Thursday, Feb. 20 • vs. Nevada • Palm Springs, Calif. | Big League Dreams • Watch: FloCollege
Thursday, Feb. 20 • vs. No. 15 Nebraska • Palm Springs, Calif. | Big League Dreams • Watch: FloCollege
Friday, Feb. 21 • vs. No. 22 Missouri • Palm Springs, Calif. | Big League Dreams • Watch: FloCollege
Saturday, Feb. 22 • vs. No. 10 Arkansas • Palm Springs, Calif. | Big League Dreams • Watch: FloCollege
Saturday, Feb. 22 • vs. No. 4 UCLA • Palm Springs, Calif. | Big League Dreams • Watch: FloCollege
 
Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – When Baylor softball coach Glenn Moore put together a 2025 schedule that includes games against four ranked teams at this weekend's Mary Nutter Classic, he didn't fully realize where his pitching would be at this point.
 
But with the top two pitchers from last season both transferring, and three of his four-person rotation recovering from offseason surgeries, "I think it's obvious, it's not where we would like it to be going into this tournament," Moore said.
 
"Big picture, I'd say I'm aggravated a little," he said, "to have had a bullpen intact that would compete against this schedule and not have been able to progress from our surgeries quicker than we did. That's being fully transparent, but I've known this for several months now that we were going to be at this stage.
 
"And I have seen hope and encouragement in the last few outings, especially from (freshman) Sadie Ross. And even Dari (Orme) going 120 pitches in one game, which we didn't know if she had that kind of stamina to push through it. I know we're a long way away from being where we need to be, but we're also a good little ways from conference, too."
 
Baylor (6-4) has won most of the games "that we were really supposed to win," Moore said, but 0-3 against ranked teams through the first two weekends. After letting a 7-1 slip away in a 10-7 loss at No. 7 Texas A&M, the Bears were run-ruled twice by No. 3 Oklahoma, with Louisiana transfer Sam Landry tossing a perfect game in Sunday's 8-0 finale of the Getterman Classic.
 
"We're the underdogs in four of the five that we're going to play this weekend," Moore said, "so I want to see how they respond to adversity. . . . That's the whole purpose in playing a strong, high-RPI schedule. Last year, we spent most of the season with the No. 1 strength of schedule in the country. I keep going back to being 1-8 at the start of Big 12, but we finished in a good place. We endured those storms in a positive manner with great leadership."
 
A year ago, the Bears went an impressive 5-0 at the Mary Nutter Classic, knocking off 25^th-ranked Oregon, Notre Dame, UC Riverside, No. 19 UCLA and No. 13 Missouri. But RyLee Crandall and Aliyah Binford carried the bulk of the pitching load, as they did the whole season, before transferring to Oklahoma State and Ole Miss, respectively.
 
Orme, the staff ace going into each of the previous three seasons, was granted a waiver for a seventh year of eligibility. But like Ross and redshirt freshman Lexie Warncke, she is coming off another offseason surgery. She is 2-1 with a 6.00 ERA with eight strikeouts in 11.2 innings.
 
"We had a big enough lead (against Hofstra) to be able to leave her out there and let her push through it," Moore said of her complete-game victory. "And then, for her to be able to do that and then come back the next day and pitch, there's some positives in that. And how she felt afterwards. There are several things that I'm encouraged by with our pitching staff."
 
Duke transfer Lillie Walker made starts against both A&M and Oklahoma and has an inflated ERA, going 1-1 with a 6.85 ERA in three appearances. Warncke has the best numbers at 2-0 with a 2.93 ERA and team-best 12 strikeouts, while Ross is 1-2 with a 4.12 ERA and has pitched in seven of the team's 10 games.
 
"We're certainly the underdogs going out there," Moore said. "But at the same time, it doesn't concern me, because it's the process. We've got to keep it all in perspective. You always want to win every game you play, and I tell our girls that. But outcome cannot be our goal right now. We've got to get better every inning, even single it down to winning pitches and winning at-bats, and just focusing with blinders on, on what we can be when we get our pitching healthy."
 
Baylor opens the three-day tournament at Big League Dreams Sports Park on Thursday with a 12 p.m. CT matchup against Nevada (8-2), followed by 15^th-ranked Nebraska (8-2) at 4:30 p.m. After a single game on Friday at 12 p.m. CT versus No. 22 Missouri (6-5), the Bears will play 10^th-ranked Arkansas (10-0) at 12 p.m. Saturday and wrap up with No. 4 UCLA (9-1) at 2:30 p.m.
 
"I think we're still in a great place, great mindset," said senior outfielder Ashlyn Wachtendorf, who's hitting .400 (8-for-10) with two triples and six RBIs. "We just have to trust the process and keep moving forward. Coach Moore put a lot of great teams against us, and you're only going to be great if you play great teams."
 
Houston transfer Turiya Coleman, who's hitting a team-best .519 with four doubles, one homer and 12 RBIs, said she is excited about playing some of the elite teams in the country this weekend.
 
"In the past, I haven't really played schools of this caliber," said Coleman, who has played catcher, first base, third base and DP already. "I'm excited to see how we play against them and see our bats turn up against the top pitchers. So, I'm excited to see what it offers."
 
All five of Baylor softball's games in the tournament will be streamed by FloCollege.




STORY LINES
• Baylor Softball is heading to Palm Springs and the Mary Nutter Classic for the second-straight season. In California, the Bears will face Nevada, No. 15 Nebraska, No. 22 Missouri, No. 10 Arkansas and No. 4 UCLA over three days. 
• Last year at the Mary Nutter Classic, Baylor went 5-0, defeating No. 25 Oregon, Notre Dame, UC Riverside, No. 19 UCLA and No. 13 Missouri. This will be the second-straight season the Bears have faced off against a ranked Missouri and UCLA at the tournament. 
• During the 2025 season, 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 hosted a three team tournament during the second week of play, the Getterman Classic, where they welcomed No. 3 Oklahoma and Hofstra to town. the Bears went 3-2 at the Getterman Classic defeating Hofstra three times and falling against the defending National Champions, Oklahoma, twice. 
• Baylor has never faced off against Nevada.
• Nebraska leads the all-time record over the Bears, 31-13, including the 12-2 record at neutral site locations. BU last faced the Huskers during the 2011 season when Nebraska was apart of the Big 12 conference. 
• Missouri leads the all-time record over Baylor, 32-20, last facing off in Palm Springs at the Mary Nutter Classis in 2024 when the Bears won, 5-3. 
• Baylor and Arkansas are tied, 3-3, all-time, including a 2-2 record at neutral site locations. The Bears last faced the Razorbacks during the 2023 season. 
• UCLA leads the all-time record over BU, 5-4, but the Bears and Bruins are tied 4-4 at neutral site locations, after Baylor evened the record taking down UCLA last season at the Mary Nutter Classic. 
• 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 so far this season, Turiya Coleman is hitting .519 with 14 hits, four doubles, a home run and 14 RBIs. 
• 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 coaching ranks, now ranking No. 17 in total victories among active Division I head coaches.