Friday, April 14 • vs. Texas Tech • Lubbock, Texas |Rocky Johnson Field • Radio: 101.3 FM • Watch: ESPN+
Saturday, April 15 • vs. Texas Tech • Lubbock, Texas |Rocky Johnson Field • Radio: 101.3 FM • Watch: ESPN+
Sunday, April 16 • vs. Texas Tech • Lubbock, Texas |Rocky Johnson Field • Radio: 101.3 FM • Watch: ESPN+
 

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            With an 18^th-ranked team that's won seven-straight games and nine of its last 11, Baylor softball coach Glenn Moore isn't about to make a bunch of changes.
            He's just looking for the Bears (32-9, 2-4) to continue the consistency they've shown over the last few weeks in a stretch that includes two wins over then-No. 4 Tennessee and one over a Louisiana team that was 10^th in the latest NCAA RPI rankings.
            "Even with Oklahoma State, I thought we had a couple bad breaks up there," Moore said of getting swept by the second-ranked Cowgirls three weeks ago in Stillwater. "I thought we played a consistent flow of softball. And then, moving into the games after that, we've played every opponent as if they were the same team. I want to play at a high level every time we step on the field, no matter the opponent."
            Baylor travels to Lubbock to face Texas Tech (28-15, 2-7) in a weekend series that begins with Friday's 6:30 p.m. game at Rocky Johnson Field. On the way, the Bears used home runs by Amber Toven and Ana Watson and came back from some early defensive miscues to run-rule Abilene Christian, 15-6, Thursday afternoon.
            "Midweek (games) are not necessarily relaxed, because we still need to win them and we have a job that needs to get done," said second baseman Presleigh Pilon, who's hitting .275 and ranks second on the team with 11 stolen bases. "But it's also preparation. We can work on some things to get ready for the weekend series as well."
            Pilon is part of a middle-infield combo with Toven that has helped the Bears turn 19 double plays this season.
            "We've known each other since high school," said Toven, who's hitting .297 with three homers and 25 RBIs. "Getting to play with each other again is like a nice feeling, already knowing what we're thinking already knowing what we're capable of. There's no gray area. We're just trying teach other all the time, every time we step on that field."
            Sophomore first baseman Shaylon Govan continues to lead Baylor's potent hitting attack, batting .404 with a team-high seven homers and 39 RBIs, despite being limited at times by a shoulder injury.
            "She's not hitting the long ball like she did earlier, but that has a lot to do with how she's being pitched probably more so than the injury," Moore said. "There are several that ae going to tell me they feel good, regardless of whether they do or not. They want to stay in the lineup. She's one that tells me she feels good, so I'm not going to ask too many questions."
            Reigning Big 12 Pitcher of the Week Dariana Orme (13-4, 0.98 ERA) has already surpassed last year's win total (12-14). Last week, she tossed a one-hit shutout in a 1-0 win over the Lady Vols and pitched two innings in relief the next day in an 8-5 victory.
            Freshman RyLee Crandall had one of her rougher outings of late in Thursday's game at ACU, giving up four runs (two earned) on three hits and two walks with one strikeout in 1.1 innings. But she has developed into a solid No. 2 pitcher, going 11-4 with a 2.16 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 81.2 innings.
            "When (Aaliyah) Binford went down, we challenged RyLee with stepping up into that role that we saw her playing eventually, just not quite as quickly as the game forced her to jump in there," Moore said.
            "It didn't happen overnight, there was a learning curve for her. But she grew a whole lot when she went up against Tennessee and that lineup and kept us in that game for about five innings. . . . We thought it would take her a little while, and it has a little bit. But I really like where she is."
            Tech is hitting .312 as a team with 64 home runs and a national-best 78 doubles. Using six different arms, the Red Raiders held top-ranked Oklahoma to its fewest hits of the season (three) in a 3-0 loss to the Sooners last Thursday in Norman.
                  First-year head coach Craig Snider recorded three-straight wins over ranked opponents and has had win streaks of nine and 10 games this season.
                  "I really like what I see the coaches are doing up there, a new coaching staff," Moore said. "It's a team that's starting to believe they can win big games. They're playing with teams that they haven't in the last few years and knocking a few of them off. So, they'll be tough to play in their park. They have more pitching than anybody I've seen, I think seven or eight arms.
                  "They're going to be a team that we have to really be on our best game to come out of there with some victories."
                  The series continues with games at 2 p.m. Saturday and 12 p.m. Sunday, with all three games streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
 

STORY LINES
• Baylor leads the all-time record against Texas Tech, 58-20. The Bears' record in Lubbock is, 27-4.
• Baylor has already defeated RV Louisiana in a midweek matchup on Tuesday, April 11, defeating the Ragin' Cajuns, 2-1 at Getterman Stadium. Coming into the game, Louisiana was 10th and Baylor was 19th in the latest RPI rankings.
• The week prior, Baylor handed Tennessee (30-5, 10-2 Southeastern Conference) its first back-to-back losses of the season, defeating the Lady Vols twice in Rocky Top. 
• The pair of top-five wins in Knoxville now gives the Bears three on the year, also besting No. 1 Oklahoma on Feb. 19 in Waco, 4-3. BU also earned a 5-0 win over No. 21 Maryland earlier in the year.
• A 31-9 record through the first 39 games of the year marks the best record for the Bears since going 34-6 to open the 2017 season, a year that ended in the College World Series with a 48-15 record and a final No. 7 national ranking.
• Baylor is now ranked No. 19 in the D1Softball poll, jumping eight spots after last week's performance in Knoxville. They are now 19 in the ESPN/USA Today poll, 16 in the Softball America poll and 18 in the NFCA coaches' poll.
• BU is currently sitting at 18 in the NCAA Softball RPI standings moving up one spot after defeating higher-RPI ranked Louisiana in the midweek tilt.
• Baylor is 3-1 in extra-inning games on the season. Their one loss in extras was an 11-inning showdown with No. 2 Oklahoma State to open conference play. 
• Baylor picked up its 11th shutout of the season last week, after a 1-0 win over No. 4 Tennessee.
• Overall this season, Baylor ranks second in the Big 12 in pitching ERA during all games, with a 1.73 team ERA. No. 1 Oklahoma is the only team ahead of the Bears. 
• BU also leads the Big 12 in sacrifice bunts (29), sacrifice fly's (17) and stolen bases (64).
• McKenzie Wilson moved to third place in consecutive reached base streaks this season with a 35 game-record.
• Josie Bower is now tied for second all-time in Baylor softball history in hit by pitches (25), tying Kelley Levesque.
• Shaylon Govan leads the Bears with a .396 batting average with five doubles, seven home runs and 39 RBIs. 
• Govan is one of nine Bears to have double digit RBIs already on the season. Emily Hott follows her with 23, Amber Toven has 21, McKenzie Wilson and Sydney Collazos have 16, Ana Watson has 14, Presleigh Pilon and Taylor Strain have 13 and Josie Bower has 10.
• Dariana Orme has the third best season era in the conference (0.98), leads the Bears with 109 strikeouts and leads the conference in innings pitched (121.1). 
• The Bears have already recorded 64 stolen bases on the season, 11 away from last year's season total of 75. 
• Head coach Glenn Moore picked up his 1,000th career win against UT Arlington on March 22. He is the winningest coach in Baylor Athletics history and now ranks 11th among active Division I head softball coaches to reach this milestone. 861 of his 1,000 career wins have come at Baylor University.