The No. 21 Baylor softball team look to finish its season off on a high note as it faces Texas Tech in its last three-game series of the regular season in Lubbock starting at 6 p.m. tonight.
The Lady Bears (40-12, 10-4) are coming off a dominant midweek win against Abilene Christian University where a strong start, followed by a dominant performance on the defensive end, allowed the Lady Bears to propel themselves past the Wildcats in the sixth inning as they scored nine runs to take the win, 15-3.
“We really feel like we’re headed in the right direction at a good time; certainly swung our bats well in the game,” said head coach Glenn Moore. “That’s important because you never know when you are going to have to use your bench to prepare them for a game situation. We were able to use our bullpen and got some good work out of Gia [Rodoni] and Kendall [Potts] I think we are prepared for the weekend.”
As they move forward and face the Red Raiders, the Lady Bears will need to continue with the momentum that they have had.
Sitting just one spot behind the Lady Bears at No. 4 in the Big 12, the Red Raiders (23-26, 6-6) have also had success this season, with their most recent win coming against North Texas, a team the Lady Bears struggled to get past at the beginning of the season.
Although the forecast is not projected to be ideal, Moore knows that his team is prepared for any weather conditions. He said consistency is key.
“Probably more aggressive than any team we have played in the Big 12,” Moore said. “We have to play good defense. We are going to be dealing with a lot of wind it seems like, not that we haven’t dealt with that before, but this is a team that is capable of playing some very good ball. We have seen that in some past games against some very good competition, they play with a lot of emotion, and that is a trait of their coaching staff.
“[Texas Tech] is a high-energy team, and those teams can get on a roll. I think that is going to be our biggest challenge, making sure that we play consistent softball all weekend.”
As the Lady Bears get closer to postseason action, future games are mentioned every now and then, but the main thing to do is to be focused on one game at a time, Moore said.
“It may be mentioned every now and then but we really focus on the present and I think it is crucial that we keep it that way. Number one just to enjoy what we are doing and stay in the moment,” Moore said. “I’m a big believer that once you start looking at the mountaintop you run into the trees that are on the side of the mountain and we just need to make sure we play well right now in this moment. I believe that if we do that, the rest will take care of itself.”
With every game counting down the stretch, the Lady Bears will be back in action at 4 p.m. Saturday, followed by a noon game on Sunday.
