No. 18 SB Heads to Salt Lake City Regional

(G1) Friday, May 19 • Baylor vs. Ole Miss • 12PM CT • Salt Lake City, Utah • Dumke Family Softball Stadium • Watch: ESPNU
(G2) Friday, May 19 • Utah vs. Southern Illinois • 2:30PM CT • Salt Lake City, Utah • Dumke Family Softball Stadium • Watch: ESPN+
(G3) Saturday, May 20 • G1 Winner vs. G2 Winner • 2PM CT • Salt Lake City, Utah • Dumke Family Softball Stadium • Watch: TBD
(G4) Saturday, May 20 • G1 Loser vs. G2 Loser • 4:30PM CT • Salt Lake City, Utah • Dumke Family Softball Stadium • Watch: TBD
(G5) Saturday, May 20 • G3 Loser vs. G4 Winner • 7PM CT • Salt Lake City, Utah • Dumke Family Softball Stadium • Watch: TBD
(G6) Sunday, May 21 • G3 Winner vs. G5 Winner • 1PM CT Salt Lake City, Utah • Dumke Family Softball Stadium • Watch: TBD
(G7) Sunday, May 21 • G6 Rematch (If Necessary) • 3:30PM CT •Salt Lake City, Utah • Dumke Family Softball Stadium • Watch: TBD

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Rather than focusing on the matchup against third-seeded Ole Miss (30-26) in Friday's opening game of the NCAA Salt Lake City Regional, Baylor coach Glenn Moore said the second-seeded Bears (39-16) have to "focus on us."
            Looking for its first NCAA tournament win in five years, Baylor will face the Rebels at 12 p.m. CT Friday at Dumke Family Stadium. The national 15^th-seeded Utah Utes (37-13) play Southern Illinois (36-18) at 3:30 p.m. in the other first-round game of the double-elimination tournament.
            "I'd like to continue doing the things that we've done all year, and that's focus on us, being aware of the competition," said Moore, whose team is making its 15^th NCAA regional appearance, all in the last 20 years.
"You always want to be aware of who you're playing, but I want to focus on what we do, and what we don't do well, do better. If we can put 80% focus on us and 20% on knowing our competition, I think that's our formula for success that we've had."
            Beating a program-record six top-five teams, including a sweep of then-No. 5 Texas two weeks ago, the Bears have a lineup that's tough 1 through 9 and a deep pitching staff that's been bolstered by the emergence of freshman RyLee Crandall (15-5, 2.92 ERA) and sophomore Kaci West (8-3, 2.51).
            "I think we have a lot of confidence," West said. "We've played some incredible games this year. It's given us a lot of confidence. Our offense is so good, our defense is working so amazingly. We've got all the confidence going into this weekend. We just have to trust each other, stay together, work hard, fight for every single pitch."
            Moore said he's concerned about first-team all-region pick Dariana Orme (14-8, 1.92), who gave up the last five runs in an 8-1 loss to Iowa State in the Big 12 tournament after sitting out the Texas series.
            "Having said that, I think her not being at her best has allowed us to gain confidence in Crandall and West," Moore said. "They've thrown some outstanding ball against some great lineups. I think this team is confident in them. If we were throwing them into a fire, and we relied on (Orme) the entire time, I think I would be in much more of a panic. We need to put up some runs and support them a little bit and let them breathe."
            Sophomore first baseman Shaylon Govan, a first-team All-Big 12 and all-region selection, is hitting a team-best .382 with 11 home runs and 51 RBIs. The Bears have three other regulars hitting over .300 with catcher Sydney Collazos (.349), centerfielder McKenzie Wilson (.331, 21 stolen bases) and DP/outfielder Ana Watson (.313).
            "I think we've proven that we can play with anybody and we can beat anybody," said senior Josie Bower, who's hitting .245 with one homer, seven doubles and 19 RBIs.
            Baylor also beat a then-No. 4 Tennessee twice in Knoxville and handed top-ranked Oklahoma its only loss of the season back in February.
            "We're never going to be that team that just hurts yourself by complaining about your marching orders (from the NCAA selection committee) when there's nothing you can do about them," Moore said. "Having said that, I wish there was some transparency so we could see why a team that I respect in Alabama getting a 5 seed because they had five top-10 wins when we had six top-five wins. I would like to see softball get to the point where we have to answer tough questions about our decisions."
            At 35^th in the latest RPI rankings, Ole Miss has some significant wins over LSU, Alabama, Texas A&M, Auburn and Kentucky, beating then-No. 9 LSU, 5-3, in 10 innings in last week's SEC tournament.
            Freshman centerfielder Jalia Lassiter, a third-team All-South Region pick, is hitting .283 with three homers, 21 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. Fifth-year senior leftfielder Tate Whitley, hitting a team-best .326, was named to the SEC All-Defensive Team.
            "They're a very aggressive team that's playing their best ball right now," Moore said. "They have a lot of arms. We've got to prepare for many different looks, from 71 mph to pitchers who top out at 59. It's pretty much everything you've seen in one season in one game."
            The Rebels' deep pitching staff includes Oklahoma transfer Brooke Vestal (5-5, 3.22), whose father, Ricky, played football and golf at Baylor. Senior Makenna Kliethermes has thrown the most innings (93.0) and is 6-6 with a 3.46 ERA, four saves and a team-high 91 strikeouts.
            "We've watched some of the pitchers, watched some of the hitters," West said. "We're just really going out and playing Baylor softball."
            Friday's Baylor-Ole Miss game will be broadcast on ESPNU, with most of the other games this weekend being streamed on ESPN+. On Saturday, the opening-day winners will square off at 2 p.m. CT, followed by elimination games at 4:30 and 7.
            Sunday's region final is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT, with the if-necessary game to follow at 3:30 p.m.
            Now that the semester final exams are behind them, Moore said, "the weight is off them and they can do what they love to do, which is play softball."
            "I just love to see the transition from the student-athlete to the athlete, only for a little while," Moore said. "Some of them have started into their mini-mesters because they're trying to get hours. But for the most part, most of them aren't worked about writing papers and reading books right now."
            Baylor's last NCAA tournament win was in the College Station Regional on May 19, 2018, when Gia Rodoni tossed a no-hitter in a 6-0 win over McNeese State.

STORY LINES
• Baylor Softball (39-16) returns to the NCAA Division I Softball Championship as the Bears travel to Utah for the Salt Lake City Regional, running May 19-21 at Dumke Family Softball Stadium. Fifteenth-seeded Utah (37-13) hosts BU, alongside the Ole Miss Rebels (30-26) and Southern Illinois Salukis (36-18) for the weekend's double-elimination bracket.
• Every inning of the Salt Lake City Regional will be broadcast of the ESPN family of networks. Kevin Fitzgerald (pxp) and Kenzie Fowler (analyst) will be on the call all weekend. Baylor's first game against the Ole Miss Rebels will be featured on ESPNU. 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 15th time in program history. Baylor is 47-32 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Bears have advanced to the Super Regional round six times (2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2017). BU is 33-14 all-time in the first round.
• Baylor has made four World Series appearances, the last coming in 2017.
• The Bears are 4-1 all-time against the Utes. After losing the first game against Utah in 1996, BU has won the last five meetings, most recently in 2013 when the Bears won 5-2. Utah most recently captured the first ever Pac-12 Tournament title, taking down No. 2 national seed UCLA in the championship game.
• BU is 3-0 all-time against Ole Miss. The two teams met for the first time in 200 when the bears won 3-1, and then met again twice in the 2007 season. The Rebels have seven top-25 wins this season, with their most recent top-25 win coming against No. 9 LSU in the SEC Tournament.
• Southern Illinois leads the all-time series over the bears 3-1. The Bears collected three losses against the Salukis in the pre-Glenn Moore era, with their lone win coming in 2001 when the Bears won 6-3. Southern Illinois just collected the Missouri Valley Conference Title, their third MVC Tournament trophy in the last seven years. This season marks their 14th postseason appearance in program history.
• Head Coach Glenn Moore picked up Big 12 Co-Coach of the Year honors this week, the first conference coach of the year award for Moore in his 27-year head coaching stint.
• Shaylon Govan was a unanimous selection to the All-Big 12 First Team, while Dariana Orme was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team. Freshman RyLee Crandall was honored as a unanimous selection to the All-Big 12 Freshman Team.
• Baylor has turned the most double plays in a season (26), since the 2007 season when the Bears set a single-season high with 28 double plays turned.
• This season, the Bears are 12-10 against 2021 tournament teams. BU also has a program best six top-5 wins on the season: No. 1 Oklahoma (1), No. 4 Tennessee (2) and No. 5 Texas (3).
• BU is one of four Big 12 Conference teams to advance to the NCAA Tournament: No. 1 Oklahoma (Norman Regional), No. 6 Oklahoma State (Stillwater Regional) and No. 13 Texas (Austin Regional).
• This marks the Bears first tournament bid since the 2021 season when the Bears went to the Gainesville Regional.
• Shaylon Govan is now tied for first in sacrifice flies in a single season with seven so far this season, which is good for third nationally. She is also second all-time in walks in a season with 43, which is good for seventh nationally.
• McKenzie Wilson moved to third place in consecutive reached base streaks earlier this season with a 35 game-record.
• Josie Bower is now second all-time in Baylor softball history in hit by pitches (27), passing Kelley Levesque, after she was hit against Oklahoma.
• 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.

- BaylorBears.com -

No. 18 SB Heads to Salt Lake City Regional

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Players Mentioned

Josie Bower

Sydney Collazos

RyLee Crandall

Shaylon Govan

Dariana Orme

Ana Watson

Kaci West

McKenzie Wilson

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