BAYLOR LADY BEARS (14-2) Location: Waco, Texas   Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Glenn Moore (Northwestern St., 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes	BAYLOR (14-2) at WOOO PIG CLASSIC February 27 - 29 Fayetteville, Ark. • Bogle Park Live Stats: razorbackstats.com Listen: 101.3 FM Baylor Social Media:

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            After nearly a year's absence, Baylor softball (14-2) is back in the national polls at No. 19 by ESPN/USA Softball and 23^rd in the NFCA coaches' rankings going into the Wooo Pig Classic that begins Thursday in Fayetteville, Ark. 
            "Sometimes, we downplay it a little bit, and probably rightfully so, especially this early," Baylor coach Glenn Moore said of the team's first national rankings since March 1, 2019. The Lady Bears are 2-0 against ranked teams and capped off a 12-0 home stand with a 2-1 win over Louisiana Tech on Tuesday.
            "At the same time, it does a couple things: it builds your confidence and it also puts a target on your back. You've got to play under those conditions, eventually, and no reason why we shouldn't start now."
            Baylor's already been tested, with matchups against Auburn, Missouri and Louisville at the NFCA Leadoff Classic and pulling out a 2-1 win over Minnesota at last weekend's Baylor Invitational. 
            But, the Lady Bears take another step up at the Wooo Pig Classic, with a pair of games against No. 9/8 Florida State (7-4) and Thursday's 4:30 p.m. matchup against No. 22/21 Arkansas (12-2) at Bogle Park. 
            "I think we played well this weekend and the weekend before," said senior first baseman Goose McGlaun, "but now we're getting tested each week, and each week it gets a little bit tougher. So, we're excited to see how we match up against this competition this weekend."
            Moore said he wants to "take the same approach so far as we've increased the competition level each weekend."
            "Just continue to get better at what we do, focus more on us than the opponent, and just play good, competitive ball," he said. "The more I look at our team, the more I'm happy with it. (There are) certainly areas that we've got to improve on. We want to improve on run production, of course, and continue to keep the other team from scoring. That's why we've been able to win."
            Back in the circle after missing last year with an injury, fifth-year senior Gia Rodoni (7-1, 0.90 ERA) has led the way for a pitching staff that has compiled a 1.88 team ERA and 121 strikeouts in 104.1 innings. 
            Freshman shortstop/pitcher Aliyah Pritchett has been an impressive two-way player, hitting .302 with a team-high three homers and going 4-0 with a 2.52 ERA in the circle. 
            "Just because she's a freshman coming in, you never know what to expect from them," McGlaun said. "She's doing a great job pitching, hitting and playing defense, so we're definitely excited she's on our team."
            After starting the year hitting in the Nos. 3 and 4 spots in the order, McGlaun and senior catcher/shortstop Taylor Ellis were moved down to No. 7 and 8 in the last two games and are hitting .262 and .277, respectively. 
            "I was hoping moving down would relax them a little bit and let them see some pitches, and I think over time it will," Moore said. "I expect them to be back in the top, eventually, but we'll give them some breathing room and let them do what they do. And in the meantime, we're asking the other ones to step it up."
            That includes Pritchett, fellow freshman Emily Hott and sophomore Josie Bower, who are now hitting in the meat of the order at Nos. 3-5. Bower is hitting .314 with two homers and 11 RBI, while Hott is batting .308 while splitting time between left field and second base. 
            "Of course, there's pressure involved around it," Hott said of hitting in the No. 3 spot, "but usually it's pretty easy because always have Kyla (Walker) and Maddison (Kettler) on, and my job is just to move them and score, for the most part. There is pressure, but I feel I'm able to handle it."
            Hott, who hadn't played second base since her freshman year in high school, has had to fill in while senior Nicky Dawson (.400) recovers from a hamstring injury that has kept her out of the lineup for the last seven games. 
            Moore said Dawson "feels like she can go," but added, "I'm concerned about the weather being cold, and certainly don't want to do anything again to damage her that would prolong the time that she'll stay out."
            Baylor will face Florida State at 10 a.m. Friday and Saturday, Villanova (8-7) at 2:30 p.m. Friday and Kent State (7-3) at 12:15 p.m. Saturday. Thursday's game will be streamed by SEC Network+.
            "A lot of confidence was built this past weekend, mainly because of the pitching we faced," Moore said. "You saw our batting averages drop over the course of time, but you would expect it. Those are good pitchers. Our pitchers stepped it up and our defense stepped it up, and we were able to compete in those type of games."
 

STORY LINES
• Baylor heads to Fayetteville, Ark. for the Wooo Pig Classic. The Lady Bears will take on a pair of ranked foes - No. 22 Arkansas and No. 9 Florida State (twice) - in addition to Villanova and Kent State.
• Only the Arkansas game will be broadcast on the SEC Network+. However, all fans can be listened to on 101.3 FM and streamed at http://listen.streamon.fm/kbhthd2.
• Baylor is 2-0 vs. ranked foes this season (8-0 vs. No. 23 Auburn, 2-1 vs. No. 17 Minnesota).
• The Lady Bears have opened the 2020 season with a 12-0 record at home. It's the best start to a season at home since the 2009 team opened Getterman Stadium with 18-straight dubs.
• Aliyah Pritchett led the way for the Lady Bears in the win over the Lady Techsters as she went 2-for-2 at the plate with a double and a solo home run. The freshman was responsible for both RBI in the win. She also picked up the save, the second of her career.
• For the first time since March 1, 2019, BU is back in the national polls. Baylor is 23 in the NFCA/USA Today poll, 19 in the ESPN/USA Softball poll in addition to a 24th place showing in each of the D1 Softball and Softball America polls.
• Gia Rodoni was named the Co-Big 12 Pitcher of the Week on Monday. She threw her fifth career no-hitter against Tulsa and followed that performance up with a complete-game effort vs. Minnesota as she allowed one run, unearned, off six hits. She racked up 16 strikeouts over the weekend.
• Rodoni has 504 career strikeouts. That mark is good for sixth all-time. She's the first to hit the 500 mark since Heather Stearns finished her career with 738 from 2013-16. Whitney Canion is the all-time strikeout leader with 1,473.
• Kyla Walker now has 66 multi-hit games in her career. That ties her for fourth in Baylor history alongside her sister, Kayce, who played for BU from 2009-12.
• Baylor has recorded six double plays this season. Only one has been the conventional 6-4-3 as three have come from the outfield: 8-3 double play against Auburn, a 7-6-5-2 double play against Louisville and a 9-6-2-1 double play against Missouri State.

QUICK HITS 
• Baylor will play five opponents ranked in the preseason Coaches Top 10 and four opponents in the preseason Coaches Top 25. In all, the Lady Bears play 12 games against Top 10 foes and eight games against Top 25 foes. 
• Of the 20 games against teams ranked the preseason Coaches Top 25, only six of them are at home (3 vs. No. 3 Oklahoma, 1 vs. No. 8 Minnesota, 2 vs. No. 6 Texas). Three are neutral-site games (2 vs. No. 9 Florida State, 1 vs. No. 23 Auburn), and the remaining 10 are true road games (1 at No. 6 Texas, 3 at No. 7 Florida, 3 at No. 13 Oklahoma State, 3 at No. 18 Texas Tech, 1 at No. 24 Arkansas). 
• Baylor will play 10 games against four programs that advanced to the 2019 Women's College World Series - Oklahoma, Florida, Minnesota and Oklahoma State). 
• BU was picked fifth in the Big 12 preseason coaches poll behind Oklahoma, Texas, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. 

HOME SWEET WIN STREAK 
• Baylor has opened the 2020 season with 12-straight wins at Getterman Stadium. That mark is the best since the 2009 team opened the season with 18-straight home wins. 
• During the win streak, six of the dozen victories came by a margin of one run. The last four wins at home for the Lady Bears have come by one run.

OK, G! 
• Gia Rodoni was named Co-Big 12 Pitcher of the Week on Monday after she wrapped up the Baylor Invitational with a 0.00 ERA as she allowed just one run, unearned, off six hits thorugh 15 innings of work in addition to striking out 16. 
• Rodoni threw her fifth career no-hitter, and second in regular season action, in Baylor's 1-0 win over Tulsa on Friday. It marked her first no-no since May 19, 2018, against McNeese in the NCAA Tournament and her first regular season no-hitter since Feb. 8, 2018, vs. Northwestern State. She finished the game with nine strikeouts. 
• This is the seventh weekly honor from the conference for Rodoni and first since April 30, 2018. Her six prior nods all came in 2018, which marked a program record for single-season honors and tied for third-most in a single season by a Big 12 pitcher. 
• The honor is the 41st given to a Baylor pitcher in program history after Regan Green earned the nod a year ago. A Lady Bear pitcher has taken home at least one weekly honor from the conference in each of the last nine years.