THE SERIES
Overall Record: Texas A&M leads 138-110-1
Waco: Baylor leads 70-66
College Station: Texas A&M leads 68-34-1
Neutral Site: Baylor leads 6-4
Since Start of Big 12: Baylor leads 18-11
Regular-Season Big 12: Baylor leads 17-10
Smith vs. Texas A&M: 21-14
First Meeting: 4/9/1904
Last Meeting: Baylor 6, Texas A&M 4 [5/15/2005]

COACHES
BAYLOR: Steve Smith
Alma Mater: Baylor, 1986
Career Record: 441-273-1 [12th season]
Record at Baylor: 441-273-1 [12th season]
TEXAS A&M: Rob Childress
Alma Mater: Northwood, 1990
Career Record: 19-21 [1st season]
Record at Texas A&M: 19-21 [1st 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.BaylorBears.com

BAYLOR NATIONAL RANKINGS
Baseball America NR
Sports Weekly/ESPN/Coaches RV
NCBWA RV
Collegiate Baseball NR

BAYLOR STARTERS
Baylor's opening weekend rotation of RHP Ryan LaMotta, LHP Cory VanAllen and RHP Tim Matthews remains partly intact for the Texas A&M series. LaMotta and VanAllen will make their scheduled starts Friday and Saturday, respectively. However, the Bears have not yet determined a starter for Sunday's series finale.
Should Matthews not start Sunday's game, it would mark the first time Baylor has made an in-season change in its weekend pitchers since the May 14-16, 2004, Nebraska series. After a six-week absence with a shoulder injury, Mark McCormick joined Sean Walker and Trey Taylor in the rotation for the 2004 season's final two weekends. Andy Pape and Jared Theodorakos saw time in the rotation during McCormick's absence. Last season, Baylor used the same three pitchers -- Taylor, McCormick and VanAllen in various orders -- in every series.
Friday will be the 106th career appearance and 14th career start for LaMotta, who makes his first career start against the Aggies. Baylor is 9-4 in his previous 13 starts; LaMotta is 6-3 with four no-decisions.
VanAllen makes his 33rd career start Saturday. Baylor is 19-13 in his previous 32 starts; VanAllen is 14-10 with eight no-decisions.

THE TEXAS A&M SERIES
Baylor and Texas A&M meet for the 250th, 251st and 252nd times this weekend. The Aggies hold a 138-110-1 advantage in the all-time series, the second-most played series in Baylor baseball history behind only Texas (318). The Bears have won five of the last six meetings, including last season's series sweep. Baylor and Texas A&M first met April 9, 1904.
The Bears hold a 70-66 advantage in games played in Waco. Texas A&M holds a 68-34-1 advantage in games played at College Station; however, the Bears have won four straight and five of the last six at Olsen Field, and Baylor is 8-2 at Texas A&M since the 2000 season. Baylor leads the series 6-4 in neutral-site games.
Baylor leads the series 18-11 since the beginning of Big 12 Conference play in 1997 with a 17-10 edge in regular-season meetings. The Bears have won five of the last six series, taking only one of three games in the 2001 series. Baylor has the only series sweeps during the Big 12 era, doing so in 2000 and last season.
The Bears and the Aggies began using the current split-series format in 1993. Since that time, the home team is 21-18. 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's sweep began with a miraculous comeback victory in the Friday-night series opener at Baylor Ballpark. In a game nationally televised by ESPN, the Bears fell behind 8-0 after the top of the third only to rally for a 10-9 victory on Kevin Russo's ninth-inning, game-winning RBI single. Baylor went on win the final two games of the series 3-1 and 6-4, respectively, at College Station.

LAST TIME vs. TEXAS A&M
BAYLOR 6, TEXAS A&M 4 -- MAY 15, 2005 • COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS
Zach Dillon went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI as Baylor completed the series sweep of Texas A&M with a 6-4 win at Olsen Field. The sweep was the fifth series sweep of the 2005 season for the Bears and their fourth in conference play. Texas A&M joined Vanderbilt, Texas, Kansas State and Kansas as teams to drop all three regular-season meetings to Baylor. It marked the first time in Baylor baseball history that the Bears swept the regular-season series against both Texas and Texas A&M.
Dillon got the offense going in the second inning, leading off with a double down the line in left. Reid Brees followed with a single up the middle, giving the Bears a lead they never relinquished. Josh Ford doubled Baylor's lead in the third with a solo home run to left estimated at 450 feet.
In the fourth, Dillon came through with another clutch hit, this time lining a two-out, three-run homer down the line in right. Throw in a double in the fourth and Dillon finished the day with a career-high tying three extra-base hits.
Despite the 5-0 deficit, the Aggies did not go away quietly. Chad Pennington cut into the Bears' lead with a two-run homer to left in the sixth. In the eighth, Kevin Sevigny led off with a single, stole second and moved to third when Pennington misplayed catcher Justin Pouk's throw down. Two batters later, Paul Witt lay down a suicide squeeze to score Sevigny and stretch the Bears' lead to 6-2.
Things got interesting in the eighth, though. After RBI singles by Pennington and Andrew Baldwin, the Aggies had the bases loaded and one out. Baylor reliever Ryan LaMotta then induced a 6-4-3 double play to get the Bears out of the jam. Brandon Glover managed a two-out single up the middle in the ninth, but LaMotta got Pennington to fly out to center, ending the game and completing the sweep.
Baylor starter Cory VanAllen earned the victory; he allowed two runs on five hits and a walk in 6.0 innings. LaMotta yielded two runs on five hits and a walk with one strikeout in 3.0 innings to earn the save.
Texas A&M starter Chance Corgan was saddled with the loss after allowing two runs on five hits and three walks with two strikeouts in 2.1 innings.

BAYLOR-TEXAS A&M ODDS AND ENDS
• Active Baylor batters are 30-for-78 (.385) with 14 runs scored, six doubles, one triple, two home runs and 13 RBI in their careers against Texas A&M.
• C Zach Dillon has the best career numbers against the Aggies. After going 6-for-14 in last year's series, Dillon is 8-for-20 (.400) in six career games -- five starts -- against Texas A&M. Dillon also has three doubles, a home run and six RBI, all in last year's series, against the Aggies.
• RF/1B Mike Pankratz began his career at Texas A&M as a quarterback for the Aggies' football team. After sitting out the 2001 football season as a redshirt, Pankratz did not play baseball and transferred to San Jacinto Junior College and played at San Jacinto in 2003.
• Pankratz missed the 2005 series against Texas A&M with a broken hand. In 2004, he was 6-for-12 (.500) with four runs scored, a home run and three RBI against the Aggies.
• RF Kevin Sevigny is 11-for-21 (.524) in his career against Texas A&M, going 6-for-9 in the 2004 series and 5-for-12 last year. Sevigny has scored six runs, doubled, tripled and plated two runs in six career games -- five starts -- against the Aggies.
• Texas A&M's Hart Herring is a graduate of Waco [Texas] High School.
• Baylor RHP Andy Pape was a teammate of Texas A&M's Ryan Hill at San Antonio [Texas] Reagan High School.
• Texas A&M's David Newmann was a teammate of former Bear Mark McCormick at Houston [Texas] Clear Creek High School.
• Baylor 3B Kevin Russo was a teammate of Texas A&M's Newmann and Josh Stinson at San Jacinto Junior College during the 2004 season.
• Baylor 2B Jake Rippee was a teammate of Texas A&M's Todd Sebek at Kerrville [Texas] Tivy High School.
• Baylor IF Seth Hammock was a teammate of Texas A&M's Kyle Thebeau at Corpus Christi [Texas] Carroll High School.
• Baylor assistant coach Steve Johnigan was a two-year starter (1984, 1985) at Texas A&M. His .352 career batting average still ranks among the best in Texas A&M history.
• Baylor head coach Steve Smith earned his Master of Business Administration from Texas A&M in 1989 while a member of the Aggies coaching staff.

DILLON NAMED TO JOHNNY BENCH AWARD WATCH LIST
C Zach Dillon was named to the 2006 Coleman Company Johnny Bench Award Watch List, the Greater Wichita [Kan.] Area Sports Commission announced Thursday. Now in its sixth year, the Bench Award is given annually to the nation's top collegiate catcher. The inaugural award was presented to Baylor's Kelly Shoppach in 2001.
A product of Dowling High School in Urbandale, Iowa, Dillon joins Texas Tech's Matt Smith as the only Big 12 catchers on the 34-man list. Ten semifinalists will be announced May 11, and three national finalists will be decided upon by a voting panel and announced May 31.
Dillon leads the Big 12 Conference in walks (37), on base percentage (.527), free passes (42) and times reached base safely (87). He also ranks 10th in the Big 12 with a .378 batting average, a league-best among catchers.
In Big 12 action, Dillon has been even more lethal. He ranks third in the conference with a .440 batting average in league games. Dillon also leads the conference with 11 walks, 14 free passes, 36 times reached base safely and a .537 on base percentage in conference action.
Dillon has reached safely in 26 consecutive Big 12 games and in all but two league contests since the start of the 2005 season. He joins former Baylor catchers Josh Ford and Tyler Bullock to form Baylor's streak of 140 consecutive games in which a catcher has reached safely.

BAYLOR SCHEDULE AMONG NATION'S TOUGHEST
Baylor's 2006 schedule ranks as the nation's 22nd-toughest through games of April 19. All but one of Baylor's 15 losses this season came against teams currently with a records above .500. The lone loss to a team without a current winning record was a 4-3 loss March 3 at then-No. 16 Long Beach State, which is now 16-18-1. The Bears' 15 losses have come against 10 teams: Arizona State, Houston, Kansas, Long Beach State, Louisiana Tech, Oklahoma, Rice, Texas, TCU and Texas Tech. Those teams have combined 256-135-2 (.654) record this season. Of the 135 losses, 35 came against each other, and those 10 teams are 15-8 against Baylor for an adjusted winning percentage of .722 (241-92-2).

DILLON MAKES A HABIT OF REACHING BASE
Through games of April 19, C Zach Dillon leads the Big 12 Conference with a .527 on base percentage. He joins Oklahoma State's Corey Brown (.510) and Kansas State's Jared Goedert (.500) as the league's only players with an on base percentage of .500 or better. Dillon has reached safely in 22 straight games and in 58 of the last 59, dating back to last season. He also has reached in 26 consecutive Big 12 games and in 40 of 42 league contests since the start of the 2005 season.
Dillon also leads the conference in league play with a .537 on base percentage, 17 points higher than any other player. Currently ranks Baylor's all-time leader with a .453 on base percentage in Big 12 games. Dillon leads the conference in free passes (42), walks (37) and times reached base safely (87).

BEARS TOUGH WITH LEAD IN NINTH
Baylor's April 11 loss to No. 2 Rice snapped a streak of 34 consecutive wins for Baylor when leading after eight innings. It was the first such loss for the Bears at home since Feb. 4, 2003, against Texas State. Baylor is 141-7 when leading after eight innings since the beginning of the 2002 season.
Baylor has not lost when leading by more than one run after eight since the 2003 game against Texas State when the Bobcats scored seven runs in the ninth to overcome a 5-2 Baylor lead.

BAYLOR IN BIG 12 STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Through games of April 19, Baylor ranks seventh in the league in team batting average (.291), sixth in team ERA (4.30) and fourth in team fielding percentage (.972). The Bears also are lead the league in triples (20) and rank third in stolen bases (53). Baylor (.291/.384) and Missouri (.283/.386) are the only Big 12 teams with on base percentages at least 90 points higher than their batting average.
In league games, Baylor ranks third in the Big 12 in team batting average (.307), seventh in team ERA (5.02) and fourth in team fielding percentage (.975). Baylor is the only team hitting better in league play than in non-conference games. The Bears are hitting 28 points better in league games than in non-Big 12 contests (.279). This would be the fourth consecutive season in which Baylor has posted a higher batting average in Big 12 action than in non-conference action.
Here is how Baylor players rank individually:
OVERALL
BATTING AVERAGE: Zach Dillon (10th, .378)
TRIPLES: Seth Fortenberry (1st, 7); Beamer Weems (t-5th, 4); Kevin Sevigny (t-7th, 3)
STOLEN BASES: Seth Fortenberry (t-6th, 13); Kevin Russo (8th, 12)
WALKS: Zach Dillon (1st, 37)
ON BASE PERCENTAGE: Zach Dillon (1st, .527)
ERA: Randall Linebaugh (7th, 3.00); Ryan LaMotta (10th, 3.05)
WINS: Ryan LaMotta (t-6th, 5)
SAVES: Jeff Mandel (t-2nd, 7); Nick Cassavechia (t-8th, 3)
GAMES STARTED: Ryan LaMotta (t-9th, 10)
COMPLETE GAMES: Ryan LaMotta (t-4th, 1)
SHUTOUTS: Ryan LaMotta (t-1st, 1)

BIG 12 GAMES
BATTING AVERAGE: Zach Dillon (3rd, .440); Chase Gerdes (20th, .346); Beamer Weems (21st, .345)
HITS: Chase Gerdes (t-4th, 22)
RUNS: Beamer Weems (2nd, 17); Chase Gerdes (t-7th, 12)
RBI: Zach Dillon (t-7th, 14); Matt Sodolak (t-7th, 14)
DOUBLES: Beamer Weems (t-5th, 5); Ben Booker (t-5th, 5)
TRIPLES: Seth Fortenberry (t-1st, 2); Matt Sodolak (t-7th, 1); Beamer Weems (t-7th, 1)
TOTAL BASES: Seth Fortenberry (t-10th, 30)
STOLEN BASES: Seth Fortenberry (1st, 8); Kevin Russo (t-2nd, 6); Chase Gerdes (t-7th, 4); Matt Sodolak (t-7th, 4)
WALKS: Zach Dillon (t-1st, 11); Kevin Russo (t-5th, 9); Beamer Weems (t-5th, 9)
ON BASE PERCENTAGE: Zach Dillon (1st, .537)
ERA: Ryan LaMotta (5th, 2.41)
WINS: Ryan LaMotta (t-3rd, 3); Tim Matthews (t-8th, 2)
INNINGS: Ryan LaMotta (2nd, 37.1); Cory VanAllen (8th, 30.1)
STRIKEOUTS: Ryan LaMotta (6th, 24)
APPEARANCES: Nick Cassavechia (t-6th, 7); Jeff Mandel (t-8th, 6)
GAMES STARTED: Ryan LaMotta (t-1st, 5); Tim Matthews (t-1st, 5); Cory VanAllen (t-1st, 5)
SAVES: Nick Cassavechia (t-5th, 2), Jeff Mandel (t-5th, 2)
COMPLETE GAMES: Ryan LaMotta (t-3rd, 1)
SHUTOUTS: Ryan LaMotta (t-1st, 1)
OPPONENTS' BATTING AVERAGE: Ryan LaMotta (8th, .228)

NUMBERS WATCH
• C Zach Dillon needs one walk to reach 100 career walks.
• CF Chase Gerdes needs two stolen bases to reach 30 career steals.
• RHP Ryan LaMotta needs 18 strikeouts to move into sixth place on Baylor's career strikeouts list. He also needs one-third of an inning to crack Baylor's career innings top 10 and one win to reach 20 career wins.
• RHP Jeff Mandel needs two saves to move into a sixth-place tie on Baylor's career saves list. He needs one save to move into a sixth-place tie on Baylor's single-season saves list and three saves to become the fifth pitcher in Baylor history to record at least 10 saves in one season.

LaMOTTA CLIMBS STRIKEOUTS LIST
RHP Ryan LaMotta moved into seventh place on Baylor's career strikeouts list with his four-strikeout effort last Friday against Oklahoma State. He needs 18 strikeouts to match Trey Taylor for sixth all-time at Baylor. LaMotta currently has 235 career strikeouts in 276.1 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. Ryan LaMotta - 235
8. Justin Taylor - 229
9. Glenn Nevill - 225
10. Zane Carlson - 225

TRIPLE YOUR PLEASURE
Baylor has 20 triples through its first 38 games of the 2006 season. The Bears had only 21 three-baggers in 70 games last season. LF Seth Fortenberry leads the Big 12 Conference with seven triples, three more than his career total entering the 2006 season and two more than CF Chase Gerdes' team-leading total of five last season. SS Beamer Weems has four triples, RF Kevin Sevigny has three, and C Matt Sodolak and Gerdes have two each. C Zach Dillon and 1B/RHP Jeff Mandel have the other two 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 22 games through games of April 16.

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).

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 441-273-1 career record, all at Baylor. He holds the best winning percentage (.617) 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 plays a pair of midweek games next week, hosting Texas Southern for a 6 p.m. CDT game Tuesday and McNeese State for a 6 p.m. CDT game Wednesday. The Bears defeated Texas Southern 10-4 at home March 28. The McNeese State game is a schedule addition, replacing one of the games from the California series that was cancelled due to inclement weather. Fans holding tickets from the California series will be able to use those tickets for Wednesday's game.