THE SERIES
Overall Record: Baylor leads 68-28
Waco: Baylor leads 41-12
Arlington: Baylor leads 27-16
Neutral Site: Never Met
Smith vs. UTA: 22-8
First Meeting: at Baylor 3, UTA 2 [2/26/1973]
Last Meeting: Baylor 9, at UTA 4 [3/7/2006]

COACHES
BAYLOR: Steve Smith
Alma Mater: Baylor, 1986
Career Record: 445-277-1 [12th season]
Record at Baylor: 445-277-1 [12th season]
UT-ARLINGTON: Jeff Curtis
Alma Mater: Nebraska-Kearney, 1990
Career Record: 144-139 [5th season]
Record at UTA: 144-139 [5th 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: None

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

Baylor returns to action Tuesday, May 2, hosting Texas-Arlington for a midweek non-conference game. First pitch between the Bears and the Mavericks is scheduled for 6 p.m. CDT at Baylor Ballpark. This is the last of three scheduled meetings between the two teams this season. The Bears posted wins of 17-4 at Baylor Ballpark in February and 9-4 at Arlington in March.
The Bears (27-19) dropped two of three games at Missouri over the weekend. The Bears lost 7-0 Friday and 3-1 Sunday with a 5-4 Saturday victory sandwiched between the two losses. Baylor is unranked in this week's Baseball America Top 25. Baylor is among teams receiving votes in this week's Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches Poll, unranked in this week's Collegiate Baseball Top 30 and among teams receiving votes in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 30.
The Mavericks (20-27) also dropped two of three over the weekend, falling 9-7 Saturday and 11-4 Sunday after posting a 10-8 victory Friday at Southeastern Louisiana. UTA is 4-6 in its last 10 games and 5-5 in its last 10 road games. The Mavericks are unranked this week in all four major polls.
Baylor and UT-Arlington have played 10 common opponents: Louisiana Tech, McNeese State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Stephen F. Austin, Texas, UT-San Antonio, TCU, Texas A&M, Texas Tech. Baylor is 14-11 against those teams, while UTA is 8-11 against those teams. The Bears are 6-1 this season against Southland Conference teams. The Mavericks are 1-8 against Big 12 opponents this season; the lone victory was a 6-3 victory April 11 at Texas.
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.

BAYLOR STARTER
Baylor sends RHP Randall Linebaugh to the mound for his ninth start of the season Tuesday against Texas-Arlington.
This is Linebaugh's third start against UTA this season. He earned the victory in Baylor's 9-4 victory March 7 at Arlington, allowing one run on four hits and two walks with a career-high tying five strikeouts over 6.0 innings (the longest outing of his career to date). Linebaugh did not factor in the decision in Baylor's 17-4 victory Feb. 14 at Baylor Ballpark. In that game, he allowed four runs, two earned, on seven hits and two walks with one strikeout in 3.1 innings; it was his first career start.
All of Linebaugh's career starts have come this season. Baylor is 7-1 in those games; Linebaugh is 4-0 with four no-decisions. He is tied for third on the team with 14 appearances this season, and he will tie Tim Matthews for third on the team in starts Tuesday.

THE TEXAS-ARLINGTON SERIES
Baylor and Texas-Arlington meet for the 97th time Tuesday. The Bears hold a 68-28 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 both previous meetings this season, winning 17-4 at Baylor Ballpark in February and 9-4 at Arlington in March. Baylor leads the series 41-12 in games played in Waco. The Bears have won three straight overall against UTA.
The Bears are 22-8 against the Mavericks under head coach Steve Smith.

BAYLOR vs. THE SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE
Baylor is 274-128-1 all-time against current members of the Southland Conference, 96-31 during head coach Steve Smith's tenure. Baylor has played more games against Southland Conference teams than any other active conference (non-Big 12).
The Bears are 6-1 against Southland Conference teams this season, going 0-1 against McNeese State, 2-0 UT-Arlington, 2-0 against Texas State, 1-0 against UT-San Antonio and 1-0 against Sam Houston State.

LAST TIME vs. UT-ARLINGTON
BAYLOR 9, UTA 4 -- MARCH 7, 2006 • ARLINGTON, TEXAS
Randall Linebaugh pitched 6.0 strong innings, and Seth Fortenberry had two doubles and a triple as Baylor defeated Texas-Arlington 9-4 at Clay Gould Park. It was Baylor's first win at UTA since 2002.
The key point for Linebaugh was the second inning when he loaded the bases with no outs and escaped unscathed. He struck out Kyle Rudy for the first out and then induced a double play off the bat of Kyle Thomason.
Baylor got on the board in the second as Kevin Russo led off with a double down the left-field line, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a Tim Jackson flare single down the right-field line. The Bears added three runs in the fourth, all with two outs. Kevin Sevigny plated the first run with a single to right that scored Jackson. After Beamer Weems walked, Matt Sodolak doubled down the right-field line, scoring Sevigny and Weems.
After a leadoff walk to Collin Garner in the third, Linebaugh recorded nine consecutive outs before Daniel Rieder's sixth-inning leadoff double. Two batters later, Justin Stevens scored Reider with a flare single that landed just inside the right-field line.
Linebaugh scattered four hits with two walks against five strikeouts, a career high, for his second career victory. It was the longest outing of his career.
Baylor was quick to answer UTA's sixth-inning run with a single spot in the top of the seventh. Fortenberry tripled to right-center and later scored on a Jeff Mandel groundout. The Mavericks scratched for an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh only to see the Bears put three on the board in the top of the eighth. Zach Dillon had an RBI single, Russo plated another run with an RBI groundout and Fortenberry capped the inning with an RBI double.
UTA got a pair of runs, one unearned, on a hit, a hit batsman and two Baylor errors in the bottom of the eighth.
Fortenberry finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Hammock, Jackson and Sodolak had two hits each as eight of Baylor's nine starters hit safely. Eight of the nine starters also had at least one RBI on the night.

BEARS HAPPY TO BE HOME DOWN THE STRETCH
Baylor plays seven of its final 10 regular-season games at Baylor Ballpark. The 2006 Bears are markedly more successful at home, posting a 20-7 mark at Baylor Ballpark and a 7-12 record in away games. The Bears are 7-2 in Big 12 play at home and 3-9 in road games.
Individually, C Zach Dillon is the only Baylor player with a minimum of 20 at bats in both scenarios hitting above .300 in road games (.375, 24-for-64) and in home games (.357, 30-for-84). Dillon and C/DH Matt Sodolak are the only players hitting better in road games than in home games. Dillon leads the team in batting average both at home and on the road.

DILLON NAMED TO JOHNNY BENCH AWARD WATCH LIST
C Zach Dillon is a member of the 2006 Coleman Company Johnny Bench Award Watch List, administered by the Greater Wichita [Kan.] Area Sports Commission. 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 (41), on base percentage (.508), free passes (47) and times reached base safely (101). He also ranks 14th in the Big 12 with a .385 batting average, second in the league among catchers. Dillon's on base percentage is 25 points higher than any other player in the league; that gap is larger than the gap between second and seventh (22 points).
In Big 12 action, Dillon has been even more lethal. He ranks fifth in the conference with a .392 batting average in league games. Dillon also is tied for third in hits (29), tied for fourth in walks (12), tied for sixth in RBI (18), second in on base percentage (.484), tied for first in free passes (16) and second in times reached base safely (45) in conference games.
Dillon has reached safely in all but two games this season and in 109 of 115 games since the start of the 2005 season.

BAYLOR IN NATIONAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Through games of April 23, Baylor ranks 137th nationally in team batting average, 86th in team ERA and 23rd in team fielding percentage. The Bears are 84th nationally in runs per game, seventh nationally in triples per game, 89th in stolen bases per game and 54th in double plays per game.
Individually, LF Seth Fortenberry ranks 11th nationally in triples per game, and RF Kevin Sevigny ranks 19th. C Zach Dillon ranks 12th in walks per game 100th in batting average. RHP Jeff Mandel is 42nd in saves.

BAYLOR IN BIG 12 STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Through games of May 1, Baylor ranks ninth in the league in team batting average (.281), sixth in team ERA (4.29) and fourth in team fielding percentage (.970). The Bears are second in the league in triples (24), third in walks (191) and fifth in stolen bases (61). Baylor (.281/.373) and Missouri (.281/.383) are the only Big 12 teams with on base percentages at least 90 points higher than their batting average.
In league games, Baylor ranks fifth in the Big 12 in team batting average (.283), sixth in team ERA (4.85) and fifth in team fielding percentage (.971). Baylor is the only team hitting better in league play than in non-conference games. 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 (14th, .365)
TRIPLES: Seth Fortenberry (1st, 7); Kevin Sevigny (t-2nd, 6); Beamer Weems (t-4th, 5)
WALKS: Zach Dillon (1st, 41); Kevin Russo (t-6th, 28)
ON BASE PERCENTAGE: Zach Dillon (1st, .508)
STOLEN BASES: Seth Fortenberry (7th, 14); Kevin Russo (8th, 13)
ERA: Ryan LaMotta (12th, 3.53)
SAVES: Jeff Mandel (4th, 7); Nick Cassavechia (t-6th, 5)
INNINGS PITCHED: Ryan LaMotta (8th, 74.0)
GAMES STARTED: Ryan LaMotta (t-9th, 12)
COMPLETE GAMES: Ryan LaMotta (t-4th, 2)
SHUTOUTS: Ryan LaMotta (t-2nd, 1)

BIG 12 GAMES
BATTING AVERAGE: Zach Dillon (5th, .392); Beamer Weems (11th, .364)
HITS: Zach Dillon (t-3rd, 29); Beamer Weems (t-7th, 28)
RUNS: Beamer Weems (2nd, 21)
RBI: Zach Dillon (t-6th, 18); Beamer Weems (t-8th, 17)
DOUBLES: Beamer Weems (t-4th, 7); Ben Booker (t-8th, 6)
TRIPLES: Kevin Sevigny (t-1st, 3); Seth Fortenberry (t-3rd, 2); Beamer Weems (t-3rd, 2); Matt Sodolak (t-10th, 1)
TOTAL BASES: Beamer Weems (6th, 45)
SLUGGING PERCENTAGE: Beamer Weems (9th, .584)
WALKS: Kevin Russo (1st, 15); Zach Dillon (t-4th, 12); Beamer Weems (t-10th, 11)
ON BASE PERCENTAGE: Zach Dillon (2nd, .484); Beamer Weems (10th, .435)
STOLEN BASES: Seth Fortenberry (2nd, 8); Kevin Russo (3rd, 7); Chase Gerdes (t-7th, 5)
ERA: Ryan LaMotta (9th, 3.27)
WINS: Tim Matthews (t-4th, 4); Ryan LaMotta (t-8th, 3)
INNINGS: Ryan LaMotta (2nd, 52.1); Cory VanAllen (9th, 41.0)
STRIKEOUTS: Ryan LaMotta (7th, 32); Cory VanAllen (t-9th, 28)
APPEARANCES: Nick Cassavechia (t-6th, 9)
GAMES STARTED: Ryan LaMotta (t-1st, 7); Cory VanAllen (t-1st, 7)
SAVES: Nick Cassavechia (t-4th, 4), Jeff Mandel (t-7th, 2)
COMPLETE GAMES: Ryan LaMotta (t-3rd, 2)
SHUTOUTS: Ryan LaMotta (t-2nd, 1)
OPPONENTS' BATTING AVERAGE: Ryan LaMotta (6th, .238)

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 144-7 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.

NUMBERS WATCH
• CF Chase Gerdes needs one stolen base to reach 30 career steals.
• RHP Ryan LaMotta needs 10 strikeouts to move into sixth place on Baylor's career strikeouts list. He also needs 7.0 innings to move into a seventh-place tie on Baylor's career innings top 10 list 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 earliers this season. He needs 10 strikeouts to match Trey Taylor for sixth all-time at Baylor. LaMotta currently has 243 career strikeouts in 291.1 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 - 243
8. Justin Taylor - 229
9. Glenn Nevill - 225
10. Zane Carlson - 225

TRIPLE YOUR PLEASURE
Baylor has 24 triples through its first 46 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. Fortenberry entered the week 11th nationally with 0.17 triples per game. RF Kevin Sevigny is tied for second in the conference with six triples; he entered the week 19th nationally with 0.15 triples per game. SS Beamer Weems is tied for fourth in the Big 12 with five triples. C Matt Sodolak and Gerdes have two each, while C Zach Dillon and 1B/RHP Jeff Mandel have one each.

BAYLOR, FLORIDA NEARING INTERESTING APPEARANCES MARKS
RHP Ryan LaMotta enters Friday's start with 106 career appearances; he 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.
Florida reliever Darren O'Day made career appearance No. 110 last weekend, giving Florida two players with at least 110 career appearances who played together (Connor Falkenbach appeared in 124 games from 2002 to 2005). Florida is the first program in NCAA Division I history to have two players play at least one season together and still have at least 110 career appearances each. Baylor looks to be the next program to accomplish the feat with LaMotta and Carlson.

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 443-274-1 career record, all at Baylor. He holds the best winning percentage (.618) 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 ...
After a week-long respite for final exams, Baylor returns to the field Tuesday, May 9. The Bears host Texas State for a 7 p.m. CDT first pitch at Baylor Ballpark. Baylor is 2-0 against Texas State this season.