May 23, 2006

Big 12 Baseball Tournament Preview
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GAME 57
#5 BAYLOR (34-22, 13-14) vs. #4 NEBRASKA (39-14, 17-10)
May 24 • Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, Okla. • 10:00 a.m. CDT
GAME 58
#5 BAYLOR (34-22, 13-14) vs. #1 TEXAS (38-18, 19-7)
MAY 25 • Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, Okla. • 10:00 a.m. CDT
GAME 59
#5 BAYLOR (34-22, 13-14) vs. #8 TEXAS TECH (31-23-1, 9-16-1)
MAY 27 • Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, Okla. • 10:00 a.m. CDT

BAYLOR AT THE BIG 12 TOURNAMENT
Overall Record: 16-15
Oklahoma City: 14-11
Arlington: 2-4

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

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Wednesday, May 24
BU RHP Randall Linebaugh (6-0, 3.26 ERA, 58.0 IP, 56 K)
NU RHP Charlie Shirek (4-2, 3.12 ERA, 60.2 IP, 24 K)
Thursday, May 25
BU TBA
UT TBA
Saturday, May 27
BU TBA
TTU LHP Colt Hynes (5-2, 3.09 ERA, 64.0 IP, 35 K)

Baylor begins postseason play Wednesday, May 24, at the 10th Annual Big 12 Conference Baseball Tournament at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City. The Bears, the fifth seed in the tournament, are in Division 1 and face fourth-seeded Nebraska at 10 a.m. CDT in the first day of pool play. Baylor also faces top seed Texas at 5 p.m. Thursday and eighth-seeded Texas Tech at 10 a.m. Saturday. Second-seeded Oklahoma State, third-seeded Oklahoma, sixth-seeded Kansas and seventh-seeded Missouri comprise Division 2. The two teams with the best records at the end of pool play advance to Sunday's championship game at 1 p.m.

Division 1 includes three teams that went a combined 1-11 during the last weekend of Big 12 regular-season play. The Bears were swept at Kansas State, Texas was swept at Missouri, Texas Tech was swept at Oklahoma State and Nebraska dropped two of three at home against Oklahoma.

Baylor (34-22, 13-14) is 7-3 over its last 10 games. The Bears enjoyed a season-long seven-game winning streak prior to being swept at Kansas State. The Bears are 7-15 away from Baylor Ballpark this season, including a 3-12 mark against Big 12 teams. Baylor was 4-5 against the other three teams in Division 1 during the regular season, going 3-0 against Nebraska, 1-2 against Texas Tech and 0-3 against Texas.

Nebraska (39-14, 17-10) is 3-9 over its last 12 games, losing more than twice as many games during that stretch as in its first 41 games. The Huskers were 5-4 against the other three teams in Division 1 during the regular season, going 0-3 against Baylor, 3-0 against Texas Tech and 2-1 against Texas. Nebraska is ranked 15th in this week's Baseball America Top 25.

Regular-season Big 12 Champion Texas (38-18, 19-7) won 10 consecutive games prior to being swept at Missouri over the weekend. The Longhorns were 5-3 against the other three teams in Division 1 during the regular season, going 3-0 against Baylor, 1-1 against Texas Tech and 1-2 against Nebraska. Texas is ranked sixth in this week's Baseball America Top 25.

Texas Tech (31-23-1, 9-16-1) is 4-6 over its last 10 games and has lost its last six Big 12 games away from home. The Red Raiders were 3-5 against the other three teams in Division 1 during the regular season, going 2-1 against Baylor, 1-1 against Texas and 0-3 against Nebraska.

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.

QUICK HITS ...

• Since the start of the 2003 season, Baylor is:

- 114-41 (.735) when its starting pitcher lasts at least 5.0 innings

- 27-7 (.794) when its pitching staff records at least 10 strikeouts

- 108-31 (.777) when scoring first

- 126-24 (.840) when out-hitting its opponent

- 116-31 (.789) when holding its opponent to fewer than five runs

- 107-22 (.829) when scoring at least six runs

- 96-15 (.865) when scoring at least seven runs

• Baylor has won 19 consecutive games when hitting at least two home runs, including six straight this season.

• Since the start of the 2002 season, Baylor is 151-7 (.956) when leading after eight innings. The April 11 loss to Rice ended a 34-game winning streak in such games and was Baylor's first loss when leading after eight innings at home since Feb. 4, 2003.

• Baylor pitchers allowed 43 earned runs over a 22.0-inning span in the final two games at Texas Tech (April 1-2) and the April 4 game at TCU. Outside that stretch, Baylor's ERA is 3.43, more than a half earned run per game (0.64) lower than its overall season ERA.

• Baylor has 31 triples this season, fifth in school history and the most by a Baylor team since the 2002 squad had 34 three-baggers in 62 games.

• Four Bears have at least five triples this season, the first time a Baylor team has accomplished that feat since the 1986 team also featured four players with at least five triples.

• LF Seth Fortenberry (9) and CF Kevin Sevigny (6) give Baylor two players with at least six triples, the first time that has happened at Baylor since Jon Topolski and Scott Morrison each had six triples in 1996.

• RHP Nick Cassavechia has converted five consecutive save opportunities.

• Opposing batters are 2-for-23 (.087) in first at bats against Cassavechia.

• C Zach Dillon has reached safely in 52 of 56 games this season and in 113 of 123 since the start of the 2005 season.

• Dillon has produced at least one run (RBI or scored) in 45 of 56 games this season.

• Dillon record his 200th career hit with his second of three singles in Sunday's finale at Kansas State.

• Fortenberry is tied for second nationally with nine triples, the fourth-best single-season total in school history and two shy of Topolski's 1998 school record. He is one of only five players nationally with nine or more triples.

• Fortenberry has reached safely in 50 of 56 games this season and has hit safely in 30 of the last 37 games.

• Fortenberry leads Baylor with 11 bunt singles this season; the rest of the team has seven and no one has more than two.

• CF Chase Gerdes has hit safely in 19 of his last 23 games and has not gone hitless in consecutive games during that span.

• Gerdes has hit safely in 16 of his last 17 starts.

• RHP Randall Linebaugh has won the first seven decisions of his career, the longest winning streak to start a Baylor career since Abe Woody's school-record 11-game run over the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

• Baylor is 10-1 in Linebaugh's 11 starts this season.

• RHP Tim Matthews has won three consecutive decisions, all since moving to the bullpen in mid-April.

• Matthews has stranded all eight inherited runners this season.

• Opponents are 0-for-7 (.000) in first at bats against Matthews.

• 3B Kevin Russo has started all 126 games of his Baylor career.

• Russo has reached safely or produced an RBI in 26 straight games.

• The left side of Baylor's infield committed four errors in Big 12 play this season, Russo three and SS Beamer Weems one.

• Sevigny has hit safely in 19 of his last 27 games with 13 multiple-hit games during that time.

• Sevigny has 13 outfield assists over the last two seasons.

• Weems has reached safely in 48 of 55 games this season.

• Weems has not made a fielding error since the season's second game and committed just one error in 109 chances during Big 12 play.

• RHP Jake Weghorst has not allowed a run in his last 13 relief outings (16.1 innings).

• Opponents are 2-for-18 (.111) in first at bats against Weghorst.

BIG 12 TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

The Big 12 Conference introduces a new format for the conference tournament this season. The league moves to a two-division, pool play format for its Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Baseball Championship. Previously, the Championship was conducted as a double-elimination tournament. Under the new format, as approved by the conference's head coaches, each of the eight teams competing is guaranteed a minimum of three games.

Results from the league's 27-game round-robin conference schedule determined the eight seeds for the championship. Seeds 1, 4, 5 and 8 compete in Division 1, while seeds 2, 3, 6 and 7 compete in Division 2. The two teams with the best record within their division advance to the championship game with the winner earning the Big 12's automatic berth into the NCAA Championship. Head-to-head competition will break ties within each bracket. In the event of more than two teams being tied for the top spot within a bracket, the highest-seeded team will advance to the championship game.

BIG 12 TOURNAMENT HISTORY

The Big 12 Tournament makes its eighth appearance at Oklahoma City this season. Each of the first five Big 12 Tournaments and the 2003 and 2005 events were played in Oklahoma City. The 2002 and 2004 tournaments, both at Ameriquest Field in Arlington, are the only Big 12 Touranments not played in OKC. All-Sports Stadium was the site of the first conference tournament in 1997; the next year, Bricktown Ballpark opened in OKC, and it served as the host site from 1998-2001.

BAYLOR BIG 12 TOURNAMENT TIDBITS

• Baylor, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are the only schools to have participated in every Big 12 Tournament.

• Baylor has made four championship game appearances: 1999, 2000, 2003 and 2005. Only Nebraska (five) has made more.

• Baylor is 4-4 as the fifth seed. The Bears went 0-2 in 1997 and 4-2, reaching the championship game, in 2003.

• Baylor is 31-28 all-time in conference tournaments, including a 16-15 mark in Big 12 Tournaments.

• Only Oklahoma (32) has played more Big 12 Tournament games than Baylor (31) and Nebraska (31).

• Baylor's .516 all-time winning percentage in Big 12 Tournament games ranks third in the conference behind only Nebraska (.774, 24-7) and Texas (.571, 16-12).

THE NEBRASKA SERIES

Baylor and Nebraska meet for the 46th time Wednesday. The Bears hold a 27-17-1 advantage in the all-time series, which dates back to a 9-7 Baylor victory April 4, 1938, in Waco.

Since the inception of the Big 12 Conference in 1997, the Bears hold a 19-13 advantage in the series. Baylor is 17-8 against the Huskers in regular-season Big 12 games, winning five of eight series and all four series in Waco. The 1998 series was rain-shortened to one game (a Baylor victory), while the 1999 series was completely lost to inclement weather.

Baylor swept the series in 1997, 2000, 2004 and 2006. Nebraska swept the series in 2001. The teams split the series with the home team winning two-of-three at Baylor in 2002, at Nebraska in 2003 and at Nebraska in 2005.

Nebraska leads the series 5-3 in games played at neutral sites, including a 5-2 advantage in Big 12 Tournament meetings and a 4-2 edge in games played at Oklahoma City. The Bears lost to the Huskers in the championship game of the 1999, 2000 and 2005 tournaments. Baylor was 2-1 against Nebraska in the 2003 tournament, eliminating the Huskers in the semifinals.

THE TEXAS SERIES

Baylor and Texas meet for the 319th time Thursday; this is the most-played series in Baylor baseball history. The Longhorns hold a 217-97-4 advantage in the all-time series, which dates back to a 11-1 Texas victory April 4, 1903. Each team has won six times in the last 12 meetings. Baylor swept the season series last year, and Texas returned the favor this season.

The Bears are 25-21 against the Longhorns during head coach Steve Smith's tenure. Baylor is 20-18 against Texas since the inception of the Big 12 Conference in 1997, including a 17-13 advantage in regular-season Big 12 meetings.

Baylor is 11-6 against Texas in neutral-site meetings, including a 9-2 advantage in conference tournaments. The Bears were 6-1 against the Longhorns in Southwest Conference Tournament meetings. Baylor has won three of four meetings in the Big 12 Tournament, including a 9-8 decision in last year's semifinals. The Bears also defeated the Horns in 1999 and in 2000. However, Texas defeated Baylor 10-8 in 10 innings in the 2003 championship game.

The series also matches the two of the winningest program's in the Big 12's 10-year history. Baylor is the all-time Big 12 leader at 169-105 (.618), while Texas is second in the all-time standings at 170-107 (.614).

THE TEXAS TECH SERIES

Baylor and Texas Tech meet for the 130th time Saturday. The Raiders hold a slim 67-62 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 20-41 at Lubbock. The Bears won the opener of this year's series at Lubbock, snapping a nine-game losing streak at Dan Law Field.

Tech holds an 18-12 advantage in regular-season meetings since the inception of the Big 12 Conference in 1997. Baylor won the series in 1998, 1999 (sweep), 2003 and 2005. Tech has won each of the other six series, including sweeps in 2000, 2002 and 2004. Baylor is 15-26 against Texas Tech during Steve Smith's tenure as Baylor head coach. Tech and Oklahoma (18-19) are the only Big 12 schools against whom the Bears have a sub-.500 record under Smith.

The Bears are 3-2 against the Raiders in conference tournament meetings, including a 2-1 edge in Big 12 Tournament meetings. Tech defeated Baylor 11-4 at the 1998 event, but Baylor posted wins of 10-1 and 8-3 in 2000 and in 2004, respectively.

BAYLOR STARTERS

Baylor sends RHP Randall Linebaugh to the mound Wednesday against Nebraska. This is Linebaugh's first career start against a Big 12 opponent and his first career appearance in Big 12 Tournament play.

Linebaugh makes his 12th start of the season Wednesday. All 11 of his previous starts have been in midweek games, the most by a Baylor pitcher since Jared Theodorakos made 12 midweek starts as a sophomore in 2001.

Baylor is 10-1 in Linebaugh's previous 11 starts; he is 6-0 with five no-decisions. Linebaugh has never faced Nebraska.

After going 1-0 last season, Linebaugh has won his first seven career decisions. That is the longest winning streak by a Baylor pitcher since Abe Woody won his first 11 career decisions over the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

Baylor has not yet announced starters for the Texas and Texas Tech games.

DILLON MAKES STRONG CASE FOR LEAGUE'S BEST HITTER

C Zach Dillon ended the regular season as the leading hitter in the Big 12 Conference, posting a .396 batting average overall and a Baylor-record .421 mark in league games. Dillon joins Eric Nelson (1997, 1999), David Murphy (2003) and Reid Brees (2004) as the only Bears to hit .400 or better in a Big 12 season. This is the third time in the last five seasons that a Baylor player has led the Big 12 in batting in league games; Chris Durbin (.385, 2002) and Brees (.404) also accomplished the feat.

Dillon leads the Big 12 in the following categories: batting average (.396), walks (49), on base percentage (.525), free passes (55) and times reached base safely (127). In Big 12 games, Dillon finished the season as the conference leader in the following categories: batting average (.421) and on base percentage (.504).

Dillon established Baylor Big 12 season records this year in batting average and on base percentage. He also became only the fourth Baylor player to collect 40 or more hits in a Big 12 season since the league reduced to 27 games in 2002, joining Murphy (46, 2003), Michael Griffin (40, 2004) and Brees (40, 2004).

AS FORTENBERRY GOES, SO GO THE BEARS

LF Seth Fortenberry has posted a .402 average (47-for-117) this season in Baylor's 34 wins. Conversely, he has posted a .202 average (17-for-84) in Baylor's 22 losses.

Fortenberry is not alone in this trend; the same can be seen for several batters, including 3B Kevin Russo (.350 in wins; .174 in losses) and SS Beamer Weems (.331 in wins; .203 in losses). Russo and Weems join Fortenberry as the three Bears who have hit more than 100 points better in Baylor's wins than in the Bears' losses.

On the flip side, C Zach Dillon has posted a .389 average in Baylor wins and a .405 average in Baylor losses. Dillon joins Matt Sodolak (.313/.234) as the only Bears with at least 100 at bats this season who have posted a higher batting average in Baylor's losses than in Baylor's wins. Dillon and Sodolak also are the only Bears to hit above .300 in games Baylor lost.

DILLON CARRIES THE WEIGHT IN CLOSE GAMES

Baylor is 11-13 this season in games decided by two runs or less, including a 5-10 mark in such Big 12 games. C Zach Dillon is the only Baylor player hitting above .300 in games decided by two runs or less ... and not just over .300. Dillon is hitting .437 (38-for-87) in such games. SS Beamer Weems is the next best hitter at .286 (24-for-84). Baylor hits just .238 with two outs in such games, bolstered heavily by Dillon's .458 mark (11-for-24).

In Baylor's 10 losses by two runs or less in Big 12 play, the Bears posted a .266 batting average. Dillon led the way, going 20-for-40 (.500) in those games, while CF Chase Gerdes hit .385 (10-for-26) and RF Kevin Sevigny hit .341 (14-for-41). The rest of the team hit .202 (50-for-247).

What cost Baylor most in those 10 losses was the team's .147 (16-for-109) average with runners in scoring position. Even Dillon struggled with runners in scoring position, going 2-for-14 (.143). However, Dillon advanced a runner 11 times in his 12 outs. The Bears produced just five two-out RBI in those 10 losses, while their opponents produced 28.

LEFT SIDE OF INFIELD FLASHES SOLID LEATHER

3B Kevin Russo and SS Beamer Weems have solidified Baylor's infield defense this season. Russo has committed just six errors at third base, while Weems has committed just eight errors at shortstop. The two combined for only four errors in Big 12 play -- Russo committed three, while Weems committed only one. Two of Russo's errors and Weems' lone error in conference play came in the Texas Tech series (March 31-April 2). Russo did not commit his third error in league play until May 19 at Kansas State.

Weems has not committed a fielding error since the second game of the season. Only two of his seven throwing errors have come on direct field-and-throw plays to first base. Two came on throws to first base on attempted double plays. Two came on attempts to get a runner at home that allowed another runner to advance a base. The other throwing error came when he cut down an infield single up the middle, spun and threw wild in an attempt to get the batter/runner at first base.

BAYLOR RECLAIMS STAKE AS BIG 12 ALL-TIME LEADER

With its three-game sweep of fifth-ranked Nebraska two weeks ago and Texas idle that weekend, Baylor reclaimed the top spot in the Big 12 Conference's all-time standings. Both teams were swept in the season's final weekend. At 169-105 (.618), the Bears are just ahead of second-place Texas (170-107, .614). Nebraska is a distant third at 157-114 (.579).

Baylor was out of the top spot in the league standings for one week, the only week since the week of March 10-16, 2003 -- the first weekend of Big 12 play that season -- the Bears were not the league's all-time winningest program. Baylor trailed Texas Tech entering that weekend, took two of three from the Red Raiders at Baylor Ballpark, passed Tech by percentage points in the standings and had been the conference's winningest program ever since until the Bears' open week May 4-6.

Since the league's inception in 1997, Baylor leads all Big 12 schools in total first- and second-team All-Big 12 selections (42), first-team Academic All-Big 12 selections (49), NCAA appearances (seven) and Major League Baseball draft selections (51).

Baylor joins Oklahoma and Oklahoma State as the only programs to have qualified for every Big 12 Tournament.

BEARS HOPE TO REVERSE ROAD TREND

Baylor posted its 27th win at Baylor Ballpark with a 15-6 triumph May 16 against Dallas Baptist. That established a facility record for regular-season victories.

The 2006 Bears are markedly more successful at home, posting a 27-7 mark at Baylor Ballpark and a 7-15 record in away games. The Bears were 10-2 in Big 12 play at home but just 3-12 in road games.

DILLON NAMED SEMIFINALIST FOR BENCH AWARD

C Zach Dillon was named a semifinalist for the 2006 Coleman Johnny Bench Award, the Greater Wichita [Kan.] Area Sports Commission announced last Thursday. Dillon was the only catcher from the Big 12 Conference selected to 10-man list.

Dillon is the third Baylor catcher to reach semifinalist status for the Bench Award. Josh Ford was a semifinalist in 2003, and Kelly Shoppach won the inaugural Bench Award in 2001.

Other catchers named semifinalists were J.P. Arencibia of Tennessee, Ryan Bono of Central Florida, Jeff Kunkel of Michigan, Matt McBride of Lehigh, Michael McKenry of Middle Tennessee State, Jordan Newton of Western Kentucky, Eddy Rodriguez of Miami, Fla., Jake Smith of East Carolina and Chad Tracy of Pepperdine. The list will be pared to three finalists June 1 with the winner named June 28 at the Ninth-Annual Greater Wichita Sports Banquet.

Dillon, a senior co-captain from Urbandale, Iowa, finished the regular season as the leading hitter in the Big 12, posting a .396 overall average and a Baylor-record .421 mark in league games. He also leads the league in walks (49), free passes (55), times reached base safely (127) and on base percentage (.525).

The Bench Award is selected by a committee comprised of sportswriters, sportscasters, Division I coaches and scouts.

BAYLOR 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 151-7 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.

CAREER NUMBERS WATCH

• LF Seth Fortenberry is three walks shy of No. 50.

• RHP Ryan LaMotta is six strikeouts shy of sixth place on Baylor's career strikeouts list. ... LaMotta is two appearances shy of Zane Carlson's school record of 111. ... LaMotta is three strikeouts shy of 250.

• DH Mike Pankratz is six hits shy of No. 100.

• RF Kevin Sevigny is six extra-base hits shy of No. 50 and one walk shy of No. 50.

• LHP Cory VanAllen is two strikeouts shy of No. 150.

LaMOTTA CLIMBS STRIKEOUTS LIST

RHP Ryan LaMotta enters the Big 12 Tournament seventh on Baylor's career strikeouts list. He needs six strikeouts to match Trey Taylor for sixth all-time at Baylor. LaMotta currently has 247 career strikeouts in 305.5 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 - 247

8. Justin Taylor - 229

9. Glenn Nevill - 225

10. Zane Carlson - 225

TRIPLE YOUR PLEASURE

Baylor has 31 triples through 56 games this season. The Bears had only 21 three-baggers in 70 games last season. LF Seth Fortenberry leads the Big 12 Conference and is tied for second nationally with nine triples, more than twice his career total entering the 2006 season (four) and four more than CF Chase Gerdes' team-leading total of five last season.

SIX BEARS EARN ACADEMIC ALL-BIG 12 CONFERENCE HONORS

Six Baylor baseball student-athletes earned Academic All-Big 12 Conference honors, the league office announced last week. C Zach Dillon, RHP/1B Jeff Mandel, RHP Andy Pape and 3B Kevin Russo earned first-team honors, while RHP Ryan LaMotta and DH Mike Pankratz were second-team selections.

With this year's four first-team selections, Baylor baseball student-athletes have received 49 first-team Academic All-Big 12 honors in the league's 10-year existence. That total leads the conference, ahead of Nebraska (42) and Oklahoma State (37).

Dillon becomes the first Baylor baseball student-athlete to earn first-team honors four times. He joins Eric Nelson (1997-99), Jon Topolski (1997-99), Preston Underdown (1998-2000), Ross Bennett (2000, 2002-03) and Tim Hartshorn (2000-02) as the only Baylor players so honored more than twice.

LaMotta was a second-team honoree each of the past two seasons, while Pape earned first-team honors in 2004. Mandel earned second-team honors last season. Russo and Pankratz both are first-time academic all-conference honorees.

Nominated by each institution's director of student-athlete support services and media relations offices, the baseball academic all-league squad consisted of 29 first team members combined with 18 on the second team. First team members include those who have maintained a 3.20 or better GPA, and the second team are those who have a 3.00 to 3.19 GPA.

To qualify student-athletes must record a 3.00 GPA or higher either cumulative or the two previous semesters. All players nominated must have participated in 60 percent of his team's scheduled contests, while pitchers are required to have at least one inning pitched per game played by the team or have appeared in 35 percent of their team's total games. Freshmen and transfers are not eligible in their first year of academic residence. Senior student-athletes who have participated for a minimum of two years and meet all the criteria except percent of participation are also eligible.

DILLON, MANDEL NAMED CoSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT VI

C Zach Dillon and RHP/1B Jeff Mandel were named to the 2006 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI teams, announced recently by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Dillon was named first team, while Mandel earned second-team honors.

At least one Baylor baseball student-athlete has earned academic all-district honors every year since 1998. In that time, 13 Bears have been so honored 19 times. This is Dillon's second consecutive season to earn all-district honors, while Mandel is honored for the first time.

A fifth-year senior catcher from Urbandale, Iowa, Dillon completed undergraduate studies at Baylor in December, 2005, and recently completed his first semester of graduate school in pursuit of Master of Science degree in sport management. Mandel, a junior pitcher and first baseman from Houston, Texas, currently is pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in economics.

Dillon joins former Bears Ross Bennett (2002, 2003), Michael Griffin (2003, 2004, 2005), Jason Jennings (1998, 1999) and Jon Topolski (1998, 1999) as the only Baylor baseball student-athletes to earn academic all-district honors multiple times.

In order to be eligible for academic all-district honors, a student-athlete must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.20 on a 4.00 scale and participate in at least 50 percent of his team's games. Freshmen and first-year transfers are not eligible. Those selected all-district are automatically nominated for Academic All-America honors.

FANS PACK BAYLOR BALLPARK

Baylor has drawn a total of 96,427 fans at home games this season, second in school history and a regular-season record. Baylor averages 3,013 fans per game this season, just off last season's average (3,045) that was bolstered by a 3,886 average during six postseason dates (2,875 during the regular season). The Baylor record for average attendance is 3,057 from the 2003 season.

This season has seen several impressive attendance marks:

• The April 11 game against Rice drew a crowd of 3,443, the second-largest midweek crowd in school history.

• The April 13 game against Texas drew a crowd of 5,313, second all-time at Baylor.

• The April 22 game against Texas A&m drw a crowd of 5,173, third all-time at Baylor.

• The April 7-9 series against Oklahoma State drew a total crowd of 10,516, the fourth-largest three-date series attendance in school history and the second-largest in a regular-season series. It also was the first regular-season three-date series in school history to draw crowds of at least 3,300 for all three dates.

• The April 22-23 series against Texas A&M drew a total crowd of 9,085, the largest two-date series attendance in school history. It also marked the first time since Baylor and Texas A&M began the split series format in 1993 that the attendance at both games in Waco (5,173 and 3,912) were larger than the attendance for the game at College Station (3,845).

BAYLOR STRONG IN LATEST APR REPORT

Baylor's baseball team scored a 961 in the latest Academic Progress Rate (APR), released earlier this season 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

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 452-280-1 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 awaits word from the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee. Pairings for the 2006 tournament will be announced Monday, May 29, at 11:30 a.m. CDT on ESPN.