May 30, 2002
Postseason Guide Part I (Notes) in PDF Format
Postseason Guide Part II (Stats) in PDF Format
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="">NCAA Austin Regional Central
Baylor (34-24, 13-13 Big 12) at NCAA Austin Regional
May 31-June 2, 2002 * Disch-Falk Field * Austin, Texas
Texas * Baylor * Lamar * Central Connecticut State
quick notes
* The 2002 Austin Regional marks Baylor's fifth-straight NCAA appearance and 10th overall.
* Baylor is one of just 16 schools to have been selected to each of the last five NCAA tournaments.
* Baylor has not lost a season series to Texas in coach Steve Smith's eight seasons; Baylor holds a 20-8 record against UT under Smith.
* Thanks to a stellar bullpen, the Bears are 26-2 this season when leading after eight innings.
* The Bears have won 10 games this season in their last at-bat, including six exhilarating walk-off wins.
* Bears among the Big 12 leaders, through games of May 26:
-- Chris Durbin, 22 doubles (2nd)
-- Kyle Edens, 12 saves (1st), 32 games (1st)
-- Mike Huggins, 7 triples (t-2nd), 58 RBI (5th)
-- Justin Taylor, 8 wins (t-3rd), 109.1 IP (2nd), 79 K (4th), 3.95 ERA (11th)
-- Jared Theodorakos, 99 strikeouts (1st)
-- Paul Thorp, 28 appearances (3rd), 3.86 ERA (10th)
-- Steven White, 71 strikeouts (t-9th)
* Bears among the national leaders, through games of May 19:
-- Kyle Edens, 12 saves (t-6th)
-- Jared Theodorakos, 10.6 K/9 innings (23rd)
-- Mike Huggins, 0.13 triples per game (t-20th)
* Baylor has played in three major league parks this season: Enron Field, Dodger Stadium and The Ballpark in Arlington. The Bears are believed to be the first NCAA team to play in three major league parks in one year.
baylor at the austin regional
Despite a struggle to the finish, the Baylor baseball program earned its fifth straight NCAA Tournament selection and is headed to Disch-Falk Field for the Austin Regional, where the No. 2 seed Bears will face No. 3 seed Lamar in the first round Friday at 1 p.m.
Baylor and Lamar are joined in Austin by third-ranked Texas, the No. 5 overall seed for the NCAA Tournament, and Northeast Conference tournament champs Central Connecticut State. The Bears and Cardinals square off Friday at 1 p.m., followed by the Longhorns and Blue Devils at 7 p.m.
Baylor made its way into the tournament on the strength of a tough schedule and a high RPI, boosted by a number of impressive victories early in the season. Though the team has lost its last seven games, the Bears still rank 31st in an unofficial RPI compiled at BoydsWorld.com.
Lamar earned the automatic bid from the Southland Conference after beating Northwestern State 5-4 in 10 innings in the SLC Tournament championship Saturday. The Cardinals are led by senior pitcher Clay Hensley, who struck out 17 batters in a 5-3 win over Texas-Arlington in the first round of the conference tournament. Hensley (8-5, 2.79) has 119 strikeouts in 93.2 innings this season; the 119 strikeouts are already a new single season school record for Lamar.
baylor ncaa tournament history
The 2002 Austin Regional will mark the Bears' fifth straight and 10th overall NCAA postseason appearance. Baylor has appeared in two College World Series (1977 and 1978) and one NCAA Super Regional (1999). In head coach Steve Smith's eight seasons at Baylor, the Bears have made the NCAA Tournament five times.
Baylor is one of only sixteen schools to have appeared in each of the last five NCAA Tournaments, joining Auburn, Cal State Fullerton, Clemson, Florida International, Florida State, LSU, Miami, Oral Roberts, Rice, South Alabama, Southern California, Stanford, Texas Tech, Tulane and Wake Forest. The Bears and Red Raiders are the only two Big 12 schools to have accomplished the feat.
Disch-Falk Field is the seventh different site in which the Bears have played an NCAA Regional game, following Merchants Park in Denver (1948), Arlington Stadium (1977-78), Eck Stadium-Tyler Field in Wichita, Kan. (1991), Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. (1993), McKethan Field in Gainesville, Fla. (1998), Baylor Ballpark (1999-2000) and Reckling Park in Houston (2001).
Baylor holds an all-time record of 16-19 in NCAA postseason play, including a 14-11 mark in NCAA Regional action. Under Smith, those records are 7-8 (NCAA postseason) and 6-6 in NCAA Regional games.
baylor vs. the field
The Bears took two of three from Texas earlier this season, winning Friday night in Waco 5-4 and splitting two games in Austin. Baylor lost to the Longhorns 4-3 on Saturday before completing the series victory Sunday with an 11-4 win. The Bears have not lost a season series to Texas in head coach Steve Smith's eight years at the helm; Baylor holds a 20-8 record against the men in orange under Smith. Baylor is 93-206-4 all-time against Texas, dating back to April 4, 1903, when the Longhorns prevailed 13-1. The 303 games played against Texas make the Horns Baylor's most-played opponent in program history.
Baylor holds a 39-28-1 all-time record against Lamar, although the two teams have not met since 1996. The Bears beat the Cardinals in Waco 6-4 on May 8 in that last meeting. That win is the lone match-up between the two teams under Smith.
Baylor has never faced Central Connecticut State.
baylor at disch-falk field
Long-time Baylor fans have a number of good memories from Texas' Disch-Falk Field. Between 1977 and 1993, the Bears competed in four Southwest Conference Tournaments in Austin and came away with three SWC championships (1977, 1978, 1993). Baylor had a combined record of 9-2 in those four tournaments, including a 4-0 mark against the host Longhorns.
Since the opening of Disch-Falk in 1975, Baylor has compiled a 20-33 record (15-31 vs. Texas, 5-2 vs. other opponents) in Austin. Current head coach Steve Smith has gone 7-5 at the Disch in his eight seasons leading the Bears.
2002 big 12 tournament recap
Baylor earned selection into the Big 12 Tournament for the sixth straight season -- one of just five Big 12 teams to have accomplished that feat -- but went 0-2 for the second year ina row, losing to Nebraska and Kansas State. The tournament was played at The Ballpark in Arlington (home of the Texas Rangers) for the first time, moving to Texas after having been played in Oklahoma City each of the past five seasons.
The Bears hung close all day Wednesday against the favored Huskers, but in the end a pair of four-run innings propelled No. 2 seed Nebraska past No. 7 seed Baylor, 11-9, at The Ballpark in Arlington. The loss boiled down to Nebraska's four-run second inning. The Bears scored three runs of their own in the top of the third, and from then on, responded to each Husker scoring inning with an equal number of their own runs. Only when Nebraska scored an insurance run in the eighth did Baylor fail to match the Huskers' output. David Murphy had three hits, including a double and a homer, but Jared Theodorakos' shaky outing (5.1 innings, 10 H, 10 R, 9 ER) cost Baylor dearly.
Thursday, Kansas State pulled out the team's first Big 12 Tournament win and knocked Baylor out of the tournament Thursday, beating the 25th-ranked Bears 6-2 at The Ballpark in Arlington. Justin Taylor gutted out 6.1 innings for the Bears, but allowed 10 hits and six runs (four earned) while taking just his second loss of the season. The defeat snapped a five-game winning streak for the senior. The Bears had 10 hits on the day but stranded 11 runners as KSU starter Brock Smith struck out a career-high seven men.
baylor in the rankings
After going 0-2 at the Big 12 Tournament and riding a seven-game losing streak, Baylor dropped out of all three major polls for the first time since May 21 of last season. Before that, the Bears had not dropped out of the polls for a single week since 1999 (Feb. 15); Baylor has not disappeared from the top 25 for two consecutive weeks since the 1997 season.
The Bears ranked as high as No. 8 earlier this season (Baseball America, March 18); that was Baylor's top ranking since they checked in at No. 8 in the Baseball Weekly coaches' poll April 9, 2001.
bears among best in the big 12
Now in its sixth season as a member of the Big 12 Conference, the Bears have the second-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.
Including the 2002 season, Baylor leads all schools in both first team All-Big 12 selections (18) and in first team Academic All-Big 12 selections (30).
prospecting for gold
Five Baylor players were listed among the top 2002 Major League draft prospects in Texas by Baseball Weekly in late May. Steven White led the way, coming in as the No. 11 prospect in the state and projected as a third-round pick. After a remarkable season, Kyle Edens has put himself on the radar at No. 18, followed by JaredTheodorakos (No. 41), Chris Durbin (No. 58) and Mike Huggins (No. 61).
Also making the list were Baylor signees Clint Everts (No. 2), Mark McCormick (No. 3) and James Loney (No. 5). Everts and McCormick were both predicted to go in the first round of the draft, while Loney was pegged for the second-to-fifth rounds.
rpi stays sky high
Baylor ranks 31st in the nation in the pseudo-RPI from BoydsWorld.com, through games of May 26. After finishing tied for fifth in the conference, the Bears also have the fifth-best RPI in the Big 12, behind only Texas (9th), Nebraska (14th), Texas Tech (25th) and Oklahoma (26th).
Other 2002 opponents near the top of the charts include Rice (7th), Houston (8th), Southern California (30th) and TCU (47th). Regional opponent Lamar is ranked 91st, while Central Connecticut State ranks 194th.
The same site ranked Baylor 24th in the country in its Iterative Strength Ratings (ISR), a formula that includes a more accurate strength-of-schedule ranking than the usual RPI. Rice (2nd), Texas (3rd) and Houston (6th) are the only teams in the state ahead of Baylor; besides Texas, only Nebraska (14th) and Texas Tech (18th) rank ahead of the Bears among Big 12 schools. The same statistic names the Bears' schedule as the seventh-toughest in the country.
with honors
Six Bears were named to the 2002 Baseball Academic All-Big 12 Teams. Baylor joined Oklahoma State as the only two teams in the conference to have five first-team selections. Seniors Tim Hartshorn and Justin Taylor and juniors Ross Bennett, Paul Richmond and Steven White were all named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team. Junior Mike Huggins was named to the second team.
Bennett was also named to the 2002 Verizon District VI Baseball Academic Team.
an eye on the watch list
Chris Durbin, Kyle Edens and Steven White were included on the preliminary Rotary Smith Award Watch List, released in late April. Voting to determine the list of 12 semifinalists will begin in mid-May, and the list will be announced after the conclusion of regular season play. Three finalists will be announced before the start of NCAA Super Regional Action, the week of June 7-9. Jason Jennings won the award in 1999 en route to sweeping all six major national player of the year honors.
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 (.346), while Justin Taylor's 25 wins are just three shy of the school record for career victories.
Among the single-season records, Kyle Edens' has pitched in a record 30 games this season, while his 12 saves are three shy of the team record.
Other notable records:
Career Average: Chris Durbin (3rd, .346)
Career Doubles: Chris Durbin (6th, 53), Mike Huggins (t-8th, 48)
Career Home Runs: Chris Durbin (t-9th, 23)
Career Games Pitched: Kyle Edens (3rd, 82), Justin Taylor (6th, 78), Paul Thorp (9th, 66)
Career Starts: Steven White (t-5th, 39)
Career Wins: Justin Taylor (3rd, 25)
Career Saves: Zane Carlson (1st, 23); Kyle Edens (2nd, 16)
Career Innings Pitched: Justin Taylor (5th, 290.0)
Career Strikeouts: Justin Taylor (7th, 223), Steven White (10th, 188)
Single Season Doubles: Chris Durbin (t-4th, 22)
Single Season Triples: Mike Huggins (t-4th, 7)
Single Season RBI: Mike Huggins (t-9th, 58)
Single Season Games Pitched: Kyle Edens (1st, 32), Paul Thorp (t-3rd, 28)
Single Season Games Started: Justin Taylor (t-3rd, 17)
Single Season Saves: Kyle Edens (2nd, 12)
Single Season Innings Pitched: Justin Taylor (9th, 109.1)
Single Season Strikeouts: Jared Theodorakos (8th, 99)
Hitting Streak: Michael Griffin (8th, 16 games)
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.
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 296-178-1, Smith needs just four 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.
bears earn quintet 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.
Six weeks later, Huggins earned his second weekly honor and the team's fifth selection after blasting four homers in four games and slugging 1.357 for the week (games played April 22-28).
The five weekly honors is a new team record for most players/pitchers of the week in a season, besting the previous high of four set in 1996 and matched in 1998 and 2000.
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.
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), plus one additional player during the spring 2002 signing period.
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)Blake Womble* OF/2B 5-8 160 R/R Tyler, Texas (Robert E. Lee HS)* indicates spring 2002 signee
Twelve of the Bears' 13 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 signees qualified for academic merit scholarship as a part of their overall aid package.
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.
Of note: Trevor Mote was named Midwest League Player of the Week in the season's first week... Former all-Big12 outfielder Jeremy Dodson is being switched to the mound to take advantage of his plus-arm.... Josh Scott was transferred from Lakewood to Batavia, then released in late April.
See the listing in the sidebar of these notes for a complete list of former Baylor players active in the professional ranks.
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 296-178-1 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.
three mlb parks in one season
With two games at The Ballpark in Arlington during the Big 12 Tournament, Baylor became what is believed to be the first NCAA team to play in three major league stadiums in one season. The Bears' first two weekends of the season were spent at Enron Field in Houston for the Astros College Classic and at Dodger Stadium (three-game series vs. USC).
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. BU baseball is also a staple of the daily "Baylor SportsBeat" hosted by Morris and airing weekdays at 7:25am and 5:25pm on KRZI 1660/1580-AM.
bears among big 12 statistical leaders
As a team, Baylor leads the Big 12 Conference in batting average (.316) and ranks sixth in ERA (4.81), through games of May 26. The Bears' pitching staff leads the league in strikeouts with 479; four Bears rank among the top 15 in the league in punch-outs (Jared Theodorakos, Justin Taylor, Steven White and Trey Taylor).
A number of Bears ranked among the Big 12 individual leaders in a variety of statistics. Kyle Edens leads the league in saves with 12 and in appearances with 32 and Jared Theodorakos led all hurlers with 99 strikeouts, while Chris Durbin topped the conference in hitting (for league games only) at .385.
Others:
Ross Bennett: 11th in hitting (.357)
Chris Durbin: 2nd in doubles (22), 5th in hits (82), t-7th in triples (4), 8th in total bases (130), t-8th in walks (34), 9th in runs (59), 9th in on-base percentage (.445), 10th in average (.358)
Kyle Edens: 1st in saves (12), 1st in appearances (32)
Michael Griffin: t-7th in triples (4)
Tim Hartshorn: 6th in triples (5)
Mike Huggins: t-2nd in triples (7), 5th in RBI (58), 6th in total bases (133), 8th in slugging (.596), t-17th in average (.345)
David Murphy: t-7th in triples (4)
Justin Taylor: 2nd in innings pitched (109.1), 2nd in starts (17), t-3rd in wins (8), 4th in strikeouts (79), 11th in ERA (3.95)
Jared Theodorakos: 1st in strikeouts (99), t-9th in complete games (2)
Paul Thorp: 3rd in appearances (28), 10th in ERA (3.86)
Trey Webb: t-6th in hits (81), t-7th in steals (17), 10th in runs (58)
Steven White: t-4th in starts (15), t-9th in strikeouts (71), 9th in innings pitched (89.2)
