THE SERIES
Overall Record: Texas Tech leads 65-61
Waco: Baylor leads 39-23
Lubbock: Texas Tech leads 40-19
Neutral Site: Baylor leads 3-2
Since Start of Big 12: Texas Tech leads 17-12
Smith vs. Texas Tech: 14-24
First Meeting: Baylor 14, Texas Tech 1 [1928]
Last Meeting: at Baylor 8, Texas Tech 5 [5/1/2005]

COACHES
BAYLOR: Steve Smith
Alma Mater: Baylor, 1986
Career Record: 436-266-1 [12th season]
Record at Baylor: 436-266-1 [12th season]
TEXAS TECH: Larry Hays
Alma Mater: Eastern New Mexico, 1966
Career Record: 1,455-786-3 [36th season]
Record at TTU: 750-405-2 [20th season]

BAYLOR/ISP SPORTS NETWORK
1660 ESPN RADIO (Waco)
Tom Barfield, play-by-play
Lark Smith, color

INTERNET FEEDS
GameTracker: www.BaylorBears.com
Audio: www.BaylorBears.com
Video: www.TexasTech.com

BAYLOR NATIONAL RANKINGS
Baseball America NR
Sports Weekly/ESPN/Coaches 25th
NCBWA 29th
Collegiate Baseball 24th

BAYLOR STARTERS
Baylor's opening weekend rotation of RHP Ryan LaMotta, LHP Cory VanAllen and RHP Tim Matthews remains intact for the Texas Tech series.
Friday will be the 103rd career appearance for LaMotta, who makes his 11th career start against Tech. Baylor is 7-3 in his previous seven starts; LaMotta is 4-3 with three no-decisions.
VanAllen makes his 30th career start Saturday. Baylor is 18-11 in his previous 29 starts; VanAllen is 13-8 with eight no-decisions.
Matthews, a sophomore transfer from UT-Tyler, makes his seventh career start Sunday. Baylor is 4-2 in his five previous starts; Matthews is 2-1 with three no-decisions.

THE TEXAS TECH SERIES
Baylor and Texas Tech meet for the 127th, 128th and 129th times this weekend. The Raiders hold a slim 66-61 advantage in the all-time series, the seventh most-played series in Baylor baseball history. The series dates back to a 14-1 Baylor victory in 1928.
The series is decidedly tilted toward the home team. While the Bears are 39-23 against the Raiders in Waco, Baylor is 19-40 at Lubbock. The Bears have not won at Lubbock since 1998, and the Raiders are 3-9 in Waco during that time.
Tech holds a 16-11 advantage in regular-season meetings since the inception of the Big 12 Conference in 1997. The Bears have won two of three meetings at the Big 12 Tournament. Baylor won the series in 1998, 1999 (sweep) and 2003. Tech has won each of the other four series, including sweeps in 2000, 2002 and 2004.
Baylor is 14-24 against Texas Tech during Steve Smith's tenure as Baylor head coach. Tech, Oklahoma (18-19) and Oklahoma State (14-16) are the only Big 12 schools against whom the Bears have a sub-.500 record under Smith.
The series also matches two of the winningest program's in the Big 12's 10-year history. Baylor enters the weekend with an all-time Big 12 record of 159-94 (.628), while Tech is third in the all-time league standings at 148-105-1 (.585).

LAST TIME vs. TEXAS TECH
BAYLOR 8, TEXAS TECH 5 -- MAY 1, 2005 • WACO, TEXAS
Baylor blasted four home runs, including two by Seth Fortenberry, en route to an 8-5 victory over Texas Tech in the series finale at Baylor Ballpark. With the win, the Bears won the series against the Red Raiders two games to one.
It was a career day for Fortenberry, who also made a sliding catch on a dying Matt Smith Texas Leaguer down the right field line in the top of the third and doubled off Brian Capps at first. Fortenberry's first homer of the day came in the second inning, a solo shot off the light pole in right field that doubled a 1-0 Baylor lead. Kevin Russo pushed Baylor's lead to 5-0 with a three-run homer to left in the third.
Texas Tech got on the board in the top of the fifth with a pair of runs on three consecutive two-out hits. Carey Avants started the rally with a double down the right-field line; Capps and Matt Smith followed with RBI singles.
Baylor answered in the bottom of the inning on Fortenberry's second blast of the day, a two-out, two-run shot down the line in right. Tech got a run back in the top of the sixth on a Chris Williams leadoff home run just to the left of the batter's eye in center. Michael Griffin led off the bottom of the eighth with a homer to left.
That gave Baylor an 8-3 cushion entering the ninth, but the Raiders did not go quietly. Cameron Blair hit a solo homer to left, and Capps blasted a solo shot to right-center with two outs. However, that was as close as Tech could get.
Baylor starter Cory VanAllen did not factor in the decision, allowing two runs on seven hits and a walk with three strikeouts in 4.2 innings. He gave way to Abe Woody, who earned the victory after allowing one run on two hits over 1.1 innings. Tyler Bullock allowed one run on two hits with two strikeouts in 2.1 innings, and Ryan LaMotta allowed only Capps' ninth inning homer in 0.2 innings' work.
Tech starter Adam Lawford did not escape the third inning and was saddled with the loss. He faced three batters in the third, and was touched for five runs on six hits and two walks with one strikeout.
Kyle Reynolds plated Baylor's first run of the game, following a Michael Griffin leadoff single in the bottom of the first with an RBI double down the line in right.

BAYLOR-TEXAS TECH TIDBITS
• Six players on the 2006 Baylor squad have previous plate appearances against Texas Tech: C Zach Dillon, LF Seth Fortenberry, CF Chase Gerdes, 2B Jake Rippee, 3B Kevin Russo and RF Kevin Sevigny. Those six players have a combined .279 career average (24-for-86) against the Red Raiders.
• The first three home runs of Fortenberry's career came against Texas Tech. He had one against the Red Raiders in 2003 and posted his first career multiple-homer game May 1, 2005, against the Red Raiders at Baylor Ballpark. Fortenberry is 6-for-14 (.429) with five runs, a double, three home runs, five RBI, a 1.143 slugging percentage and a .467 on base percentage in six career games against Tech, all coming in the 2003 and 2005 seasons.
• Russo was 4-for-11 (.364) with a home run, two runs and four RBI in last year's series against Tech.
• RHP Ryan LaMotta and LHP Cory VanAllen are the only pitchers on this season's squad to have faced the Red Raiders.
• Baylor signee Clay Fuller is the younger brother of former Texas Tech outfielder Clay Fuller. His brother, Lance, and his father, Kenny, also played football at Tech.

BAYLOR ADDS TWO GAMES TO SCHEDULE
Baylor baseball head coach Steve Smith announced Wednesday the addition of two games to this season's schedule. Added to the schedule are games Wednesday, April 26, against McNeese State and Wednesday, May 10, against Prairie View A&M. Both games will be played at Baylor Ballpark with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. CDT.
These games replace two of the three games from the weather-cancelled California series in mid-February. Fans holding tickets from the California series will be able to use those tickets for the added games.

BAYLOR STAVES OFF LOSING STREAKS
Baylor has not dropped three consecutive games since being swept at Texas Tech in the 2004 regular season's final series. That works out to a span of 100 consecutive games without a losing streak of at least three games and only seven occasions of consecutive losses. Last season was the first time since 1978 that Baylor did not have a losing streak of at least three games for an entire season.

SCORING AHEAD OF PACE
Through 26 games this season, the Bears have scored 180 runs or 6.9 per game. At this point last year, Baylor had scored 128 runs or 4.9 runs per game. While the 2006 Bears are hitting significantly better (.291) through 26 games as compared to a year ago (.257), the main ingredient has been getting on base. Last year, Baylor had 72 walks and 27 hit batsmen through 26 games for a .325 on base percentage; this season, the Bears have 120 walks and 31 hit bastmen for a .394 on base percentage.
Baylor has scored eight-plus runs 10 times and 10-plus runs six times in 2006. Last season, the Bears reached the eight-run plateau only 19 times and the 10-run plateau only five times in 70 games.
Furthermore, the 2006 Bears are logging more big innings. Last year, Baylor posted 14 innings of four-plus runs and two of those innings were by virtue of a grand slam and nothing more. This year, the Bears already have posted 12 innings of four-plus runs with no grand slams.

BAYLOR IN BIG 12 STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Through games of March 28, Baylor ranks eighth in the league in team batting average (.292), fifth in team ERA (3.48) and second in team fielding percentage (.978).
Just as has been the case each of the past four seasons, Baylor is hitting better in Big 12 Conference games than in non-conference tilts. In league games, Baylor ranks second in the league in team batting average (.322). However, the Bears are seventh in team ERA (4.33). Baylor is third in team fielding percentage (.983).
Here is how Baylor players rank individually:
OVERALL
TRIPLES: Seth Fortenberry (t-1st, 5); Beamer Weems (t-3rd, 3); Kevin Sevigny (t-10th, 2)
STOLEN BASES: Kevin Russo (t-6th, 9)
WALKS: Zach Dillon (1st, 25)
ON BASE PERCENTAGE: Zach Dillon (t-2nd, .523)
ERA: Randall Linebaugh (17th, 3.15); Cory VanAllen (19th, 3.53)
SAVES: Jeff Mandel (2nd, 6)
GAMES STARTED: Ryan LaMotta (t-9th, 7)

BIG 12 GAMES
BATTING AVERAGE: Zach Dillon (t-6th, .444); Chase Gerdes (8th, .435); Beamer Weems (9th, .429); Matt Sodolak (t-15th, .409)
HITS: Chase Gerdes (t-2nd, 10); Matt Sodolak (t-4th, 9); Beamer Weems (t-4th, 9); Zach Dillon (t-8th, 8); Kevin Russo (t-8th, 8)
RUNS: Kevin Russo (t-1st, 7); Beamer Weems (t-1st, 7); Chase Gerdes (t-4th, 6); Matt Sodolak (t-7th, 5)
RBI: Matt Sodolak (t-1st, 9); Kevin Russo (3rd, 7); Chase Gerdes (t-4th, 6); Zach Dillon (t-6th, 5)
DOUBLES: Beamer Weems (t-1st, 3); Ben Booker (t-3rd, 2); Zach Dillon (t-3rd, 2); Chase Gerdes (t-3rd, 2); Matt Sodolak (t-3rd, 2)
TRIPLES: Beamer Weems (t-2nd, 1)
HOME RUNS: Seth Fortenberry (t-2nd, 1); Chase Gerdes (t-2nd, 1)
TOTAL BASES: Chase Gerdes (2nd, 15); Beamer Weems (3rd, 14); Matt Sodolak (t-8th, 11)
STOLEN BASES: Kevin Russo (1st, 5); Chase Gerdes (t-2nd, 3); Matt Sodolak (t-2nd, 3); Seth Fortenberry (t-4th, 2)
WALKS: Zach Dillon (t-2nd, 5); Kevin Russo (t-6th, 4); Seth Fortenberry (t-6th, 4); Beamer Weems (t-9th, 3)
ON BASE PERCENTAGE: Zach Dillon (5th, .560); Chase Gerdes (t-8th, .500); Beamer Weems (t-8th, .500)
SLUGGING PERCENTAGE: Beamer Weems (8th, .667); Chase Gerdes (9th, .652)
ERA: Ryan LaMotta (20th, 2.84)
WINS: Ryan LaMotta (t-2nd, 1); Tim Matthews (t-2nd, 1); Jake Weghorst (t-2nd, 1)
INNINGS: Cory VanAllen (4th, 13.2); Ryan LaMotta (t-8th, 12.2); Tim Matthews (10th, 12.1)
STRIKEOUTS: Cory VanAllen (t-6th, 10); Ryan LaMotta (t-8th, 9)
APPEARANCES: Nick Cassavechia (t-3rd, 4); Jeff Mandel (t-5th, 3)
GAMES STARTED: Ryan LaMotta (t-1st, 2); Tim Matthews (t-1st, 2); Cory VanAllen (t-1st, 2)
SAVES: Nick Cassavechia (t-3rd, 1), Jeff Mandel (t-3rd, 1)

NUMBERS WATCH
• C Zach Dillon needs two RBI to reach 100 career RBI, five games played to reach 200 career games and 12 walks to reach 100 career walks.
• LF Seth Fortenberry needs six at bats to reach 300 career at bats and four RBI to reach 50 career RBI.
• CF Chase Gerdes needs three stolen bases to reach 30 career steals.
• RHP Ryan LaMotta needs four strikeouts to move into a 10th-place tie on Baylor's career strikeouts list. He also needs 25.0 innings pitched to crack Baylor's career innings top 10 and three wins to reach 20 career wins.
• RHP Jeff Mandel needs one save to move into a tie for eighth place on Baylor's career saves list. He also would move into a tie for seventh on Baylor's single-season saves list. Mandel needs two strikeouts to reach 50 career strikeouts.
• 3B Kevin Russo needs four games played to reach 100 career games of service.
• RF Kevin Sevigny needs six at bats to reach 400 career at bats.
• LHP Cory VanAllen is three wins shy of career victory No. 20.

BEARS TOUGH WITH LEAD IN NINTH
Baylor is 136-6 when leading after eight innings since the beginning of the 2002 season. In fact, the Bears have won 30 straight and 65 of their last 66 such games. The lone loss in that span was at TCU last season when the Horned Frogs tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth and later won 2-1 in 11 innings. Baylor has not lost when leading by more than one run after eight since Feb. 4, 2003, against Texas State when the Bobcats scored seven runs to overcome a 5-2 Baylor lead.

LaMOTTA CLIMBS STRIKEOUTS LIST
RHP Ryan LaMotta is three strikeouts shy of cracking Baylor's all-time top 10 career strikeouts list. He currently has 221 career strikeouts in 251.2 innings pitched.
1. Jason Jennings - 377
2. Steven White - 320
3. Kris Lambert - 292
4. Kip Wells - 288
5. Josh Scott - 285
6. Trey Taylor - 253
7. Justin Taylor - 229
8. Glenn Nevill - 225
9. Zane Carlson - 225
10. Brett Bergman - 224
11. Mark McCormick - 223
12. Ryan LaMotta - 221

TRIPLE YOUR PLEASURE
Baylor has 15 triples through its first 26 games of the 2006 season. The Bears had only 21 three-baggers in 70 games last season. LF Seth Fortenberry is tied for the Big 12 Conference lead with five triples, one more than his career total entering the 2006 season and matching CF Chase Gerdes' team-leading total last season. SS Beamer Weems has four triples, and RF Kevin Sevigny has two. C Zach Dillon, Gerdes, 1B/RHP Jeff Mandel and DH/C Matt Sodolak and have the other four triples.

LaMOTTA REACHES 100 APPEARANCES
RHP Ryan LaMotta made his 100th career appearance March 10 with his start against Pacific. Of his previous 99 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 is 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 16 games this season through games of March 29.

BAYLOR STRONG IN LATEST APR REPORT
Baylor's baseball team scored a 961 in the latest Academic Progress Rate (APR), released Wednesday by the NCAA. That score was the best among the eight Big 12 schools whose scores were released; scores for Kansas and Texas A&M have not yet been released. Baylor was the only Big 12 baseball team that scored above the national male student-athlete average (943). The Bears joined Missouri as the only Big 12 baseball teams to score above the national baseball average (931).
961 - BAYLOR
941 - Missouri
924 - Nebraska
906 - Oklahoma
903 - Kansas State
888 - Texas
812 - Oklaohma State
778 - Texas Tech
n/a - Kansas
n/a - Texas A&M

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.

BAYLOR/ISP SPORTS 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.

BEARCASTS 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.

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.

HEAD COACH Steve Smith
Steve Smith is in his 12th season as head coach of Baylor's baseball program in 2006. In his first 11 years, Smith guided the program to unprecedented heights, including the most successful eight-year run in the program's 100-year history and a College World Series appearance in 2005.
Smith has compiled a 436-266-1 career record, all at Baylor. He holds the best winning percentage (.621) 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 seven NCAA Regional appearances, three NCAA Super Regional appearances, one College World Series appearance and two Big 12 Conference titles. He also has coached 12 All-America selections and seven USA Baseball National Team members while at Baylor.
The 2005 USA Baseball National Team head coach, 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 for Mark Johnson at Texas A&M from 1987 to 1989.
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.
Smith has tutored seven pitchers in the last 13 years who were selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft. He also has coached at least one all-conference pitcher in each of the last 13 years.

BAYLOR: BIG 12'S MOST TENURED STAFF
With 38 years of combined service at Baylor, the Bears' on-field staff is the Big 12 Conference's most tenured. Head coach Steve Smith joins Missouri head coach Tim Jamieson as the league's second-most tenured head coaches, both in their 12th season in 2006 and trailing only Texas Tech's Larry Hays (20th season).
Assistant coach Mitch Thompson (12th year) joined the Baylor staff in Smith's first season, while assistant coach Steve Johnigan (11th year) joined the following season. Volunteer assistant coach Chris Berry (7th year) joined the staff prior to the 2000 season and assumed pitching coach duties this season.
Thompson and Johnigan are the second- and third-most tenured assistant coaches in the Big 12 behind only Texas' Tommy Harmon (16 seasons). In fact, Harmon, Thompson, Johnigan and Missouri's Evan Pratte are the only assistant coaches with more tenure at their respective schools than Berry.

UP NEXT ...
Baylor concludes a four-game road swing Tuesday, April 4, traveling to Fort Worth, Texas, to face TCU. First pitch between the Bears and the Horned Frogs is scheduled for 7 p.m. CDT at Lupton Stadium on the TCU campus. Baylor defeated TCU 10-4 at Baylor Ballpark two weeks ago.