THE SERIES
Overall Record: Baylor leads 66-28
Waco: Baylor leads 40-12
Arlington: Baylor leads 26-16
Neutral Site: Never Met
Smith vs. UTA: 20-8
First Meeting: at Baylor 3, UTA 2 [2/26/1973]
Last Meeting: at Baylor 8, UTA 5 [4/26/2005]

COACHES
BAYLOR: Steve Smith
Alma Mater: Baylor, 1986
Career Record: 421-258-1 [12th season]
Record at Baylor: 421-258-1 [12th season]
TEXAS-ARLINGTON: Jeff Curtis
Alma Mater: Nebraska-Kearney, 1990
Career Record: 126-113 [5th season]
Record at UTA: 126-113 [5th season]

BAYLOR RADIO NETWORK
1660 ESPN RADIO (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 NR
Sports Weekly/ESPN/Coaches 25th
NCBWA RV
Collegiate Baseball 23rd

Baylor returns to action Tuesday, Feb. 14, hosting Texas-Arlington. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. CST at Baylor Ballpark Tickets are available for all three games by calling the Baylor ticket office at 254.710.1000 or online at www.BaylorBears.com.
The Bears (3-0) swept Stephen F. Austin at home over the weekend. Baylor defeated SFA 9-3 Saturday and then swept a Sunday doubleheader by scores of 8-3 and 3-1. The Bears are 3-0 for the second consecutive season and the third time since 2000.
The Mavericks (2-1) took two of three over the weekend at Louisiana Tech, a team that will visit Baylor Ballpark in March for the Quala-T Imprints Baylor Classic. UTA won the first game of the series, a 7-2 decision Saturday afternoon. The teams split a doubleheader Sunday; the Mavericks won Sunday's first game 10-4 before Louisiana Tech took the nightcap 5-4 on a walk-off ninth-inning RBI single.
All Baylor baseball games are broadcast live on Waco's 1660 ESPN Radio. 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 CSTV Network.
Live streaming video also is available for the Stephen F. Austin series. For more information, visit the BearCasts link at www.BaylorBears.com.

QUICK HITS ...
• Since the start of the 2003 season, Baylor is:
- 92-27 (.773) when its starting pitcher last at least 5.0 innings
- 23-7 (.767) when its pitching staff records at least 10 strikeouts
- 91-24 (.791) when scoring first since
- 106-21 (.835) when out-hitting its opponent
- 90-24 (.789) when holding its opponent to fewer than five runs
- 90-18 (.833) when scoring at least six runs
- 79-13 (.859) when scoring at least seven runs

• Baylor has won 25 consecutive games when scoring at least seven runs

• Baylor has won 13 consecutive games when hitting at least two home runs

• 2B Kevin Russo has hit safely in 10 consecutive games dating back to last season.

• C Zach Dillon has reached safely in 11 consecutive games dating back to last season.

• SS Beamer Weems became the first Baylor true freshman to start at shorstop since Jace Brewer in 1999

• 1B Ben Booker became the first Baylor true freshman to start at first base since Ken Kolkhorst in 1975

• RHP Nick Cassavechia earned his first career win and RHP Jeff Mandel recorded his first career save Sunday vs. SFA

• Baylor's 2006 schedule was rated as the nation's 10th toughest, according to preseason rankings at www.BoydsWorld.com. Georgia, which ranks ninth, joins Baylor as the only non-California school in the top 10.

• From the weekend of Feb. 17-19 to March 3-5, Baylor plays three consecutive weekend series against opponents ranked preseason.

• Baylor plays 21 games against eight teams that appeared in the 2005 NCAA Regionals. The Bears play 11 games against four teams that appeared in the 2005 NCAA Super Regionals and nine games against three teams that reached the College World Series last season.

• Baylor Ballpark has ranked 21st or better nationally in average attendance every year since the facility's opening in 1999, including a program-best ninth in 2001. Baylor ranked 16th nationally in total attendance last season with a school-record mark of 109,621 and 17th nationally in average attendance at 3,045 per game, second all-time at Baylor.

• Since the start of the Big 12 in 1997, the Bears have the league's best conference record at 156-91 (.631). Baylor leads all conference schools in total first- and second-team All-Big 12 selections (42), first-team Academic All-Big 12 selections (45), NCAA appearances (7) and Major League Baseball draft selections (51).

• The Bears are the only Big 12 Conference program to have been ranked in the top 10 nationally at some point during each of the past eight seasons (1998-2005).

• Baylor is the only Big 12 school to have never suffered a sub-.500 season in conference play.

• The Bears join Oklahoma and Oklahoma State as the only programs to have qualified for every Big 12 Tournament.

THE TEXAS-ARLINGTON SERIES
Baylor and Texas-Arlington meet for the 95th time Tuesday. The Bears hold a 66-28 advantage in the all-time series, which dates back to a 3-2 and 2-0 Baylor sweep of a doubleheader Feb. 26, 1973, in Waco.
The Bears won the last meeting 8-5 in Waco last April. Prior to that win, Baylor dropped four of five meetings, including losses of 9-6 at Baylor Ballpark and 2-0 at Arlington last season. Baylor leads the series 40-12 in games played in Waco.
The Bears are 20-8 against UTA under head coach Steve Smith.

BAYLOR STARTER
RHP Randall Linebaugh makes his first career start Tuesday against Texas-Arlington. He appeared in 12 games last season, all in relief, and has pitched one inning in relief this year.
Linebaugh is 1-0 with a 2.79 ERA in 9.2 innings over seven career outings at Baylor Ballpark. He has allowed no earned runs in five of those seven outings.

STARTERS SHINE IN OPENING WEEKEND
Baylor's starting rotation posted a 2-0 record with a 0.55 ERA, 17 strikeouts, two walks and a .148 opponents' batting average over 16.1 innings of work in the season-opening series against Stephen F. Austin. In fact, RHP Ryan LaMotta, LHP Cory VanAllen and RHP Tim Matthews held the Jacks scoreless for 15.2 innings before SFA plated a one-out run in the sixth Sunday against Matthews.

TRIPLE YOUR PLEASURE
Through three games, Baylor has three triples. The Bears had only 21 three-baggers in 70 games last season. LF Seth Fortenberry leads the way with two triples, collecting one in each of the Bears' first two games. RF Kevin Sevigny and SS Beamer Weems have the other two triples. In fact, four of Baylor's six extra-base hits this season are triples.

BEARS PRODUCE WITH TWO OUTS
Nine of Baylor's 14 RBI this season have come with two outs. LF Seth Fortenberry leads the way with four two-out RBI, while 2B Kevin Russo has three two-out RBI. As a team, the Bears hit 57 points higher with two outs (.242) than with less than two outs (.185).

FORTENBERRY PROVIDES BAYLOR'S FIRST HOMER
LF Seth Fortenberry's two-run home run in Sunday's first game against Stephen F. Austin was Baylor's first round-tripper of the season. It came in the second game of the year. Last season, Baylor's first homer came in game one, while the Bears' first home run in 2004 came in game 11.
Interestingly, it was the first single-homer regular-season game of Fortenberry's career. He entered the season with seven career home runs. In 2003, he hit two in one game against Texas Tech. He also had a two-homer game against the Red Raiders last season. The other three home runs came in three separate games during last year's postseason.

LaMOTTA NEARS CENTURY MARK
RHP Ryan LaMotta made his 96th career appearance last Saturday against Stephen F. Austin. Of his previous 95 appearances, 92 were in relief. The senior drew three starts as a freshman in 2003, including the championship game of the NCAA Hattiesburgh Regional. In that game, he held Southern Mississippi to a pair of runs on six hits over 8.1 innings.
LaMotta aims to become just the second pitcher in Baylor history to appear in at least 100 games. Zane Carlson appeared in 111 games from 2000 to 2004, a mark that ranks first in Big 12 history and 20th in NCAA Division I history.
If LaMotta appears in 15 games this season, Baylor would join Georgia Tech, Miami (Fla.) and North Carolina as the only schools in NCAA Division I history to have two pitchers appear in at least 110 career games. LaMotta and Carlson, who played together in the 2003 and 2004 seasons, would be the first Division I teammates to both reach the milestone.
Florida closer Darren O'Day entered the season with entered the season with 84 career appearances. Should O'Day reach 26 appearances this season prior to LaMotta's 15th appearance, Florida would be the first school with teammates to both reach 110 career appearances (Florida's Connor Falkenbach appeared in 124 games from 2002 to 2005). O'Day has appeared in two games this season through games of Feb. 12.

GET COMFORTABLE: WE'LL BE HERE FOR A WHILE
Baylor is scheduled to play each of its first 11 games at home. That is the most consecutive home games to start a season for a Bears' team since the 1991 squad played its first 12 in Waco. Ironically, Baylor opened that season with a three-game series against Stephen F. Austin.
In all, the Bears are scheduled to play 34 home games this season. Baylor was 25-11 in home games last season, going 19-10 during the regular season. The Bears are 167-65 all-time at Baylor Ballpark, winning at least 20 home games in each of the stadium's seven seasons.

SCHEDULE AMONG NATION'S TOUGHEST
Baylor's 2006 schedule was ranked as the nation's 10th toughest in preseason rankings at www.BoydsWorld.com. The Bears and ninth-ranked Georgia were the lone non-California schools in the top 10.
Last season, Baylor's schedule was ranked seventh at season's end as the only non-California school in the top 10. The Bears' strength of schedule has ranked 11th or better nationally in each of the past five seasons, ranking 11th in 2004, fifth in 2003, seventh in 2002 and 10th in 2001.

2005 SEASON HIGHLIGHT DVD ON SALE
"Experience the Dogpile," a comprehensive season highlight DVD that chronicles Baylor's 2005 season, is on sale at the Baylor baseball office. The one-hour, 47-minute piece features highlights, interviews and commentary on the program's most successful season. To order, call 254.710.3029.

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 CSTV Network, which currently hosts sites for more than 100 universities, including four Big 12 schools.

STREAMING VIDEO AVAILABLE FOR SELECT GAMES
Live streaming video is available for select games during the 2006 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 CSTV Network. Thirteen of the 24 webcasts will be against Big 12 Conference opponents, including the Bears' three-game league sets against Kansas, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Nebraska, as well as the home game of the Texas series.

BAYLOR BASEBALL RADIO NETWORK
Catch every inning of Baylor baseball in 2006 on the flagship station for Baylor athletics, 1660 ESPN Radio.
Popular on-air personality Tom Barfield enters his fourth season as the primary play-by-play man 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 also serves as host for the "Countdown to Kickoff" and "The Baylor Fifth Quarter Show" during football season. He has previously served as the radio voice for Tarleton State, McLennan Community College, Mary Hardin-Baylor and several high schools across the state.
Barfield is joined by Lark Smith in the booth. 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 audio for all Baylor baseball games also are available online at www.BaylorBears.com.

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 continues its 11-game home stand this weekend, hosting California for a three-game series at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears and the Golden Bears meet Friday at 6 p.m. CST, Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
California leads the all-time series 1-0. The lone meeting between the programs was an 8-3 Cal victory May 24, 1991, in the first game at the NCAA Midwest Regional in Wichita, Kan.