By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider 
            Not that anyone's counting, but it's been 348 days since Baylor softball last played a regular-season game. 
            "We've been practicing against each other for so long, and we've had a really long break from playing other people," said sophomore outfielder Lou Gilbert. "We're super eager to just go and see some different competition."
            After seeing its first 10 games either postponed or canceled, including this weekend's Getterman Classic, the 18^th-ranked Lady Bears will open the 2021 season with a pair of games on Sunday at the Cowgirl Classic in Lake Charles, La. 
            Baylor will play 25^th-ranked Arkansas (1-2) at 10 a.m. and McNeese State (3-3) at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Cowgirls' Joe Miller Field. On Saturday, the Razorbacks defeated McNeese in 14 innings, 6-4, and then lost the nightcap, 7-4. 
            "Whenever I mentioned Arkansas and McNeese State . . . all of a sudden, you have a heightened sense of awareness. It makes you prepare more," said Baylor coach Glenn Moore, beginning his 21^st season. 
            Gilbert, who hit .391 in the COVID-shortened 2020 season and tied for the team lead with 27 hits, said opening with Arkansas and McNeese is "kind of like we're being thrown into the season."
            "It will up our intensity, and I think it will make us dig down deep earlier in the season," she said. "We won't have to wait for this big dog to come in. We're going to start right from the get-go, just jumping in the deep end."
            Baylor takes the field with an experienced team led by sixth-year senior ace Gia Rodoni and fifth-year seniors Goose McGlaun, Taylor Ellis and Nicky Dawson. After missing the 2019 season with an injury, Rodoni was 8-3 last year with two saves, a 1.15 ERA and 97 strikeouts in 73.1 innings. 
            "She's certainly a talented pitcher, and she's got some tools, but she has the mentality that's all about business," Moore said of Rodoni, who has 60 career victories with a 2.23 ERA and 664 strikeouts. "Gia's always locked in. Any type of activity we're doing, if she's trying to get a batter to pop up a bunt, she's trying to win that competition. Lou Gilbert's another one on defense that has that same mindset. Some will goof off during practice. They don't, and Gia's certainly one that has that mentality."
            A deep pitching staff also includes junior Sidney Holman-Mansel, sophomore lefty Madison Lindsey and freshmen Aliyah Binford and Maren Judisch. A talented two-way player, Binford was 7-0 with a 2.42 ERA last season and hit .271 with a team-high five homers and 14 RBI. 
            "Aliyah is just one of the best athletes we've ever had in our program," Moore said. "She's one of the best hitters I've ever coached. Just a tremendous scary hitter as well. She doesn't get the reps that would make her the best she could be at either of those. That will cost us early on, but we'll get her there. She's certainly going to be in our lineup every game offensively, for sure."
            Other than outfielder Kyla Walker, who opted not to return for a sixth season, the lineup will look very similar. The faces are the same, but the positions have changed.
            A fixture at second base since transferring from LSU, Dawson moves to center field to replace Walker, with freshman Emily Hott taking over at second. 
            "Nicky can certainly play anywhere, we're just trying to find the right combination," Moore said. "We could go back and forth a little bit with that, because we've got them both working the other positions as well. But, that's one we feel could benefit us if we're patient with it and let it come to fruition with the experience they need there."
            At the corner outfield positions will be Gilbert in left and Kettler in right. Unless Binford is pitching, the infield will have McGlaun at first, Hott at second, Binford at short and Ellis at third base. After splitting time at catcher and shortstop the last four seasons, Ellis is trying to make a smooth transition to the hot corner. 
            "Don't count me out, you never know where you'll see me," said Ellis, who hit .273 last season with one homer and 12 RBI. "I'm kind of a chameleon, I can fit wherever I'm put. When people ask me what my favorite position is, I always tell them, 'Whichever one I'm in the lineup that day is my favorite for that day.'''
            With Binford likely hitting behind McGlaun in the lineup, Moore expects Goose to get back to the power she showed when she hit 14 homers in each of her first two seasons and collected 102 RBI. Over the last 73 games, she's hit just four home runs and driven in 24 runs. 
            "I really feel like we're about to see the Goose that we've been waiting to see," Moore said. "I'll say it again, I think Aliyah is one of the best hitters we've ever had in our program. They don't want to face her. So, I don't think they're going to be pitching around Goose to face Aliyah. (Goose) will get better pitches, and that's going to play to her advantage in putting up the kind of numbers we expect to see."
            Freshmen Sydney Collazos and Zadie LaValley will handle the catching duties, with Ellis rotating between short and third, while sophomores Ana Watson and Josie Bower will be the DP and give the Lady Bears some experienced depth in the outfield. 
            "This is not like basketball where you can play some for five minutes and then put five more in," Moore said. "It's difficult to keep great talent happy even playing like that. I think that will be our challenge. We've got 23 on our roster, and a few of them know they're role players.
            "The thing we as coaches always want is quality depth, and we have that. But, it's hard to keep that depth happy, and it's hard to keep the rust knocked off those ones on the bench and get them enough playing time."
            Baylor will return home to host the Lone Star State Invitational next weekend, welcoming UConn, Ole Miss, Lamar and Mississippi State to Getterman Stadium. 

No. 18 BAYLOR AT COWGIRL CLASSIC
Sunday, Feb. 21
• No. 18 Baylor vs. No. 25 Arkansas - 10 a.m.
• No. 18 Baylor at McNeese State - 3 p.m.
Site: Lake Charles, La. / Joe Miller Field
TV: Cowboy Insider ($)
Radio: 101.3 FM | Stream
• Talent: Dan Ingham
Live Stats: http://baylorbea.rs/2XROGcy
Twitter Updates: @BaylorSoftball
Series History
• Baylor vs. Arkansas: Baylor leads, 3-1
• Baylor vs. McNeese State: Louisiana leads, 16-12

STORY LINES
• After having its first 10 games of the season either canceled or postponed due to inclement weather, No. 18 Baylor Softball is finally ready to start its season in Lake Charles, La., at the Cowgirl Classic. When BU takes the field on Sunday, it will mark 348 days since the Lady Bears last game (March 10 at Houston).
• Sunday will mark the sixth season that Baylor has faced a ranked opponent on Opening Day under head coach Glenn Moore. BU is 3-3 in such matchups. Most recently, the Lady Bears run-ruled No. 23 Auburn, 8-0 (5) at the Lead Off Classic in Clearwater, Fla. in 2020. Three of those games were against top-10 foes - No. 9 South Carolina (4-1) in 2019, No. 3 Washington (4-7) in 2014 and No. 1 Florida (0-3) in 2009.
• Arkansas is 0-1 on the season as the Razorbacks were only able to get one of their five scheduled games in last weekend due to inclement weather at the Best on the Bayou Classic in Monroe, La. Arkansas rallied from a seven-run deficit in the fourth inning to take the lead in the seventh but couldn't hang on in a 12-11 loss to No. 10 Oklahoma State.
• McNeese State is hitting .500 this season with a pair of wins over Kansas to go with losses to ranked foes in No. 5 LSU and No. 25 Duke.
• Baylor last faced Arkansas a season ago when the Lady Bears used late-game heroics to win, 3-2. Down by one heading in the top of the seventh with runners in scoring position, Taylor Ellis's RBI single to left field tied things up before the Lady Bears took the lead for good off a double by Maddison Kettler. Lou Gilbert set a career high with a 3-for-3 showing at the plate. Alyssa Avalos hit her first career home run against the Razorbacks.
• BU faced McNeese State in a doubleheader in 2019. The Lady Bears swept the day, 5-2, 7-2. Sidney Holman- Mansell threw every pitch on the day and racked up 15 strikeouts.
• Goose McGlaun was named one of 30 candidates for the 2021 Senior CLASS Award. McGlaun is the fourth selection to the preliminary list by a Lady Bear, joining Carlee Wallace, Heather Stearns and Kaitlyn Thumann.
• BU starts out the 2021 season ranked in the top 25 - No. 18 (ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll), No. 22 (NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll), No. 19 (D1Softball) and No. 23 (Softball America). This is the 14th time the Lady Bears have begun a season ranked in the preseason Top 25 in program history, all coming under Moore.
• After 20 seasons as an assistant coach for the Lady Bears, Mark Lumley retired in October before he passed away in December after his fourth bout with cancer. The Baylor players and coaching staff will all be wearing blue ribbons in his honor. This season is for Lum.