SB Set for Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship

BAYLOR (31-19, 14-13 Big 12) at PHILLIPS 66 BIG 12 SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Thursday, May 9 • vs Iowa State • Oklahoma City, Okla. • OGE Field at Devon Park • Watch: Big 12 Now ESPN+ • Radio: 104.9 FM

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

Not to dwell on the past, but Glenn Moore wants to see his Baylor softball team "do something a little different than what we've done the last few years" at the Big 12 Championship in Oklahoma City.

Seeded fourth, the Bears (31-19) have won nine-straight conference games going into Thursday's 7:30 p.m. quarterfinal matchup against fifth-seeded UCF (30-22) at OGE Field at Devon Park (rebranded Hall of Fame Stadium).

Since Baylor hasn't won a Big 12 tournament game since 2018, senior catcher Sydney Collazos said there are no expectations on the Bears, "so we're going to just go out there and play free and roll with the punch, roll with the momentum we've got going."

"We're approaching this as a business trip," Moore said. "We're at a good place. We've got a tough draw right away. We were very fortunate to get three wins from a very good team when they were here (UCF). They're going to have a little motivation that they should've gotten one or two while they were here."

In last month's series at Getterman Stadium, Baylor pulled out three one-run games and handed UCF ace Sarah Willis a pair of losses. Aliyah Binford and Ryan Crandall tossed three-straight complete games in the circle, giving up just one run on 12 hits and six walks with 17 strikeouts over 21 innings.

"Absolutely, we expect anybody to come out ready to beat us," Collazos said. "Just knowing that is going to help us play better, because typically if we're not motivated to play a team, you know how that goes. But I think knowing that hypes us up a little bit more because we know that they're going to come at us with all cylinders."

While the Bears swept three-straight series against UCF, BYU and Houston to close out the regular season, the Knights dropped seven league games in a row before beating Iowa State, 12-3 and 4-0. Willis is 9-9 with a 2.39 ERA and 99 strikeouts in 114.1 innings.

"Seeing her a couple times just gives us an idea of what her ammunition is," junior first baseman Shaylon Govan said of Willis. "She's still going to be hard to hit, because she has a good off-speed and that hard stuff, but I feel like we'll be in there fighting."

After scoring just five runs in four games, including a 9-1 loss at Utah, the Baylor offense came alive over the last two weeks to score 53 runs in six games against BYU and Houston.

"I think a lot of us have just loosened up at the plate," Collazos said. "I don't want to say we're hot and jinx it, but we are hot. And I think that momentum is a really big thing. So, just taking this offense we've had and rolling with the momentum. And we have a great pitching staff that we know they're going to have our backs. We have a lot of good pieces coming together, so we're really confident in that."

After hitting her eighth homer of the season in the first game of the Houston series, Govan was intentionally walked in eight-consecutive plate appearances against the Cougars. Earning first-team All-Big 12 honors for the second-straight year, Govan is hitting .445 and leads the nation with a .593 on-base percentage.

"I have never been walked that many times," said Govan, who has been walked 44 times this season. "It definitely becomes frustrating after you put in a lot of hard work to get your time. And then seeing that, it gets your timing off. Getting that timing back again and rhythm, it was tough, but you just keep working."

In Wednesday's first-round results at the Big 12 tournament, seventh-seeded Kansas defeated 10^th-seeded Houston, 6-5, and eighth-seeded Texas Tech rallied from a late five-run deficit to beat ninth-seeded Iowa State, 10-9, in eight innings.

If the Bears advance with a win over UCF, they will face either Tech or top-ranked Texas at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The three-day, single-elimination tournament will wrap up with Saturday's 6:30 p.m. championship game.

At 18^th in the latest RPI rankings, "the possibility of hosting (an NCAA regional) is certainly a carrot in front of our nose," Moore said. "It's a quick tournament. Win two games, and you're in the championship. And if we find a way to get there, we feel like we have to be in the conversation."

STORY LINES
• The Bears are heading to the 2024 Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Tournament this week as the No. 4 seed. Baylor will face No. 5 seed UCF on Thursday, May 9, at 7:30 p.m. CT at OGE Field at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, Okla.
• OGE Field at Devon Park is the rebranded Hall of Fame Stadium name.
• After the No. 4 vs No. 5 seed matchup, the winner will go on to play the winner of the No.1 vs No.8/9 game. If BU wins its first game they will face either Texas, Iowa State or Texas Tech.
• The Bears are coming off a weekend series sweep over the Houston Cougars, which included two shutouts and only allowed one run all weekend.
• Baylor has now swept its last three conference opponents and has won nine of its last 10 contests.
• To kick off the Bears hot streak, they swept UCF in a low scoring series, which means the Bears now hold the 9-2 all-time record over the Knights.
• Baylor Softball has not won a game at the Big 12 Tournament since the 2018 season and are looking to break that spell this season.
• Baylor snapped a 15-game nonconference win-streak when they fell against No. 23 Texas State, 6-1, in San Marcos. They are now 17-7 in nonconference games this season after falling against Utah last week in its final nonconference game of the season.
• Sixteen of Baylor's losses this season have come against teams ranked or receiving votes in polls at some point in the season.
• The team has a veteran squad that consists of seven seniors and 17 upperclassmen.
• After ending the 2023 campaign back in the NCAA postseason, the Bears are building on last year's 40-win season while returning all but one senior, Josie Bower, from the roster.
• Baylor added three freshmen to the squad with pitcher Lexie Warncke and infielders, Paige King and Leah Cran.
• Baylor is still receiving votes in the ESPN/USA Softball and NFCA/USA Today polls.
• The Bears have already faced nine ranked teams this season: No. 2 Tennessee, No. 23 Louisiana, No. 25 Oregon, No. 19 UCLA, No. 13 Missouri, No. 7 Oklahoma State, No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 23 Texas State and No. 1 Texas.
• Baylor is currently ranked No. 19 in the RPI standings.
• Baylor Softball received three All-Big 12 selections among the 2024 All-Big 12 Softball postseason awards announced Wednesday morning by the conference office.
• For the second-straight season, Shaylon Govan received All-Big 12 first team honors, while Aliyah Binford and Emily Hott each received second team honors.
• RyLee Crandall has the Bears' best record in the circle this season with a 14-7 mark., with 31 appearances and a 2.93 ERA. She surpassed 100 strikeouts on the season, compiling 101 so far.
• Crandall has also picked up the Bears' only weekly Big 12 award so far this season, as she won Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honors for BU's win over No. 7 Oklahoma State, where she pitched a one-hit complete-game shutout. The sophomore was one hit away from a perfect game, effectively retiring 21 of 22 at bats.
• Aliyah Binford has a team-leading 132 strikeouts and holds a 11-10 record. She is currently ranked No.1 in the Big 12 in strikeouts.
• Shaylon Govan leads the Bears with a .445 average, 53 hits, eight doubles and eight home runs. Her batting average is first in the Big 12 and 9th nationally, while her on base percentage is ranks first nationally. With her .593 on base percentage, Govan is ranked 6th in the country in walks per game and has been walked 44 times so far this season.
• In the three-game series against Houston, Govan was intentionally walked in seven-straight at bats.
• Emily Hott has also been on fire offensively, totaling 53 hits, nine doubles, six triples and eight home runs. Her six triples tie a single-season record for the Bears and another one would put her in the top spot alone.
• Kaci West has three saves on the season, which ties for first in the Big 12.
• Sixteen different Bears have recorded a hit so far this season, with Govan and Hott leading the way with 53, followed by Sydney Collazos with 38. There are 13 Bears with double-digit hits on the season.
• Head coach Glenn Moore hit his 1,000th career win last season, when the Bears took down UT Arlington on March 23, 2023. He hit his 900th win at Baylor this season after taking down UTSA, 2-1, on April 9, 2024

-BaylorBears.com-

SB Set for Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship

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Players Mentioned

Aliyah Binford

Josie Bower

Sydney Collazos

Leah Cran

RyLee Crandall

Shaylon Govan

Emily Hott

Paige King

Lexie Warncke

Kaci West

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