Feb. 27, 2002
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# 16 Baylor (7-4, 0-0 Big 12) vs./at # 9 Texas (13-2, 0-0 Big 12)
Friday, March 1 (7 p.m.) * Baylor Ballpark * Waco, Texas
Saturday, March 2 (3 p.m.) * Sunday, March 3 (1 p.m.) * Disch-Falk Field * Austin, Texas
this week in baylor baseball
After having a week of rest thanks to a postponed midweek game at UT-Arlington, 16th-ranked Baylor (7-4) opens conference play this weekend with a three-game set against No. 9 Texas. Friday, the series begins in Waco at 7 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, the games move to Austin, with games beginning at 3 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.
Baylor swept Oral Roberts at Baylor Ballpark last weekend. Friday, the Bears walked away with a 7-3 win behind Eric Errante's four RBI. The final two games of the series took ninth-inning, walk-off hits by Paul Richmond to pull out Baylor victories. On Saturday, it was a bases-loaded single that broke an 8-8 tie, Sunday, the junior catcher hit a three-run homer to push the Bears from the edge of defeat into the win column with a 4-2 triumph.
Texas enters the weekend on a 10-game winning streak, having swept consecutive weekend series at home against Sam Houston State and Loyola Marymount. The Longhorns' only two losses of the year came at the Astros College Classic: an 8-1 decision against TCU and a 4-3 defeat to Lousiana-Lafayette.
baylor vs. texas
Baylor took two of three from Texas in 2001, the sixth straight season the Bears have taken the season series from the Longhorns. The last time Texas won a series against Baylor was 1994, in coach Mickey Sullivan's final season at the helm of the Bears. (The teams split the series 2-2 in 1995.)
Longhorn starter Gerrit Simpson shut down Baylor as Texas won the Friday game in Austin a year ago, 5-1, but the Bears' bats came alive in the two games in Waco. In the Saturday and Sunday games, Baylor hitters combined to outscore Texas 28-8 in route to a pair of victories. Both wins by the Green and Gold were run-rule victories.
Coming in to Saturday's contest, the Bears had dropped five of their last six games, averaging just over two runs per game in that span. Baylor turned that around and pounded out 17 hits, scored the last 12 runs of the game and run-ruled Texas for the first time in three years.
On Sunday, the Bears used the long ball again, getting three homers (two by Chris Durbin and a first-inning bomb from Kelly Shoppach). Durbin finished the day with four hits, six RBI and three runs scored.
Baylor is 91-205-4 all-time against Texas, dating back to April 4, 1903, when the Longhorns prevailed 13-1. Under Smith, however, the Bears are 18-7 against the Longhorns. The 300 games played against Texas make the Horns Baylor's most-played opponent in program history.
baylor in the rankings
Sweeping Oral Roberts over the weekend didn't help the Bears much, as the team made only a small move in the rankings this week. Baylor moved up one spot in polls by Baseball America (16th) and USA Today Baseball Weekly (22nd), and held tight at 23rd in the Collegiate Baseball poll.
The No. 16 ranking by Baseball America ties Baylor's top ranking so far this season, the Bears were ranked 16th by both Baseball America and USA Today Baseball Weekly during the preseason.
The highest preseason ranking in Baylor history came in 2000 (No. 10, Baseball America). The best final ranking in program history is No. 6 (Collegiate Baseball, 1978), while the highest ranking at any point was No. 3 (Baseball America, May 8, 2000).
last time out
Late-inning heroics from catcher Paul Richmond helped Baylor sweep a three-game series from Oral Roberts last weekend at Baylor Ballpark.
Eric Errante drove in four runs as the Bears overcame a sluggish start to beat Oral Roberts 7-3 Friday night. Starter Steven White settled down after a shaky start, pitching around four walks and five hits for his second win of the year. White struck out seven and gave up just one earned run on the night.
After leading most of the game Saturday, it took a Richmond RBI single in the bottom of the ninth for Baylor to pull out a 9-8 win over Oral Roberts. The Bears led 8-6 heading to ninth, but with two outs reliever Zane Carlson gave up a two-run homer to tie the game. In the bottom of the ninth, two walks and a bunt single by shortstop Trey Webb loaded the bases with nobody out. After a strikeout of Chris Durbin, Richmond singled over the first baseman's head to drive in the winning run.
Sunday, Richmond hit a three-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth to give the Bears a 4-2 win and the weekend sweep. The Bears managed only three hits through the first eight innings against ORU, but in the ninth, Webb led off with a single and Durbin followed with a double to right center that moved Webb to third. Richmond followed with a no-doubt-about it shot to right, making a winner out of reliever Kyle Edens, who came in with one out in the eighth and retired all five batters he faced.
theo throwing it
Junior LHP Jared Theodorakos was named National Player of the Week (Feb. 11-17) by Collegiate Baseball/Louisville Slugger (one of three), the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and CollegeBaseballInsider.com after he carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning and finished with a one-hitter Saturday in an 8-1 Baylor win over #6 USC at Dodger Stadium.
The lefty held USC hitless for seven-and-a-third innings before allowing the first hit. Theodorakos recorded his first career complete game and struck out a career-high 11 batters. Theodorakos also earned Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honors for his performance.
hartshorn starts season with bang
Senior co-captain Tim Hartshorn opened the season with a bang at the Astros College Classic (Feb. 7-9). Batting in the leadoff spot all three games, Hartshorn went 10-for-15 with a double, two triples, a home run, four runs scored and four RBI.
For his efforts, the senior was named Most Outstanding Player for the tournament. Hartshorn followed in the steps of former Bear Kelly Shoppach, who earned the same honor last season in the inaugural Astros College Classic. Hartshorn also was named Big 12 Player of the Week for games played Jan. 25-Feb. 10.
simply the best
As has become the norm for teams under head coach Steve Smith, the Bears are facing yet another tough schedule in 2002. Baylor opens the season playing 17 of the team's first 20 games against teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
Eight of the Bears' 2002 opponents qualified for the NCAA Tournament a year ago: Rice, Houston, USC, UT-Arlington, Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. USC and Nebraska were two of the eight College World Series participants last year.
baylor among elite programs
The recent success of the Baylor baseball program is reflected in the Three-Year ISRs (a mock-RPI rating) compiled at BoydsWorld.com. Baylor ranked fifth in the nation in that listing, which measures a program's success over the past three years (1999-2001). The top 10: Stanford, Cal State Fullerton, USC, Florida State, Baylor, Miami, LSU, Rice, Nebraska and South Carolina.
bears best in the big 12
In the first five seasons of the Big 12 Conference, the Bears have the best conference record of any program in the league. Baylor leads all schools in both first team All-Big 12 selections (15) and first team Academic All-Big 12 selections (25).
ruling the roost
In the last 28 Big 12 Conference series it has played, Baylor holds an amazing 24-4 record. The Bears have lost conference series only to Texas A&M (2-1, 1998), Texas Tech twice (3-0, 2000, 2-1, 2001) and Nebraska (3-0, 2001).
home is where the wins are
Since moving into Baylor Ballpark early in the 1999 season, the Bears have compiled an impressive 80-24 record (.769 winning percentage). Baylor has won all four games at home this season.
three mlb parks in one season
If Baylor qualifies for the Big 12 Tournament in 2002, they will become what is believed to be the first NCAA team to play in three major league stadiums in one season. The Bears' first two weekends were spent at Enron Field in Houston for the Astros College Classic and at Dodger Stadium (three-game series vs. USC). The Big 12 Tournament will be played at the Ballpark in Arlington for the first time in 2002, previous Big 12 Tournaments were played at the minor league park in Oklahoma City.
rough start? so what!
Twice in the last 25 years (prior to 2002) have the Bears started a season 0-3. The most recent occurance came in 1998, when Baylor opened on the road against Arizona State and was swept in the series. The Bears finished 41-20-1 and qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time under coach Steve Smith.
Before that, the last time Baylor opened with three straight losses was 1978. That season, too, turned out okay, despite the start, the Bears advanced to the College World Series for the second straight year.
control freaks
As a staff, Baylor pitchers have compiled an impressive 3.5-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio through the first 11 games of the season. The Bears have struck out 94 opponents (in 100.1 innings) while walking just 27 batters. Junior LHP Jared Theodorakos leads the staff with 23 strikeouts and has just six walks, while closer Kyle Edens has 10 strikeouts and no walks in 9.1 innings.
tough times in the bayou city
Thus far this season, Baylor has been invincible everywhere but in Houston. The Bears have won all seven of their games away from the state's largest city (three in Los Angeles, four in Waco) but are 0-4 in Houston. Baylor lost all three games at this seaosn's Astros College Classic at Enron Field and dropped a midweek game at Houston's Cougar Field last week. The Bears have lost six straight games in Houston, dating to last year's NCAA Regional at Rice's Reckling Park.
murphy missing
Sophomore outfielder David Murphy will miss the first four-to-six weeks of the season after breaking the hamate bone in his right (non-throwing) hand. Murphy had surgery on Jan. 22, but could return to the line-up as soon as Friday against Texas.
o captain, my captain
Seniors Tim Hartshorn and Ron Zboril and junior Mike Huggins were elected co-captains by their teammates for the 2002 season. Combined, the triumvirate has been with the team for 10 years and played in 320 games entering the season.
working their way up the charts
Every save recorded by junior closer Zane Carlson adds to his school record for saves. Carlson has 23 career saves, he set the single season and career record with 15 saves as a freshman and added eight more as a sophomore. Carlson also has 51 career appearances, seven shy of cracking the top 10.
Junior outfielder Chris Durbin began 2002 with the 10th best career batting average in school history at .338 and the eighth best career slugging percentage at .574. He has 35 career doubles (six short of 10th place) and 17 career home runs (four shy of 10th place).
Through games of Feb. 24, senior reliever Kyle Edens ranks second for career winning percentage with a 10-2 record (.833). He also ranks sixth in Baylor history in career games relieved with 49, and his six career saves are tied for eighth all-time.
Junior Mike Huggins' 37 career doubles are four short of 10th place in school history.
Senior RHP Justin Taylor ranks fourth in career winning percentage (19-6, .760), fifth in career games relieved (49) and seventh in career games pitched (64). His 19 wins are one shy of 10th place.
Junior RHP Paul Thorp is eighth in school history in career relief appearances (42).
baylor on the air
Catch every inning of Baylor baseball in 2002 on the flagship station for Baylor athletics, News/Talk Radio KRZI 1660/1580-AM.
John Morris, Baylor's Director of Broadcasting, heads up the team as he begins his seventh season as the "Voice of the Bears." Morris is also the signature voice for Baylor's football and men's basketball broadcasts and serves as co-host of the weekly TV show "Inside Baylor Sports."
Mark Rogers, a former Baylor pitcher and currently a sports reporter for KCEN-TV in Central Texas, enters his third season providing color commentary for the baseball broadcasts.
Pete Kenworthy, Sports Director and weekday sports anchor for KWTX-TV, Tom Barfield, Program Director and on-air personality for flagship station KRZI, and Trent Weaver, a Baylor baseball letterman in 1988-89, will also be a part of the broadcast team for several games.
All Baylor Baseball games in 2002 will be available world-wide on the internet at www.GoBaylorBears.com. Baylor baseball is also a staple of the daily "Baylor SportsBeat" hosted by John Morris and airing weekdays at 7:25am and 5:25pm on KRZI 1660/1580-AM.
bears in the pros
Catcher Kelly Shoppach topped a list of five Baylor players taken in the 2001 MLB First-Year Player Draft. Shoppach was taken in the second round by the Boston Red Sox (48th overall), and was actually Boston's first pick of the draft.
Trevor Mote (15th round, Houston Astros), Matt Williams (15th round, St. Louis Cardinals) and Josh Scott (25th round, Philadelphia Phillies) each signed after completing their careers at Baylor.
First baseman Mike Huggins was taken in the 25th round by the Colorado Rockies, but elected to return for his junior season.
Three Baylor signees were also taken. Outfielder Alan Moye (3rd round, Cincinnati Reds) and infielder Josh Barfield (4th round, San Diego Padres) each chose to go pro, while LHP Trey Taylor turned down the Colorado Rockies, who used a supplemental pick before the third round on him.
Baylor alums and former first-round draft picks Jason Jennings and Kip Wells will enter 2002 contending for spots in major league rotations -- Jennings with the Rockies, and Wells with the Pittsburgh Pirates (after an offseason trade). In all, 15 former Bears are active at some level of professional baseball.
head coach steve smith
Head coach Steve Smith is in his eighth season as head coach at Baylor, in that time, he has compiled a 269-158-1 record. Smith led the Bears to their first-ever 50 win season in 1999 and a Big 12 Championship in 2000, and has piloted the team to four straight NCAA appearances. Through the 2001 season, Smith ranked 40th among active coaches in winning percentage with a .629 mark.
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 in 1982-1983, Smith led the Southwest Conference with a 1.72 ERA as a junior, bettering league foes and future major leaguers Norm Charlton, Roger Clemens, Doug Drabek and Calvin Schiraldi.
An accomplished pitching coach, Smith has tutored five pitchers in the last 10 years who were selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft. He has also had at least one pitcher named to the all-conference first team in each of the last 10 years. In 1999, right-hander/designated hitter Jason Jennings won the Golden Spikes Award and was the 16th overall pick by the Colorado Rockies.
In Smith's seven full seasons as head coach, the Bears have produced three first-round draft picks, eight all-Americans, five GTE/CoSIDA Academic all-Americans, one GTE/CoSIDA Academic all-American of the Year, 21 first-team all-conference performers, three freshman all-Americans, and three conference players of the year. Baylor has also placed 25 players on the Academic All-Big 12 first team in the past five seasons.
