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GAME 49 • MAY 11, 2005 • 7:00 P.M. CDT

No. 10 BAYLOR (31-17)

at

No. 15 RICE (32-15)

RECKLING PARK • HOUSTON, TEXAS

THE SERIES

Overall Record: Baylor leads 125-80-1

Waco: Baylor leads 71-29

Houston (at Rice): Rice leads 46-44-1

Neutral Site: Rice leads 3-1

Unknown Sites: Baylor leads 10-2

Smith vs. Rice: 12-14

Last Meeting: Baylor 6, Rice 1 [2/13/05; MMPCC]

COACHES

BAYLOR: Steve Smith

Alma Mater: Baylor, 1986

Career Record: 403-251-1 (11th season)

Record at Baylor: 403-251-1 (11th season)

RICE: Wayne Graham

Alma Mater: Texas, 1970

Career Record: 1,189-366 (25th season)

Record at Rice: 614-298 (14th 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 10th

Sports Weekly/ESPN/Coaches 12th

NCBWA 9th

Collegiate Baseball 9th

PROJECTED STARTERS

BU - LHP Cory VanAllen (6-3, 3.90 ERA)

RICE - RHP Bobby Bell (2-0, 2.38 ERA)

Baylor returns to action Wednesday, May 11, traveling to Houston, Texas, to face former Southwest Conference foe Rice. The Bears and the Owls meet at 7 p.m. CDT at Reckling Park on the Rice campus. This is the second scheduled meeting between the two teams this season; Baylor defeated Rice 6-1 Feb. 13 at the Minute Maid Park College Classic.

Neither team has played in over a week, taking a break in the schedule for final exams. The Bears (31-17) last played May 3, defeating Texas-San Antonio 6-5 at Baylor Ballpark. Ranked 10th in this week's Baseball America Top 25, Baylor is 12-5 in its last 17 games.

The Owls (32-15) have not played since taking two of three against Fresno State at home April 29-30. Ranked 15th in this week's Baseball America Top 25, Rice has won six of its last seven and 11 of its last 14.

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 REMAIN No. 10 IN BASEBALL AMERICA TOP 25

Baylor remained No. 10 in this week's Baseball America Top 25 after a 1-0 week with the weekend off for finals. The Bears, top-ranked Cal State Fullerton and second-ranked Tulane were the only teams in the top 10 to remain unchanged. Baylor now has been ranked in the top 10 six weeks this season.

Oregon State and Miami, Fla., climbed one spot each to No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. Texas dropped two spots to No. 5. Nebraska (sixth), Georgia Tech (seventh) and Arizona (eighth) moved up one spot each, and Tennessee climbed four spots to No. 9.

Missouri gives the Big 12 Conference four nationally ranked teams; the Tigers slipped three spots to No. 20 after dropping two of three at Nebraska over the weekend. Other 2005 Baylor opponents in this week's rankings are Tennessee (1-0), No. 12 Long Beach State (1-2), No. 15 Rice (1-0) and No. 18 Arizona State (1-2). At 11-3, Baylor holds the nation's second-best record against nationally ranked opponents behind only Tulane (9-2).

In other polls, Baylor climbed three spots to No. 12 in the Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches' Poll, two spots to No. 9 in the Collegiate Baseball Top 30, and one spot to No. 9 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 35.

QUICK NOTES ...

• Baylor and Rice meet for the 207th time Wednesday. The Bears hold a 125-80-1 advantage in the all-time series.

• According to this week's rankings at www.BoydsWorld.com, Baylor ranks fourth nationally in RPI and eighth in ISR (Iterative Strength Rating).

• Baylor's strength of schedule ranks 11th nationally, according to www.BoydsWorld.com.

• Baylor's 15-6 start in Big 12 play is its best six-series start since starting the 2000 season 15-6. That team, which won the Big 12 Championship, started 12-6 and went 11-1 the rest of the way.

• Baylor is 11-3 this season against nationally ranked opponents, second nationally behind only Tulane (9-2).

• 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 25-7 this season when the starting pitcher goes at least 5.0 innings.

• Baylor is 10-2 this season on Sunday.

• Baylor is 11-3 this season in Championship Gold jerseys.

• Baylor is 25-4 this season when scoring first.

• Baylor is 7-0 this season when hitting at least two home runs.

• Baylor is 24-3 this season when out-hitting the opponent.

• Baylor is 9-1 when leading after one inning, 12-4 after two, 15-3 after three, 17-3 after four, 19-1 after five, 25-1 after six and 26-1 after seven innings or later.

• Over the last 24 games, Baylor's pitching staff has posted a 2.56 ERA with 175 strikeouts against 83 walks in 214.1 innings. Opponents are hitting just .219 against Baylor pitching in that time.

• Baylor pitchers are 12-5 with a 2.43 ERA over the last 17 games.

• OF Kevin Sevigny is hitting .308 (20-for-65) since April 1; he entered April hitting .136.

• OF Reid Brees is hitting .348 (23-for-66) since April 1; he entered April hitting .247.

• C/DH Josh Ford is hitting a team-best .350 (28-for-80) since April 1.

• Ford has not hit below .300 at any point this season. He has reached base safely in 46 of 48 games and has hit safely in 38 of 48 games. Ford enjoyed a career-long 14-game hitting streak earlier this season; he also enjoyed a career-long streak of 37 games in which he reached safely.

• Ford is hitting .406 (13-for-32) over the last nine games. He also has a .548 on base percentage in that time.

• RHP Mark McCormick has allowed only 18 runs, 11 earned, on 36 hits and 28 walks with 65 strikeouts over his last 62.2 innings. In that time, he is 6-1 with a 1.58 ERA and a .163 opponents' batting average (221 at bats). McCormick's overall ERA has dropped from 10.27 to 2.74 in that time.

• Baylor is 9-3 this season in McCormick's 12 starts.

• In LHP Trey Taylor's last 23 starts, he has allowed three or fewer earned runs 19 times and two or fewer 15 times. Baylor is 15-5 in Taylor's last 20 starts; he is 8-4 in that time.

• 10 times since the beginning of the 2004 season, Taylor has pitched at least 5.0 innings and allowed fewer earned runs than the opposing pitching staff and did not earn a win. Taylor is 0-3 in those 10 starts with seven no-decisions.

• In his last two starts, Taylor has a 0.77 ERA; however, he is 0-1.

• Since March 1, LaMotta is 3-0 with four saves and a 0.69 ERA, allowing only five runs, three earned, on 24 hits and eight walks with 49 strikeouts in 39.0 innings. In that time, LaMotta has held opponents to a .175 batting average.

• LaMotta has allowed six of 22 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 10 consecutive relief appearances, allowing only two unearned runs in that time (17.0 innings).

• SS Paul Witt leads the team with 14 two-out RBI each this season. Witt has produced 60.8 percent of his 23 RBI this season with two outs, the best such percentage on the team.

• Witt has hit safely in seven of his last eight games, going 12-for-30 (.400) in that time with two doubles, seven RBI and a .424 on base percentage.

• Since the start of the Big 12 in 1997, the Bears have the league's best conference record at 152-89 (.631). 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).

THE RICE SERIES

Baylor and Rice meet for the 207th time Wednesday, making this the fourth most-played series in Baylor baseball history behind only Texas (315), Texas A&M (249) and TCU (229). Baylor holds a 125-80-1 advantage the all-time series, which dates back to April 25, 1919.

The Bears won the first meeting this season 6-1 at the Minute Maid Park College Classic. That snapped a six-game Rice winning streak in the series.

The Owls hold a slim 46-44-1 advantage in the series in games played on the Rice campus.

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 152-89 (.631), the Bears are ahead of Texas (149-98, .603) and Texas Tech (145-97-1; .599). 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).

UP NEXT ...

Baylor returns to Big 12 Conference play this weekend, facing Texas A&M in the annual split series. The Bears and the Aggies meet Friday at 6 p.m. CDT at Baylor Ballpark. The series then shifts to Olsen Field at College Station for Saturday's 7 p.m. meeting and Sunday's 2 p.m. series finale. Friday's game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.