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RELEASE THREE • FEB. 15, 2007

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Friday Baylor vs. SFA, 6:30 p.m. CST

Baylor Ballpark • Waco, Texas

Saturday Baylor vs. SFA, 3 p.m. CST

Baylor Ballpark • Waco, Texas

Sunday Baylor vs. SFA, 1:30 p.m. CST

Baylor Ballpark • Waco, Texas

COACHES

BAYLOR: Steve Smith

Alma Mater: Baylor, 1986

Career Record: 455-287-1 [13th season]

Record at Baylor: 455-287-1 [13th season]

STEPHEN F. AUSTIN: Donnie Watson

Alma Mater: University of Dallas, 1978

Career Record: 17-45 [2nd season]

Record at Rice: 17-45 [2nd season]

BAYLOR/ISP RADIO NETWORK

1660 ESPN RADIO (Waco)

Tom Barfield, play-by-play

Lark Smith, color

INTERNET FEEDS

GameTracker: www.BaylorBears.com

Audio: www.BaylorBears.com

Video: none

BAYLOR NATIONAL RANKINGS

Baseball America NR

USA Today/ESPN Coaches 24th

NCBWA RV

Collegiate Baseball NR

PROBABLE STARTERS

Friday, Feb. 16

BU RHP Randall Linebaugh (0-1, 2.25 ERA, 4.0 IP, 2 K)

SFA RHP Erich Lehmann (0-0, 1.54 ERA, 11.2 IP, 11 K)

Saturday, Feb. 17

BU LHP Cliff Springston (0-1, 3.86 ERA, 4.2 IP, 2 K)

SFA RHP Jared Schrom (0-0, 1.74 ERA, 10.1 IP, 9 K)

Sunday, Feb. 18

BU RHP Jeff Mandel (0-1, 10.80 ERA, 5.0 IP, 5 K)

SFA LHP Lance Luetge (2-0, 2.35 ERA, 7.2 IP, 1 K)

PROMOTIONS SCHEDULE

Friday, Feb. 16

• Big Red T-shirt giveaway (kids 13 and under)

Saturday, Feb. 17

• magnet schedule giveaway
• $3 Big Red Pack (hot dog, peanuts, 20 oz. Big Red)

Sunday, Feb. 18

• Sunday Fun Day - inflatables outside Baylor Ballpark
• Big Red player autograph cards

Baylor returns to action this weekend, hosting Stephen F. Austin for a three-game series at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears and the Lumberjacks meet Friday at 6:30 p.m. CST, Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. This is the second consecutive year Baylor and Stephen F. Austin, which resurrected its baseball program last season, have played a three-game series.

The Bears (1-3) snapped a season-opening three-game losing streak Tuesday night, rallying past Texas State 10-4 at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears are unranked in this week's Baseball America Top 25. Baylor, ranked 24th nationally in the USA Today/ESPN Preseason Coaches' Poll, is unranked in the Collegiate Baseball Top 30 and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 30.

The Lumberjacks (2-4) dropped two of three at Louisiana-Monroe last weekend, falling 3-1 Friday and 7-2 Saturday before pulling out an 11-10 victory in Sunday's series finale. SFA also split a pair of games at Texas Tech two weeks ago, falling 4-3 in 11 innings and winning 2-1, and dropped a 15-6 decision at Houston (Feb. 6).

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:

- 117-44 (.727) when its starting pitcher lasts at least 5.0 innings

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

- 111-32 (.776) when scoring first

- 128-25 (.837) when out-hitting its opponent

- 120-33 (.784) when holding its opponent to fewer than five runs

- 109-22 (.832) when scoring at least six runs

- 98-15 (.867) when scoring at least seven runs

• Since the start of the 2002 season, Baylor is 155-7 (.957) when leading after eight innings. The Bears have won 15 straight, 49 of their last 50 and 84 of their last 86 such games.

• Baylor has won 20 of its last 21 games when hitting at least two home runs.

• The Bears have won eight consecutive home games and are 33-8 at Baylor Ballpark since the start of the 2005 postseason. Six of those eight losses were to ranked opponents.

• 1B/DH Dustin Dickerson has hit safely in all three starts.

• CF Chase Gerdes has reached safely and/or scored in every game this season.

• 1B/DH Tim Jackson has hit safely in every game in which he has played this season.

• Jackson is 6-for-7 with the bases loaded during his Baylor career.

• RHP Tim Matthews has not allowed an earned run in eight consecutive relief appearances.

THE STEPHEN F. AUSTIN SERIES

Baylor and Stephen F. Austin meet for the 22nd, 23rd and 24th times this weekend. The Bears have won each of the first 21 meetings, going 17-0 in games played in Waco. Baylor swept the Lumberjacks at Baylor Ballpark last season, the teams' first meetings since SFA's program was disbanded following the 1995 season.

The Bears and the Jacks first met March 15, 1948, in Waco; Baylor won that game 17-12 and then defeated SFA 21-1 the following day. The next season, the Bears opened the season with two wins at Nacogdoches, followed by a pair of wins against SFA at home. The teams did not meet again until the Bears swept a three-game series in Waco to open the 1991 season.

Overall: Baylor leads 21-0

Waco: Baylor leads 17-0

Nacogdoches: Baylor leads 4-0

Neutral Site: Never Met

Smith vs. SFA: 5-0

First Meeting: at Baylor 17, SFA 12 [3/15/1948]

Last Meeting: at Baylor 3, SFA 1 [2/12/2006]

LAST TIME vs. STEPHEN F. AUSTIN

BAYLOR 3, SFA 1 • FEB. 12, 2006 • WACO, TEXAS

Kevin Russo's eighth-inning, two-out single up the middle plated Beamer Weems and Zach Dillon to break a 1-1 tie and give Baylor a 3-1 victory at Baylor Ballpark.

SFA held Baylor hitless until Weems lined a single to right-center with two outs in the eighth. After moving to second on a Dillon walk, Weems took third on a wild pitch. Two pitches later, Dillon swiped second, and Russo bounced the next pitch up the middle for the game-winning hit.

Jeff Mandel walked the first batter of the ninth but retired the next three to record his first career save.

Baylor starter Tim Matthews allowed one run on three hits with no walks and six strikeouts in 6.0 innings.

The Bears got their first run of the game without the benefit of a hit. Russo struck out for what would have been the third out of the fourth inning, but he managed to reach second when the pitch skipped to the backstop. After Russo moved the third on a balk, Seth Fortenberry drew a walk. Baylor then converted a double steal to score the game's first run.

Nick Cassavechia earned his first career victory, allowing one hit with one strikeout in 2.0 scoreless innings of relief.

WE'LL BE HERE A WHILE

Tuesday's 10-4 victory over Texas State started a nine-game home stand for the Bears. In fact, Baylor is in a stretch where it plays 14 of 17 games at Baylor Ballpark. After opening the season at the Houston College Classic, the only time the Bears play away from Baylor Ballpark prior to the start of Big 12 Conference play March 16 at Texas is March 2-4 at the Pacific Tournament hosted by University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif.

MIDWEEK SUCCESS CONTINUES

With Tuesday's 10-4 victory over Texas State, Baylor improved to 14-4 in non-conference midweek games since the start of the 2006 season, including a 12-3 mark on Tuesdays. The 2005 season when the Bears were 7-8 in non-conference midweek games, including a 6-6 mark on Tuesdays.

CASSAVECHIA NAMED TO STOPPER WATCH LIST

RHP Nick Cassavechia was named to the 2007 Stopper of the Year Watch List, announced in early February by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Cassavechia joined Texas sophomore Austin Wood as the only Big 12 pitchers on the 35-man list.

A product of St. Mark's High School in Dallas, Texas, Cassavechia posted a 3-4 record with eight saves and a 3.03 ERA as a sophomore in 2006. He stranded 24 of 27 inherited runners (88.9 percent) and held a lead or a tie in 16 of 18 opportunities (88.9 percent). Cassavechia was dominate when entering a game as opponents were 2-for-25 (.080) in first at bats against the Baylor closer.

Cassavechia's 2006 saves total tied for the sixth-best tally in school history. He tied fellow Bear Jeff Mandel for fourth in the Big 12 last season in saves. Cassavechia and Mandel, who moves to the starting rotation for 2007, are the two top returning pitchers in saves in the conference this year.

LINEBAUGH, MILLER HONORED BY BASEBALL AMERICA

RHP Randall Linebaugh and RF Aaron Miller were honored by Baseball America in the publication's 2007 College Preview. Linebaugh was picked first-team All-Big 12 Conference, while Miller was tabbed as the conference's best incoming freshman.

Linebaugh, a junior from Mesquite, Texas, was 6-1 last season with a 3.42 ERA in 20 appearances with 13 starts last season. In 71.0 innings, Linebaugh recorded a staff-best 65 strikeouts and held opponents to a .266 batting average. As Baylor's primary midweek starter in 2006, Linebaugh was 6-0 in 11 regular-season starts; Baylor was 10-1 in those 11 games.

Miller was a third-team Baseball America High School All-America selection last spring. He hit .581 with 14 home runs, 49 RBI, 11 doubles, two triples and 20 stolen bases while playing first base for Channelview [Texas] High School in 2006. Miller was an 11th-round selection of the Colorado Rockies in last June's Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

Baseball America also rated Miller as the Big 12's second-best newcomer (includes junior college and senior college transfers). 1B/DH Dustin Dickerson was the publiction's third-rated player in this category. Nationally, Baylor had four of the publication's Top 50 Freshmen, including three in the top 11. Miller was rated third, while Dickerson was seventh, RHP Kendal Volz was 11th and RHP Shawn Tolleson was 46th.

SCHEDULE AMONG NATION'S TOUGHEST

Baylor's 2007 schedule is projected as the nation's 20th-most difficult slate, according to Boyd Nation of BoydsWorld.com. The Bears' schedule is rated as the third-most difficult in the Big 12 behind Texas (10th) and Texas A&M (17th). In fact, Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M and Georgia (18th) are the only non-California and/or non-Pac 10 teams in the top 25.

Long Beach State's schedule is predicted to be the most difficult, followed by Southern California, UCLA, Stanford, Cal Poly, Pacific, Cal State Northridge, Cal State Fullerton, UC Santa Barbara and Texas.

BEARS PICKED FOURTH IN PRESEASON BIG 12 COACHES' POLL

Baylor was picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 Conference, according to the preseason coaches' poll released by the league office. The Bears garnered 57 total points, seven behind third-place Nebraska and 11 ahead of fifth-place Oklahoma.

Defending regular-season champion Texas was picked as the preseason favorite, receiving 79 total points and seven of nine first-place votes. Oklahoma State was picked to finish second with 70 points and two first-place votes. Texas Tech was picked to finish sixth, followed by Texas A&M, Missouri, Kansas and Kansas State. Coaches are not permitted to vote for their own teams.

This is the third consecutive season in which Baylor was picked to finish fourth in the preseason coaches' poll. In the 10-year history of the Big 12 Conference, only five schools have claimed regular-season titles: Baylor (2000, 2005); Nebraska (2001, 2003, 2005); Texas (2002, 2004, 2006); Texas A&M (1998, 1999) and Texas Tech (1997).

BAYLOR RANKED NATION'S 17TH-BEST PROGRAM

Baylor was listed as the nation's 17th-best collegiate baseball program since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1999, according to a recent study by Baseball America. The publication's study focused on 11 categories, including winning percentage, NCAA Tournament appearances, tradition, All-Americans and players drafted in the top 10 rounds.

With 150 total points, Baylor was the third highest-rated Big 12 Conference program behind only top-rated Texas and 11th-rated Nebraska. Miami, Fla., Stanford, Cal State Fullerton, Rice, Louisiana State, Florida State, Clemson, South Carolina and Southern California rounded out the top 10 of the 64-team list. Other Big 12 programs on the list were Texas A&M (24th), Oklahoma State (29th), Oklahoma (35th), Texas Tech (40th) and Missouri (59th).

Baseball America last did such a study in 1997 and focused only on the 1990s. Baylor ranked 80th in that study; the Bears' 63-spot jump was the second-largest behind only Tulane, which climbed from 83rd in 1997 to one spot ahead of Baylor at No. 16 in this study. With that, Baylor ranked second in the publication's list of top five "rising" programs; Rice and Wake Forest, both up 59 spots, tied for third on the list, followed by Nebraska (up 51 spots).

Programs were awarded one point for every .010 above a .500 winning percentage, five points for each regional appearance, seven points for each super regional appearance, 10 points for each College World Series appearance, 20 points for each national title, one point for each CWS appearance prior to 1999, five points for each first-team All-American, three points for each second-team All-American, two points for each third-team All-American, two points for each player drafted in the top 10 rounds and two points for each former player to play in the Major Leagues during the period of study.

With 19 players drafted in the top 10 rounds since 1999, Baylor tied Louisiana State, Nebraska, North Carolina and Texas A&M for 11th in that category. The Bears tied for 15th in total All-Americans since 1999. Baylor also is one of only 20 programs to make at least seven NCAA Tournament appearances in the last eight years.

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.

INSIDE BAYLOR SPORTS

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 13th season as head coach of Baylor's baseball program in 2007. In his first 12 years, Smith guided the program to unprecedented heights, including the most successful nine-year run in the program's 102-season history and a College World Series appearance in 2005.

Smith has compiled a 455-287-1 career record, all at Baylor. He ranks second among the program's 18 head coaches in career victories. Smith has led Baylor to eight 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.

UP NEXT ...

Baylor continues its nine-game home stand Tuesday, Feb. 20, with a 6:30 p.m. CST game against Texas-San Antonio. This is the only scheduled meeting between the Bears and the Roadrunners this season.