Softball Heads To #18 Baylor For Weekend Series

April 6, 2006

LAWRENCE, Kan. –

FIRST PITCH
Kansas softball continues its five-game road stint with a Big 12 Conference weekend series at #18 Baylor in Waco, Texas. The Jayhawks (20-18, 1-4) and Lady Bears (24-14, 4-2) will face off Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at noon in Getterman Stadium. Both teams are coming off a non-conference doubleheader sweep Wednesday with KU getting a pair of wins over Arkansas and BU over Sam Houston State. The Lady Bears are riding a four-game win streak while the Jayhawks are looking for their first Big 12 win away from Arrocha Ballpark.

KU will end the road stint Wednesday, April 12 with a Border Showdown contest at Missouri. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. in Columbia, Mo. Live Gametracker is available for all KU games on www.kuathletics.com, the official web site of Kansas Athletics. Free live audio streaming will also be available for the Baylor contests.

KANSAS QUICK HITS
-Kansas returns eight letterwinners and six starters in 2006, including four All-Big 12 selections in Destiny Frankenstein (Sr., SS), Jessica Moppin (Sr., 2B), Heather Stanley (Sr., OF) and Serena Settlemier (Sr., P/DP).
-Settlemier holds the KU all-time home runs record with 38. Frankenstein is next with 30 for her career, while Moppin (28) and senior Nettie Fierros (15) also rank in KU’s career Top 10.
-With her win over Oklahoma State on April 1, head coach Tracy Bunge picked up her 300th victory at Kansas and is just six wins away from her 400th as a head coach overall.
-KU has made nine trips to the NCAA Regionals in the last 25 years and gone three times under Bunge in the past nine seasons (most recently in 2005).
-The Jayhawks broke two program records last season when they hit 54 home runs and boasted a .973 fielding percentage. KU already has 39 homers through 38 games this season.

SCOUTING BAYLOR
The Lady Bears (24-14, 4-2 Big 12) have won six of their last seven and are looking to extend a four-game win streak this weekend against Kansas. Baylor enjoyed a non-conference twinbill sweep of Sam Houston State Wednesday and swept Missouri in Big 12 Conference action last weekend. The Lady Bears hit nine home runs en route to 13-2 and 15-3 five-inning victories. Tessa Lynam set a new school record with eight RBI in game two of the twinbill. Kelly Osburn led the way for Baylor during the weekend series with six RBI and a grand slam in the 11-1 run-rule victory over the Tigers.

LADY BEAR LEADERS
BU ranks second in the league in hitting with a .311 team batting average. Brett Regan leads the way at a .400 clip, which includes nine homers and eight doubles. Four other Lady Bears are hitting .313 or better with Chelsi Lake (.367) leading the squad in slugging percentage (.750) and home runs (12). The BU pitching staff ranks sixth in the Big 12 with a 2.40 ERA and is led by ace Lisa Ferguson (13-8). Ferguson holds a 1.39 ERA and has struck out 105 in 125.2 innings of work. Five other Lady Bears have seen action in the circle this season with most of the relief coming from Ashley Monceaux (3-3), who has thrown 44.1 innings.

THE KU-BU SERIES
KU leads the all-time series against Baylor, 19-10. The Lady Bears have claimed the last five meeting against the Jayhawks, with the Crimson and Blue’s last victory on April 26, 2003 in Lawrence.

UP NEXT: MISSOURI
The Jayhawks will end their five-game road stint Wednesday against Border Showdown rival Missouri in Columbia, Mo. KU currently leads the 2006 Border Showdown, 14.5-10.5, and Wednesday’s game will be for 1.5 points in the series. The Tigers (18-15, 2-2 Big 12) will try to break a four-game skid this weekend when they travel to #1 Texas.

NEBRASKA/ARKANSAS LEFTOVERS
Destiny Frankenstein paced Kansas through its mid-week games, hitting .500 with four hits … Stevie Crisosto notched KU’s only RBIs over the three-game span with a two-run homer in game one of the Arkansas double-header … Kassie Humphreys struck out 18 and allowed just one hit (an infield single) through 14.0 complete innings … Humphreys is the reigning Big 12 Pitcher of the Week while Serena Settlemier, who is hitting .111 this week, was named Big 12 Player of the Week on April 4.

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