Jan. 19, 2006

WACO, Texas -- Baylor baseball senior Kevin Russo was named preseason All-Big 12 Conference by Baseball America at second base, the publication announced Wednesday. The nation's leader in college baseball coverage also picked the Bears to finish fourth in the Big 12 and listed junior left-handed pitcher Cory VanAllen as the league's seventh-best draft prospect.

Russo, who started all 70 games at third base for the Bears last season, moves to second for his senior season just as departed senior Michael Griffin did last year. In his first season at Baylor after two years at San Jacinto [Texas] Junior College, Russo hit .286 with three home runs and 36 RBI in 2005. More impressive was Russo in conference play last season, hitting .327 with three home runs (both second on the team) and a team-best 21 RBI.

VanAllen, a 2003 third-round draft selection of the Los Angeles Dodgers, posted an 8-4 record in 2005 with a 4.02 ERA and 68 strikeouts. As was the case with Russo, VanAllen was stronger in Big 12 play last year. The southpaw was 4-1 with a 3.04 ERA and a .241 opponents' batting average in league contests. In two seasons at Baylor, VanAllen is 5-1 in Big 12 games.

Baylor, which finished fourth nationally last season with a 46-24 overall record and shared the Big 12 Conference regular-season title with Nebraska at 19-8, was picked to finish behind Texas, Missouri and Nebraska this season. The Bears were picked to finish fifth by the publication last season. Behind Baylor in the predicted order of finish were Oklahoma State, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Kansas State in that order.

The 2005 season opens Feb. 11-13 as Baylor hosts Stephen F. Austin for a three-game series. The Bears also welcome back several former players active currently in professional baseball Feb. 5 at 2 p.m. for the Baylor Pro-Alumni Game at Baylor Ballpark.