March 9, 2011
Complete Game Notes 
Baylor's 17th-ranked baseball team opens a 14-game homestand with a four-game series against Louisiana Tech this weekend. Thursday's series opener at 6:30 p.m. is the first Dollar Hot Dog Night at Baylor Ballpark this season. The Bears and Bulldogs also play Friday at 6:30 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.
The Bears enter the series with a 7-5 record after winning two of three in last weekend's Houston College Classic and taking a 6-4 win on the road at Texas State on Tuesday.
Baylor has won five consecutive three-game sets dating back to the 2010 season. The Bears won series at Texas Tech and at home against Oklahoma State to close out the 2010 season. In 2011, Baylor won a home series against Oral Roberts, took two of three on the road at Georgia and won two of three in the Houston College Classic.
All Baylor baseball games are broadcast live on Waco's 1660 ESPN Radio. Tom Barfield provides the play-by-play with Lark Smith adding color commentary. 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.
Live streaming video is available for select Baylor baseball home games. The final three games of the Louisiana Tech series will be streamed live. For more information, follow the Baylor All-Access link at www.BaylorBears.com.
SERIES INFORMATION
LOUISIANA TECH BULLDOGS
Overall: Baylor leads 4-3
Series in Waco: Louisiana Tech leads 3-2
Series in Ruston: Never Met
Neutral Sites: Baylor leads 2-0
Smith vs. LTU: 2-3
First Meeting: 3/3/1983
Last Meeting: 3/9/2010
COACHES
BAYLOR: Steve Smith
Alma Mater: Baylor, 1986
Career Record: 595-392-1 (17th season)
Record at Baylor: 595-392-1 (17th season)
LOUISIANA TECH: Wade Simoneaux
Career Record: 210-246-1 (9th season)
Record at Louisiana Tech: 210-246-1 (9th season)
BAYLOR-IMG COLLEGE SPORTS NETWORK
1660 ESPN RADIO (Waco)
Tom Barfield (pxp) and Lark Smith (color)
BAYLOR vs. WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
Baylor is 4-3 all-time against teams currently playing as members of the Western Athletic Conference. Louisiana Tech is the only team the Bears have ever played from the WAC.
BEARS TOUGH TO BEAT IN WACO
Baylor is 24-7 in its last 31 games at Baylor Ballpark, including 12-3 in non-conference games.
The Bears had a 10-game winning streak in non-conference home games snapped when they lost the season opener to Oral €ˆRoberts. Before the streak was snapped, ORU was the last non-Big 12 team to beat the Bears in Waco when it took the opener of a four-game set on March 5, 2010. Baylor came back to win the remaining games in the series both times.
Three of Baylor's seven losses in Waco since dropping the series opener to ORU in 2010 came in extra innings and/or were one-run defeats (vs. Kansas, 12-6 in 14 innings on 3/28/10), (vs. No. 2 Texas, 4-2 in 10 innings on 4/30/10) and (vs. Kansas, 9-8 on 3/26/10). The Bears' other losses were to Nebraska (6-2 on 4/24/10), Oral €ˆRoberts (2/18/11), No. 4 TCU (2/22/11) and Texas State (3/1/11). Since losing the series finale vs. Kansas, Baylor has gone 15-5 at Baylor Ballpark.
EXTRA SPECIAL
Despite going 1-5 in extra-inning games in 2010, Baylor is 22-13 in such games since the start of the 2003 season. Baylor was 4-1 in extra-inning games in 2009, 1-3 in 2008, 2-1 in 2007, 0-1 in 2006, 6-1 in 2005, 1-0 in 2004 and 5-1 in 2003. Baylor is 2-0 in extras so far in 2011.
The Bears won all four regular season games that went to extra innings in 2009, but fell to No. 2 national seed LSU 3-2 in 10 innings in the second game of the NCAA €ˆBaton €ˆRouge Regional.
Six of the 22 wins over the past eight seasons have come on an opponent's home field (Arizona twice, Arizona State, Texas, Vanderbilt and UT €ˆArlington). Four of the 22 wins were either neutral-site games or games at Baylor Ballpark in which the Bears were the visitor. Four of the 22 wins have come in postseason play, including two at the Big 12 Tournament and one at the College World Series.
WARE NAMED BIG 12 PLAYER OF WEEK AFTER STRONG SHOWING IN HOUSTON
Baylor shortstop Landis Ware was named Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Player of the Week for games played during the week of Feb. 28-March 6.
Ware, a senior team captain from Chandler, Ariz., went 7-for-10 at the plate and had multiple-hit games in all three contests to lead the Bears to two wins in the Houston College Classic. For his efforts, Ware was named to the all-tournament team along with teammate Logan Verrett.
In Baylor's win over No. 21 Rice, Ware led off the bottom of the 10th inning with a double off the left-field wall, and he scored the game-winning run on Max Muncy's walk-off grand slam.
Ware's double was his third hit of the day, as he went 3-for-5 with two runs, one RBI and a stolen base against Rice. He went 2-for-3 and drove in one run against Utah and went 2-for-2 with a walk, a sacrifice fly and two RBI in BU's win over Houston. Additionally, Ware played errorless defense in 16 chances and has made just one error in 46 chances at shortstop this season.
Ware is the first Bear to be named Big 12 Conference Player of the Week since Raynor Campbell was honored on March 8 of last season. He becomes the third Baylor shortstop to win a Player of the Week award, joining Beamer Weems (April 2, 2007) and Shaver Hansen (April 6, 2009). The award marks the 25th time a Bear has been honored as Big 12 Player of the Week.
TEAM NOTES
• SERIES: Baylor and Louisiana Tech have met seven times and the Bears hold a 4-3 lead in the all-time series.
• Baylor and Louisiana Tech met twice last season. La. Tech won the first meeting 14-6 on March 3, but the Bears returned the favor in a 12-4 win on March 9.
• Baylor dropped one spot to No. 17 in Baseball America's March 7 poll. No. 14 Arizona, No. 15 North Carolina and No. 16 LSU jumped the Bears while No. 20 California and unranked Oregon dropped behind BU.
• Baylor has not lost consecutive games this season; the Bears are 5-0 following a loss.
• Baylor head coach Steve Smith is five victories away from his 600th career win.
• Baylor is 181-108 (.626) in the month of March during the Smith era. The Bears have had a losing record in the month of March only twice in Smith's 16 seasons (2004 & 2007).
• Baylor is 2-0 in extra-inning games this season. The Bears got a walk-off double from €ˆJake Miller in the 10th inning vs. Oral Roberts (2/20) and a walk-off grand slam from Max Muncy in the 10th vs. Rice (3/6).
• Baylor has won five straight three-game weekend sets. The Bears closed out the 2010 season with series wins at Texas Tech and vs. Oklahoma State before opening 2011 by winning two of three vs. Oral Roberts, at Georgia and at the Houston College Classic.
• The Bears are looking for their first three-game winning streak since taking all three games in pool play at the 2010 Big 12 Conference Championship in Oklahoma City.
• Baylor is third in the Big 12 in fielding (.975) and fourth with 11 double plays turned. €ˆThe Bears have turned at least one double play in eight of 12 games this season.
• Since the start of the 2003 season, Baylor is 22-13 in extra-inning games, including 2-0 this season.
• Eight players on Baylor's roster have been selected in previous MLB €ˆDrafts, tied for third-most in the Big 12.
• Baylor has ranked in the nation's top 25 in attendance in all 12 years since Baylor Ballpark opened in 1999.
• The Bears were picked fourth in the Big 12 preseason coaches' poll, behind Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M.
• Baseball €ˆAmerica projects Baylor to finish third in the Big 12 and ranked BU No. 16 nationally in the preseason.
• Baylor's nine-run third inning in the series finale at Georgia was the most the Bears have scored in an inning since scoring 10 in the third against Northwestern €ˆState on April 7, 2009.
• The Bears went 7-for-7 stealing bases in the series opener at Georgia, the first time Baylor stole seven or more bases in a game since stealing eight against Dallas Baptist on May 16, 2006.
PLAYER NOTES
• CF/RHP Brooks Pinckard has been named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award preseason watch list.
• Pinckard ranks fifth on Baylor's all-time saves list with 15 career saves.
• Pinckard hit a game-winning homer in €ˆthe seventh inning of the second game vs. Oral Roberts (2/19).
• Pinckard leads the Big 12 Conference with 11 stolen bases.
• Pinckard leads the team and is tied for second in the Big 12 with 21 hits.
• Pinckard has never grounded into a double play in 344 career at-bats.
• Pinckard has more steals (11) than Baylor's opponents combined (9) in the same number of attempts (12).
• Pinckard is 40-for-45 stealing bases in his career and needs nine stolen bases to crack Baylor's top 10 list.
• Pinckard has started all 12 games in center field and hit leadoff (10 games) or second in the order (twice).
• College Baseball €ˆDaily ranked RHP Logan Verrett as the No. 51 player in college baseball in its preseason Top 100.
• Verrett was ranked No. 4 on Perfect Game Cross Checker's Top Big 12 Prospects for 2011 MLB €ˆDraft.
• Verrett was named to the Golden €ˆSpikes Award preseason watch list, one of six Big 12 players on the list.
• Verrett earned Houston College Classic All-Tournament honors after his win vs. Houston; 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 7 K
• Verrett faced just three batters over the minimum through his first six innings in series opener at Georgia.
• Verrett has 177 career strikeouts and needs 51 to crack the top 10 in program history.
• Verrett currently holds the Baylor record for strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.77).
• Verrett is third on Baylor's career strikeouts per nine innings list (9.91).
• Verrett ranks eighth in program history for fewest walks allowed per nine innings (2.63).
• Perfect Game named 1B Max Muncy No. 3 on its Top Big 12 Prospects for the 2012 MLB €ˆDraft.
• Muncy was ranked No. 33 on Perfect Game's 2011 list of the Top College Baseball Sophomores.
• Muncy has started all 12 games at first base and hit either third or cleanup in every game.
• Muncy is tied for fourth in the Big 12 Conference with 13 RBI.
• Muncy had multi-hit games and had at least one RBI in all three games of the series at Georgia.
• Muncy hit a walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning to beat Rice. It was the first walk-off HR €ˆby a Baylor player since Feb. 27, 2007 (Raynor Campbell vs. UTA).
• Muncy's walk-off grand slam was BU's first walk-off HR since Raynor Campbell hit one on Feb. 27, 2007.
• Muncy's six RBI vs. Rice were the most by a BU player since Aaron Miller had six vs. Illinois (Feb. 29, 2008).
• SS Landis Ware is Baylor's most experienced player with 144 games played and 126 career starts.
• Ware has started at shortstop in all 12 games in 2011.
• Ware earned Big 12 Conference Player of the Week honors after going 7-for-10 in the Houston College Classic.
• Ware was named to the 2011 Houston €ˆCollege Classic All-Tournament Team.
• Ware led off the bottom of the 10th with a double and scored the winning run vs. Rice (3/6).
• Ware was named Big 12 Player of the Week after going 7-for-10 in the Houston €ˆCollege Classic.
• Ware was selected to the Houston College Classic All-Tournament Team.
• 3B Jake Miller's 10th-inning walk-off double in the series finale vs. Oral €ˆRoberts was the first extra-inning, walk-off hit by a Baylor player since Dustin Dickerson's 11th-inning walk-off single vs. Missouri on April 11, 2009.
• Miller had the first three-hit game of his career in a 3-for-4 effort vs. Houston (3/4).
• Miller has started 11 of 12 games at third base this season.
• Freshman RHP Trae Davis picked up a pair of wins pitching out of the bullpen in the season's opening weekend.
• Davis has allowed three hits in 11.0 innings of seven appearances this season (.088 opponents' batting average).
• Davis has three of Baylor's seven wins and is one of five Big 12 pitchers with three wins.
• OF Chris Slater is one of 30 semifinalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS €ˆAward (one of three from Big 12).
• LF Logan €ˆVick has started all 72 games in left field since the start of the 2010 season.
• Vick reached base safely in all 40 career games at Baylor Ballpark before going 0-for-3 vs. Texas State (3/1).
• Vick went 3-for-4 and drove in runs in all three plate appearances in which he made an out in Sunday's game.
• Vick has drawn 65 walks in 72 career games; he's taken multiple walks in a game in 20 contests.
• When leading off an inning, Vick has a .492 on-base percentage for his career (62-for-126).
• 2B Steve DalPorto has started 10 of Baylor's 12 games in 2011 at second base. He has not made an error in 48 fielding chances while playing second base this year.
• C Joey Hainsfurther moved from third base to catcher for the 2011 season. He had never caught a collegiate game before, but has started behind the plate in seven of Baylor's first 12 games this season.
• Hainsfurther tied Sunday's game vs. Rice (3/6) with a two-run triple in the 7th.
• RF Cal €ˆTowey drew a total seven walks in three starts last week.
• Towey is tied for sixth in the Big 12 Conference with 10 walks on the season.
• OF Wes Mercurio hit the first pitch he saw in 2011 for a three-run pinch hit homer in the series finale at Georgia.
• LHP Crayton Bare has pitched in five games out of the bullpen this season after pitching in four games in 2010.
• RHP Jon €ˆRingenberg (8-0 career record) has never taken a loss in 26 career appearances, including 14 starts.
• RHP Kolt Browder has allowed two hits in 7.0 innings over five appearances (.095 opponents' batting average).
• LHP/DH Josh €ˆTurley has taken only one loss in 30 career appearances.
• Turley hit a pinch-hit double in his first plate appearance of the season in the series opener at Georgia.
UP NEXT
Baylor continues its 14-game homestand by hosting Florida International at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Bears last tune-up before opening Big 12 Conference play against Texas Tech March 18-20.
