SEEN IT ALL
5/17/2024 9:36:00 AM | Softball
Fifth-year senior outfielder playing in her third NCAA regional
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
From a COVID-shortened 2020 season to winning the National Invitational Softball Championship in 2022 to making back-to-back NCAA regionals, Emily Hott has pretty much seen it all in her five seasons at Baylor.
"Being a part of a team before that didn't have their name called, it's just so gratifying to even see your name on there," said Hott, a second-team All-Big 12 pick who is hitting .335 with eight homers, 26 RBIs and a program-record-tying six triples.
"Obviously, our goal at the beginning of the year was to host (an NCAA regional), and we had a lot of adversity that held us back. But if you just think (about) the schedule we've played, we've set (ourselves) up to be able to have that confidence no matter who we're going to face on the field."
Making her third NCAA regional in the last four years, Hott helped the Bears (32-20) earn the No. 2 seed in the Lafayette Regional and will face Ole Miss (31-25) in a familiar first-round matchup at 2:30 p.m. Friday at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park in Lafayette, La.
Just a year ago, a hobbled Baylor team took a pair of losses against Ole Miss, 3-0 and 9-2, at the NCAA regional in Salt Lake City, Utah.
"I'd say (it's a) completely new year," Hott said. "Last year, they showed up as a better Ole Miss team than our Baylor team was. . . . If you're a competitor, you love that they sent us to somebody that we've played before just to make it more exciting. And the drama will be good. I'm excited to play against them, and they're a good team. They can hit the ball well, and ULL is a good park to hit in."
Hitting .272 as a team, Ole Miss is led by senior two-way player Aynslie Furbush, a second-team All-SEC pick who is hitting .331 with 12 homers, 44 RBIs and a .621 slugging percentage. She is also 2-6 in the circle with a 3.73 ERA and team-high four saves.
The Rebels finished last in the SEC with a 7-17 record in league play, but they did record series wins over then-No. 2 LSU and an eighth-ranked Arkansas team, with all 13 SEC teams receiving bids to the NCAA Tournament.
"Of course, opening up with Ole Miss didn't work out really well for us last year," said Baylor coach Glenn Moore, "so we have another shot at them. And they're playing their best ball. They won a couple of big series lately, Arkansas and (LSU). We're going to have to be really good to come out of that regional."
The top seed in the regional, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (42-17) are hosting an NCAA regional for the first time since 2016 and will open against Ivy League champion Princeton (29-16) at 12 noon Friday. Scheduling for the tournament was restructured late Thursday night, bumping the games up to Friday afternoon, but the forecast has cleared up for the next few days.
Louisiana has won 13 of its last 15 games and was 22-2 in winning its fifth-consecutive Sun Belt Conference regular-season championship. Sophomore outfielder Mihyia Davis, who is hitting .416 with 21 stolen bases, was named the Sun Belt Player of the Year, while University of Thomas (Minn.) transfer Brooke Ellestand (.365, 8 homers, 47 RBIs) was the league's Newcomer of the Year.
Junior infielder Alexa Langeliers, the sister of former Baylor All-American and current Oakland A's catcher Shea Langeliers, is hitting .294 with nine homers and 40 RBIs and earned second-team all-conference honors.
"They're a team that's very seasoned in postseason, and a crowd that responds to that. That's their sport down there," Moore said. "I don't want to look too far into the tournament because we don't play them to start with. But they're a No. 1 seed for a reason."
The Ragin' Cajuns are 20-4 at their home field this year, but two of those losses came against Baylor back in February. In a doubleheader sweep after losing the series opener 4-1, the Bears rode the pitching of Aliyah Binford, RyLee Crandall and Dariana Orme to 6-0 and 3-2 wins to take the series.
"ULL is one of the tops, if not the top environment you can play at with softball," said Hott, who is scheduled to finish a master's degree in August after earning her undergrad degree in marketing. "Just the energy is contagious. Just to be able to get your foot in the door there and to get some of the freshmen and younger girls who haven't played there to experience that and just absorb it (is huge).
"Because a lot of times, it could be overwhelming. So, you either take it to your advantage or you let it crush you. And I think we showed that we take it to our advantage."
The double-elimination continues with games on Saturday and Sunday. If Baylor wins its opener, the Bears would face the Game 1 winner at 2 p.m. Saturday, with the first-day losers meeting at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in an elimination game.
Paired with fourth-seeded Florida, the Lafayette Region winner advances to the Super Regional round to face the winner out of the Gainesville Regional.
"(Hosting a regional) was a goal. (Coach Moore) believed that we had possibly done enough," said Binford, who is 12-10 with a 3.29 ERA, two saves and a Big 12-high 142 strikeouts. "Honestly, I think our team was just proud of the way we came out of everything. With all the adversity we've had, to be able to get our name called in general was, I think, our main goal."
Both of Friday's games will be streamed on ESPN+.
Baylor Bear Insider
From a COVID-shortened 2020 season to winning the National Invitational Softball Championship in 2022 to making back-to-back NCAA regionals, Emily Hott has pretty much seen it all in her five seasons at Baylor.
"Being a part of a team before that didn't have their name called, it's just so gratifying to even see your name on there," said Hott, a second-team All-Big 12 pick who is hitting .335 with eight homers, 26 RBIs and a program-record-tying six triples.
"Obviously, our goal at the beginning of the year was to host (an NCAA regional), and we had a lot of adversity that held us back. But if you just think (about) the schedule we've played, we've set (ourselves) up to be able to have that confidence no matter who we're going to face on the field."
Making her third NCAA regional in the last four years, Hott helped the Bears (32-20) earn the No. 2 seed in the Lafayette Regional and will face Ole Miss (31-25) in a familiar first-round matchup at 2:30 p.m. Friday at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park in Lafayette, La.
Just a year ago, a hobbled Baylor team took a pair of losses against Ole Miss, 3-0 and 9-2, at the NCAA regional in Salt Lake City, Utah.
"I'd say (it's a) completely new year," Hott said. "Last year, they showed up as a better Ole Miss team than our Baylor team was. . . . If you're a competitor, you love that they sent us to somebody that we've played before just to make it more exciting. And the drama will be good. I'm excited to play against them, and they're a good team. They can hit the ball well, and ULL is a good park to hit in."
Hitting .272 as a team, Ole Miss is led by senior two-way player Aynslie Furbush, a second-team All-SEC pick who is hitting .331 with 12 homers, 44 RBIs and a .621 slugging percentage. She is also 2-6 in the circle with a 3.73 ERA and team-high four saves.
The Rebels finished last in the SEC with a 7-17 record in league play, but they did record series wins over then-No. 2 LSU and an eighth-ranked Arkansas team, with all 13 SEC teams receiving bids to the NCAA Tournament.
"Of course, opening up with Ole Miss didn't work out really well for us last year," said Baylor coach Glenn Moore, "so we have another shot at them. And they're playing their best ball. They won a couple of big series lately, Arkansas and (LSU). We're going to have to be really good to come out of that regional."
The top seed in the regional, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (42-17) are hosting an NCAA regional for the first time since 2016 and will open against Ivy League champion Princeton (29-16) at 12 noon Friday. Scheduling for the tournament was restructured late Thursday night, bumping the games up to Friday afternoon, but the forecast has cleared up for the next few days.
Louisiana has won 13 of its last 15 games and was 22-2 in winning its fifth-consecutive Sun Belt Conference regular-season championship. Sophomore outfielder Mihyia Davis, who is hitting .416 with 21 stolen bases, was named the Sun Belt Player of the Year, while University of Thomas (Minn.) transfer Brooke Ellestand (.365, 8 homers, 47 RBIs) was the league's Newcomer of the Year.
Junior infielder Alexa Langeliers, the sister of former Baylor All-American and current Oakland A's catcher Shea Langeliers, is hitting .294 with nine homers and 40 RBIs and earned second-team all-conference honors.
"They're a team that's very seasoned in postseason, and a crowd that responds to that. That's their sport down there," Moore said. "I don't want to look too far into the tournament because we don't play them to start with. But they're a No. 1 seed for a reason."
The Ragin' Cajuns are 20-4 at their home field this year, but two of those losses came against Baylor back in February. In a doubleheader sweep after losing the series opener 4-1, the Bears rode the pitching of Aliyah Binford, RyLee Crandall and Dariana Orme to 6-0 and 3-2 wins to take the series.
"ULL is one of the tops, if not the top environment you can play at with softball," said Hott, who is scheduled to finish a master's degree in August after earning her undergrad degree in marketing. "Just the energy is contagious. Just to be able to get your foot in the door there and to get some of the freshmen and younger girls who haven't played there to experience that and just absorb it (is huge).
"Because a lot of times, it could be overwhelming. So, you either take it to your advantage or you let it crush you. And I think we showed that we take it to our advantage."
The double-elimination continues with games on Saturday and Sunday. If Baylor wins its opener, the Bears would face the Game 1 winner at 2 p.m. Saturday, with the first-day losers meeting at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in an elimination game.
Paired with fourth-seeded Florida, the Lafayette Region winner advances to the Super Regional round to face the winner out of the Gainesville Regional.
"(Hosting a regional) was a goal. (Coach Moore) believed that we had possibly done enough," said Binford, who is 12-10 with a 3.29 ERA, two saves and a Big 12-high 142 strikeouts. "Honestly, I think our team was just proud of the way we came out of everything. With all the adversity we've had, to be able to get our name called in general was, I think, our main goal."
Both of Friday's games will be streamed on ESPN+.
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