Baylor Softball Hosts Baylor Invitational
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, FEB. 21
9 a.m. Minnesota vs. Texas State
11:15 a.m. Tulsa vs. Minnesota
1:30 p.m. Texas State vs. Illinois
3:45 p.m. Baylor vs. Tulsa
6 p.m. Baylor vs. Illinois
SATURDAY, FEB. 22
10 a.m. Illinois vs. Tulsa
12:15 p.m. Texas State vs. Minnesota
2:30 p.m. Baylor vs. Texas State
4:45 p.m. Baylor vs. Minnesota
SUNDAY, FEB. 23
9 a.m. Minnesota vs. Tulsa
11 a.m. Baylor vs. Illinois
1p.m. Tulsa vs. Texas State
STORY LINES
• Baylor hosts its second consecutive home tournament over the weekend as Tulsa, Illinois, Texas State and No. 17 Minnesota come to Waco for the Baylor Invitational.
• Baylor is a combined 59-23 vs. the Baylor Invitational field.
• All Baylor games of the Baylor Invitational will be aired on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. Non-Baylor games will be shown on FloSports.
• Every Baylor softball game will be on the radio at 101.3 FM.
• Baylor head coach Glenn Moore picked up win No. 900 over the weekend when BU defeated Grand Canyon, 10-2 (5) on Friday, Feb. 14.
• Baylor won the 2020 Getterman Classic as the Lady Bears swept through the competition with a 5-0 record.
• Nicky Dawson led the way for Baylor at the plate over the week as she hit .538 with four of her hits going for extra bases, three RBI, three walks and zero strikeouts.
• Josie Bower hit the first BU home run at Getterman Stadium in the 2020 season with a three-run bomb over the left field wall. In total, Bower finished with six RBI on Feb. 14 as she had a double, triple and homer in the first two games of the tournament.
• In the circle, Gia Rodoni and Sidney Holman-Mansell each had spectacular outings over the weekend. Holman-Mansell finished one shy of her career record with 10 strikeouts vs. Prairie View A&M, while Rodoni racked up 16 Ks vs. Western Illinois, a mark also one shy of her career best.
• Nicky Dawson, Gilbert, Hott, Kyla Walker, Rodoni and Bower were named to the Getterman Classic All-Tournament team.
• Baylor has recorded four double plays this season. Only one has been the conventional 6-4-3. BU has turned an 8-3 double play against Auburn, a 7-6-5-2 double play against Louisville and a 9-6-2-1 double play against Missouri State.
• Baylor welcomes back 17 returners and six starters from a year ago. That does not include Gia Rodoni, Kyla Walker and Maddison Kettler who are back after missing the 2019 season due to injury.
QUICK HITS
• Baylor will play five opponents ranked in the preseason Coaches Top 10 and four opponents in the preseason Coaches Top 25. In all, the Lady Bears play 12 games against Top 10 foes and eight games against Top 25 foes.
• Of the 20 games against teams ranked the preseason Coaches Top 25, only six of them are at home (3 vs. No. 3 Oklahoma, 1 vs. No. 8 Minnesota, 2 vs. No. 6 Texas). Three are neutral-site games (2 vs. No. 9 Florida State, 1 vs. No. 23 Auburn), and the remaining 10 are true road games (1 at No. 6 Texas, 3 at No. 7 Florida, 3 at No. 13 Oklahoma State, 3 at No. 18 Texas Tech, 1 at No. 24 Arkansas).
• Baylor will play 10 games against four programs that advanced to the 2019 Women's College World Series - Oklahoma, Florida, Minnesota and Oklahoma State).
• BU was picked fifth in the Big 12 preseason coaches poll behind Oklahoma, Texas, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.
WEEKEND SCOUTING REPORT
• Tulsa is 8-1 to start the season. The Golden Hurricane has played one team receiving votes in the polls - Mississippi State - and won, 2-1 on Feb. 14.
• RHP Samantha Pochop was named to the American Athletic weekly honor roll as she threw 11 innings with 21 strikeouts and a 0.64 ERA. She is the second Golden Hurricane to receive a weekly honor this season as RHP/DP Chenise Delce was selected a week ago after hitting .571 with three homers, a double and five RBI.
• There will be some familiar faces in the Illinois dugout over the weekend. The Illini head coach, Tyra Perry, played for Moore at LSU alongside Britni Sneed Newman. Illinois' outfielder Rhein Trochim is a Waco native and played at Midway.
• Illinois is coming off a 1-3 weekend at the Big Ten/ACC Challenge and is 5-3 on the season.
• Delaney Rummell was named the Big Ten Softball Co-Freshman of the Week after leading her team at the plate with a .400 average with four hits, four runs and four RBI. Three of her hits were home runs.
• Texas State is riding a five-game winning streak and is 7-2 on the season.
• Bailee Carter leads the Bobcats at the plate with a .417 average, while ArieAnn Bell has a team-best five home runs. In the circle, Texas State's pitching staff has divided its work evenly among Tori McCann, Dalilah Barrera and Meagan King as the three combine for 59 strikeouts.
• Minnesota, fresh off its first-ever Women's College World Series in the NCAA era, is one the road for the third-straight weekend as the Gophers have been in Clearwater, Fla. the past two weekends. Minnesota has already played four ranked opponents (2-2) and is 5-4 on the year.
• Minnesota's Amber Fiser is the NCAA active leader in strikeouts (737). She's already got 71 in 43 innings this season.