By Jeffrey Cohen | Sports Writer
After being on the wrong end of a perfect game in its last outing, Baylor softball looks to get back in the win column as it faces four ranked teams during the Mary Nutter Classic from Thursday to Saturday in Palm Springs, Calif.
Through the first two weeks of the season, the Bears (6-4) have already been battle-tested, playing two games against No. 2 Oklahoma and another against No. 6 Texas A&M. This weekend, Baylor faces a five-game invitational schedule even more demanding than the prior two weekends.
“To be the best, you’ve got to play the best,” senior right fielder Ashlyn Wachtendorf said. “Playing good teams really helps us in our game and just gives us a lot of confidence to show where we’re at and where we can be.”
The Bears will take on No. 4 UCLA, No. 10 Arkansas, No. 15 Nebraska, and No. 22 Missouri—teams with a combined record of 33-8. The only unranked team the Bears will play is an 8-2 Nevada squad to open the Classic at noon on Thursday.
“[We’re] just taking it one game at a time, one pitch at a time,” Wachtendorf said. “We’re not really worrying about other teams so much, We’re more worried about ourselves and our process and what we have to do to play against those good teams because I think we’re all good.”
Baylor’s pitching staff looks to rebound after being mercy-ruled twice by the Sooners and surrendering seven runs in one of three games against Hofstra. The Bears will face some of the nation’s top offenses, with all five opponents ranking in the top 35 in home runs and three in the top 16 for team batting average.
“I guess big picture, I would say I’m aggravated a little… but I’ve known this for several months now, that we were going to be at this stage,” head coach Glenn Moore said. “There’s several things that I’m encouraged by with our pitching staff. I know we’re a long way from being where we need to be, but we’re also a good little way from conference, too.”
Oklahoma senior right-handed pitcher Sam Landry’s perfect game was the headline of the Getterman Classic. Despite that game, Baylor has averaged 6.2 runs per game and 8.3 runs in wins. Learning from the teams they have already played, what is ahead of the Bears is more daunting than what they have experienced already.
“I think you’ve got to learn from every opportunity, but you also have to salute a great performance whenever it’s there,” Moore said. “Good pitching beats good hitting, so I’m just going to tip my hat to her, and we’re going to go back to work and try to get better so that we can make sure that doesn’t happen anymore.”
For the third time this season, Baylor will play five games in three days. The dense workload has added to the difficulty at the beginning of the season, but the team has expressed that these weekend tournaments will make their conference schedule seem more manageable.
“When you’re playing the same opponent three times, it’s a little easier to do film on them,” senior third baseman Turiya Coleman said. “When you have five different opponents, it’s tougher to get all the film in from everybody.”
Along with the demanding schedule, the Bears will escape the Waco cold and play in warm California weather. While Waco is experiencing some of the coldest days of the year, Baylor softball will play with temperatures in the upper 70s.
“Oh yeah, I’m excited to get some of that heat,” Coleman said. “We can leave the coldness here. We’ll be back in a little bit when it’s gone.”
The Bears open their weekend schedule Thursday with a doubleheader, facing Nevada at noon and No. 15 Nebraska at 4:30 p.m.
