Thursday, April 17 • vs Arizona State • Tempe, Ariz. | Farrington Stadium • Radio: 101.3 FM • Watch: ESPN+
Friday, April 18 • vs Arizona State • Tempe, Ariz. | Farrington Stadium • Radio: 101.3 FM • Watch: ESPN+
Saturday, April 19 • vs Arizona State • Tempe, Ariz. | Farrington Stadium • Radio: 101.3 FM • Watch: ESPN+
 
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
TEMPE, Ariz. – With Baylor softball sitting at 13-20 overall and 2-7 in the Big 12, Glenn Moore reminded his team that last year's team was in a similar position and ended up one win away from the Women's College World Series.
 
"I thought it was worth bringing up, not to throw in the towel right now," said Moore, whose Bears (21-21, 7-8) will face Arizona State (31-15, 11-7) in a three-game series that begins at 8 p.m. CT Thursday at Farrington Field.
 
"I don't want to insult this team and say they would have (thrown in the towel). This is a team that loves to fight, and I expect them to do that. Last year ended up in a pretty good place. If we could duplicate that, I'd be very happy."
 
Much like last year, Baylor has dug itself out of a hole, winning six in a row and eight of its last nine since a 6-2 loss to UTA on March 25. The Bears finally got back to .500, with 11 games left in the regular season, and have moved up to 63^rd in the latest RPI rankings.
 
"Right now, honestly, our eye is on making postseason," said senior first baseman Shaylon Govan, who is hitting .400 with six home runs and 22 RBIs. "We know we're a postseason team, so I think that's what keeps pushing us. We know we have good teams in front of us, and if we play our best and just keep going in the upper trajectory, we'll be able to make postseason."
 
During the Bears' six-game winning streak, sophomore Abi Flores has hit .308 with her first three career homers and six RBIs, hitting in the cleanup position behind Govan.
 
"It was just a relief, finally knowing that I'm getting rewarded for all the work that I've put in," Flores said. "It was a relief, honestly, because I was having trouble with my swing and just seeing the ball."
 
Govan said it's helped her see more quality pitches lately, hitting between Houston transfer Turiya Coleman (.376) and Flores.
 
"It's great to see all of her hard work pay off," Govan said, "and I know that's what she's been waiting for. It's great to see that, just knowing that I can help her just as much as she can help me."
 
Moore said this is the "Abi we saw coming on last year, when she got her concussion, and we had to shut her down for a while."
 
"They're going to pick her to pitch to over Shay 90% of the time, if not every time," Moore said. "But what a great position to be in. I think she's embracing that and the fact that I'll get pitched to, and she is taking advantage of it. Now that she's hanging crooked numbers in the home run column, they've got to think a little bit more before they decide they can pitch around Govan."
 
The series matches a pair of teams on six-game winning streaks and two of the hottest pitchers in the league. ASU's Kenzie Brown (16-4, 1.20 ERA) has struck out a conference-high 230 strikeouts, while Duke transfer Lillie Walker (8-6, 2.50) has won her last five decisions and ranks fifth in conference-only games with a 1.39 ERA.
 
"She's got a high strikeout ratio and misses a lot of bats, and they've got a good fielding percentage," Moore said of Brown. "And a lot of it has to do with that they're fielding behind a pitcher that doesn't get hit solid often. She pitches with a lot of emotion and has a quality arm. I think we've got a quality arm to go against her, but (Brown) is more of a strikeout pitcher."
 
Friday's game will also be at 8 p.m. CT and Saturday's series finale starting at 7 p.m., with all three games streamed by ESPN+.


STORY LINES
• Baylor Softball is heading on the road for a three-game conference series at Arizona State, Thursday-Saturday, April 17-19. 
• The Bears are returning to conference play after a three-game hiatus last week where BU went 3-0 taking down UTSA and ACU twice. 
• BU is now 14-13 this season in non-conference matchups after going undefeated last week and is back at .500 on the season with a 21-21 overall record. 
• Arizona State holds the all-time record over the Bears 8-3, including the 3-2 lead in Tempe. Baylor last faced off against the Sun Devils during the 2021 season, where they split a pair going 1-1 in the series and taking game two   with a 7-2 victory.
• During the 2025 season, the team is competing 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 returned 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. 
• The Bears faced nine opponents so far this season who were either ranked or receiving votes in the preseason/weekly ESPN poll for a total of 14 games. Those teams include: No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 6 UCLA, No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 13 Arkansas, No. 15 Missouri, No. 16 Nebraska, No. 1 Texas, No. 12 Texas Tech and No. 13 Oklahoma State. Thirteen of Baylor's 19 losses on the season have come against opponents ranked in the Top 25. 
• Shaylon Govan leads the Bears offensively with a .400 average so far this season, only missing four opening weekend games due to a class conflict. She has a team-leading six home runs, five doubles and 22 RBIs. 
• Picking up the Bears' first Big 12 Player of the Week honor, Govan hit .571 in the series against Houston and pushed her on base streak to 18-straight games, a streak that ended with 19-straight. 
• Lillie Walker leads the Bears in the circle with 69 strikeouts with 28 appearances. Walker currently leads the conference in Big 12 games only in innings pitched, appearances, games started and complete games and is tied for second in wins and shutouts.
• Walker picked up two complete games and two wins in her time in the circle against Houston. She had a 1.00 ERA on the weekend only allowing two earned runs. She only allowed one run, unearned, in Sunday's series finale. With her nine strikeouts on the weekend, Walker was one strikeout shy of her career-high of six in the last game of the series.
• Defensively, Presleigh Pilon is ranked second nationally in assists so far this season with 114, while Amber Toven follows with 92. Those two together have helped contribute to the Bears' 23 double plays so far this season which ranks them tied for 11th nationally. 
• Shaylon Govan now holds the second-place spot in career walks at Baylor. She currently has 130 and is three walks away from tying the career record. 
• As Baylor's unanimous First-Team All-American last season, Govan, is currently in ninth place nationally in on base percentage (.579) after leading the nation in that category last season. 
• 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.