April 11, 2001
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The Nebraska Series -- Baylor (27-11, 12-3), ranked eighth in this week's USA Today/Baseball Weekly coaches poll, travels to No. 9 Nebraska (27-8, 10-3) for a three-game Big 12 set on the weekend.
Sunday's game will be televised in Nebraska on NETV public television. Video streaming of the telecast can be accessed via the internet by visiting www.net.unl.edu.
All games will be broadcast on KRZI 1580/1660 with Reagan Ratcliff and Mark Rogers calling the action. The broadcasts can also be heard over the internet by visiting www.GoBaylorBears.com.
Baylor vs... -- Baylor leads the series with Nebraska, 15-5. The Bears have won the last eight regular season meetings with the the Huskers.
Last season, Baylor swept Nebraska in Waco, 4-2, 3-2, 7-6, before losing to the Huskers in the championship game at the Big 12 Tournament,11-3.
The Last Time Out -- No. 5 Rice defeated Baylor for the third time in as many tries Tuesday night, winning 5-1 at Baylor Ballpark.
Baylor starter Jared Theodorakos didn't fare well. The sophomore got knocked out after four innings, allowing two earned runs. The Bears' defense wasn't up to par either, three Baylor errors resulted in two unearned runs when Kyle Edens pitched the sixth. Baylor catcher Kelly Shoppach had his 28-game hitting streak snapped, going 0-for-4 and striking out twice.
A bright spot for the Bears was the bullpen. Paul Thorp, Edens, Zane Carlson and Derek Brehm pitched a combined five innings and allowed only one earned run.
About Coach Smith -- Steve Smith is in his seventh season as head coach at Baylor and owns a 252-140-1 (.648) career record. He led the Bears to a Big 12 regular season championship in 2000 and their first-ever 50-win season in 1999.
The 2000 Big 12 Coach of the Year, Smith came to Baylor from Mississippi State, where he was an assistant under Ron Polk for five seasons. Prior to that, he served as a graduate assistant at Texas A&M.
A former standout pitcher at Baylor from 1982-83, Smith led the Southwest Conference with a 1.72 ERA in 1982, bettering league foes and future major league pitchers Norm Charlton, Roger Clemens, Doug Drabek and Calvin Schiraldi.
Almost two decades later, Smith is passing his pitching knowledge on to his players. In the past seven years, he has tutored six pitchers who were selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft, including Jason Jennings, the 1999 consensus national player of the year and the 16th pick by the Colorado Rockies in 1999.
In Smith's six years as Baylor's head coach, he has produced six All-Americans, five GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-Americans and one GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year. Baylor has also had 18 first-team all-Big 12 performers, including the Big 12 Player of the Year in 1998 and 1999.
On the Defensive -- With a .965 team fielding percentage, the Baylor defense ranked third among Big 12 teams (April 9). The Bears have also turned a league-high 39 double plays.
In the Pitching Category -- Baylor is tops among conference teams with a 2.67 team ERA (April 9). The Bears also rank third nationally in that category.
Starter Steven White is No. 1 in the Big 12 individual pitching category with an incredible 1.53 ERA in eight appearances. With an 8-0 recond, he also ranks second in the wins category.
In the national statistical rankings, White is third in the ERA category and tied for sixth in wins.
Don't Forget the Hitters -- As a team, the Bears ranked second in the Big 12 with a .314 team batting average (April 9).
Catcher Kelly Shoppach leads the Big 12 in individual batting (as of April 9) with a sizzling .485 average. The No. 2 hitter in the conference, OU's Greg Dobbs, is batting .418. Shoppach also ranks first in RBI with 46 and hits with 65.
OF Chris Durbin ranks third in the league with 17 doubles, and 2B Trevor Mote leads the runs scored category with 46.
Leading Off -- So far this season, the Bears have had three successful leadoff hitters in OF Chris Durbin, OF/2B Tim Hartshorn, and 2B Trevor Mote
Control Freaks -- Through 38 games this season, the Baylor pitching staff has put together a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2-to-1. RHP Steven White leads the team with 54 strikeouts, while LHP Josh Scott has 41 and RHP Justin Taylor has 45.
Stingy Staff -- In addition to a stellar team ERA, the Baylor pitching staff has given up just 11 home runs this season.
Amazingly, the Bears went 160 innings without giving up a home run, having given up a bomb against Rice in the first game of the season and one against Houston in the 20th game.
And the Hits Keep Coming -- Matt Williams reached the 200 career hit mark with a hit against Oklahoma (March 16).
Kelly Shoppach got his 100th career hit against Texas A&M (Feb. 25). He accomplished the feat in just 104 games, averaging a hit in nearly every game he's played.
Streaking -- Junior C Kelly Shoppach ended a 28-game hitting streak against Rice (April 10). It stands as the second-longest hitting streak in Baylor history. The longest is 31 games, put together by James Blair over the 1997 and 1998 seasons. That streak is also the Big 12 record.
Shoppach is the second Baylor player this season to hit in at least ten straight games. Senior 2B Trevor Mote began the season with a 10-game hitting streak, which ended on Feb. 18 against Nicholls State.
The longest hitting streak recorded last season was a nine-game run notched by Jaime Bubela from Feb. 20-March 18, 2000.
Watch Lists -- Junior catcher Kelly Shoppach is currently on the watch list for the second annual Johnny Bench Award, given to the nation's top collegiate catcher. The list will be narrowed to 10 semi-finalists on May 15.
Three Baylor players, including Kelly Shoppach, Zane Carlson and Mike Huggins are currently on the watch list for the Rotary Smith Award, one of the top awards in college baseball. Baylor's Jason Jennings won the award in 1999.
Hitmen -- Kelly Shoppach and Chris Durbin are tied for the team lead with 19 multi-hit games apiece this season.
Durbin smacked four hits in a 12-2 win over Missouri (March 4), while Shoppach went 4-for-5 against Houston (March 6).
Set `Em Up -- Sophomore RHP Paul Thorp has quietly emerged as one of the team's best mid-relief pitchers. He ranks fourth on the squad with 33 strikeouts, and leads the team with 17 appearances.
A First Time For Everything -- Back-up catcher Paul Richmond's grand slam against Southwest Texas was the first he's ever hit -- and that includes his time in Little League, high school and junior college baseball.
Freshman OF David Murphy belted his first collegiate home run, a first-pitch, bases loaded shot to right field against Houston (March 6).
Lots of Runs -- Baylor's 22 runs scored against Southwest Texas marks the first time the Bears have scored 20 or more runs in a game since defeating Minnesota 22-6 in the 1999 Waco Regional.
The Bears have scored ten or more runs in nine games this season.
All-Tournament Team -- Catcher Kelly Shoppach was named the Most Outstanding Player by a vote of the media at the inaugural Astros College Classic. The junior hit .316 over three games with three doubles, a home run and six RBI. 2B Trevor Mote and LHP Josh Scott were also named to the team.
Home Sweet Home -- Last year, in the first full season at Baylor Ballpark, the Bears posted an impressive 26-6 record at home. In 2001, the Bears are off to an 18-9 start on their home field.
In 2000, Baylor ranked 13th nationally in attendance, averaging more than 2,700 fans per game.
Setting New Records -- With his sixth save of the season and the 21st of his career against Dallas Baptist (April 6), sophomore closer Zane Carlson c ontinues to set new Baylor records for career saves. Last season, he racked up 15 saves to set the school single season saves record.
The NCAA record for saves in a career is 49, set by Jack Krawczyk of Southern Cal (1995-98).
Baylor on the Radio -- For the first time in school history, all of Baylor's baseball games will be broadcast during the 2001 season. Every game will be broadcast on the flagship station for Baylor Athletics, News/Talk Radio KRZI 1660/1580-AM.
John Morris will be joined by former Baylor pitcher Mark Rogers and Reagan Ratcliff in the broadcast booth.
Young Guns -- This season, Baylor is fielding a young and experienced team. In fact, 18 of the top 25 players on last season's Big 12 Championship team were freshmen and sophomores. Senior LHP Josh Scott is the only senior on a pitching staff dominated by sophomores.
New Faces -- There are 14 new faces on this year's Baylor squad, including 11 freshmen and three transfers. 2B Trevor Mote transferred to Baylor from Arizona, while C Paul Richmond came from Navarro JC and LHP Chris Deleenheer transferred in from Triton JC in Chicago.
Getting Experience -- Four true freshmen, 3B Jared Clements, RHP Cody Hall, OF David Murphy, and SS/2B Trey Webb have seen action this season. Murphy leads the young bunch, appearing in 37 games and starting 31.
Early Honors -- Sophomore relief pitcher Zane Carlson, the 2000 Big 12 Freshman Pitcher of the Year has been named to several preseason all-America lists. In addition, he has also been selected as the relief pitcher of the year in preseason rankings by the Dallas Morning News.
Community Service Honors -- Junior Tim Hartshorn was recently named a Bank of America/Big XII Conference Community Champion for his dedication to academic excellence and community service.
250 Wins -- With a 10-6 victory over Houston (April 4), Bears coach Steve Smith earned his 250th career win. Smith, 40, is one of the nation's winningest coaches under the age of 45.
Baylor in the Postseason -- The Bears made their third straight postseason appearance in 2000. Last season also marked the second consecutive year in which Baylor hosted an NCAA regional.
In the Record Books --
Senior 3B Matt Williams is currently tied with Fritz Connally (1977-80) for third place on the career home runs list with 38. He needs one more to move into a second-place tie with Jason Jennings (1997-99). On the career runs scored chart, Williams ranks third with 178.
LHP Josh Scott currently ranks fourth on the Baylor career strikeouts list with 275. The senior needs 13 strikeouts to move past Kip Wells into third place (288, 1996-98). Scott is solely in third place on the career games started list with 43.
Last season, Scott became just the seventh Baylor pitcher to strikeout 200 batters in his career.
In the News -- In this week's (April 9) college baseball weekend wrapup, Baseball America editor John Manuel calls Baylor catcher Kelly Shoppach the best catcher in the nation.
Shoppach is also featured in the Top Prospects edition of Baseball America. A story on the junior from Fort Worth can be found in the Colleges West section by Jim Callis. Last season, pitcher Kyle Evans was featured in the same section.
David Murphy has been interviewed for an MSNBC documentary on child prodigies. As a nine-year-old, he was spotted throwing a tennis ball against a wall by pro scouts at a high school game. The scouts were so impressed, they videotaped Murphy. No word on when the special will air.
Big 12 Pitchers/Players of the Week -- Three Baylor players have been honored by the Big 12 conference for their weekly performances.
Senior 3B Matt Williams earned Big 12 Co-Player of the Week (March 26) honors for his incredible performance in the series at Kansas. Williams hit .556 on the week, which included a game against No. 1 Rice. He also smacked four doubles, three home runs and had 11 RBI.
Sophomore righty Steven White was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week (Feb. 12) for his performance in the Bears' 5-0 win over Cal State Fullerton. White tossed seven shutout innings, giving up just two hits, while striking out five batters and issuing just four walks. The League City, Texas native also limited the Titans to a .087 batting average.
Sophomore 1B Mike Huggins was named the Phillips 66/Big 12 Player of the Week (Feb. 19) for his performances against Southwest Texas and Nicholls State. He hit a sizzling .615 with a pair of doubles and five RBI.
Up Next -- Baylor travels to San Marcos, Texas on Tuesday for a rematch with Southwest Texas State. On Feb. 14, the Bears pounded the Bobcats, 22-6 in Waco. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.
