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GAME 39 • APRIL 19, 2005 • 7:00 P.M. CDT

No. 8 BAYLOR (25-13)

at

TCU (24-12)

LUPTON STADIUM • FORT WORTH, TEXAS

THE SERIES

Overall Record: Baylor leads 130-98

Waco: Baylor leads 66-39

Fort Worth: Tied 47-47

Neutral Site: TCU leads 5-1

Unknown Sites: Baylor leads 16-7

Smith vs. TCU: 11-10

Last Meeting: at Baylor 4, TCU 3 (10) [3/15/2004]

COACHES

BAYLOR: Steve Smith

Alma Mater: Baylor, 1986

Career Record: 397-247-1 (11th season)

Record at Baylor: 397-247-1 (11th season)

TCU: Jim Schlossnagle

Alma Mater: Elon, 1992

Career Record: 140-85 (4th season)

Record at TCU: 63-38 (2nd season)

BAYLOR RADIO NETWORK

ESPN/KRZI 1660 AM (Waco)

Tom Barfield, play-by-play

Lark Smith, color

INTERNET FEEDS

GameTracker: www.BaylorBears.com

Audio: www.BaylorBears.com

Video: None

BAYLOR NATIONAL RANKINGS

Baseball America 8th

Sports Weekly/ESPN/Coaches 14th

NCBWA 9th

Collegiate Baseball 10th

Baylor returns to action Tuesday, April 19, traveling to Fort Worth, Texas, to face former Southwest Conference rival TCU. First pitch at Lupton Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m. CDT. This is the second of two scheduled meetings between the teams this season. The Bears defeated the Horned Frogs 4-3 in 10 innings last month at Baylor Ballpark.

Baylor (25-13) swept a weekend series at Kansas, including a 3-2 come-from-behind victory in Sunday's finale. The Bears, ranked eighth in this week's Baseball America Top 25, have won six of their last seven and are 17-6 since March 11.

TCU (24-12) took two of three over the weekend at Memphis. The Frogs won each of the first two games handily before dropping Sunday's series finale 6-5 in 10 innings.

All Baylor baseball games are broadcast live on ESPN/KRZI 1660 AM in Waco. Live streaming audio and GameTracker also are available for all Baylor baseball games online at www.BaylorBears.com, the official website of Baylor Athletics and a member of the College Sports Network.

LEADING OFF

BEARS CLIMB FOUR SPOTS IN BASEBALL AMERICA

Baylor climbed four spots in this week's Baseball America Top 25, landing at No. 8 in the season's 12th ranking. The Bears posted a 3-1 record last week, including a weekend three-game series sweep at Kansas. This week's ranking matches Baylor's highest of the season. The Bears were eighth for two weeks in February.

The top six teams remained unchanged from last week's rankings with Texas still as the nation's top-ranked team despite sitting fourth in the Big 12 Conference standings, three-and-a-half games behind Baylor. Cal State Fullerton is second, followed by Tulane, Georgia Tech, Florida and Arizona. Miami, Fla., moved up two spots to No. 7, followed by Baylor, Oregon State (up two spots) and Long Beach State (up six spots).

Baylor remains the second highest-ranked Big 12 team behind Texas; Nebraska, which hosts the Bears for a three-game series this weekend, is 11th and Missouri is 17th. Other 2005 Baylor opponents in this weeks rankings are No. 10 Long Beach State, No. 15 Rice, No. 16 Tennessee and No. 21 Arizona State.

In the other rankings, Baylor climbed two spots to No. 14 in the Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches Poll, 14 spots to No. 9 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association Top 35 and six spots to No. 10 in the Collegiate Baseball Top 30.

QUICK NOTES ...

• Baylor and TCU meet for the 229th time Tuesday, the third most-played series in Baylor baseball history. The Bears hold a 130-98 advantage in the series, which is tied 47-47 in games played at Fort Worth.

• Baylor's 12-3 start in Big 12 play is its best five-series start since starting the 2001 season 12-3. The 2000 Big 12 Champions team started 10-5 and went 13-2 the rest of the way.

• According to the latest rankings at www.BoydsWorld.com (April 12), Baylor ranks sixth nationally in RPI and 10th in ISR (Iterative Strength Rating).

• Baylor's strength of schedule ranks 10th nationally, according to www.BoydsWorld.com.

• Baylor is 11-7 against the latest RPI top 50, including a 10-4 mark against the top 23 and a 3-0 mark against the top 10.

• At 10-1, Baylor owns the nation's best record against nationally ranked opponents.

• The Bears have won a program-best nine consecutive games against Top 25 teams. The previous program best was a six-game streak in 1999.

• Baylor has won a program-best six consecutive games against teams ranked in the top 10 nationally. The previous program best was five in 1999.

• The Bears are 22-4 this season when the starting pitcher goes at least 5.0 innings.

• Baylor is 9-1 this season on Sunday.

• Baylor is 10-1 this season in gold jerseys.

• Baylor is 18-1 this season when scoring first.

• Baylor is 6-0 when leading after one inning, 9-1 after two, 13-0 after three, 14-0 after four, 16-0 after five, 20-0 after six and 21-0 after the seven innings or later.

• The Bears are averaging 6.4 runs per nine innings in April with an 8-3 record in that time.

• In the last nine games, Baylor is hitting .314 as a team with 24 doubles, three triples and eight home runs. The Bears are 7-2 in that time.

• OF Reid Brees is hitting .360 (9-for-25) over the last nine games.

• C/DH Zach Dillon has hit safely in nine consecutive games, a career long streak and the second-longest streak by a Bear this season. In that time, Dillon is hitting .424 (14-for-33) with five runs, three doubles, seven RBI, a .515 slugging percentage and a .472 on base percentage.

• 2B Michael Griffin is hitting .375 (18-for-48) over the last 12 games with 12 runs, four doubles, two home runs, eight RBI, a .583 slugging percentage and a .412 on base percentage.

• Griffin has committed only four errors in 173 chances this season. He has played error-free ball in 35 of 38 games this season.

• 3B Kevin Russo is hitting .333 (9-for-27) over the last seven games with six runs, three doubles, one home run, seven RBI, a .556 slugging percentage and a .379 on base percentage.

• OF Kevin Sevigny is hitting .375 (6-for-16) over the last five games with five runs, two doubles, one triple, two home runs, five RBI, a 1.000 slugging percentage and a .529 on base percentage.

• RHP Mark McCormick has allowed only 15 runs, nine earned, on 27 hits and 22 walks with 49 strikeouts over his last 50.0 innings. In that time, he is 5-1 with a 1.62 ERA and a .154 opponents' batting average. McCormick's overall ERA has dropped from 10.27 to 3.02 in that time.

• Baylor is 8-2 this season in McCormick's 10 starts.

• In LHP Trey Taylor's last 21 starts, he has allowed three or fewer earned runs 17 times and two or fewer 13 times. Baylor is 14-4 in Taylor's last 18 starts; he is 8-3 in that time.

• C/DH Josh Ford has hit safely in 14 consecutive games, a career-long streak and the longest by a Bear since Michael Griffin's 16-game streak last season. Ford is hitting .370 (20-for-54) with three home runs, 11 RBI, nine runs, a .593 slugging percentage and a .424 on base percentage during his streak.

• Ford has reached safely in 33 consecutive games (a career-long streak) and in 37 of 38 games this season. He has hit safely in 27 of the 33 games during the streak.

• RHP Ryan LaMotta has pitched scoreless ball in 17 of 19 appearances this season. Currently, LaMotta has pitched 27.1 consecutive scoreless innings covering his last 13 appearances.

• LaMotta has allowed six of 19 inherited runners to score. Four of those six runners scored by virtue of an error.

• RHP Jeff Mandel has not allowed an earned run in nine consecutive appearances, allowing only two unearned runs in that time (16.1 innings).

• LHP Cory VanAllen has won four consecutive decisions over a six-start span. He has lasted at least 6.0 innings in seven of 10 starts this season, going is 6-0 with a 2.03 ERA and a .220 opponents' batting average in those seven starts.

• SS Paul Witt leads the team with 11 two-out RBI this season (he has 16 total RBI).

• Baylor's leadoff batter has reached base in 126 of 336 innings this season (37.5 percent); 74 times that base runner has scored (58.7 percent). The Bears have scored in 113 innings this season; the leadoff batter reached base safely in 74 of those innings (65.5 percent).

• Since the start of the Big 12 in 1997, the Bears have the league's best conference record at 149-86 (.634). Baylor leads all conference schools in both first-team All-Big 12 selections (21) and first-team Academic All-Big 12 selections (47), and the Bears are the only Big 12 Conference program to have ranked in the top 10 nationally at some point during each of the past eight seasons (1998-2005).

• Baylor ranks 26th nationally in total wins since 2000, third among Big 12 Conference teams, with 214 wins through games of April 10, 2005.

• Since 1998, Baylor also is third in the Big 12 in total wins with 305 victories behind only Texas (335) and Nebraska (324) through games of April 10, 2005.

THE TCU SERIES

Baylor and TCU meet for the 229th time Tuesday; the Bears hold a 130-98 advantage in the all-time series, which dates back to the 1904 season. This is the third-most played series in Baylor Baseball history behind only Texas (312 meetings) and Texas A&M (246 meetings).

The series is tied 47-47 in games played at Fort Worth; however, the Bears have won five straight at TCU since a 6-1 loss April 6, 1996. Baylor has won six straight overall against TCU.

This is the second and final scheduled meeting between the teams in the 2004 regular season. Baylor won the first meeting 4-3 in 10 innings March 15 at Baylor Ballpark.

THE TCU HORNED FROGS

TCU (24-12) is its second season under the direction of head coach Jim Schlossnagle, a 1992 Elon graduate. Schlossnagle took over the reigns of the Frogs' program in the summer of 2003 after two seasons as head coach at UNLV. Schlossnagle has a career record of 140-85, including a 63-38 mark at TCU.

TCU Notes: The Horned Frogs are 7-3 in their last 10 games but 2-2 in their last four. Prior to taking two of three at Memphis last weekend, TCU lost a 20-10 slugfest at Oklahoma last Tuesday. ... The Frogs are 1-4 this season against the Big 12, splitting two games with Texas Tech and dropping both meetings with Oklahoma along with a loss at Baylor. ... TCU has spent eight week's in Baseball America's Top 25 this season with a high ranking of No. 21. ... The Frogs hit .299 as a team with 42 home runs, 78 doubles, eight triples and 31 stolen bases in 43 attempts. TCU averages 7.3 runs per game. ... TCU boasts a 4.18 staff ERA with two complete games, three shutouts, five saves and 327 strikeouts against 160 walks in 52.2 innings. Opponents hit .251 against TCU pitching. ... The Frogs field at a .957 clip with 60 errors and 33 double plays turned. Opponents have stolen 39 bases in 52 attempts.

SMITH NEARS ANOTHER MILESTONE

Baylor head coach Steve Smith enters Tuesday's game at TCU three wins shy of victory No. 400 in his collegiate career, all coming at Baylor. Now in his 11th season at the helm of the Baylor program, Smith is 397-247-1.

BEARS' BULLPEN CONTINUES TO SHINE

Through 38 games, Baylor's bullpen has a 9-1 record with a 2.43 ERA and a .229 opponents' batting average in 144.1 innings. The Bears have been even stronger out of the pen on the weekend, going 7-1 with a 1.96 ERA, 10 saves and a .224 opponents' batting average in 96.2 innings.

Furthermore, the trio of RHP Ryan LaMotta, RHP Jeff Mandel and RHP Abe Woody has been dominant this season. That trio is 7-1 with a 1.40 ERA, nine saves and a .183 opponents' batting average in 77.0 innings on weekends.

In Big 12 Conference play, Baylor's bullpen is 3-1 with a 1.39 ERA, six saves and a .206 opponents' batting average in 45.1 innings. LaMotta (17.0 innings), Mandel (10.1 innings) and RHP Tyler Bullock (3.0 innings) have allowed only one unearned run in Big 12 play.

BEARS REMAIN HIGH IN PSEUDO RPI RANKINGS

Through games of April 10, Baylor ranks sixth nationally in the pseudo RPI rankings at www.BoydsWorld.com. With a 0.632 rating, the Bears are just behind Arkansas, College of Charleston and Florida (all at 0.634). Tulane (0.658) ranks first, followed by Texas (0.637).

A large reason for Baylor's high RPI ranking is its strength of schedule and the Bears' record against strong opponents. Baylor holds the nation's best record against nationally ranked opponents at 10-1, and the Bears' schedule ranks as the nation's 10th-toughest entering the week.

Of Baylor's 38 games this season, 30 were against teams ranked in the RPI top 100 with 18 games against the RPI top 50 and 14 games against the RPI top 30. The Bears are 10-4 against the top 30, including a 3-0 mark against the top 10.

BAYLOR SCHEDULE AMONG NATION'S TOUGHEST

Baylor's 2005 schedule ranked fourth nationally preseason and is so ranked in this week's rankings at www.BoydsWorld.com after one week as the nation's toughest. That tough schedule should come as no surprise; Baylor has ranked 13th or better in strength of schedule each of the past six seasons.

The Bears are a national-best 10-1 this season against ranked opponents, including a 6-0 mark against teams ranked in the top 10.

Baylor opened the season at the Minute Maid Park College Classic, followed by a streak of six consecutive weekend series against teams ranked nationally in the Baseball America Preseason Top 25. The Bears played 20 consecutive weekend games against teams ranked nationally in one of the four major polls at some point this season.

BEARS BEST IN THE BIG 12

Baylor has the best conference record of any team in the Big 12 Conference since the league's start in 1997. At 149-86 (.634), the Bears are ahead of Texas (144-94, .605) and Texas Tech (143-94-1; .603). Included in the first eight seasons for Baylor are one Big 12 championship (2000) and a pair of runner-up finishes (1998, 1999).

On top of that, Baylor is the only Big 12 Conference school to have ranked in the top 10 nationally during each of the past eight seasons (1998-2005). Baylor joins Oklahoma State as the only schools to have never finished below .500 in Big 12 play.

Including the 2004 totals, Baylor leads all conference schools in Big 12 history in both first-team All-Big 12 selections (21) and in first-team Academic All-Big 12 selections (41).

ARSENAL OF OPPOSING ARMS CONTINUES

Through Baylor's first 38 games, only two opposing pitchers this season had a losing record going into the game: UTSA's Ryan Crew (0-1) and Arizona State's Pat Bresnehan (0-1).

In fact, the 38 opposing starting pitchers Baylor has faced this season had a combined 79-30 record entering their starts against Baylor. However, the Bears' opposing starting pitchers are 11-21 in their games against the Bears.

Additionally, Baylor has faced three of the nation's five returning 12-game winners, doing so in successive weekend series against Oral Roberts (Dennis Bigley), Arizona State (Jason Urquidez) and Long Beach State (Cesar Ramos).

FORD, REYNOLDS ON WALLACE AWARD WATCH LIST

1B Kyle Reynolds and C Josh Ford represent Baylor on the watch list for the Wallace Award, which is presented to the nation's top collegiate player by the College Baseball Foundation. Cal State Fullerton catcher Kurt Suzuki won the initial Brooks Wallace Award last season.

The Wallace Watch will be trimmed to 12 semi-finalists by May 24. The selection committee then will narrow the list to three finalists following the NCAA Super Regionals.

The selection committee for the Wallace Award is comprised of a national panel of coaches, sports information directors, former winners and media. Screening Committee members will evaluate the candidates and will continue their review throughout the entire baseball season. Additional Wallace Watch candidates may be added as the season progresses. Voting for the three finalists and the Wallace Award winner will be conducted by confidential balloting, with totals tabulated by the J.W. Anderson & Associates accounting firm in Lubbock.

WOODY NAMED TO STOPPER WATCH LIST

RHP Abe Woody has been named to the initial watch list for the 2005 National Stopper of the Year Award, sponsored by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association. One of 30 Division I closers from across the nation in the running for the first-year award, Woody joins Texas junior J. Brent Cox as the only Big 12 Conference closers on the list.

A product of Round Rock [Texas] High School, Woody boasts a career record of 11-1 with a 3.58 ERA and 10 saves in 57 career relief appearances. He led the Bears with five saves last season and is currently tied for second in the Big 12 with two saves this season. Woody has tallied 83 career strikeouts in 110.1 innings of work while holding opponents to a .212 batting average.

At the end the regular season, the Division I leader in saves and four other relief pitching standouts will be selected as the award's finalists. These finalists will be released June 1, just prior to the beginning of NCAA regional play. From the list of finalists, the NCBWA's All-America Committee will select a winner. The inaugural winner will be announced on June 8, two days prior to the beginning of NCAA Super Regional action.

McCORMICK ON CLEMENS AWARD WATCH LIST

RHP Mark McCormick is among 42 pitchers named to the initial watch list for the 2005 Clemens Award, presented July 14 to the nation's top collegiate pitcher by the Greater Houston Baseball Association.

McCormick, who is projected to be a first-round draft pick in June's First-Year Player Draft, was 2-4 with a 4.70 ERA in 46.0 innings covering 11 appearances and 10 starts last season. However, he missed six weeks of the season due to a shoulder injury. McCormick was named first-team preseason All-America by Baseball America earlier this year.

The list is comprised of all Division I pitchers who were named as pre-season All-Americans by either Baseball America or Collegiate Baseball, in addition to those pitchers who have been honored so far this season as National Pitchers of the Week by the National College Baseball Writers Association. Weekly winners of the writer's award will be added to the list until the start of the first round of voting at the end of April. Additional nominees will be added to the ballot based on notable performances and rankings in the NCAA statistical rankings.

HEAD COACH Steve Smith

Steve Smith begins his second decade as head coach at Baylor in 2005. In his first decade, Smith guided the program to near unprecedented heights, including the most successful six-year run in the program's 100-year history.

Smith has compiled a 397-247-1 (.616) career record, all at Baylor. He holds the best winning percentage of any coach in Baylor baseball history, and he ranks second among the program's 18 head coaches in career victories. Smith has led Baylor to six NCAA Regional appearances, two NCAA Super Regional appearances and the 2000 Big 12 Conference title. He also has coached 12 All-America selections and seven USA Baseball National Team members while at Baylor.

In January 2005, Smith was named head coach of the USA Baseball National Team for the upcoming summer. Smith is just the second Big 12 Conference coach to serve as head coach of the national team. He also previously served as an assistant coach under his former Mississippi State boss Ron Polk on the 1998 USA Baseball National Team that posted an overall record of 30-12.

Smith led the Bears to their first-ever 50-win season in 1999 and a Big 12 championship in 2000, and piloted the team to six straight NCAA appearances from 1998 to 2003. His Bears have the best conference record in the Big 12 since the league began. Through the 2004 season, Smith ranked 47th nationally among active coaches in winning percentage with a .628 mark, fourth among Big 12 coaches.

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. He was drafted in the fifth round of the 1983 Major League Draft by the San Francisco Giants and played four years of pro ball before moving into the coaching ranks.

An accomplished pitching coach, Smith has tutored six pitchers in the last 12 years who were selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft. He also had at least one pitcher named to the all-conference first team for 11 straight years (1992-2002).

In Smith's 10 seasons as head coach, the Bears have produced four first-round draft picks, 10 All-Americans, six Academic All-Americans, one National Player of the Year, one GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year, 25 first-team all-conference performers, nine freshman All-Americans, and three conference players of the year. Baylor has also placed a league-leading 41 players on the Academic All-Big 12 first team in the past eight seasons.

STREAMING VIDEO AVAILABLE FOR SELECT GAMES

Live streaming video is available for select games during the 2004 season. A total of 24 games will be available online at www.BaylorBears.com, the official website of Baylor athletics and a member of the College Sports Online network. Seventeen of the 24 webcasts will be against Big 12 Conference opponents, including the Bears' three-game league sets against Oklahoma, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Missouri, as well as the home portion of the Texas series.

Fans may purchase the games for $4.95 per game or $9.95 for a three-series. Fans also have the option of purchasing monthly ($6.95) or annual ($49.95) subscriptions which include all BearCasts in that time period. These remaining games will be available in the BearCast package:

April 29, 30, May 1 - Texas Tech

May 13, 14, 15 - Texas A&M

May 20, 21, 22 - Missouri

BAYLOR BASEBALL RADIO NETWORK

Catch every inning of Baylor baseball in 2005 on the flagship station for Baylor athletics, ESPN/KRZI 1660 AM Waco.

Tom Barfield and Lark Smith are in their fourth season together as the primary play-by-play and color men for Baylor baseball. Barfield, the operations manager for KRZI/KRZX and KLRK-FM in Waco, is best known as co-host of the afternoon "You Make the Call" call-in show. Barfield saw his first action calling Baylor baseball in 2002, when he and Smith called the Bears' sweep of Southern California at Dodger Stadium.

Smith, whose attachment to Baylor baseball dates back to the days of coach Dutch Schroeder, was Sports Director for the Baylor campus radio station in the late 1970s and served as play-by-play voice for the Bears' 1977 and 1978 College World Series teams. After nearly two decades in broadcasting, Smith now works for the Heart O'Texas Federal Credit Union in Waco.

Live streaming audio for all 2005 Baylor baseball games are available on the Internet at www.BaylorBears.com. BU baseball is also a staple of the daily "Baylor SportsBeat" hosted by John Morris and airing weekdays at 7:25am and 5:25pm on ESPN/KRZI 1660 AM.

BAYLORBEARS.COM

Baylor's official athletic web site can be found at www.BaylorBears.com. The comprehensive site, which includes releases, photos, biographical sketches and audio broadcasts, is part of the College Sports Online network, which currently hosts sites for more than 100 universities, including four Big 12 schools.

INSIDE BAYLOR SPORTS TV SHOW

Inside Baylor Sports, a half-hour look at the world of Baylor athletics, airs weekly throughout Central Texas and the region. The program, co-hosted by John Morris and Lori Scott-Fogleman, airs on KCEN-TV Channel 6, Fox Sports Net Southwest and the College Channel (Waco cable channel 18). KCEN carries the show at 10:30 p.m. Sundays, and it airs at 1 p.m. Wednesdays on FSN Southwest.

UP NEXT ...

Baylor plays its lone home game in a nine-game stretch Wednesday, April 20, hosting Prairie View A&M for a 6 p.m. CDT game at Baylor Ballpark. The game is a schedule addition, replacing the Feb. 22 game against McNeese State that was postponed due to inclement weather and later cancelled.