Baylor
Texas Tech
SB to Host 15/16 Texas Tech
4/11/2019 3:19:00 PM | Softball
Baylor has won 15 of the last 16 matchups vs. the Red Raiders
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BAYLOR LADY BEARS (15-21, 2-8) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Glenn Moore Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
BAYLOR (15-21, 2-8) vs. TEXAS TECH (32-8, 3-6) April 12-14, 2019 Waco, Texas • Getterman Stadium Baylor Social Media:    |
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15/16 TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS (32-8, 3-6) Location: Lubbock, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Adrian Gregory Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Despite a rough stretch that has seen Baylor softball (15-21, 2-8) lose 11 of its last 13 games, junior shortstop/catcher Taylor Ellis believes that God "has great things for us."
"Obviously, we're going through something we haven't gone through since I've been here, at least. I don't think ever, actually," said Ellis, who is hitting .300 with four home runs and 13 RBI. "We're just trying to stay positive, look at the right side of things. That's all we can do at this point. Honestly, I'm excited about every weekend. That's the kind of mentality we have to keep going forward with. We have to be ready to play at all times."
After playing six of their last seven games on the road, including being swept at No. 2 Oklahoma last weekend, the Lady Bears will play 12 straight games at home. They open a three-game series against 15th-ranked Texas Tech (32-8, 3-6) with Friday's 6:30 p.m. game at Getterman Stadium.
"it's good to be back home and on familiar ground," coach Glenn Moore said. "We have another good team coming in that's playing very well, probably as well as Tech has played since I've been here. They're an outstanding team this year that has put up some big numbers against some good teams. We have our work cut out for us, and we're just going to go out and try to compete a little bit better."
An NCAA region finalist last season and just two years removed from a Women's College World Series appearance, Baylor is now in a position of fighting to get into the six-team Big 12 Championship next month in Oklahoma City. With two full series and two games against Texas remaining, Baylor is sixth in the league at 2-8, followed by Iowa State in seventh at 1-5.
"You start looking at the bottom dwellers – and we're certainly one of them – you're hoping they'll keep losing and we find a way to win one or two games and get an advantage where you can get there," Moore said. "This is a weekend where we'd like to be able to knock Tech off a game or two."
Baylor leads the all-time series 53-25, including a 35-11 record in Moore's 19 seasons, but the Red Raiders pulled out a 6-5 win in last year's Big 12 tournament.
Tech started out the season 26-1 with wins over Auburn, Arizona State and Oregon, climbing to as high as 10thin the USA Today poll, but has dropped seven of its last 11 games and lost conference series to both Oklahoma and Texas.
DePaul transfer Missy Zoch (12-5, 2.02 ERA) has bolstered a Tech pitching staff that includes sophomore left-hander Erin Edmoundson (14-2, 2.47). The Red Raiders are tied for third in the Big 12 with a 2.54 team ERA.
"(Zoch) is a completely different look than what we've seen (from most Big 12 pitchers)," Moore said. "You won't see the speed as much. You'll have a tendency to be out on your front foot a little too much and get a lot of dribblers. We need to be able to stay compact with our swings and see the ball a little longer."
On the flip side, sophomore right-hander Sidney Holman (10-13, 3.68) has started all 10 conference games in the circle and will likely pitch all three games this weekend. Senior Regan Green (2-4, 3.28) could return next week from a hip injury.
"(My arm) is still there," Holman said. "We've been doing lots of recovery stuff, so that helps out a lot, and just working out to make sure everything stays healthy."
Saturday's game is scheduled for 2 p.m., but could be moved depending on weather, with Sunday's series finale set for 1 p.m.
"We're trying to stick together, finish on a high note, kind of prove some people wrong," Ellis said. "We still have a lot of games ahead of us, games we're really excited for. Texas Tech is a great team, but we're also a great team and we're ready to show it."
STORY LINES
• Taylor Ellis hit two home runs in the series opener at No. 2 Oklahoma over the weekend. She went 2-for-3 at the plate with her third at-bat ending in a flyout to the warning track in center field. She now has four HRs this year.
• Ellis is the first player this season to hit two home runs in a game vs. Oklahoma. She's also the first player to do so since March 16, 2016 when Minnesota's Sam Macken did it.
• Ellis is one of five players in the history of the Oklahoma softball program to hit two home runs in a game vs. the Sooners.
• Kassidy Krupit also homered in the series opener at OU, bringing her total to eight.
• Friday night marked the second time a team hit multiple home runs vs. the Sooners this year. Florida State hit five vs. OU earlier this season, tying an OU record set by Baylor in 2006 when BU hit five vs. Oklahoma. OU has given up a homer in only 11 games. Entering Friday, Oklahoma had given up only one homer in Big 12 play.
• Goose McGlaun is seventh in the Big 12 with 21 walks drawn this year. In four games this season, she's walked three times. In conference play, McGlaun is tied for first with seven walks.
• Kassidy Krupit is the team leader with 24 RBI. She also leads the team with eight home runs.
• Ana Watson is sixth among freshmen in the Big 12 with a .297 batting average on the season. In conference games alone, Watson is the No. 3 freshman in the league with a .296 batting average.
• Sidney Holman has been stellar in the circle for BU. She's pitched a Big 12 leading 126.1 innings with 99 strikeouts.
• Baylor is 10-5 when scoring first in 2019.
• The Lady Bears are 12-3 when the opponent scores two runs or less this season.
• Regan Green was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week March 5, marking her first career Big 12 weekly award. It is also Baylor's first weekly award of the season. Green pitched a complete game in the win over Southern Utah and matched her career high with 11 strikeouts. She struck out 50 percent of the batters she faced (22). It also marked her fourth career double-digit strikeout game.
• Nicky Dawson reached base safely in 32 straight games to start this season. That is good enough for fourth in program history behind Kaitlyn Thumann 44 (2013), Lindsey Cargill 36 (2017) and Shelby Friudenberg 33 (2017).
QUICK HITS
• Baylor will play 24 games against 12 programs that advanced to the 2018 NCAA Regionals, including WCWS participants Washington and Oklahoma.
• Baylor is 270-99 over the last 7 seasons, averaging over 38 wins per season since 2013.
• BU was picked 3rd in the Big 12 preseason coaches poll behind Oklahoma and Texas.
A LOOK AT TEXAS TECH
• Of the 68 contests between the two teams, 38 of them have featured at least either Baylor or Texas Tech ranked in the top 25. 1998 was the last time the matchup featured a ranked TTU team taking on an unranked BU team.
• The Red Raiders rank 11th nationally with a .332 batting average. Texas Tech's pitching staff has cut its ERA in half from a year ago and has held opponents to less than three runs per game.
