Regional Thread: Baylor softball opens Gainesville Regional Friday afternoon
BAYLOR at GAINESVILLE REGIONAL
Friday, May 21
• (G1) No. 4 Florida vs. South Florida - 1 p.m. (CT) on ESPNU
• (G2) Baylor vs. South Alabama - 3:30 p.m. (CT) on ESPN3
Saturday, May 22
• (G3) G1 Winner vs. G2 Winner - 1 p.m. (CT)
• (G4) G1 Loser vs. G2 Loser - 3:30 p.m. (CT)
• (G5) G3 Loser vs. G4 Winner - 6 p.m. (CT)
Sunday, May 23
• (G6) G3 Winner vs. G5 Winner - 11 a.m. (CT)
• (G7) G6 Rematch (If Necessary) - 1:30 p.m. (CT)
Site: Gainesville, Fla. / Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium
TV: ESPN Networks
Series History
• Florida: Series tied, 5-5
• South Alabama: Baylor, 2-0
• South Florida: South Florida, 2-1
STORY LINES
• Baylor softball (27-21) returns to the NCAA Division I Softball Championship as the Lady Bears travel to the Sunshine State for the Gainesville Regional, running May 21-23 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. Fourth-seeded Florida (42-9) hosts BU, alongside the South Alabama Jaguars (30-19) and South Florida Bulls (29-17) for the weekend’s double-elimination bracket.
• Every inning of the Gainesville Regional will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks. Beth Mowins (pxp) and Michele Smith (analyst) will be on the call all weekend. Every Baylor game will continue to be broadcasted on 101.3 FM with Dan Ingham handling the commentary.
• BU earned an NCAA postseason bid for the 14th time in program history. Baylor is 47-30 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Bears have advanced to at least a Super Regional round six times (2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2017). BU is 33-13 all-time in the first round.
• The Gainesville Regional field includes three teams that have made it to the Women’s College World Series in the past decade. Baylor has made four World Series appearances, the last coming in 2017; Florida won back-to-back national titles in 2014 and ‘15 and was the runner-up in 2009, 2011 and 2017; and South Florida reached the World Series in 2012.
• Baylor is 5-5 all-time against Florida. After winning the first five games of the series vs. the Gators, BU has dropped the last five meetings, most recently two to the eventual national champions in the 2014WCWS. Florida has wins over national seeds Florida State, Kentucky, LSU, Alabama and Missouri and lost to Alabama, 4-0, in the SEC championship game. The Gators are hitting .279 as a team with 50 home runs and have a pair of 16-game winners in the circle.
• Baylor is 2-0 all-time against South Alabama. The two teams met in 2010 in Waco before facing off in Gulfport in 2014. This year’s USA team has wins over Georgia and third-seeded Alabama and lost to Louisiana in the Sun Belt Tournament championship game.
• Baylor is 1-2 all-time vs. South Florida. After dropping a pair of 1-3 contests in 1985 and 2004, BU won a 3-0 contest in 2014. The runner-up in the American Athletic Conference, South Florida played an ambitious schedule with four losses already to Florida and two to 11th-seeded Arizona. The Bulls lost to UCF in the AAC tournament semifinals.
• This season, the Lady Bears are 6-18 against 2021 tournament teams: Oklahoma (0-3), Iowa State (2-2), Oklahoma State (0-3), Mississippi State (1-0), Texas State (0-1), Texas (0-3), Ole Miss (0-1), Arkansas (0-1), McNeese (1-0), Louisiana (1-0), Arizona State (1-1), BYU (0-3).
• BU is one of five Big 12 teams to advance to the NCAA Tournament: No. 1 Oklahoma (Norman Regional), No. 5 Oklahoma State (Stillwater Regional), No. 12 Texas (Austin Regional) and Iowa State (Columbia Regional).
• This marks Baylor’s first tournament bid since the 2018 season when the Lady Bears advanced to the College Station Regional. After an injury-filled 2019 season ended without a postseason berth, a promising 2020 season abruptly came to an end in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• After 20 seasons as an assistant coach for the Lady Bears, Mark Lumley retired in October before he passed away in December after his fourth bout with cancer. The Baylor players and coaching staff have all been wearing blue ribbons in his honor. This season is for Lum.