April 16, 2002
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# 15 Baylor (27-12, 10-7 Big 12) at Southwest Texas (24-16, 7-8 Southland)
Tuesday, April 16 * 6 p.m.
Bobcat Field * San Marcos, Texas
this week in baylor baseball
15th-ranked Baylor heads to San Marcos for the third meeting of the year between the two teams Tuesday. Either Sean Walker or Paul Thorp is expected to take the mound for the Bears when the first pitch is thrown at 6 p.m.
Baylor has won six in a row heading into the week. In that six-game stretch, the Bears are averaging 10.5 runs per game. Tuesday's game is the sixth of six straight non-conference games for Baylor. The Bears have already defeated the Bobcats twice this season, this will be the third and final regular season meeting of the pair.
Entering Tuesday's game at Bobcat Field, the Bears have won 17 of their last 19 non-conference games. Southwest Texas, meanwhile, has won seven of its last nine games. The Bobcats took two of three games from Southland Conference rival UT-San Antonio over the weekend
baylor vs. southwest texas
Baylor has two wins already this season over the Bobcats. The Bears beat Southwest Texas 9-6 at Baylor Ballpark in March as Ross Bennett knocked out four hits and Michael Griffin drove in four runs in the victory. Starter Justin Taylor gave up nine hits in 5.1 innings but struck out six and walked none to earn his fourth win of the year. Paul Thorp relieved Taylor in the sixth and closed out the game, hurling 3.2 innings for his first save of the year.
Last Tuesday, Baylor produced an evening of firsts as the 17th-ranked Bears beat SWT 12-4 at Baylor Ballpark. Freshman catcher Josh Ford connected on his first collegiate home run as part of a six-run Baylor fourth inning that put the Bears safely in the driver's seat. Justin Taylor made his second start against the Bobcats and went 7.2 innings for the win, while relievers Justin Spooner and Ryan Bennett made their first appearances of the season.
Baylor is 30-9 all-time against Southwest Texas. The series began with a Baylor win (score unknown) on March 26, 1916. Including the two wins earlier this year, the Bears have taken three straight from the Bobcats.
baylor in the rankings
After a 5-0 week, Baylor moved up slightly in the polls this week. As of April 15, the Bears stood at 15th in the USA Today Baseball Weekly ranking, 16th in the Baseball America poll and 17th in the Collegiate Baseball listing.
The No. 8 ranking by Baseball America on March 18 was Baylor's top ranking so far this season and was the Bears' highest seat since they checked in at No. 8 in the Baseball Weekly coaches' poll April 9, 2001.
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
Baylor swept Texas A&M-Corpus Christi over the weekend for the Bears' fourth series sweep of the year.
Friday night, Ross Bennett singled to left-center to score Chris Durbin in the bottom of the ninth as Baylor edged TAMU-CC, 6-5. With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Durbin hit a screamer towards third baseman Jaime Landon that ricocheted off the fielder and let Durbin take second base with a double. After an intentional walk to Mike Huggins, Bennett hit a rope over the shortstop's head. When Islander left fielder Angel Velazquez bobbled the ball, Durbin scored easily with the winning run.
Saturday's game was a little easier, as Baylor scored eight runs in the first inning and coasted to an 11-5 win over the Islanders. After waiting out an hour-and-28-minute rain delay before starting the game, the Bears jumped all over TAMU-CC starter Carlos Esquer in the bottom of the frame. David Murphy hit two home runs, that marked the first time this season a Bear has hit two in a game. The sophomore right fielder matched his career-high with four RBI. Jared Theodorakos cruised, tying his career high with 11 strikeouts for the second week in a row. Theodorakos went seven innings, allowing seven hits with just one walk and one run for the win.
The Baylor bats pounded out 17 hits Sunday, but it took a six-run eighth inning to break a 7-7 tie as the Bears defeated TAMU-CC 13-9. The win was Baylor's sixth in a row as the Bears completed the three-game sweep of the Islanders. Sunday's victory was also Baylor's second last at-bat win of the weekend and ninth of the season. Paul Richmond drove home four runs on three hits. Michael Griffin singled in each of his first two at-bats to push his hitting streak to 16 straight games, longest on the team this season and now the eighth-longest streak in program history.
The offense continued to roll Wednesday as Baylor won its third straight game, beating UT-San Antonio 13-1 at Baylor Ballpark. Freshman Trey Taylor made the start for Baylor and earned his first collegiate win, throwing five innings and striking out a career-best eight batters. Taylor allowed just two hits and one run. Michael Griffin knocked out two hits to extend his hitting streak to 13 straight games, best on the team this season. Other top hitters on the night included David Murphy, who pounded out a career-high four hits (including a triple), scored twice and drove in two runs, and Chris Durbin, who had three hits (including a double) and two runs scored.
Tuesday night was an evening of firsts for Baylor as the 17th-ranked Bears beat Southwest Texas 12-4 at Baylor Ballpark. Freshman catcher Josh Ford connected on his first collegiate home run as part of a six-run Baylor fourth inning that put the Bears safely in the driver's seat. After starter Justin Taylor went 7.2 innings for the win, relievers Justin Spooner and Ryan Bennett made their first appearances of the season. Bennett and outfielder Reid Brees each made their collegiate debut Tuesday night.
keep your eyes on the charts
Several current Bears are making their ways up the leaderboards in the Baylor recordbook this season. Most impressively, junior Chris Durbin's career average ranks third all-time (.347), while Justin Taylor's 23 wins are just five shy of the school record for career victories. Other notable records:
Career Average: Chris Durbin (3rd, .347)
Career Doubles: Chris Durbin (7th, 49), Mike Huggins (9th, 45)
Career Slugging Pct: Chris Durbin (8th, .572)
Career Games Pitched: Justin Taylor (6th, 72), Kyle Edens (7th, 70)
Career Wins: Justin Taylor (t-3rd, 23)
Career Saves: Zane Carlson (1st, 23), Kyle Edens (3rd, 12)
Career Strikeouts: Justin Taylor (9th, 197)
Single Season Saves: Kyle Edens (t-3rd, 8)
Hitting Streak: Michael Griffin (8th, 16 games)
bears best in the big 12
Now in its sixth season as a member of the Big 12 Conference, the Bears have the best conference record of any program in the league since the conference's inception. Earlier this season, Baylor became the first school in the Big 12 to record 100 conference wins.
Through five full seasons, Baylor leads all schools in both first team All-Big 12 selections (15) and first team Academic All-Big 12 selections (25).
Big 12 conference records, year-by-year and cumulative
Team 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Totals Pct.Baylor 18-12 18-10 20-7 23-7 17-10 10-7 106-53 .667Texas Tech 23-7 18-11 18-8 18-12 19-10-1 10-11 106-59-1 .642Oklahoma St. 21-9 15-12 18-9 14-13 16-14 7-4 91-61 .599Texas A&M 19-11 21-9 23-6 11-19 15-15 9-6 98-66 .598Oklahoma 18-11 17-11 12-18 20-10 13-16-1 8-7 88-73-1 .546Nebraska 7-23 10-13 16-9 21-9 20-8 10-8 84-70 .545Texas 12-15 11-18 17-13 19-10 19-11 9-6 87-73 .544Missouri 15-14 17-12 14-13 13-14 11-19 5-10 75-82 .478Kansas State 10-20 9-19 11-18 5-24 10-17 6-6 51-104 .329Kansas 12-18 7-20 4-26 10-20 7-23 3-12 43-119 .265Iowa State 6-21 10-18 2-28 7-23 11-15 -- 36-105 .255
totals through games of April 14
like mike, if i could be like mike
Third baseman Michael Griffin has quickly matured into one of the team's best hitters in just his first year as a Bear. The freshman leads the team in RBI with 44, that total ranks second in the Big 12 Conference. He also leads the team in home runs with six and is third on the team with 75 total bases.
Griffin begins the week with an 16-game hitting streak, tops on the squad this season and now the eighth-longest streak in program history. In those 16 games, he is hitting .385 (25-for-65) with three homers and 20 RBI.
bring in 'da funk, bring in 'da heat
Hard-throwing reliever Kyle Edens has laid a strong claim on the closers' role this season. A four-year lettermen who has spent most of that time in middle relief, Edens has matured into a solid closer this season. Edens has appeared in 20 games, converting eight of 11 save opportunities and picking up four wins along the way. Through games of April 7, his eight saves were tied for fourth-best in the nation.
The eight saves lead the Big 12 Conference and are tied for the third-best single-season total in school history. The senior also has moved into third-place all-time at Baylor in career saves with 12.
Edens, whose fastball tops out at a lofty 96 MPH, has struck out 38 batters in 33.1 innings with just four walks. Opponents are hitting a mere .207 against him with only four extra base hits.
cardiac kids
The Bears have won nine games already this season in their last at-bat, including five exhilarating walk-off wins. Baylor has six wins when trailing after six innings and five when trailing after seven innings.
The heroics began Feb. 23 against Oral Roberts, when Paul Richmond singled in the winning run for a 9-8 win. The next afternoon, Richmond hit a three-run home run for a 4-2, come-from-behind Baylor victory.
In March, a pair of walk-off hits led to a three-game sweep of Kansas. In the Friday game (March 15), Chris Durbin's bases-loaded blast in the bottom of the 9th first appeared to be a game-winning grand slam. Durbin passed the runner on first base, however, and the play was sorted out as a three-RBI single. Durbin was called out for passing the runner, but since the out was only the second of the inning, three runs scored and Baylor came away with the victory. The Sunday game against Kansas (March 17) was much simpler, Paul Witt singled up the middle in the 11th inning, plating Trey Webb for a 5-4 win.
At the end of the month, Baylor came from behind to take game one of the series from Oklahoma. Trailing 4-3 going to the ninth inning, the Bears put together three hits and a hit batsman to push across two runs. With two outs, Mike Huggins came through with a first-pitch single through the right side that skipped under the diving OU first baseman and into right field to drive in Tim Hartshorn with the winning run.
In game one against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Ross Bennett singled to left-center to score Chris Durbin in the bottom of the ninth as Baylor edged the Islanders, 6-5. With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Durbin hit a screamer towards third base that ricocheted off the fielder and let Durbin take second base with a double. After an intentional walk to Mike Huggins, Bennett hit a rope over the shortstop's head. When the Islander left fielder bobbled the ball, Durbin scored easily with the winning run.
Two days later, it took a six-run eighth inning to break a 7-7 tie as the Bears defeated TAMU-CC 13-9. After Tim Hartshorn and Paul Witt each reached base to start the inning, Trey Webb beat out a bunt for an infield single. When the third baseman's throw sailed past first base, Webb moved all the way to third as both Hartshorn and Witt scored to break the tie. Three more hits and another error added up to six runs (only three earned) off the Islanders in the frame.
carlson out for the season
Reliever Zane Carlson is out for the year after surgery on his right (throwing) arm. After pitching in pain for much of the last two years, doctors discovered the problem was caused by an entrapment of Carlson's median nerve in the bicep area, which caused a tenderness in one particular spot in his arm when he releases the ball on a pitch. The pain was not caused by any other normal action. Carlson underwent exploratory surgery on April 12 with hopes of correcting the problem. Rehab following the surgery will keep the reliever out of action for the year.
Carlson, a junior from Dallas, set the Baylor career saves record as a freshman in 2000 with 15. He saved eight more games last season but struggled at times as the pain began sporadically early in the year. Despite resting all fall, the pain returned in January, and after multiple diagnostic tests revealed nothing, surgery was decided upon as the course of action. Baylor will apply for a medical redshirt for Carlson.
smith approaching milestone win
In just his eighth season at the helm of the Baylor program, head coach Steve Smith is approaching his 300th win. At 289-166-1, Smith needs just 11 more wins to reach the mark this season.
He is already the second-winningest coach in school history in terms of total wins, behind Baylor legend Mickey Sullivan. Smith's career winning percentage is the highest in program history of any manager with at least five seasons under his belt.
rpi stays sky high
Baylor ranks 14th in the nation in the pseudo-RPI from BoydsWorld.com, through games of April 14. The Bears are the top-ranked team in the Big 12, ahead of Texas (16th), Texas Tech (31st), Oklahoma (39th), Nebraska (40th), Texas A&M (47th) and Oklahoma State (50th) among the top 50. Other 2002 opponents near the top of the charts include Houston (5th), Rice (8th), Southern California (21st) and TCU (38th).
bears earn quartet of big 12 weekly honors
In the first five weeks of the season, Baylor had four players honored by the Big 12 for their weekly performances. Senior Tim Hartshorn was named Big 12 Player of the Week (Jan. 25-Feb. 10) after earning Most Outstanding Player honors at the Astros College Classic. Junior LHP Jared Theodorakos was named National and Big 12 Pitcher of the Week (Feb. 11-17) after he carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning Feb. 16 in an 8-1 Baylor win over No. 6 USC at Dodger Stadium.
After a week "off", first baseman Mike Huggins added his name to the list in week four (Feb. 25-March 3) as he helped the Bears take two of three from No. 9 Texas. Steven White became the latest Bear to be honored when he was named Pitcher of the Week (March 4-10) after holding No. 8 Nebraska to one run in eight innings in a 2-1 Baylor win.
The four weekly honors ties the Baylor record for most players/pitchers of the week in a season, a mark set in 1996 and matched in 1998 and 2000.
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 opened the season playing 17 of the team's first 20 games against teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
Ten of the Bears' 2002 opponents qualified for the NCAA Tournament a year ago: Rice, Houston, USC, Oral Roberts, UT-Arlington, Texas, Winthrop, 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.
baylor alums 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 year.
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 began the 2002 season 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.
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.
big 12 tv schedule announced
Baylor's game against Oklahoma State April 6 was one of four Big 12 Conference games to be televised by Fox Sports Southwest this season.
Longtime college play-by-play man Bill Land and Greg Lucas are scheduled to be the anchors for the telecasts with expert analysis from former major leaguer Jack Lazorko. The other three games are Nebraska at Texas (May 4), Texas at Texas A&M (May 19), and the Big 12 Tournament Championship Game (May 26).
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.
recruits roll in
Baylor head coach Steve Smith announced the signing of 12 players for the 2003 season during the early signing period (fall 2001).
Name Pos. Ht. Wt. B/T Hometown (School)Tyler Bullock C/1B 6-2 220 R/R Fort Worth, Texas (R.L. Paschal)Clint Everts RHP/SS 6-2 170 S/R Houston, Texas (Cy-Falls)Brad Ferguson RHP 6-2 170 R/R West, Texas (West HS)Seth Fortenberry OF/LHP 6-2 175 L/L Waco, Texas (Midway HS)Zach Golden RHP 6-2 183 R/R Pearland, Texas (Pearland HS)Ryan LaMotta RHP/IF 5-11 170 R/R Sugar Land, Texas (Clements HS)James Loney LHP/1B 6-2 190 L/L Missouri City, Texas (Elkins HS)Mark McCormick RHP 6-2 190 R/R Clear Creek, Texas (Clear Creek HS)Andy Pape RHP 6-4 235 R/R San Antonio, Texas (Ronald Reagan HS)Kyle Reynolds SS/2B 6-2 160 L/R Houston, Texas (Second Baptist HS)Jake Rippee IF 6-0 165 S/R Kerrville, Texas (Tivy HS)Kevin Sevigny OF 6-0 180 S/R Springvale, Maine (Sanford HS)
Eleven of the Bears' 12 signees come from the state of Texas, the lone exception is outfielder Kevin Sevigny, who was ranked by Baseball America/Perfect Game as the top prospect in the state of Maine. Of the 11 Texas natives to sign with Baylor, eight were named to the Baseball America/Perfect Game Top 400 Prospects for the Class of 2002. Five of those players were ranked among the 25 best prospects in the state by Texas Baseball News: RHP Mark McCormick, RHP/SS Clint Everts, RHP Zach Golden, LHP/1B James Loney and RHP Ryan LaMotta.
In addition to having put up excellent numbers on the field, the class as a whole also has an exceptional academic background. Six of the 12 signees qualified for academic merit scholarship as a part of their overall aid package.
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 289-166-1 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 six 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.
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 among big 12 statistical leaders
A number of Bears ranked among the Big 12 Conference leaders in a variety of statistics, through games of April 14. Kyle Edens led the league in saves with eight and in appearances with 20, Chris Durbin topped the conference in doubles with 18 and Tim Hartshorn's five triples were the most in the Big 12. Others:
Ross Bennett: 8th in hitting (.370)
Chris Durbin: 1st in doubles (18), t-3rd in runs (42), 6th in hits (58), t-6th in walks (23), t-6th in on-base pct. (.457), t-8th in total bases (89), 9th in hitting (.369)
Kyle Edens: 1st in saves (8), 1st in appearances (20)
Michael Griffin: 2nd in RBI (44)
Tim Hartshorn: t-1st in triples (5)
Mike Huggins: t-3rd in triples (4), 7th in hits (54), t-8th in RBI (36), 10th in hitting (.360)
David Murphy: t-9th in triples (3)
Justin Taylor: t-2nd in wins (6), t-2nd in starts (12), t-2nd in innings pitched (75.0), t-5th in strikeouts (53), 20th in ERA (4.44)
Jared Theodorakos: 2nd in strikeouts (65), t-4th in complete games (2), t-10th in starts (9), 16th in ERA (4.04)
Paul Thorp: t-4th in appearances (16)
Trey Webb: t-3rd in runs (42), t-7th in steals (12), t-8th in hits (53), t-9th in triples (3)
Steven White: t-4th in starts (10), 7th in innings pitched (65.1), 7th in strikeouts (52), 14th in ERA (3.72)
