My Quick Take on our Games With the Baylor Bears

[TropicalSooner]

Before the season began, I thought the Baylor Bears might be one of the teams to challenge both Texas and the Sooners for a game or a series. They would be having players coming off injuries--supposedly healed up and had some transfers and freshmen to help out what was thought to be a pretty veteran team that came in 4th place in the B12 last year while gathering 40 wins-a goal for Coach Glenn Moore, and making it to the Utah Regionals where they ran out of gas against Ole Miss.

But what I am seeing now as we are about half way through the regular '24 season is a Baylor team that at 17-8 has more losses than I thought they would have and to schools I thought they would be much better than. Yeah, they went out west and beat UCLA, but that doesn't seem to be a big deal anymore, this year anyway. They did lose 2 games to Tennessee, quality losses there, but they won two games against the Vols last year, and I thought they had a chance to at least split this time. They lost a game to ULL, but like us, I wonder if that should have happened too. Then I thought they could take the series from OSU this year but lost out to the Cowgirls 2-1, and finally, just completely got shut out by Kansas last week. One notable thing about the Bears, their losses have been fairly close, 2-1, 3-2, scores like that. So it's not that their pitchers are getting blown out, but the offense I thought they would produce is just not there. Granted their CF'er is not available and she would have been their lead-off hitter, sort of Jayda Coleman style, to get the team fired up. I'm not sure if she will be able to return or not, but I'm not expecting it.

Baylor is not a power hitting team. They have 7 HRs total as a team, 2 3Bs, and 37 2Bs. They are 21 out of 26 for SBs. Their defense has made 21 errors for .971 %. Shalon Govan (1B) is their big hitter (.500 w 3HRs 13 rbi's) and bats 3rd in the lineup. CF Taylor Strain (.343 ave) has taken over the leadoff spot, followed by LF Emily Hott (.343 w 2 HRs and 9 rbi's). The rest of the lineup is well below .300. What they lack in power they try to make up for with small ball. We may see a lot of bunts and slaps this weekend, so our pitchers and infielders need to be ready.

Pitching has become an issue that I did not see coming for them. Perhaps last seasons injuries to Binford and Orme have been more troublesome than I thought. Binford has the 2nd most starts at 8, but is 5-5 on the season with an era of 2.64. Dariana Orme is 0-0 on the season with no starts and an era of 2.52. Carrying the mail for the Bears has been Soph RyLee Crandall with 10 starts, 1.31 era and a 7-2 record. I expect we will see her start twice against us this weekend.
Binford does have 71 K's in 58.1 IP on the season, but also has 24 BB's, 3 HP, and 5 WP to go with it. Crandall has 51 K's along with 20 FB's.

Don't get me wrong, Baylor will come to play and will try to force us into their low scoring game. If we can get commanding leads in early innings, I don't think they have the offensive capacity to come back. While their pitching may be off from what it has been in the past, it is still serving them well for their type of game.

I think we take all three games, but there's probably a nail biter lurking in there somewhere.

[EMan]

Baylor is not a power hitting team. They have 7 HRs total as a team...

Is that right?!? Wow, I had no idea they had hit that few HRs. That's extremely surprising in this day and age. OU has 3 PLAYERS with 10 (Brito, Jennings and Sanders) and Hansen (who has sat out some action this year) has 7.

[TropicalSooner]

Baylor is not a power hitting team. They have 7 HRs total as a team...

Is that right?!? Wow, I had no idea they had hit that few HRs. That's extremely surprising in this day and age. OU has 3 PLAYERS with 10 (Brito, Jennings and Sanders) and Hansen (who has sat out some action this year) has 7.

According to their Stat Page as of the close of business March 19, 2024.
I was surprised too!

[OUBeliever56A]

Sooner Softball Hosts Baylor for 3: 1 @ HOF, 2 @ at Love's Field

The Oklahoma Sooners #1 Softball Team will host the Baylor Bears this weekend for 3 games. The first game is at the Hall of Fame Field up at OKC on Friday night at 6 PM CST. I think I heard Chris Plank say today that the game is almost a sellout with about 500 tickets left. I do not know if that is the lower bowl or both the lower and upper bowls. The last two games will be at Love's Field with Saturday's game at 2 PM CST and the Sunday's game at 1 PM.

Baylor is always a dangerous team for OU to play. Baylor has defeated OU twice recently, 2017 in Marita Hynes and in 2023 in Waco in a non-confernece game. I think Stillwater is the only Big 12 team to defeated OU twice over that same period of time with the two losses being in 2021 in Stillwater and in 2022 at the Big 12 Tourney.

The loss last year, might add some spice to the series this year. Just think if that loss had not occurred by taking away one single hit.

IMO, Baylor is not quite as good as I thought they would be. Their offense is missing a player and not quite as strong an their pitching is probably a bit down so far without Orme pitching for a while now. Here are the batting and pitching lines for the two teams.

OU Batting: .398 BA, .494 OB%, .728 Slug%, 9.14 R/G, 38 of 41 steals, 57 doubles, 3 triples and 59 HRs.
BU Batting: .290 BA, .361 OB%, .384 Slug%, 4.00 R/G, 21 of 26 steals, 37 doubles, 2 triples and 7 HRs.

OU Pitching and Fielding: 1.22 ERA, .182 BAA, .266 OB% Against, .265 Slug% Against, 1.06 Base Runners/IP, 1.06 Ks/IP, 11 errors for a .985 Fielding%.
BU Pitching and Feilding: 2.08 ERA, .207 BAA, .299 OB% Against, ..284 Slug% Against, 1.21 Base Runners/IP, 0.95 Ks/IP, 21 errors for a .971 Fielding%.

Baylor will likely be as successful based upon how good their pitching is this weekend. I doubt they will be able to score many runs against OU if OU pitches fairly well. So far, RyLee Crandall has been the go to pitcher for Baylor. She has a 7-2 record and a 1.31 ERA for the season with good numbers across the board. OU has seen her which means they will likely be ready for her. Aliyah Binford holds a 2.64 ERA and is 5-5 and OU has seen her which will help with her change of speeds. Dariana Orme has not pitched since early in the season for Baylor. Kaci West is leading Baylor with an 0.88 ERA in 24 innings but has not pitched a great deal and OU has hit her fairly hard last year. Lexie Warncke is a freshman that I thought would help Baylor this season. So far she has not had much of a chance with 13.0 innings and a 3.23 ERA.

It usually takes 3 hitters reaching base to create a run for Baylor. Losing Mackenzie Wilson, their leadoff hitter, after 11 games has hurt their offense. If she plays this weekend, their offense could improve. There are three hitters to be wary of. Of course, Shaylon Govan has to be considered and she is hitting .500 BA this season but has only 7 EBH as of now. Taylor Strain, batting .343 and Emily Hott who is hitting .329. If you can get around those three, the Bears are still hibernating. (I like that line.)

They are currently playing three of four players at C/3B and 1B/DP with Govan at either 1B or DP. The other four are Collazos, the 'dart-throwing' catcher as she throws the ball to the pitcher plays either C or 3B. Shannon Vivoda plays 3B or DP. Flores plays 1B or DP, Abi Flores plays C/1B or DP and Zadie LaValley plays catcher. I think Coach Glenn Moore is trying to matchup some power against opposing pitchers with these players.

I just do not feel that Baylor can score many runs against the OU pitchers and OU's defense as long as the Sooners are ready for the "little ball" game of Baylor. If Oklahoma gets to 5 runs in each game, they should sweep the series.

OU's offense is hitting on 8 cylinders right now plus some good play off the bench. Right now, Ludlam with her hurt fingers is off a bit and Hansen is maybe going to play and maybe not. That is bout the only questions for OUs bats. I think Maxwell starts on Friday in OKC with probably Deal on Saturday back at Love's Field on Saturday and then May on Sunday if last weekend at Tech means anything.

Good luck to the Sooners this weekend against Baylor!

Boomer Sooner!

[OUBeliever56A]

Here is the Sooner staff writers article about the OU-Baylor game up at Hall of Fame Field on Friday.

https://soonersports.com/news/2024/3/21 ... -22-baylor

First pitch on Friday in Oklahoma City is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT as the Sooners (28-1, 6-0 Big 12) put their unbeaten Big 12 record to the test against Baylor (17-8, 1-5 Big 12). Games two and three Saturday and Sunday at Love's Field will start at 2 p.m. and 1 p.m. respectively. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and 1560 AM/103.3 FM The Franchise 2 with Friday and Saturday's tilts also airing on 107.7 FM The Franchise.

Boomer Sooner!

[AustinTXSooner]

Hitting Comparison

#	Player	Yr	BA	OBP	SLG	AB	R	HR	BB	RBI	K	GO	FO	OPS
1	Sanders, Cydney	Jr	.365	.570	.981	52	16	10	22	30	8	7	18	1.551
33	Brito, Alyssa	Sr	.436	.516	.936	78	34	10	14	29	9	14	20	1.452
23	Jennings, Tiare	Sr	.418	.495	.911	79	22	10	15	37	6	16	27	1.406
5	Parker, Ella	Fr	.441	.541	.765	68	32	5	15	27	11	16	8	1.306
12	Bland, Maya	Fr	.444	.545	.667	9	16		2	4	1	2	2	1.212
9	Hansen, Kinzie	Sr	.367	.435	.767	60	16	7	8	16	5	11	22	1.202
24	Coleman, Jayda	Sr	.432	.531	.662	74	32	4	18	21	3	12	32	1.193
7	Pickering, Kasidi	Fr	.412	.500	.662	68	26	4	14	22	6	15	20	1.162
40	Torres, Alynah	Sr	.400	.484	.673	55	13	4	9	14	4	12	18	1.157
0	Boone, Rylie	Sr	.444	.487	.611	72	19	1	6	18	2	23	14	1.098
30	Ludlam, Riley	Sr	.366	.518	.537	41	14	2	14	16	4	9	12	1.055
82	Hodge, Avery	So	.323	.389	.452	31	14		4	5	3	11	9	.841
43	Lilio, Quincee	So	.167	.348	.444	18	3	1	4	4	3	3	9	.792
27	Coor, Hannah	Jr	.227	.269	.455	22	8	1	1	5	4	7	8	.724
-	Totals	-	.398	.494	.728	727	265	59	146	248	69	158	219	1.222

Baylor

#	Player	Yr	BA	OBP	SLG	AB	R	HR	BB	RBI	K	GO	FO	OPS
0	McDonough, Emry	Jr	.500	.500	1.000	2				1		1		1.500
12	Govan, Shaylon	Jr	.500	.639	.717	60	11	3	23	13	6	12	12	1.356
10	King, Paige	Fr		1.000			1		2	1				1.000
4	Hott, Emily	Sr	.329	.395	.513	76	15	2	8	9	14	21	13	.908
99	LaValley, Zadie	Sr	.333	.333	.556	9	2			1	1	4	2	.889
21	Wilson, McKenzie	Sr	.333	.381	.436	39	11		2	6	4	16	3	.817
5	Wachtendorf, Ashlyn	Jr	.389	.421	.389	18	2		1	1	1	5	5	.810
2	Strain, Taylor	Sr	.343	.371	.433	67	12		2	4	10	19	14	.804
95	Flores, Abi	So	.323	.462	.323	31	3		8	4	5	7	7	.785
22	Watson, Ana	Sr	.270	.372	.351	37	7		4	8	3	18	6	.723
27	Vivoda, Shannon	Jr	.279	.340	.372	43	5	1	2	9	16	5	10	.712
36	Toven, Amber	Jr	.300	.300	.400	20	2				4	5	5	.700
1	Cran, Leah	Fr	.275	.310	.325	40	5		1	6	9	6	11	.635
15	Collazos, Sydney	Sr	.210	.290	.290	62	3	1	4	7	6	18	27	.580
7	West, Kaci	Jr	.200	.257	.233	30	4		3	5	2	7	16	.490
16	Pilon, Presleigh	Jr	.206	.206	.250	68	8			5	3	20	29	.456
41	Binford, Aliyah	Jr	.146	.222	.195	41	3		3	4	8	11	17	.417
-	Totals	-	.290	.361	.384	656	100	7	63	84	96	179	182	.745

[TropicalSooner]

We may need to be mindful of the weather on Sunday as a large storm approaches from the west and the typical "dry line" sets up near the Tx Ok state line. When that sets up, and the ensuing storms begin, may call for moving the start time to noon or even 11am. Hopefully, any weather event won't become an issue until later in the day. And as of now, it is much too early to make any kind of call. But since we are in "Springtime in Oklahoma", those things must be kept in the back of our minds. Stay tuned to local weather and twitter/X updates as Sunday draws closer.

[AustinTXSooner]

Pitching Comparison

#	Player	Yr	App	GS	ERA	HR	GO	FO	W	L	SV	IP	K/BB	K/7IP	WHIP	OBP	SLG	OPS
85	Geurin, SJ	Fr	6		0.00		9	7	2			7.7	2.3	6.39	0.65	.179	.120	.299
17	Monticelli, Paytn	So	11	1	0.51	1	7	13				13.7	4.0	10.24	1.02	.259	.196	.455
11	Deal, Kierston	So	8	7	1.25	2	22	31	6			28.0	5.0	7.50	1.04	.257	.252	.509
8	Keeney, Karlie	Sr	15	3	1.25	3	49	24	3	1	1	33.7	2.9	4.16	1.10	.274	.302	.576
28	Maxwell, Kelly	Sr	14	8	1.31	4	48	33	8		1	48.0	3.3	8.17	0.96	.250	.259	.509
19	May, Nicole	Sr	11	10	1.54	3	36	34	9			41.0	3.3	8.37	1.24	.298	.291	.590
-	Totals	-			1.22	13	171	142			2	172.0	3.4	7.41	1.06	.266	.264	.530

Baylor

#	Player	Yr	App	GS	ERA	HR	GO	FO	W	L	SV	IP	K/BB	K/7IP	WHIP	OBP	SLG	OPS
7	West, Kaci	Jr	10	4	0.88	2	32	18	3	1	3	24.0	2.5	5.83	0.83	.222	.256	.478
31	Crandall, RyLee	So	14	10	1.31	1	52	61	7	2	1	59.0	2.8	6.05	1.00	.260	.246	.506
24	Orme, Dariana	Sr	3	1	2.52		9	7			1	8.3	0.8	4.20	1.80	.417	.207	.624
41	Binford, Aliyah	Jr	12	8	2.64	4	75	15	5	5	2	58.3	3.0	8.52	1.34	.321	.317	.638
8	Warncke, Lexie	Fr	4	2	3.23		10	19	2			13.0	0.9	3.77	1.31	.327	.250	.577
3	Knoll, Ava	Jr	3		12.00		2	3				2.3	0.5	6.00	4.29	.588	.615	1.204
-	Totals	-			2.08	7	180	123			7	165.0	2.3	6.62	1.21	.299	.280	.579

[Brisket]

The most important question when heading into this series against the Bears is this: Does the catcher who has the "yips" still play for them? If so, I may not be able to watch...

[TN Sooner]

The most important question when heading into this series against the Bears is this: Does the catcher who has the "yips" still play for them? If so, I may not be able to watch...

She does! I call her the shot-put catcher. I saw a bailer game earlier this year and she was playing and “puting” just like last year. It is a bit distracting to watch. But - good on her for conquering her demon and being successful despite having a yip.

Who was the Cub shortstop that couldn’t conquer his yip throwing to 1B? Wound up having to play first base. Really impacted his career.

[EMan]

The most important question when heading into this series against the Bears is this: Does the catcher who has the "yips" still play for them? If so, I may not be able to watch...

Yes she does. Saw her when they played OSU.

[TropicalSooner]

I guess she's lucky they don't start the pitch clock until after she tosses the ball back to the pitcher and it hits the pitcher's glove. Still has to move quickly to get back behind the plate I would think.

[Brisket]

Who was the Cub shortstop that couldn’t conquer his yip throwing to 1B? Wound up having to play first base. Really impacted his career.

Don't remember a Cubs Shortstop with the yips, but Jon Lester had them when he was with the Cubs. Couldn't throw to 1st base from the mound. Rick Ankiel had them with the Cards. Had to change positions from P to OF.

Steve Sax is the most "famous" player I can remember with the yips. Fans along the 1st base line at Dodger Stadium wore helmets in the stands as a joke for protection.

[TropicalSooner]

So, how did all these guys really make it into the pros? Because of their bats?
I can't imagine a big game on the line and somebody with the yips throws a ball into the stands....??

[Brisket]

So, how did all these guys really make it into the pros? Because of their bats?
I can't imagine a big game on the line and somebody with the yips throws a ball into the stands....??

They either eventually overcame them (Sax), had to change positions (Ankiel), or never were able to overcome them & they washed out of the game completely. Lester stayed @ pitcher & was elite even with the yips. At first, teams ran on him willy-nilly. Then he started randomly changing his time between pitches - quick-pitch, then wait forever, etc. - that teams quit running on him. Wouldn't be able to do that now with the pitch clock.