By Jessika Harkay | Sports Writer
Putting last week behind them, Baylor softball looks to come out with an upset against No. 15 Texas Tech this weekend at Getterman Stadium.
The team comes off a rough weekend series against No. 2 Oklahoma. With a close matchup in the first game of the series (7-5), the Lady Bears fell in the other two games 8-0 and 16-0.
Tech (30-8) comes into the matchup having lost their last game.
Regardless, the Red Raiders hold an advantage to the Lady Bears in multiple categories. Texas Tech leads in batting average at .332 compared to .253, has double the runs per game (6.4), nearly a hundred more hits and more than double the number of home runs (45 to 18).
Underdogs going into the matchup, Baylor head coach Glenn Moore said the way to stay in the game is to “be fighters in the box.”
“As I said, they’re having one of their better years, maybe the best team I’ve seen since I’ve been here out of Tech,” Moore said. “They feel good about themselves playing together and we’re not doing that. So that’s our challenge, to be more team-like, more chemistry and camaraderie, and a little more energy. Being at home this week, I’m hoping we’ll add that to it.”
Moore knows his team is up against an impressive Tech team. Ranked 11th nationally in batting average, the Red Raiders have held their opponents to fewer than three runs per game. With the help of senior pitchers Taylor Satchell and Erin Edmondson, Moore said the Tech team is full of dynamic players.
“[Satchell is] a transfer that’s doing really well for them and is a completely different look than what we’ve seen in the other ones,” Moore said. “We’ve been preparing all week for what we’ll see out of her and of course they have another pitcher in Edmondson that was giving us some trouble last year and in the Big 12 Tournament, a lefty. They got some options, a little arsenal there and they swing the bat well.”
The Lady Bears have a few weapons of their own. Sophomore Sidney Holman has pitched a Big 12-leading 126.1 innings with 99 strikeouts and sophomore infielder Taylor Ellis comes out of the Oklahoma series with two home runs, the only player to do that against the Sooners this season.
On a five-game losing streak, the team believes they can be directed back to the right track. Ellis said she thinks the key is to keep moving forward.
“We’re just taking it day by day, and that’s all we really can do,” Ellis said. “We’re trying to stick together and finish on a high note and kind of prove some people wrong. We have a lot of games ahead of us and games were really excited for. Tech, this weekend, is a great team but we’re also a great team and we’re ready to show that.”
Hopeful that the team can pull it off, Moore said a win against Tech could throw the Red Raiders’ momentum off and get something started for the Lady Bears.
“You start looking at bottom dwellers and we’re certainly one of them,” Moore said. “You’re hoping they keep losing and you’ll find a way to win one or two games and get an advantage.”
