BAYLOR at ARIZONA STATE / LOPES UP CLASSIC
Thursday, March 11
• Baylor at No. 9 Arizona State - 7 p.m. (CT)
Friday, March 12
• Baylor vs. Northern Illinois - Noon (CT)
• Baylor at GCU - 2:30 p.m. (CT)
Saturday, March 13
• Baylor vs. Northern Illinois - noon
• Baylor at GCU - 2 p.m.
Sunday, March 14
• Baylor at No. 9 Arizona State - Noon (CT)
Site: Tempe, Ariz.  / Alberta B. Farrington Softball Stadium
         Phoenix, Ariz. / GCU Softball Stadium
TV: Arizona State: ASU Live Stream
       GCU: GCU TV
Radio: 101.3 FM | Stream
Live Stats: BaylorStats.com
Twitter Updates: @BaylorSoftball
Series History
• Arizona State: Arizona State leads, 7-2
• Northern Illinois: Baylor leads, 4-1
• GCU: Baylor leads, 3-0

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            One month away from hosting top-ranked Oklahoma, the Baylor softball team (10-3) will get a preview of the Sooners' home run prowess with a pair of matchups against No. 9/11 Arizona State (16-1) in a six-game road trip to the Grand Canyon State. 
            Sandwiched between bookend games against the Sun Devils at 7 p.m. CST Thursday and noon Sunday at Farrington Softball Stadium in Tempe, the Lady Bears will face Northern Illinois (4-6) and Grand Canyon (9-10) on Friday and Saturday at the Lopes Up Classic at GCU Stadium in Phoenix. 
            Arizona State is ranked second in the country with 46 home runs in 17 games, behind only Oklahoma's 61 homers in the same number of games. 
            "It's a good opportunity to play tougher competition and really see where we are," said Baylor coach Glenn Moore, whose team has already knocked off a pair of top-25 teams in a six-game winning streak. "I think we've played enough to start determining our identity a little bit. (Arizona State) is certainly a team that will let us know exactly where we are and what we need to do to continue to improve. I think we match up well with them, so I'm excited about seeing a very good team again, and seeing if we continue our acceleration into where we want to be."
            Baylor's lack of home runs was the only disappointment in a five-game sweep in Louisiana that started with an 8-1 win over then-No. 12 Louisiana. The Lady Bears have hit just three in 13 games and haven't hit one since a two-homer game against UTA on Feb. 24. 
            "I think we had one ball hit the wall all weekend, and that was a slap by (Maddison) Kettler," Moore said. "But, nobody else was doing it, either. For whatever reason, the ball wasn't traveling in that park. But we also knocked down the wall several times at Lafayette (in win over Louisiana). We're very capable, and I think that will come, but that's one area where I'd like to see improvement."
            Second-year freshman second baseman Emily Hott, who had her first career homer in the UTA game, said the Lady Bears are "definitely close" to hitting some out of the park. 
            "We hit plenty of balls at Getterman that hit the wall or are just right at the warning track," Hott said. "Once we all get it going, which obviously everyone in our lineup has home-run potential, which is crazy . . . we keep hitting the weight room, those balls are going to start going out. "
            While Baylor hasn't tapped into its home-run potential to this point, the Lady Bears lead the Big 12 and are 21^st nationally with five triples. Senior centerfielder Nicky Dawson leads the way with three and broke the all-time program record with her 10^th career triple in a 3-2 win over Louisiana Tech on Sunday. 
            "I don't think it's something that has really hit me yet," Dawson said. "When I hit that ball, I knew I was going to be at third. I may not have made it safely, but I was going to attempt to get there. I never looked at Coach Moore (at third base), because I was going whether he told me to stop or not. But when I hit it, yeah, I definitely wanted it."
            Maddi Hackbarth leads Arizona State's home run parade with 10 round-trippers, but the Sun Devils have seven players who have hit more homers than Baylor's team. 
            Baylor senior ace Gia Rodoni (3-2, 2.88 ERA) will have her hands full against an Arizona State lineup that sports a .399 batting average and is averaging 9.76 runs per game after a 10-2, run-rule victory over Northern Illinois on Wednesday. 
            The Lady Bears used four different starting pitchers over the weekend in sweeping Louisiana Tech and Tarleton State in the Ruston tournament. 
            "We're not all hitting on every cylinder that we have right now, but you wouldn't expect it this early," Moore said. "I don't know that many teams are. I think it was very beneficial for us to be able to do that."


STORY LINES
• Baylor stays on the road this week as the Lady Bears head to Arizona to take on No. 9 Arizona State on Thursday before taking part in the Lopes Up Classic at GCU Softball Stadium against Northern Illinois and GCU. Baylor will wrap up the trip taking on the Sun Devils again on Sunday morning.
• BU is coming off a 5-0 showing on its Louisiana Road Trip a week ago. Baylor topped No. 13 Louisiana in Lafayette, 8-1, before sweeping the competition at the Louisiana Tech Invitational. Aliyah Binford, Nicky Dawson, Lou Gilbert and Gia Rodoni were named to the All-Tournament team.
• Baylor is now 2-1 against ranked opponents this season. After opening the year with a loss to No. 25 Arkansas, the Lady Bears have won back-to-back games against ranked foes No. 25 Mississippi State (10-6) and No. 13 Louisiana (8-1). BU has played a ranked opponent each week to start the season.
• Nicky Dawson is Baylor's all-time leader in career triples with 10 after ripping one to left center field against Louisiana Tech on March 7. The fifth-year senior outfielder now has three triples this season, a mark that ties her for fifth nationally.
• 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.