By Michael Haag | Sports Editor
It’s been two months since No. 16 Baylor softball knocked off No. 1 University of Oklahoma by a score of 4-3 at Getterman Stadium in Waco.
That riveting upset is the only blemish on Oklahoma’s (39-1, 9-0) record, as it’s riding a 31-game winning streak since Feb. 19, when it lost to the Bears (34-10, 4-5 Big 12) as part of the Getterman Classic.
The vaunted top-ranked Sooners aren’t scaring junior outfielder Ana Watson, though. Watson said the non-conference win over the two-time defending national champions “gives us a cool little leg up” ahead of the three-game series this weekend.
“We’re 1-0 [against them], so I think they’re the ones that are a little intimidated at this point,” Watson, the latest Big 12 Player of the Week, said.
Sophomore first baseman Shaylon Govan echoed that sentiment, as she said the squad is still taking an “underdog” approach to the weekend.
“The mindset is that the pressure is not on us,” Govan said. “The pressure is on them. They’re the No. 1 team in the country; we beat them already. To us, we’re going to go in there and do it twice. To them, their backs are against the wall.”
Whether it’s intimidated or not, Oklahoma holds a 70-14 all-time record over Baylor. The Sooners had also won 15-straight contests in head-to-head meetings before this season’s setback.
OU will have a chance to get revenge with this weekend’s three-game set, which opens at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Getterman Stadium.
Baylor head coach Glenn Moore said it’s no secret in terms of how big the matchup is. Moore said the Bears “know their opponent, obviously.”
“We look at film on them and this [Baylor] team is smart with a high IQ, so they’re going to know who they’re playing and what they’re up against,” Moore said. “But each week they choose to go out and play their style and live up to the standards they’ve set for themselves.”
In addition to the win over the Sooners back in February, Baylor also boasts two more top-five wins, versus then-No. 5 University of Tennessee over the Easter Weekend in Knoxville, Tenn.
Baylor Athletics announced that all three games this weekend are sold out with the nation’s best team coming to town. Friday evening’s opener will be student night where limited free T-shirts will be distributed. Sunday afternoon’s contest, which is slated for 2 p.m., will feature the Bears’ annual mug giveaway.
The green and gold is coming off a series win at Texas Tech University, as the squad didn’t take part in a midweek tilt this week. There were a total of 58 runs and 12 home runs between the two programs in Lubbock.
Kenneth Prabhakar | Photo Editor
Baylor has won both of its last two conference series since being swept by then-No. 2 Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla., to start Big 12 play. Moore said this shows him that the group has gained more confidence.
He added that this matchup between the Bears and the Sooners will be different since junior right-handed pitcher Aliyah Binford won’t be available out of the bullpen. Binford came in and recorded the save in Baylor’s win over Oklahoma, but she suffered a season-ending knee injury that required surgery.
The procedure happened in late March, and Moore said they will apply for a medical hardship waiver for her to get this year of eligibility back.
“Obviously, we had Aliyah Binford in our lineup, which she was a key member of our pitching staff and obviously offensively as well,” Moore said. “But we’ve grown from that. Anytime you have a sucker punch like that right away, it’s going to take a while to adjust. But I think this team has accepted [that] this is who we are and who we’re going to be right now.”
Junior catcher Sydney Collazos said it’s “pretty awesome” to be able to look at OU’s record and know that the Bears are the only team to have beaten the Sooners in over a year. Collazos said she has to take a step back, though, and “focus more on us.”
“It’s nice that we’re the only team that’s taken them down, but I’m not so concerned about giving them another ‘L’ over giving us another ‘W,’” Collazos said. “I think we’re all kind of locked into our own record and our own conference record and making ours look a little better.”
Moore said there’s no sneaking up on Oklahoma this time, as it’ll be gunning for revenge. And with a packed house on deck for all three contests, he said he expects a “regional atmosphere” for the top-20 matchup.
“I’m going to talk to the team about that because I want them to embrace that atmosphere,” Moore said. “It’s going to predominantly [be] a Baylor crowd, and we need to feed off of that and treat it as if we’re playing well enough at the end that the [NCAA selection] committee sees fit to give us a host site. We’re hoping for that still and if we do we’re going to have an atmosphere identical to what we’re going to see this weekend.”
