Baylor
South Alabama
SB Heads to Florida for Gainesville Regional
5/19/2021 5:00:00 PM | Softball
Two-seed Lady Bears to open NCAA Tournament play against South Alabama
BAYLOR at GAINESVILLE REGIONAL
Friday, May 21
• (G1) No. 4 Florida vs. South Florida - 1 p.m. (CT) on ESPNU
• (G2) Baylor vs. South Alabama - 3:30 p.m. (CT) on ESPN3
Saturday, May 22
• (G3) G1 Winner vs. G2 Winner - 1 p.m. (CT)
• (G4) G1 Loser vs. G2 Loser - 3:30 p.m. (CT)
• (G5) G3 Loser vs. G4 Winner - 6 p.m. (CT)
Sunday, May 23
• (G6) G3 Winner vs. G5 Winner - 11 a.m. (CT)
• (G7) G6 Rematch (If Necessary) - 1:30 p.m. (CT)
Site: Gainesville, Fla. / Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium
TV: ESPN Networks
Radio: 101.3 FM | Stream
Live Stats: BaylorStats.com
Twitter Updates: @BaylorSoftball
Series History
• Florida: Series tied, 5-5
• South Alabama: Baylor, 2-0
• South Florida: South Florida, 2-1
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Taylor Ellis remembers what it felt like four years ago, when Gia Rodoni tossed back-to-back no-hitters in the regional and then Baylor softball stunned second-seeded Arizona in the Tucson Super Regional to make it to the program's fourth Women's College World Series.
"There was a lot of great leadership on that team, a lot of people that hated to lose," Ellis said of the 2017 Baylor team. "That's the characteristic that we're going to have to tap into is just hating to lose. Pretty similar team as far as our strength that year was heart. Certainly, no one expected us to go in and do what we did in the Super Regional that year. We just have to unlock that potential and really get moving in the right direction."
Despite losing six games in a row, the Lady Bears (27-21) will get that chance this weekend as the No. 2 seed in the Gainesville Regional. Baylor, making its 14th NCAA regional appearance, will face South Alabama (30-19) at 3:30 p.m. CDT Friday at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
"This senior class was in the World Series their freshman year, so they've experienced it all levels," Baylor coach Glenn Moore said. "I'm relying on our upperclassmen to lead. It's their turn to lead and decide how far we're going to go with this, and what we're going to allow and what we're not going to allow. You don't have to get a team fired up to play in the postseason. They're already locked in because of the atmosphere and what's going on."
While they're obviously missing some key pieces –outfielders Nicky Dawson, Maddison Kettler and Ana Watson are out with injuries – Moore is hoping the Lady Bears can get back to the team that beat Louisiana and Arizona State earlier this season.
"A lot of pressure is off us now, and hopefully we'll get back to reliving those Louisiana-Lafayette and Arizona State games where we were really hitting on all cylinders and knocking on the door of being the best we can be," Moore said.
One of the keys will be getting it going in the circle again with Rodoni (11-11, 4.84) and second-year freshman Aliyah Binford (5-4, 5.44).
"We have a pitcher that at her best is pretty good, with three postseason no-hitters," Moore said of Rodoni, who added a no-hitter in a 6-0 win over McNeese State in Baylor's last postseason trip at the 2018 College Station Regional.
"We also haven't seen the best out of Aliyah Binford. We saw her beat Arizona State and we saw her throw well in a few innings against the top-hitting club in the country in Oklahoma. If she catches fire, she can shut down some great offenses as well. The tools are still there. I think the key is just realizing it and smelling the roses a little bit."
Baylor is hitting .281 as a team and averaging almost 4 ½ runs per game. Sophomore outfielder Lou Gilbert, a third-team all-region pick, is hitting .336 with five homers, 13 doubles and 20 RBI.
"I think it's just going to come down to who has the most heart and who wants it the most," said Ellis, who is hitting .314 with four homers and 24 RBI. "That's what it always comes down to in the postseason, and that's something we have a lot of. I think if we have a strength right now, that's it."
Baylor faces a South Alabama team that has wins over Georgia and third-ranked Alabama and lost to Louisiana in the Sun Belt Tournament championship game. Freshman pitcher Olivia Lackie (18-10, 2.28) tossed a complete-game three-hitter in a 1-0 shutout of Alabama.
The Jaguars are batting .272 as a team, with Mackenzie Brasher (.374) and Meredith Keel (.364) leading the way. Kamdyn Kvistad and Abby Krzywiecki provide a power punch in the middle of the lineup with 10 and eight homers, respectively.
Moore, who has known South Alabama coach Becky Clark since he was at William Carey College and she was an assistant at the University of Mobile, said she will "keep me on my toes."
"It probably makes me do my homework a little more," he said. "I know how good of a coach Becky is and that she's going to maximize her talent. She's fundamentally sound with everything she does and just knows the game. She and I discuss softball quite a bit, and I just know that she's going to do everything needed to do to be very competitive. She'll probably keep me on my toes a little more knowing that."
Florida (42-9), the No. 4 national seed, faces South Florida (29-17) at 1 p.m. Friday. The opening-round winners meet at 1 p.m. Saturday, with the losers playing an elimination game at 3:30 p.m. in the double-elimination tournament.
"Pitching is the name of the game in this regional," Moore said. "We'll start with a great pitcher against South Alabama. South Florida has one of the best pitchers in the country (Georgina Corrick, 22-7, 0.97 ERA). And, of course, Florida has three good arms and just a great team overall."
The Baylor-South Alabama game will be streamed live on ESPN3, with Beth Mowins and Michelle Smith calling the action.
STORY LINES
• Baylor softball (27-21) returns to the NCAA Division I Softball Championship as the Lady Bears travel to the Sunshine State for the Gainesville Regional, running May 21-23 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. Fourth-seeded Florida (42-9) hosts BU, alongside the South Alabama Jaguars (30-19) and South Florida Bulls (29-17) for the weekend's double-elimination bracket.
• Every inning of the Gainesville Regional will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks. Beth Mowins (pxp) and Michele Smith (analyst) will be on the call all weekend. Every Baylor game will continue to be broadcasted on 101.3 FM with Dan Ingham handling the commentary.
• BU earned an NCAA postseason bid for the 14th time in program history. Baylor is 47-30 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Bears have advanced to at least a Super Regional round six times (2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2017). BU is 33-13 all-time in the first round.
• The Gainesville Regional field includes three teams that have made it to the Women's College World Series in the past decade. Baylor has made four World Series appearances, the last coming in 2017; Florida won back-to-back national titles in 2014 and '15 and was the runner-up in 2009, 2011 and 2017; and South Florida reached the World Series in 2012.
• Baylor is 5-5 all-time against Florida. After winning the first five games of the series vs. the Gators, BU has dropped the last five meetings, most recently two to the eventual national champions in the 2014 WCWS. Florida has wins over national seeds Florida State, Kentucky, LSU, Alabama and Missouri and lost to Alabama, 4-0, in the SEC championship game. The Gators are hitting .279 as a team with 50 home runs and have a pair of 16-game winners in the circle.
• Baylor is 2-0 all-time against South Alabama. The two teams met in 2010 in Waco before facing off in Gulfport in 2014. This year's USA team has wins over Georgia and third-seeded Alabama and lost to Louisiana in the Sun Belt Tournament championship game.
• Baylor is 1-2 all-time vs. South Florida. After dropping a pair of 1-3 contests in 1985 and 2004, BU won a 3-0 contest in 2014. The runner-up in the American Athletic Conference, South Florida played an ambitious schedule with four losses already to Florida and two to 11th-seeded Arizona. The Bulls lost to UCF in the AAC tournament semifinals.
• This season, the Lady Bears are 6-18 against 2021 tournament teams: Oklahoma (0-3), Iowa State (2-2), Oklahoma State (0-3), Mississippi State (1-0), Texas State (0-1), Texas (0-3), Ole Miss (0-1), Arkansas (0-1), McNeese (1-0), Louisiana (1-0), Arizona State (1-1), BYU (0-3).
• BU is one of five Big 12 teams to advance to the NCAA Tournament: No. 1 Oklahoma (Norman Regional), No. 5 Oklahoma State (Stillwater Regional), No. 12 Texas (Austin Regional) and Iowa State (Columbia Regional).
• This marks Baylor's first tournament bid since the 2018 season when the Lady Bears advanced to the College Station Regional. After an injury-filled 2019 season ended without a postseason berth, a promising 2020 season abruptly came to an end in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• 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 have all been wearing blue ribbons in his honor. This season is for Lum.
