Bears, Aggies Meet for Baseball Battle of the Brazos
5/12/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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GAMES 50-52 •
No. 10 BAYLOR (31-18, 15-6)
vs.
BAYLOR BALLPARK •
THE SERIES
Overall Record:
Neutral Site: Baylor leads 6-4
Since start of Big 12: Baylor leads 15-11
Smith vs.
First Meeting:
Last Meeting:
COACHES
BAYLOR: Steve Smith
Alma Mater: Baylor, 1986
Career Record: 403-252-1 (11th season)
Record at Baylor: 403-252-1 (11th season)
Alma Mater:
Career Record: 875-426-3 (21st season)
Record at Rice: 875-426-3 (21st season)
TELEVISION BROADCAST
ESPN2 (FRIDAY)
Dave Barnett, play-by-play
Kyle Peterson, color
BAYLOR RADIO NETWORK
ESPN/KRZI 1660 AM (
Tom Barfield, play-by-play
Lark Smith, color
INTERNET FEEDS
GameTracker: www.BaylorBears.com
Audio: www.BaylorBears.com
Video: www.BaylorBears.com
BAYLOR NATIONAL RANKINGS
Baseball
Sports Weekly/ESPN/Coaches 12th
NCBWA 9th
Collegiate Baseball 9th
PROJECTED STARTERS
Friday, May 13
BU - RHP Mark McCormick (6-3, 2.74 ERA)
TAMU - RHP Robert Ray (2-4, 3.02 ERA)
Saturday, May 14
BU - LHP Trey
TAMU - LHP Jason Meyer (5-3, 3.03 ERA)
Sunday, May 15
BU - LHP Cory VanAllen (6-4, 3.99 ERA)
TAMU - RHP Chance Gorgan (4-2, 3.96 ERA)
Baylor returns to action this weekend, facing Texas A&M in the annual split-series. The Bears and the Aggies meet Friday at
Friday's game will be televised nationally on ESPN2. Dave Barnett handles play-by-play duties, while Kyle Peterson serves as color analyst.
Baylor (31-18, 15-6) dropped a 7-0 decision Wednesday night at No. 15 Rice. Ranked 10th in this week's Baseball America Top 25, Baylor is 12-6 in its last 18 games. The Bears enter the series first in the Big 12 Conference standings, one game ahead of
Texas A&M (29-20-1. 8-13) defeated
All Baylor baseball games are broadcast live on ESPN/KRZI 1660 AM in
Live streaming video also is available for the weekend series. For more information, visit the BearCasts link at www.BaylorBears.com.
QUICK NOTES ...
• Baylor and Texas A&M meet for the 247th, 248th and 249th times this weekend. Texas A&M holds a 138-107-1 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 the only team in the Big 12 Conference with a team batting average higher in conference play (.281) than its overall season team batting average (.269). Baylor joins
• Baylor is 11-4 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,
• Over the last 24 games, Baylor's pitching staff has posted a 2.71 ERA with 182 strikeouts against 86 walks in 222.1 innings. Opponents are hitting just .221 against Baylor pitching in that time.
• OF Kevin Sevigny is hitting .294 (20-for-68) since April 1; he entered April hitting .136.
• OF Reid Brees is hitting .329 (23-for-70) since April 1; he entered April hitting .247.
• C/DH Josh Ford is hitting a team-best .345 (29-for-84) since April 1.
• Ford has not hit below .298 at any point this season, dipping below the .300 mark for only one at bat. He has reached base safely in 47 of 49 games and has hit safely in 39 of 49 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 .389 (14-for-36) over the last nine games. He also has a .533 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
• 10 times since the beginning of the 2004 season,
• In his last two starts,
• Since March 1, RHP Ryan 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 39.2 innings. In that time, LaMotta has held opponents to a .172 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 11 consecutive relief appearances, allowing only two unearned runs in that time (19.1 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 nine games, going 12-for-33 (.364) in that time with two doubles and seven RBI.
• 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
Baylor and Texas A&M meet for the 247th, 248th and 249th times this weekend. The Aggies hold a 138-107-1 advantage in the all-time series, the second-most played series in Baylor baseball history (
The Bears hold a 69-66 advantage in games played in
Baylor leads the series 15-11 since the beginning of Big 12 Conference play in 1997, 14-10 in regular-season meetings. Only once during that time has a team swept the season series; Baylor did so in 2000.
The Bears and the Aggies began using the current split-series format in 1993. Since that time, the home team is 20-16. Only twice (1999 and 2002) has the home team won all three games. In 2001, the visiting team won all three games.
Last season, Baylor won the Friday game 8-7 at
DILLON,
C/DH Zach Dillon and 2B Michael Griffin earned ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District VI honors, the College Sports Information Directors of America announced Thursday. Dillon is honored for the first time in his career, while
At least one Baylor baseball student-athlete has earned academic all-district honors every year since 1998. In that time, 12 Bears have been so honored 17 times. Griffin, Baylor's first three-time honoree, joins Jason Jennings (1998, 1999), Jon Topolski (1998, 1999) and Ross Bennett (2002, 2003) as the only Baylor baseball student-athletes to earn academic all-district honors multiple times.
In order to be eligible for academic all-district honors, a student-athletes must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.20 on a 4.00 scale and participate in at least 50 percent of his team's games. Freshmen and first-year transfers are not eligible. Those selected all-district are automatically nominated for Academic All-America honors.
BAYLOR IN TELEVISED GAMES
Friday is the fourth and final regular-season television game for Baylor, the most in the program's history. Since 1988, Baylor is 17-17 in televised games, including a 2-1 mark this season. The Bears defeated
This is Baylor's first ever appearance on ESPN2. The Bears' 2003 super regional at
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
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
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).
RECORDS WATCH
MICHAEL
Next start will be the 239th of his career, tying Jon Topolski (1996-99) for second all-time at Baylor. ... Next start in a Big 12 game will be the 100th of his career, joining Matt Williams (1998-01) and Preston Underdown (1997-00) as the only Baylor players to reach that plateau. ... Needs 15 at bats to reach 1,000 for his career. Would be just the 11th player in NCAA Division I history to reach that plateau. ... Next hit will be the 300th of his career. ... 11 RBI shy of tying Baylor's all-time career record of 204, set by Eric Nelson (1996-99). ... Next RBI in a Big 12 game will match Nelson's Baylor record of 82 career RBI in Big 12 play. ... Next extra-base hit in a Big 12 game will be the 50th of his career, joining Chris Durbin (2000-03) and Nelson as the only Bears to reach that plateau.
Josh Ford
Next double will the 48th of his career and will tie Ken Kolkhorst (1975-78) for 10th all-time at Baylor. ... Needs three total bases to become the eighth Baylor player to reach the 400 total bases plateau for his career. ... Next time hit by pitch will be the 33rd time of his career, moving into sole possession of second place all-time at Baylor.
With next appearance will move into sole possession of fourth place all-time at Baylor.
TREY
Next Big 12 start will be the 19th of his career, tying four others for third all-time at Baylor. ... Needs six strikeouts to tie Brett Bergman (1995-98) for ninth in Baylor history. Seven strikeouts would move him into a tie for seventh place, and 11 strikeouts would move him into a tie for sixth place.
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 403-252-1 (.615) 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
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
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 first 10 seasons as head coach, the Bears 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 also placed a league-leading 41 players on the Academic All-Big 12 first team in the past eight seasons.
UP NEXT ...
Baylor plays its final regular-season non-conference game Tuesday, May 17, hosting
