Wednesday, March 8 • vs. Cal State Fullerton • Fullerton, Calif. | Anderson Family Field • Radio: 101.3 FM 
Thursday, March 9 • vs. Boston • Long Beach, Calif. | LBSU Softball Complex • Radio: 101.3 FM
Thursday, March 9 • vs. Long Beach State • Long Beach, Calif. | LBSU Softball Complex • Radio: 101.3 FM
Friday, March 10 • vs. Columbia • Long Beach, Calif. | LBSU Softball Complex • Radio: 101.3 FM 
Friday, March 10 • vs. Loyola Marymount • Long Beach, Calif. | LBSU Softball Complex • Radio: 101.3 FM
 
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            On the road for the first time since the opening weekend of the season, the 20^th-ranked Baylor softball team (17-2) will begin a five-game, three-day California swing with a matchup against Cal State Fullerton (11-9) at 6 p.m. CT Wednesday at Anderson Family Field in Fullerton.
            Coming off a near-perfect home stand (13-1) that included a 10-game winning streak, the Bears will make the short trip from Fullerton to Long Beach to play four games in the Louisville Slugger Invitational on Thursday and Friday at the LBSU Softball Complex.
            "I think we're ready to travel a little bit, and we've got some kids going back home," Baylor coach Glenn Moore said of California natives Dariana Orme, Presleigh Pilon, Amber Toven and McKenzie Wilson.
            "Anytime you go anywhere near a beach with these girls, they're excited, whether they go there or not. It's good for a multitude of things, including the competition, the environment, recruiting."
            After being "sucker-punched" in a 3-0 loss to Texas A&M on Saturday in the opening game of the Ode to Joy Invitational, the Bears rallied from a five-run deficit to beat Sam Houston State, 9-8, and finished off the weekend with a 2-1, eight-inning win over the Aggies.
            "I'm very happy with the way we responded," Moore said, "especially late in the game against Sam Houston. And then, we carried that momentum into Sunday. I thought we showed a lot of maturity with this team."
            Baylor's done it without junior pitcher/third baseman Aliyah Binford, who's been out since exiting with a left knee injury in the seventh inning of a 3-2, eight-inning win over Minnesota on Feb. 24.
            Orme has certainly done her part in picking up the slack, compiling a 6-1 record with a 0.77 ERA, 47 strikeouts in 45.2 innings and a pair of no-hitters.
            "Now, the challenge with Aliyah being out is going to be managing her," Moore said. "Other pitchers are going to have to step up, defense is going to have to step up, the offense is going to have to step up. . . . I think this is the best defense I've ever put on the field, personally, in my whole career. Solid defense from top to bottom, so in a position to be able to do that and not put pressure on a pitcher that feels like she's got to dominate the lineup."
            Freshman RyLee Crandall (6-1, 2.06 ERA) has filled in nicely as the No. 2 starter, picking up two wins last weekend against Sam Houston State and tossing a two-hit shutout of UT Arlington in a midweek game. Sophomore Kaci West is 3-0 with a 2.62 ERA, coming out of the bullpen in all but one of her seven appearances.
            "It's time for them to step up, and they did over the weekend," Moore said. "With adversity, there's usual opportunities, and I talked with RyLee about that. It's time to grow up and become a sophomore a little quicker than you wanted to."
            Playing five games in three days, the Bears will have to get some work from both Crandall and West to get through the California trip.
            "Right now, I think we're all having to step up, and it's working," West said. "But I definitely think I have some improvement to do. I think we all have improvement to do. That's just us as athletes, we've always got to improve. So, I think we're going to get it done."
            While West has also made a handful of starts at third base, sophomore transfer Shannon Vivoda from Pima Community College seems to have settled in, hitting .294 with three doubles and a .429 on-base percentage.
            "I like what she's doing offensively as well," Moore said of Vivoda. "She's had some quality at-bats, just needs to get seasoned at this level a little bit. She's going to be everything we expected her to be."
            Cal State Fullerton has played 13 of its first 20 games against Power 5 teams, picking up wins against Cal, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Oregon, Oregon State and Florida. Senior right-hander Myka Sutherlin is 4-3 with a 1.16 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 60.1 innings, while Hannah Becerra has hit five of the Titans' 10 home runs.
            "Probably one of the strongest schedules in the country that they've played so far, and we're playing on their turf," Moore said. "So, we'll start off with the top dog right away. Every team has something to offer, depending on who they have in the circle."
            With the action shifting to Long Beach, Baylor will face Boston University (15-5) at 2:30 p.m. and Long Beach State (7-12) at 5 p.m. CT Thursday. Friday's schedule has the Bears playing Columbia (2-7) at 4 p.m. and Loyola Marymount (9-13) at 6:30.
            "We're extremely competitive. We hate to lose right now," said outfielder/DP Ana Watson, who is hitting .390 with five doubles and 4-for-4 on stolen bases. "Anything and everything we can do to win, we'll do it.  This is God's plan."


STORY LINES
• Baylor Softball is set to play five games over three days at the Louisville Slugger Invitational at both Long Beach and Fullerton. The Bears will face Cal State Fullerton, Boston, Columbia, Long Beach State and Loyola Marymount. 
• The Bears are heading on the road for the first time in 14 games, after going 13-1 at home in the span of three weeks. 
• Baylor has previously faced four of the five schools, with the exception of Columbia. Baylor hold the all-time records over Boston, 2-0, Long Beach State, 3-1, and Loyola Marymount, 3-1. Cal State Fullerton holds the all-time record over the Bears, 5-3. 
• BU is coming off of a 4-1 week, where they picked up a midweek win over UT Arlington, before going 3-1 in the Ode to Joy Invitational splitting two games with Texas A&M and defeating Sam Houston twice. 
• Over the week, the Bears were led by McKenzie Wilson who hit .571 while starting and playing in all five games. She was 8-for-14 at the plate with a double and triple. 
• Wilson is currently on a 33-game on base streak, which ties for third in the Baylor all-time record books. She only needs three more to tie for second place. 
• Dariana Orme picked up a win over the weekend after pitched an eight-inning complete-game in the Bears 2-1 walk-off win of Texas A&M. She tossed 11 strikeouts, bringing her yearly total to 47. 
• Maintaining their position in the polls, Baylor is now ranked No. 12 in the D1Softball poll. The Bears are also ranked No. 12 in the Softball America Poll and come in at No. 16 in the ESPN poll and No. 20 in the NFCA coaches' poll. 
• Baylor's 17-2 start ties for the best start in program history, which dates back to the 2011 season. The same season the bears went all the way to the semifinals in the Women's College World Series. 
• Shaylon Govan is continuing to rake in the cleanup spot, with a .462 batting average with four doubles, five home runs and 32 RBI. She leads the nation in runs batted in per game with 1.68 and leads the Big 12 with 32 already on the season. 
• Govan is one of four Bears to have double digit RBIs already on the season. Amber Toven follows her with 16, Emily Hott has 15 and McKenzie Wilson has 10.
• Emily Hott continued to be on fire in the batter's box last weekend, going 6-for-15 at the plate with three doubles. She batted .400 and played and started in every game. 
• Coming in clutch last weekend were Amber Toven and Josie Bower who both hit walk-off singles to give the Bears two wins. 
• Ana Watson was 6-for-9 at the plate last week in three games played. She hit .667 with three doubles and three RBIs. 
• RyLee Crandall picked up three wins on the week, striking out 14 through 12.0 innings of work.
• BU has had 21 of 22 players see action during a game at some point this season.
• With a career record of 994-469, head coach Glenn Moore is looking for his 1,000th career win this season and is only 6 wins away from hitting the milestone.