Friday, Feb. 14 • vs. Hofstra • Waco, Texas | Getterman Stadium • Radio: 101.3 FM • Watch: ESPN+
Saturday, Feb. 15 • vs. Oklahoma • Waco, Texas | Getterman Stadium • Radio: 101.3 FM • Watch: ESPN+
Saturday, Feb. 15 • vs. Hofstra • Waco, Texas | Getterman Stadium • Radio: 101.3 FM • Watch: ESPN+
Sunday, Feb. 16 • vs. Hofstra• Waco, Texas | Getterman Stadium • Radio: 101.3 FM • Watch: ESPN+
Sunday, Feb. 16 • vs. Oklahoma • Waco, Texas | Getterman Stadium • Radio: 101.3 FM • Watch: ESPN+
 

Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
WACO, Texas – Four-time defending Women's College World Series champion Oklahoma has had a lot of roster turnover from a team that's won 235 games over the last four seasons.
 
But the fourth-ranked Sooners (6-0) have "five or six arms that are legitimate," said Baylor coach Glenn Moore, whose 23^rd-ranked Bears (3-2) will face Oklahoma twice and Hofstra (0-0) three times in the Getterman Classic that begins with Friday's 6:30 p.m. matchup against the Hofstra Pride.
 
"They have their typical great arms," Moore said of the Sooners, who lead the all-time series with the Bears, 76-14, including a 23-9 edge in Waco, "that can pitch for anybody, upper 60s, with a lot of speed changes. That's where it starts. Although you see a lot of new faces, as you would expect, you see tremendous athleticism. . . . What I've seen out of them, they don't look a whole lot different despite those new faces."
 
While OU had to go extra innings to win two of its six games on a California swing, Baylor opened the season with a 3-2 record at the Aggie Classic. The Bears had wins over ACU, Purdue and Villanova and losses to Utah State and Texas A&M in the College Station tournament after taking a 7-1 lead in the fifth inning.
 
"Hopefully, last week, we got the butterflies out, to a large degree, anyway," Moore said, "and we can settle down and play ball."
 
Baylor hit .341 in the opening weekend and averaged seven runs per game, with transfers Turiya Coleman (.583, six RBIs) from Houston and Brooklyn Carter (.500, five RBIs) from Washington leading the way.
 
Two-time All-American first baseman Shaylon Govan missed four games in the opening tournament because of a required seminar in one of her classes, getting just three plate appearances with one walk.
 
"She's a phenomenal hitter," Moore said. "We're excited that this year, we've certainly got some hitters around her that can support what she can do and hopefully make her stand out even more. Anytime she's out of the lineup, you take a deep breath, just because she's that good and you want to see her hit. Those types of hitters don't come through your program that often."
 
As expected, Baylor's pitching struggled at times, compiling an overall ERA of 3.39, 31 hits in 31.0 innings and the same number of walks as strikeouts (14). Fifth-year senior Dariana Orme, redshirt freshman Lexie Warncke and true freshman Sadie Ross are all coming back from offseason surgeries, while lefty Lillie Walker is carrying more of a load than she did at Duke.
 
 
"We saw some good things and we saw some things that we're good, but nothing surprised us," Moore said. "We're probably where we thought we would be right now. And it'll just take time. You've got to play extra good defense and have some offense to have a chance to win against anybody, but especially those top-ranked teams."
 
Oklahoma's deep pitching staff is led by a pair of transfers in Isabella Smith (3-0, 0.00 ERA) from Campbell University and Sam Landry (1-0, 2.37, 23 strikeouts) from Louisiana. A Freshman All-American last year, Ella Parker is hitting .591 with five doubles, one homer and eight RBIs.
 
Senior catcher Olivia Malinowski is a Preseason All-CAA pick for Hofstra who hit .267 with 40 hits and 21 RBIs. Gabby Sultan earned honorable mention honors on the preseason all-conference team after hitting .240 with a double, one homer and 10 RBIs in 25 pinch-hit at-bats.
 
All of Baylor's games this weekend will be broadcast on 101.3 FM and streamed by ESPN+.



STORY LINES
• Baylor Softball is continuing on as they host Hofstra and Oklahoma in the Getterman Classic. The Bears return home after starting the season on the road at the Aggie Classic, where they went 3-2. The 2024 season will feature a 54-game slate and 28 home games. 
• Friday will mark the start of the home season for the Bears, as the 2024 squad went 18-8 last season at home. Making Getterman Stadium a premier place to play, BU has secured a winning record in all but one full competition season since its doors were opened in 1999.
• Baylor will face a familiar foe in Oklahoma this weekend as it faces off against the Sooners for the first time with both teams not in the same conference. 
• When the season kicks off, the team comes back to the diamond with a veteran squad that consists of 12 seniors and 15 upperclassmen.
• After ending the 2024 campaign back in a Super Regional for the first time since 2017, the Bears are looking to build on last year's season while returning 15 off of the 2024 squad, while adding four transfers and seven freshmen. 
• The Bears four transfers include Brooklyn Carter (Washington), Turiya Coleman (Houston), Carson Frier (UCF) and Lillie Walker (Duke). Coleman and Frier add depth to the Bears infield/catching position, while Carter adds speed to the outfield and Walker tosses left-handed in the circle. 
• After starting with a five-game tournament at Texas A&M, the Bears are hosting a three-team tournament in Waco which will feature two games against Oklahoma and three games against Hofstra. 
• BU defeating ACU and Purdue to start the 2025 campaign before falling against No. 7 Texas A&M and Utah State. The Bears ended the Aggie Classic with a 8-2 victory over Villanova to come into weekend two with a 3-2 record. 
• Oklahoma leads Baylor in the all-time record 76-14, including 23-9 at home in Waco. BU last faced the Sooners as conference opponents in 2024. 
• Baylor is 1-1 against Hofstra in the all-time records, facing them first in 2007 during the Hempstead Regional where the bears won, 7-2. Baylor faced the Pride the following year in 2008 when they fell, 8-7, at the USF Under Armour Invitational. 
• Baylor is still ranked in all four polls: No. 24 (Softball America), No. 25 (D1Softball), No. 23 (ESPN/USA Softball) and No. 24 (USA Today/NFCA).
• The Bears will face six opponents in the month of February who are either ranked or receiving votes in the preseason ESPN poll for a total of seven games. Those teams include: No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 6 UCLA, No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 13 Arkansas, No. 15 Missouri and No. 16 Nebraska.
• Leading Baylor offensively during opening weekend was Turiya Coleman who hit .583 going 7-for-12 at the plate with a double and six RBIs. She drew three walks, with a sacrifice hit and was 2-for-2 on stolen bases.
• Baylor's leading hitter last year, Shaylon Govan, is back for her senior season for the Bears after being named a unanimous First-Team All-American last year. The two-time All-American hit .444 last season while setting Baylor single-season records in walks (48) and on base percentage (.579). Her on base percentage led the nation, while her batting average was top-7 in the nation. 
• Picking up All-Big 12 Preseason honors this season were Shaylon Govan and Turiya Coleman. Both Coleman and Govan we also named to D1Softball's Preseason D100 Player rankings at No. 9 and No. 79, respectively. They were also both in the preseason D1Softball individual position rankings with Govan as the No.1 first baseman in the country and Coleman as the No.6 catcher in the country. 
• Shaylon Govan was also names a preseason All-American by Softball America and D1Softball and was named to the USA Softball Top 50 Player of the Year watchlist. 
• Govan was named as the preseason No. 11 player in the country and Dariana Orme came in at No. 96 in Softball America's Preseason Top 100 Player Rankings
• Freshman Karynton Dawson was named as to D1Softball's D100 Freshman watchlist, while her and Gigi Lindsey were on Softball America's Freshman watchlist. 
• Head coach Glenn Moore is in his 25th season at the helm of the Baylor Softball program. In a quarter of a century, Moore is Baylor Athletics' active all-time wins leader across all sports. He has progressed up the active NCAA coaching ranks, now ranking No. 17 in total victories among active Division I head coaches.