Feb. 23, 2010
COMPLETE GAME NOTES
GAME 5 • FEB. 24 • BAYLOR BALLPARK • WACO, TEXAS
BAYLOR (3-1) vs. TCU (3-0)
WEDNESDAY: 3:00 p.m. CST -- $1 Hot Dog Wednesdays
SERIES INFORMATION
Overall: 135-105
Waco: 69-41
Fort Worth: 49-50
Neutral Site: 1-7
Unknown Site: 16-7
COACHES
BAYLOR: Steve Smith
Alma Mater: Baylor, 1986
Career Record: 555-364-1 [16th season]
Record at Baylor: 555-364-1 [16th season]
TCU: Jim Schlossnagle
Alma Mater: Elon, 1992
Career Record: 331-167 [ninth season]
Record at TCU: 254-120 [seventh 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
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP (2009 STATISTICS)
Baylor: RHP Trent Blank, So. (1-1, 9.36 ERA, 25.0 IP, 13 BB, 22 K)
TCU: RHP Paul Gerrish, Sr. (7-2, 3.84 ERA, 61.0 IP, 16 BB, 59K)
Baylor and TCU meet for the 241st time Wednesday. The Bears hold a 135-105 advantage in the all-time series. Baylor ended a four-game losing streak in the series by winning both games against the Horned Frogs in 2009. The Bears are 16-18 against TCU since 1995.
Baylor holds a 69-41 lead in games played in Waco, including an 8-3 mark at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears knocked off the 16th-ranked Horned Frogs, 15-4, when TCU last visited Waco on March 26, 2009.
The Baylor-TCU series is the third-most played rivalry in Baylor baseball history behind Texas (331 meetings) and Texas A&M (262).
The Bears (3-1) entered the season unranked in any of the major polls for the first time since 2006 and just the second time in the last decade. However, the Big 12 coaches picked Baylor to finish sixth in the conference. The Bears return strength in numbers on the mound, with 10 of 13 pitchers returning from last season's squad. Baylor also has an experienced infield, with all four infield spots occupied by players who have starting experience, as well as a backstop who enters his third year as a starter.
TCU (3-0) started off the 2010 season with a sweep of Sam Houston State - a team that earned a regional berth in 2009.
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 CBS College Sports Network.
BAYLOR vs. THE €ˆMOUNTAIN WEST €ˆCONFERENCE
Baylor is 143-107 all-time against programs currently in the Mountain West Conference. The vast majority of that was against TCU (135-105). Baylor also has played Air Force (2-0), BYU (1-0) and San Diego State (5-2).
LAST SEASON'S MEETINGS
BAYLOR 15, TCU 4 • MARCH €ˆ26, 2009 • BAYLOR BALLPARK • WACO, TEXAS
Shaver Hansen's first-inning, two-run homer gave No. 8 Baylor an early lead, and the Bears pulled away with a nine-run sixth inning en route to a 15-4 victory over 16th-ranked TCU.
Ben Booker led off the fifth with a double and later scored on Gregg Glime's first-and-third RBI sacrifice bunt that pushed the Bears' lead to 3-0. Baylor then sent 13 batters to the plate in the nine-run sixth, collecting six hits and three walks with one hit batsman.
TCU (14-7) broke up the shutout with a run in the top of the seventh, which the Bears answered on Chris Slater's pinch-hit RBI single in the bottom of the frame. The Frogs got another run in the eighth, but Dan Evatt's two-run homer in the bottom of the inning pushed Baylor's lead back to 15-2. TCU capped the scoring in the top of the ninth on Brance Rivera's two-run single.
Willie Kempf (1-1) earned the victory in a predetermined 2.0-inning start; he retired all six batters he faced with two strikeouts. Jon Ringenberg scattered two singles with two strikeouts over 2.0 scoreless innings. Craig Fritsch, Trent Blank, Max Garner, Joey Hainsfurther and Ross Speed tossed 1.0 inning each to close out the game on the mound for Baylor.
TCU starter Steven Maxwell (2-2) took the loss after allowing three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts over 5.0 innings.
Each Baylor starter had at least one hit. Hansen finished the night 2-for-2 with two walks, a sacrifice fly, three RBI and three runs. Booker was 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI, while Raynor Campbell also was 2-for-3. Evatt came off the bench to go 2-for-4 with four RBI.
BAYLOR 2, TCU 1 • MARCH €ˆ4, 2009 • LUPTON STADIUM • FORT WORTH, TEXAS
Logan Verrett got a strikeout and a fly out to end the ninth, stranding the potential tying run at second base, as sixth-ranked Baylor edged No. 13 TCU at Lupton Stadium. Baylor (7-2) improved to 5-1 in one-run games on the season and snapped a four-game skid against TCU (6-2) that dated back to the 2007 regular season.
Verrett hit Taylor Featherston on the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth, and Matt Vern followed with a sacrifice bunt to push pinch runner Brance Rivera to second. However, Verrett struck out Bryan Holaday on an 0-2 slider and then induced a fly ball to left off the bat of pinch hitter Hunt Woodruff to end the game. Verrett logged his first career save, allowing one run on one hit and no walks with three strikeouts over 2.0 innings.
Baylor took a 2-0 lead with single spots in the first and second innings. Brooks Pinckard laid down a bunt single on the game's first pitch, stole second and later scored on Adam Hornung's triple. Shaver Hansen walked to lead off the second and later scored on Featherston's two-out throwing error.
That score held until the bottom of the eighth. Matt Carpenter led off the frame with a double past a diving Pinckard in left-center. Carpenter moved to third on Matt Curry's one-out ground out and came home when Verrett was called for a balk with an 0-2 count on Jason Coats. Verrett struck out Coats on the next pitch to end the inning.
Baylor starter Aaron Miller (1-0) earned the win, tossing 5.0 scoreless innings on three hits and four walks with three strikeouts. Trent Blank bridged the gap from Miller to Verrett, allowing one hit with a strikeout in 2.0 scoreless innings.
TCU starter Steven Maxwell (1-1) was saddled with the loss after yielding two runs, one earned, on three hits and two walks with three strikeouts over 4.1 innings.
TOLLESON NAMED BIG 12 CO-PITCHER OF THE WEEK AFTER FIRST WEEKEND
Baylor junior RHP Shawn Tolleson was named Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Co-Pitcher of the Week for games played during the season's first weekend.
Tolleson struck out 11 Duke batters in 6.0 innings in his opening-day start for Baylor. He allowed three runs in the first inning, but bounced back to limit the Blue Devils to just two hits over the next five frames on his way to earning the win.
The Fairview, Texas native escaped a jam in the third inning when Duke had a pair of runners in scoring position with one out. Tolleson struck out each of the next two batters, starting a string of seven consecutive outs recorded by strikeout. Ten of the final 12 outs he recorded came via strikeout, with the two exceptions coming on a groundout and a caught stealing.
With 11 strikeouts, the junior right-hander fell one short of his career high, when he struck out 11 in a four-hit shutout of Kansas State in 2008.
It's the second time Tolleson has been named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week. He was also honored on March 17, 2008, after turning in a two-hit shutout against 23rd-ranked Oklahoma State.
Tolleson shares the honor with Texas Tech's Chad Bettis, while Texas A&M's Brodie Greene was named Player of the Week.
BIG 12 COACHES PICK BAYLOR SIXTH
Baylor baseball was picked to finish sixth in the Big 12 Conference in the Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Bears (30-26, 10-16 in 2009) received 39 points, placing them ahead of Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas Tech.
With its No.1 national ranking, Texas received all nine possible first-place votes, giving the Longhorns 81 points. Kansas tallied the other first-place vote and is picked to finish second with 69 points. Texas A&M notched 64 points, Oklahoma came in fourth with 57 points and Oklahoma State was picked fifth with 47 points. Coaches are not permitted to vote for their own teams.
The Bears had been picked in the top four in every season since 1999, including being tabbed third in each of the last two seasons. Despite that preseason ranking, the Bears finished eighth in 2009. Texas A&M was last year's preseason favorite, garnering all nine possible first-place votes, but the Aggies finished the season in sixth place.
BAYLOR €ˆSCHEDULE RANKED €ˆTOUGHEST €ˆIN €ˆNATION €ˆBY €ˆBOYD'S WORLD
Some might think the Bears are playing a soft schedule in 2010 based simply on the fact that the first 18 games are at Baylor Ballpark. We're here to tell you that's just not true ... and we can back that claim up with evidence.
Boyd's World, a college baseball site run by Boyd Nation, uses a measuring stick called "Iterative Strength Ratings." Boyd's World uses the ISR in place of the RPI to measure a team's success, and by using each team's 2009 ISR, Boyd has been able to compile a ranking of each team's 2010 Intended Strength of Schedule.
The ranking is called the "Intended Strength of Schedule" because it uses last season's ISR ratings to determine the strength of the schedule each team intended to play. Coaches usually schedule opponents at least a year in advance, so the ISS attempts to determine how strong the coach thought the schedule would be when he made it.
All of that to say, Baylor enters the 2010 season with the toughest Intended Strength of Schedule in the nation. Out of 301 teams listed, Baylor has THE TOUGHEST schedule in the nation.
Since most teams play the majority of their games in conference play, this metric often groups teams from the same conference pretty close together, but this year it's a little different. The next toughest ISS in the Big 12 is Texas A&M at No. 9, followed by Texas Tech (11), Kansas (19), Texas (20), Missouri (25), Oklahoma (42), Oklahoma State (44), Nebraska (51) and Kansas State (57).
Why the gap between Big 12 teams? Well, Baylor has the Big 12's most difficult non-conference Intended Strength of Schedule at No. 9. The Bears are followed in the non-conference rankings by Texas A&M (33), Texas Tech (46), Texas (58), Kansas (77), Oklahoma (102), Missouri (103), Oklahoma State (132), Kansas State (157) and Nebraska (165).
VERRETT €ˆLOOKS €ˆTO €ˆBUILD €ˆON €ˆFRESHMAN €ˆSUCCESS
RHP €ˆLogan €ˆVerrett became the second freshman in Baylor history to start his career 7-0. Furthermore, he earned either a win or a save in each of his first eight appearances, all of which were one-run games. Verrett hopes to avoid the sophomore jinx that snagged Tolleson last season and Kendal Volz in 2008. Only one of the previous 10 Baylor pitchers who won at least six games as a freshmen -- Ted Richardson -- won at least that many as sophomores.
BASEBALL AMERICA TABS BAYLOR SEVENTH
Baseball America picked Baylor to finish seventh in its annual Big 12 Conference preview. Though that finish would've gotten the Bears into the NCAA tournament when the conference got eight bids a season ago, BA projects the Big 12 to send just five teams to regionals this season.
The publication also named its top 10 prospects in the conference for each of the next two draft classes. OF/RHP Brooks Pinckard was picked as the conference's ninth-best draft prospect for 2010, while RHP Logan Verrett was named the second-best prospect in the conference among players eligible for the 2011 MLB €ˆDraft.
In the "Best Tools" section of BA's preview, C Gregg Glime was named the league's best defensive catcher, while Pinckard was picked as the best outfield arm in the Big 12.
YAHOO/RIVALS PICKS €ˆBEARS €ˆSEVENTH
Kendall Rogers of Rivals.com/Yahoo! Sports NCAA €ˆBaseball picked Baylor to finish seventh in his Big 12 preseason poll. He also picked the Bears to be on the bubble for an NCAA tournament bid, and he offered high praise for the BU pitching staff:
"BU welcomes back a crop of talented pitchers in Shawn Tolleson, Craig Fritsch, Willie Kempf and Logan Verrett. However, its offense is a major concern. BU could be a huge surprise if its offense rises to the occasion. "
THE COLLEGE BASEBALL BLOG ALSO PICKS €ˆBEARS €ˆSEVENTH
Keeping in line with Yahoo! and Baseball America, The College Baseball Blog projects Baylor to finish seventh in the Big 12 Conference. The CBB projects RHP Logan €ˆVerrett to make the All-Big 12 first team as a starting pitcher, and it picks 2B Joey Hainsfurther as an honorable mention all-conference selection on the infield.
EXTRA SPECIAL
Baylor is 19-8 in extra-inning games since the start of the 2003 season, including a 4-1 mark in such games last season. Baylor was 1-3 in extra-inning games in 2008, 2-1 in 2007, 0-1 in 2006, 6-1 in 2005, 1-0 in 2004 and 5-1 in 2003.
The Bears won all four regular season games that went to extra innings last season, but fell to No. 2 national seed LSU 3-2 in 10 innings in the second game of the NCAA €ˆBaton €ˆRouge Regional.
Five of the 15 wins over the past six seasons have come on an opponent's home field (Arizona twice, Arizona State, Texas and Vanderbilt). Three of the 15 wins were either neutral-site games or games at Baylor Ballpark in which the Bears were the visitor. Four of the 15 wins have come in postseason play, including two at the Big 12 Tournament and one at the College World Series.
Baylor's luck was not as good in 2002 when the Bears were 1-5 in extra-inning games, including a span of three consecutive games lost in extra innings in mid-May.
THE COLLEGE BASEBALL BLOG PICKS PAIR OF BEARS FOR TOP 100
The College Baseball Blog picked two Bears among its top 100 college players who are eligible for the 2010 MLB Draft. RHP Shawn €ˆTolleson was slotted as the nation's 63rd-best prospect, while RHP Craig Fritsch was ranked No. 67.
The CBB also compiled a list of its top 100 players college players across the nation. RHP Logan Verrett was the only Bear selected, coming in at No. 64. The site had this to say about Verrett:
"If Verrett can become a more polished pitcher and get more consistent in throwing strikes, he can challenge Gerrit Cole for the top spot in the 2011 MLB Draft. We believe that Verrett will be able to find his game this season and become a solid starter in the Baylor rotation."
BOTH €ˆBAYLOR GAMES IN €ˆAUSTIN SLATED FOR TELEVISION
Baylor's May 1 game at Texas will be televised nationally on ESPNU, while the Bears' game against the Longhorns the following day will be shown nationally on Fox College Sports. The first game, which was originally scheduled for 3:30 p.m. CT, has been pushed back to 8 p.m, while the series finale has been moved to 2:30 p.m.
The Bears will be playing on ESPNU for the second time in program history. Incidentally, the first game was on the same date last season, and was also played against Texas at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. The Longhorns won that game 12-4, as Baylor committed seven errors that led to six unearned runs.
In the latter game, Baylor will be looking for its first win in a game televised on FCS, as the Bears lost both games previously aired by the network. The Bears fell to seventh-ranked Nebraska, 14-1, at Baylor Ballpark on April 26, 2008, and then dropped a 2-0 decision to the Longhorns in Austin on May 3 of the same season.
Since 1988, the Bears have played 67 games on television, including five during the 2009 season, and hold a 29-38 record in televised games. Baylor is 6-6 in games televised on the ESPN family of networks.
COLLEGE BASEBALL TODAY PICKS BEARS AS ONE OF FOUR CONTENDERS IN BIG 12
College Baseball Today picked Texas as its favorite to win the Big 12 Conference, but the site listed Baylor, Kansas and Texas A&M as the teams who could challenge the Longhorns for the top spot in the league. CBT had this to say about the 2010 Bears:
"Baylor still has enough talent on hand to make things interesting, though they'll have a lot to overcome as well."
CBT also had the following as one of its three bold predictions:
"Texas A&M and Baylor, playing under less stress and expectations, will play a lot better this season."
CBT €ˆalso lists RHPs Logan Verrett, Craig Fritsch and Willie Kempf and IFs Dan Evatt and Joey Hainsfurther as its preseason all-conference candidates. On the Bears' 2010 schedule, CBT said:
"Quietly one of the toughest. Shhh. Not sure a lot of people realize how *potentially* difficult BU's pre-conference slate could be. Opening with under-the-radar Duke and Georgia in the opening weekend is awesome. But the Bears will also take on TCU, Texas State and Western Kentucky - a trio of good mid-majors (okay, TCU is actually a great mid-major). They'll also host BYU, LaTech and a four-gamer with Oral Roberts as well. Right before Big 12 play kicks in they'll also play a dangerous Illinois-Chicago team that loves to ambush people. All these games are at home."
BEARS PLACE 28 ON BIG 12 COMMISSIONER'S HONOR ROLL
Baylor baseball placed 28 players on the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll for the fall 2009 semester. It's worth noting that not all 28 Baylor baseball student-athletes who were honored are on the 2010 roster. Even if a student-athlete has exhausted athletic eligibility, he can still be named to the list for his academic achievement. That's the case for eight of the baseball players named to the list.
The list includes a pair of Bears who came back to school to finish their degrees. Paul Thorp lettered on the baseball team in 2000, 2001 and 2002, and then was selected by the New York Yankees in the 31st round of the 2002 MLB Draft. Seven years later, he came back to Baylor and received his degree in December.
Sean Walker lettered for the Bears from 2002 through 2005, and then was selected by the Houston Astros in the 24th round of the 2005 MLB Draft. Like Thorp, he returned to school and walked across the stage at the Ferrell Center to receive his degree in December.
Brice Ary, William Draper, Adam Hornung, Brooks Kimmey, Eric Udell and Reed Woytek all exhausted athletic eligibility in 2009, but each continued to excel in the classroom, as all six were named to the Honor Roll.
Five Baylor baseball freshmen were listed on the Honor Roll. LHP Crayton Bare joined IFs Steve DalPorto, Lawton Langford, Jake Miller and Logan Vick as student-athletes who qualified for the Honor Roll in their first semesters in college. DalPorto was one of 38 Baylor student-athletes to earn a perfect 4.0 grade-point average. Chris Slater joined DalPorto on the list of students-athletes with perfect GPAs.
Additionally, 12 Bears were repeat members of the Honor Roll. Kolt Browder (third selection), Andrew Cooley (seventh selection), Craig Fritsch (second selection), Gregg Glime (second selection), Willie Kempf (seventh selection), Don Lambert (second selection), Josh Ludy (third selection), Jon Ringenberg (fourth selection), Chris Slater (fifth selection), Ross Speed (third selection), Landis Ware (fourth selection) and Kevin Winter (third selection) were all repeat selections. Joey Hainsfurther, Wes Mercurio and Reid Redman were first-time honorees.
WEEKEND €ˆPREVIEW
Baylor hosts the fifth-annual QTI Baylor Classic Friday through Sunday at Baylor Ballpark. €ˆThe Bears welcome Texas State, Texas A&M and Western Kentucky. All four teams participating in the tournament earned berths in NCAA regionals a season ago. Texas State took the Southland Conference title, while Western Kentucky won a share of the Sun Belt Conference championship.
BAYLOR-TEXAS STATE SERIES €ˆHISTORY
Baylor holds a 42-16 advantage in the all-time series with Texas State that dates back to 1919. The Bears first played the Bobcats on March 26, 1919, when Texas State was known as Southwest Texas. Baylor is 32-13 in games played in waco, and the Bears hold a 28-11 record in the series during the Steve Smith era.
The Bears and Bobcats met three times a season ago, and the road team won all three games. Baylor won a 22-16 slugfest in San Marcos on March 18, while Texas State knocked off the Bears both games played in Waco. The Bobcats won 5-3 on March 31 and 7-2 on April 22.
BAYLOR vs. THE €ˆSOUTHLAND €ˆCONFERENCE
Baylor is 298-130-1 all-time against programs currently in the Southland Conference. Baylor has played against 10 of the 12 current members of the conference, with Southeastern Louisiana and Central Arkansas as the only exceptions. Despite 58 meetings, the series between Baylor and Texas State is only the fourth most-often played between BU and current Southland members.
Baylor holds a winning record in all 10 all-time series against Southland teams. The Bears have played Lamar (43-28-1), Sam Houston State (56-38) and UT €ˆArlington (74-29) more often than Texas State. Baylor has also taken on McNeese State (8-7), Nicholls State (7-2), Northwestern State (10-7), Stephen F. Austin (27-0), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (5-0), and UTSA (26-3).
BAYLOR-TEXAS A&M SERIES €ˆHISTORY
Baylor and Texas A&M have met 262 times, with the €ˆBears holding a 114-147-1 record in the series. The teams first met on April 4, 1904, and the Bears have played only Texas more often in their history. Baylor is 73-69 in games played in Waco and the Bears are 25-26 against the Aggies during Steve Smith's tenure as head coach.
Though Baylor and Texas A&M meet every year for a three-game Big 12 Conference series, the meeting between the Bears and Aggies this weekend is considered a non-conference game.
In a battle of top-5 teams a year ago, the home team won all three games. Third-ranked Texas A&M took the games in College Station on March 14 and March 15, and the fifth-ranked Bears returned home for a rare Monday game to defeat the Aggies 8-7 on March 16. The teams had been scheduled to play the first game of the series in Waco, but that game had to be moved to Monday due to inclement weather.
BAYLOR vs. THE €ˆBIG 12 €ˆCONFERENCE
Baylor is 466-557-5 all-time against programs currently in the Big 12 Conference. However, since the Big 12 had its first baseball season in 1997, the Bears have a conference record of 202-152, which trails only Texas.
The Bears have played Kansas (39-6), Kansas State (31-12), Missouri (27-23), Nebraska (30-25-1), Oklahoma (32-31), Oklahoma State (26-35), Texas (99-228-4), Texas A&M (114-147-1) and Texas Tech (68-71). Baylor also played Iowa State (10-4) before it dissolved its baseball program in 2001.
BAYLOR-WESTERN KENTUCKY SERIES €ˆHISTORY
When Baylor and Western Kentucky met for the first time in 1987, Baylor won both games of a two-game set. The Bears and Hilltoppers will be meeting for the first time since then this weekend. Baylor entered the two-game set ranked 21st, and proceeded to knock off Western €ˆKentucky 11-5 on March 12, and 8-6 on March 13.
BAYLOR vs. THE €ˆSUN BELT €ˆCONFERENCE
Baylor is 12-7 all-time against programs currently affiliated with the Sun Belt Conference. In addition to Western Kentucky (2-0), the Bears have also played Arkansas State (0-1), Arkansas-Little Rock (3-0), Louisiana-Lafayette (1-1), Louisiana-Monroe (3-2), New Orleans (2-2) and South Alabama (1-1).
