saves as Baylor's No. 2 pitcher last season.
"Regan has an opportunity to do something special this year," Moore said. "And if I'm in her shoes, I'm excited about that opportunity. . . . Last year, she was a little overwhelmed making the transition and didn't adjust well to being the No. 2. She took a lot of responsibility at the end of the year, in her words, of letting us down. And I think she's come back a better pitcher."
The spotlight will also be on redshirt sophomore right-hander Sidney Holman from Belton, a first-team all-conference pick and Southland Conference Freshman of the Year when she went 21-7 with a 1.85 ERA and 165 strikeouts two years ago at Abilene Christian. She sat out last year and transferred from Temple College.
"We have a rising star in Sidney Holman, but I don't know how long it's going to take her to peak out," Moore said. "She throws hard, hit 71 in a scrimmage. We haven't had anyone throw 70 mph since Whitney Canion hit it early in her career before she was injured. So, she really has some special things that are gifts and can be really good."
Freshman left-hander Madison Lindsey was a three-time all-state pick at Kingwood High School who doesn't have overpowering speed, "but certainly good at lefty-lefty matchups. She's a little bulldog, loves to compete."
Even without Walker, a three-time first-team All-Big 12 pick who hit over .400 each of her first three seasons, the Lady Bears have plenty of weapons at the plate.
Junior first baseman/outfielder Goose McGlaun will anchor the lineup and probably bat in the No. 3 spot after hitting .323 last season with a team-high 14 homers and 51 RBI. She was predominantly a first baseman and DP last year, but she is also the team's best outfielder.
"She has the best arm out there. I've always regretted not having her in a position to use her arm a little bit more. We've got to find the right combination, I'm not sure exactly if that's it, but I'm certainly very confident in her playing in left or right field."
Juniors Nicky Dawson (.347) and Taylor Ellis (.260) return at second base and shortstop, respectively, with freshman Kassidy Krupit expected to step in at third base. A prep All-American from Suwanee, Ga., Krupit was recently named to the USA Softball Junior Women's National Training Team.
"Krupit is a scary hitter, especially once she gets the reputation," Moore said. "Having the USA National Team on her resume will give her some quick respect, and I think that will help Goose out as well."
Junior Maddison Kettler is the only returning starter in an outfield that will have freshman Lou Gilbert in center and either McGlaun or sophomore Hannah Smith in left. Kettler is coming off arm surgery and "I don't expect her to play every game this weekend," Moore said. "But, she'll start and hopefully give us some stability out there."
Behind the plate is freshman Tyler Trott, with sophomore Hannah Thompson backing up at catcher and first and starting in the lineup at DP.
The Lady Bears will be tested right out of the gates at this weekend's tournament. They will play ninth-ranked South Carolina at 12:30 p.m. and BYU at 3 p.m. Thursday, North Carolina at 3 p.m. Friday and then Liberty at 12 p.m. and No. 3/2 Washington at 3 p.m. Sunday.
"This is a huge tournament for us," Ellis said. "We can really make a statement this week, so I'm looking forward to it."
STORY LINES
• No. 18/19 Baylor will open the 2019 season by traveling to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to take part in the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge, running Feb. 7-10 at the Campo de Softball Nancy Almaraz.
• This weekend will mark Baylor's first international regular season games in program history.
• For all five games, FloSoftball will live stream the action to paid subscribers.
• Friday's season opener is a top-20 matchup between No. 9/9 South Carolina of the SEC.
• Baylor will face two ranked opponents in the opening weekend for the first time since the 2010 season. BU opened that campaign against 21st-ranked Louisville and also faced No. 14 Ohio State at the Houston Hobby Marriott Invitational in Houston, Texas. Baylor went 0-3 against ranked foes that weekend.
• Baylor is a combined 5-2 against the tournament field in the past five seasons, including 3-0 against Liberty.
• Baylor is 21-12 all-time in season openers and 14-4 under 19th-year head coach Glenn Moore.
• The tournament field features two teams Baylor faced in two different tournaments last season. BU went 2-0 against Liberty at the Liberty Spring Classic in Lynchburg, Va., and then Baylor dropped a 3-1 contest against BYU at the LSU Round Robin in Baton Rouge, La.
• Baylor is 1-1 against Washington since 2015, including a 3-1 victory over the then-No. 7 ranked Huskies at the 2017 Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif.
• Baylor is a combined 11-8-1 against this weekend's tournament field.
• Baylor opens the season with a road tournament for just the fourth time under Moore and second time in the past three seasons. BU opened the 2017 campaign at the Hillenbrand Invitational in Tucson, Ariz., going 3-2 against Fordham, Cal State Northridge, Northwestern, Tulsa and 10th-ranked Arizona.
• Baylor returns 13 letterwinners and seven position player starters from the 2018 squad that advanced to the program's eighth consecutive NCAA Regional.
• The Lady Bears add two transfers and a strong eight-member signing class to the 2019 roster.
• 19th-year associate head coach Mark Lumley is still recovering from cancer surgery and will not travel to Puerto Vallarta.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor has five games on its schedule against teams ranked in the preseason Coaches Top 10 and 16 games vs. the Coaches Top 25.
• Baylor defeated four ranked opponents in 2018, going 4-8 in ranked matchups.
• Baylor will play 24 games against 12 programs that advanced to the 2018 NCAA Regionals, including WCWS participants Washington and Oklahoma.
• Baylor was 31-7 when scoring first in 2018.
• Baylor is 266-97 over the last 7 seasons, averaging 38 wins per season since 2013.
• BU was picked 3rd in the Big 12 preseason coaches poll behind Oklahoma and Texas.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
• Glenn Moore is in his 19th season at Baylor and is the school's all-time active wins leader across all sports (738).
• Baylor's four WCWS appearances since 2007 are second in the Big 12, trailing only Oklahoma (6).
• In Moore's 21 previous years as a collegiate head softball coach, his teams have posted a winning record in all 21.
• Baylor's four WCWS appearances tied for the second-most by a private school, trailing only Northwestern and Creighton (5) for the top spot.
• BU has gone 196-145 in Big 12 play in Moore's 18 seasons at the helm after going 18-44-1 before his tenure.
• Baylor has ranked in the Top 25 for average attendance in each of Moore's 18 seasons at Baylor, including a Top 20 ranking every year since 2003. The Lady Bears finished 16th in the country in attendance last season.
• Baylor has tied or broken the program's team batting average each of the previous two seasons, including setting a new high mark in 2017 and 2018, hitting .321 as a unit.
MOORE ERA HIGHLIGHTS
• Moore is coaching his 1,079th, 1,080th, 1,081st, 1,082nd and 1,083rd games at Baylor (738-341). His .684 winning percentage is best in BU history and he's the program's all-time wins leader.
• In Moore's 18 seasons as Baylor head coach, BU has cracked the Top 25 polls at some point in the season in all 18.
• Moore has coached 84 of Baylor's 89 All-Big 12 selections and 12 of Baylor's 13 All-Americans.
• Baylor has had 9 players drafted into the National Professional Fastpitch (NPF) draft, including one in each of the last four seasons.
• Baylor has placed at least six selections to the conference's academic honors for 11 straight seasons and five or more for 16 straight years.
SENIOR STANDOUTS TO REDSHIRT 2019 SEASON
• Prior to the first game of the year, head coach Glenn Moore announced that seniors Kyla Walker and Gia Rodoni will sit out and redshirt the 2019 season.
• Rodoni, the 2018 NFCA All-Central Region selection, made 42 appearances with 34 starts in the circle, posting eight shutouts and two no-hitters. Her 268 strikeouts on the season led the Big 12 and ranked 13th in the country.
• Rodoni worked a 2.32 ERA with a 23-12 record, holding opposing hitters to a .215 batting average over 223.2 innings of work.
• Walker, a College Sports Madness Second Team All-American, played in 45 games and made 44 starts, limited by injury for a portion of the season.
• Walker topped her previous career-high with a .433 batting average in 2018, good for second all-time in program history and giving her three of the top five single-season batting avergages on Baylor's career leaderboard.
• She maintains a large lead in the program's career batting average record book, entering her senior season with a .422 career hitting clip, good for the fifth-highest career mark in all of NCAA Division I softball, the second-highest among non-freshmen hitters.
• Both players are planning to return to the team for their fifth year.
STAFF CONSISTENCY
• Glenn Moore, Mark Lumley, and Britni Sneed Newman are entering their 16th season together as a complete, three-person coaching unit.
• 16 years ties as the fourth-longest tenure in all of Division I softball, trailing only Michigan for the longest tenure among Power 5 conference schools.
MILESTONES FOR MOORE
• Glenn Moore is 28 wins away from 900 career victories in his 23rd season as a collegiate softball coach.
• Moore's 800th career win came with a 9-3 win over McNeese State in Waco (2/22/17).
• Moore notched his 700th win at Baylor in the final game of the Tucson Super Regional, punching Baylor's ticket into the Women's College World Series (5/28/17).
• All but one of his 100-win milestones have come at Baylor, with his first 100th game coming during his tenure at LSU with a 6-5 win over Auburn (3/17/00).
HITTING THE LID OFF THE RECORD BOOKS
• Under the direction of associate head coach Mark Lumley, the Lady Bears have tied or broken the team batting average program record each of the last three seasons.
• Jessie Scroggins (.461, 2018), Kyla Walker (.433, 2018; .418, 2017; .415, 2016) and Lindsey Cargill (.430, 2017) hold the top three spots in the Baylor record books.
