5.13.2012 Daily Bears Report: It's Postseason Season!

Let's get it out of the way early, this was not a good weekend for Baylor Baseball. Coming off a week-long furlough for finals, the Bears took their perfect record in conference play to Norman, Oklahoma to face the scrambling Sooners and were promptly swept for their troubles. Baylor put both of its undefeated starters out there for the double-header on Saturday, and though both Josh Turley and Trent Blank pitched extremely well in the two games, the Bears lost 1-0 in 10 innings and 2-1 in regulation because the offense didn't show up. In an odd twist, Blank's first career complete game in the nightcap earned him his first loss of the season. I'll throw the box scores down below the jump, but suffice to say that 5 total runs in a three game series probably isn't going to get the job done. Hats off to OU for pulling off the sweep and likely securing themselves a spot in the postseason. Baylor has a chance to right its suddenly-shaky ship this week against UTSA on Tuesday before finishing the regular season this weekend against Texas in another split series (Thursday night in Waco, Friday and Saturday in Austin).

Now for the better news: despite a 3-1 loss today to Texas, Baylor Softball has made the postseason and will start its run to glory (hopefully!) on Friday night against Stanford. Louisiana-Lafayette hosts the regional where Baylor, Stanford, and Mississippi Valley State will play. 2 teams advance to the Super Regionals.

Baylor Women's Tennis booked their ticket to the Sweet 16 of college tennis this weekend by knocking off Tulsa 4-0 (I have no idea what that score means in tennis). The #13 Lady Bears will face #5 USC (pretty sure they mean the Trojans, but not positive) on Thursday with the Elite 8 on the line.

Next, since I've never mentioned track news before, it's worth noting that Baylor's women's track team finished 4th at the Big 12 meet this weekend while the men finished 6th. Is that a down year for them? I feel like it is. I remember them being a lot better in the past.

Finally, there was a bit of laughter this weekend (I'm assuming, it was on twitter) after the news came down from former Bear Kendall Wright that Baylor doesn't use a playbook on offense. Some have already used this as fuel for the idea that Baylor's offense is relatively simple. That is not the case. A "playbook" is simply a collection of complete plays listed as such. Baylor calls almost every play it runs at the line based on the opposing defense and players we have on the field. Included in the calls that come in are the routes/assignments for everyone on the field. As the article states, Baylor uses film study, practice, and meetings to teach the offense. The key is being able to run the play as it is called no matter how it is learned. The fact that the plays are not written down is irrelevant.

UPDATE: Another new offer went out this weekend to Houston Westside HS DB Hipolito Corporan. That is not a typographical error. A relative unknown so far with the recruiting services, Baylor is Hipolito's fifth offer after Virginia, Kansas, UTEP, and Tulsa. He is also receiving interest from LSU, Arky, TCU, and Texas Tech, among others. The 6-2, 190 pound Corporan could be the next rising star in Texas recruiting after Mineola LB Dac Shaw, who I mentioned last week.