April 25, 2011

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Baylor (21-20) at UTSA (19-22) April 26, 2011 | 6:30 p.m. CT San Antonio, Texas | Wolff Stadium (9,700) PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS (2011 STATISTICS) Baylor: RHP Brooks Pinckard, Jr. (2-2, 4.56 ERA, 23.2 IP, 21 H, 13 R, 12 ER, 19 BB, 17 K) UTSA: LHP Michael Kraft, Fr. (1-2, 5.79 ERA, 32.2 IP, 44 H, 30 R, 21 ER, 13 BB, 21 K)

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Complete Game Notes

Baylor begins a stretch with eight of nine games on the road when the Bears travel to San Antonio, Texas for a game against UTSA at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. The game will be played at Wolff Stadium, home of the Double-A San Antonio Missions.

The Bears look to build on their 6-6 record in road games this season. Baylor already has more road wins than all of last season, when the Bears went 5-12 in true road games. Baylor is 2-0 in midweek road games this season with wins at Texas State on March 8 and at UT Arlington on April 12.

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.

SERIES INFORMATION
UTSA ROADRUNNERS
Overall: Baylor leads 27-4
Waco: Baylor leads 20-3
San Antonio: Baylor leads 7-1
Neutral Site: Never Met
Steve Smith vs. UTSA: 25-2

COACHES

BAYLOR: Steve Smith

Alma Mater: Baylor, 1986

Career Record: 609-407-1 (17th season)

Record at Baylor: 609-407-1 (17th season)

UTSA: Sherman Corbett
Career Record: 323-287 (11th season)

Record at UTSA: 323-287 (11th season)

BAYLOR-IMG COLLEGE SPORTS NETWORK

1660 ESPN RADIO (Waco)

Tom Barfield (pxp) and Lark Smith (color)

BAYLOR VS. UTSA SERIES HISTORY
Baylor is 27-4 in the all-time series vs. UTSA. The Bears have won 20 of the 23 series meetings in Waco, and Baylor head coach Steve Smith is 25-2 in his career against the Roadrunners. €ˆSmith's only losses to UTSA €ˆcame on April 2, 2008 and March 29, 2010.

PINCKARD KEEPING PACE WITH 73 DIVISION I TEAMS
When NCAA baseball statistics were released on March 19, Brooks Pinckard ranked third in the nation with 28 stolen bases. That total was tied with or more than 73 Division I teams, including No. 2 South Carolina, No. 12 Fresno €ˆState, No. 16 Oklahoma State, No. 19 Southern Miss and No. 24 Gonzaga.

Pinckard stole his 30th base of the season on Saturday, making him the fifth player in program history with 30 or more steals in a season. He needs 10 more to tie Mike Robison (40 in 1991) for the single-season record at Baylor, and he needs 12 more to tie Kansas' John Nelson (42 in 2000) for the Big 12 Conference single-season record.

CARDIAC CUBS WALKING OFF WITH WINS
Baylor has five walk-off wins in 2011 after recording only one such victory last season. Baylor's only walk-off win in 2010 came in its 50th game of the season, when Brooks Pinckard knocked a two-run single to clinch the Bears' spot in the Big 12 Championship by winning the series opener against Oklahoma State on May 21.

Baylor won seven games with runs in its final at-bat during the entire 2010 season, but the Bears have already scored the winning runs in their final at-bat in seven games in 2011.

• Jake Miller - 10th inning walk-off double vs. Oral Roberts (2/20)
• Max Muncy - 10th inning walk-off grand slam vs. Rice (3/6)
• Chris Slater - 11th inning walk-off single vs. Florida International (3/15)
• Josh Ludy - 9th inning walk-off single vs. Texas Tech (3/19)
• Chris Slater - 9th inning walk-off double vs. Kansas State (3/25)
• Jake Miller - 8th inning single vs. Kansas State (3/27)
• Josh Ludy - 10th inning triple at UT Arlington (4/12)

BRACKETOLOGISTS SAY BEARS WILL BE 12-FOR-14
Baylor is projected by numerous publications to make its 12th NCAA €ˆRegional in the last 14 seasons. Here's a breakdown of the bracketologists:

• Baseball America (April 19 Stock Report) -- In as one of five Big 12 teams
• SEBaseball (April 19 Projections) -- No. 2 seed in Charlottesville (Virginia) €ˆRegional
• College Baseball Insider (April 20 Field of Dreamers) -- In as one of six Big 12 teams
• College Baseball Daily (April 20 Projections) -- No. 3 seed in Atlanta (Georgia Tech) Regional
• ESPN.com (April 20 Bracketology) - No. 3 seed in Houston (Rice) Regional
• Perfect Game (April 20 Projections) -- No. 3 seed in Fullerton (Cal €ˆState Fullerton) Regional

COMEBACK WINS IN BUNCHES
Baylor has come from behind to win 10 games in 2011, including overcoming a five-run deficit on March 15 against Florida International to give head coach Steve Smith his 600th career victory. The Bears trailed by multiple runs in eight of the 10 comeback wins.

• vs. Oral Roberts (2/20) - trailed 4-2 in bottom 7th
• vs. Rice (3/6) - trailed 7-5 in bottom 7th
• vs. Louisiana Tech (3/12) - trailed 7-5 in bottom 4th
• vs. Florida Int'l. (3/15) - trailed 6-1 in bottom 5th
• vs. Texas Tech (3/19) - trailed 2-0 in bottom 1st
• vs. UT Arlington (3/22) - trailed 1-0 in bottom 3rd
• vs. Kansas State (3/25) - trailed 4-2 in bottom 4th
• vs. Kansas State (3/27) - trailed 2-0 in bottom 5th
• vs. Texas (4/9) - trailed 1-0 in bottom 2nd
• at UT Arlington (4/12) - trailed 3-1 in top 6th

BOUNCE BACK BEARS
Baylor didn't lose consecutive games until its 25th and 26th games of the season. The Bears are 13-6 following a loss in 2011, and prior to dropping a pair of midweek games against UTSA and Lamar, the Bears hadn't lost consecutive regular-season games since losing a pair of games at Texas on May 1-2, 2010.

In fact, the Bears hadn't lost two in a row with both games at Baylor Ballpark in more than a year before dropping a pair of midweek games against UTSA (3/29) and Lamar (3/30). The last time that happened was when BU had a five-game losing streak from Feb. 27 through March 5, 2010. All five of those losses came against different teams, and the Bears snapped out of the losing streak by winning eight in a row.

Starting with that eight-game winning streak, the Bears have gone 34-15 on their home field, including an 18-6 mark in non-conference games.

WEEKEND SET SUCCESS
Despite losing each of their last four weekend series, the Bears have posted a winning record in seven of their last 12 regular-season weekends, including five of nine weekends this season.

• 2-1 in three-game series at Texas Tech (May 14-15, 2010)
• 3-0 in three-game series vs. Oklahoma State (May 21-23, 2010)
• 2-1 in three-game series vs. Oral Roberts (Feb. 18-20, 2011)
• 2-1 in three-game series at Georgia (Feb. 25-27, 2011)
• 2-1 in three games at Houston College Classic (March 4-6, 2011)
• 4-0 in four-game series vs. Louisiana Tech (March 10-13, 2011)
• 1-2 in three-game series vs. Texas Tech (March 18-20, 2011)
• 2-1 in three-game series vs. Kansas State (March 25-27, 2011)
• 1-2 in three-game series at Kansas (April 1-3, 2011)
• 1-2 in three-game split-series vs. No. 8 Texas (April 8-10, 2011)
• 1-2 in three-game split-series vs. No. 5 Texas A&M (April 15-17, 2011)
• 1-2 in three-game series vs. Missouri (April 21-23, 2011)

MARCHING ON
Baylor is 190-113 (.627) in the month of March during head coach Steve Smith's 17 seasons at the helm. The Bears have had only two losing months of March in those 17 seasons (2004 & 2007).

With a 12-7 record this March, Baylor clinched its fifth straight winning March. The Bears won their most games in the month of March since going 12-6 during the 2006 season.

CONTINUITY IS KEY
Baylor's starting lineup hasn't changed much since the start of the season. The Bears have used the same player in nearly every game in six different positions, and Baylor has split the other two positions among two players. With the exception of left field, where an injury forced Logan €ˆVick to miss 13 starts, the only position where the Bears have started more than two different players multiple times is at designated hitter.

Joey Hainsfurther (22 starts) and Josh Ludy (19 starts) have split catching duties, while Chris Slater (12 starts), Cal Towey (26 starts) and Vick (three starts) have shared time in right field.

Max Muncy has started every game at first base. In fact, Muncy has started at first base in 100 of 101 games since the start of his Baylor career.

Steve DalPorto (30 starts), Lawton Langford (10 starts) and Nate Goodwin (one start) have manned second base, while third baseman Jake Miller has started all but eight games and center fielder Brooks Pinckard has missed only four starts. Landis Ware (39 starts) and DalPorto (two starts) have manned the shortstop position. Vick started the first 80 games of his career in left field before a hamstring injury forced him to miss 13 straight starts. Slater (seven starts), Dan €ˆEvatt (eight starts) and Josh Turley (one start) join Vick (23 starts) in left field.

The Bears have used five different players in the DH spot: Ludy (17 starts), Hainsfurther (nine starts), Dan €ˆEvatt (11 starts), Josh €ˆTurley (three starts) and Slater (one start).

BEARS TOUGH TO BEAT IN WACO
Baylor is 35-17 in its last 52 games at Baylor Ballpark, including 18-6 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 Roberts. 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.

Five of Baylor's 17 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, vs. Kansas, 9-8 on 3/26/10, vs. Texas Tech, 6-5 on 3/18/11 and vs. Texas Tech, 10-6 in 10 innings on 3/20/11).

EXTRA SPECIAL
Despite going 1-5 in extra-inning games in 2010, Baylor is 24-15 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 4-2 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 Baton Rouge Regional.

Seven of the 24 wins over the past eight seasons have come on an opponent's home field (Arizona twice, Arizona State, Texas, Vanderbilt and UT Arlington twice). Four of the 24 wins were either neutral-site games or games at Baylor Ballpark in which the Bears were the visitor. Four of the 24 wins have come in postseason play, including two at the Big 12 Tournament and one at the College World Series.

Brooks Pinckard STOLEN BASE TRACKER
(BAYLOR RECORD BOOK)

QUICK HITS
• SERIES: Baylor is 27-4 all-time against UTSA, including a 7-1 mark in games played in €ˆSan Antonio.
• Baylor has grounded into four double plays in its last 17 games. The Bears have only hit into 10 GDP this season.
• Baylor is 69-for-82 stealing bases this season and the Bears' 84.1% success rate leads the Big 12.
• Baylor has turned 39 double plays this season and the Bears have only been doubled up 18 times.
• The Bears have hit 17 home runs in their last 13 games after hitting only 7 in the first 28 games of the season.
• Baylor has hit 16 home runs in Big 12 play, five more than any other team in the conference.
• Baylor is 21-3 this season when scoring four or more runs in a game and 0-17 when scoring three or fewer.
• Baylor has a 187-133 (.584) record in the month of April during the Steve Smith era.
• Baylor has come from behind to win 10 games this season, and the Bears have seven last at-bat wins.
• Baylor has five walk-off wins this year after recording only one walk-off win during the 2010 season.
• Baylor had won six straight regular season weekend sets before dropping the series finale against Texas Tech in 10 innings. Baylor has had a winning record in seven of its last 12 regular season weekends.
• Baylor is 24-15 in extra-inning games since the start of the 2003 season, including 4-2 this season.
• The Bears are 13-6 following a loss during the 2011 season.
• Baylor is 35-17 in its last 52 games at Baylor Ballpark, including an 18-6 mark in non-conference games.
• Baylor's game against UTSA €ˆbegins a stretch with eight of nine games on the road. The Bears play back-to-back Big 12 road series at Nebraska and Oklahoma State before returning to host Oklahoma.
• Baylor currently has a .973 fielding percentage, which would tie the program record (.973 in 2006).
• Baylor's 12-1 win over No. 5 Texas A&M €ˆon April 16 was its largest ever over a top-5 ranked team.
• Baylor head coach Steve Smith recorded his 600th career victory when Baylor beat FIU on March 15.
• When NCAA €ˆstats were released last Tuesday, Brooks Pinckard had at least as many stolen bases (28) as 83 Division I teams, including No. 2 South Carolina, No. 12 Fresno €ˆState, No. 16 Oklahoma State, No. 19 Southern Miss and No. 24 Gonzaga.
• 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 projected Baylor to finish third in the Big 12 and ranked BU No. 16 nationally in the preseason.
• For the second time in program history, Baylor players won both Big 12 Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week. Logan €ˆVerrett (Pitcher) & Chris Slater (Player) took the honors on March 14.
• Eight players on Baylor's roster have been selected in previous MLB €ˆDrafts, tied for third-most in the Big 12.

INDIVIDUAL QUICK HITS
• LHP Crayton Bare has pitched in 16 games out of the bullpen in 2011 after pitching in just four games in 2010.
• Bare has allowed only six runs in 19 career relief outings.

• Baylor is 7-3 on the season in games started by RHP Trent Blank.
• Blank earned the win by allowing one run over 5.1 innings at No. 5 Texas A&M (4/16).
• Blank allowed one run in 5.0 innings at No. 8 Texas (4/10), but he did not factor in the decision.

• RHP Kolt Browder has allowed eight hits and struck out 13 in 10.1 innings over 12 relief appearances (.216 OBA).

• 2B Steve DalPorto has started 30 of Baylor's 41 games at second base and twice at shortstop in 2011.
• DalPorto had his career-long hitting streak snapped at eight games in the middle game of the Texas Tech series (3/19).

• Freshman RHP Trae Davis picked up a pair of wins pitching out of the bullpen in the season's opening weekend.
• Davis is second on the team with three wins and all three of his wins have come in relief.

• RHP Max Garner missed all of last season due to a medical issue that forced him to withdraw from school, but he has made 18 relief appearances in 2011. He leads the team with 18 appearances and 32.0 innings pitched in relief.
• Garner recorded his first career save by pitching 3.2 innings of one-hit, shutout relief with 4 Ks vs. Louisiana Tech (3/10).
• Garner picked up his first career win by working scoreless 8th and 9th innings in the series opener vs. Kansas State (3/25).
• Garner earned his second save by stranding the tying and go-ahead runs in a win over No. 8 Texas (4/9).
• Garner picked up his third save by working 3.2 innings of one-hit shutout relief with four strikeouts at No. 5 Texas A&M €ˆ(4/16).
• Garner notched his fourth save (third in Big 12 play) vs. Missouri (4/22), just one day after pitching 2.2 innings of relief.
• Garner has allowed only five runs over his last 15 relief appearances totaling 25.2 innings (1.75 ERA).

• 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 22 of Baylor's first 41 games this season. The Bears are 13-9 when he starts behind the plate.
• Hainsfurther reached base safely eight times in the Kansas series, drawing four walks with three hits and a hit-by-pitch.
• Hainsfurther tied the Bears' game vs. Rice (3/6) in the Houston College Classic with a two-run triple in the 7th.

• C Josh Ludy has started behind the plate 19 times and as DH in 17 games.
• Ludy had the Bears' first four-hit game of the season and hit game-winning RBI triple in 10th inning at UT €ˆArlington (4/12).

• OF Wes Mercurio hit the first pitch he saw in 2011 for a three-run pinch hit homer in the series finale at Georgia.

• 3B Jake Miller had a 10th-inning walk-off double in the series finale vs. Oral €ˆRoberts (2/20).
• Miller has started 33 of 41 games at third base this season.
• Miller hit what would prove to be a game-winning RBI single in the 8th inning of the series finale vs. Kansas State (3/27).
• Miller had his career-long hitting streak snapped at seven games in the series opener vs. Texas Tech (3/18).

• 1B Max Muncy has started all 41 games at first base and hit either second, third or cleanup in every game.
• Muncy Big 12 overall ranks: t-8th hits (51), 8th RBI (31), 10th total bases (78), t-5th walks (26).
• Muncy Big 12 ranks (conference games only): 9th batting average (.348), 7th hits (24), t-6th home runs (3), 2nd total bases (40), 2nd walks (13), 5th on-base percentage (.458), 6th slugging percentage (.580).
• Muncy reached base safely in 19 straight games overall and 21 straight Big 12 games before going 0-for-4 vs. Missouri (4/23).
• Muncy's 10-game hitting streak in Big 12 games was the seventh-longest by a Baylor player over two Big 12 seasons.
• Muncy had a run-scoring hit to tie the game in the bottom of the first in all three games of the Texas Tech series.
• Muncy had multi-hit games and had at least one RBI in all three games of the series at Georgia.
• Muncy's 10th-inning walk-off grand slam vs. Rice was BU's first walk-off HR since Raynor Campbell on Feb. 27, 2007.
• Muncy's six RBI vs. Rice were the most by a BU player since Aaron Miller had six vs. Illinois on Feb. 29, 2008.

• RHP Dillon €ˆNewman has pitched 23.0 innings over 10 relief appearances, averaging 2.30 innings per game in relief.
• Newman has allowed five runs over his last 21.2 innings of work (2.08 ERA). He made his first career start vs. Lamar (3/30).

• CF/RHP Brooks Pinckard has been named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award preseason watch list.
• Pinckard is t-2nd in the nation with 30 steals. He's on pace to break the BU single-season record (40; Mike Robison, 1991).
• Pinckard ranks fifth on Baylor's all-time saves list with 16 career saves.
• Pinckard hit a game-winning homer in €ˆthe seventh inning of the second game vs. Oral Roberts (2/19).
• Pinckard has never grounded into a double play in 441 career at-bats.
• Pinckard is 59-for-65 stealing bases in his career and his 59 steals are seventh-most in program history.
• Pinckard has started all but four games in center field and hit leadoff in 29 of 37 starts.

• RHP Jon €ˆRingenberg (9-1 career record) has taken only one loss in 34 career appearances, including 17 starts.
• Ringenberg is the program's current career winning percentage leader [.900; 9-1] (min. 10 decisions).

• OF Chris Slater is one of 10 finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS €ˆAward (one of two from Big 12).
• Slater was named Big 12 Player of the Week (3/14) after having four consecutive three-hit games.
• Slater's walk-off double in the series opener vs. K-State (3/25) was his second walk-off hit this season.
• Slater also hit a walk-off single to beat Florida International in 11 innings on March 15.
• Slater accounted for half of Baylor's 10 extra-base hits during the week of March 21-27 (four doubles, one triple).
• Slater hit an inside-the-park home run vs. Texas Tech (3/19), the first by a BU €ˆplayer since Seth €ˆFortenberry on April 9, 2006.

• RF Cal €ˆTowey Big 12 ranks overall: 10th walks (23), 9th on-base percentage (.431).
• Towey Big 12 ranks in league play: t-2nd home runs (4), 7th on-base percentage (.444), 2nd slugging percentage (.620).

• LHP/DH Josh €ˆTurley has taken only three losses in 37 career appearances.
• Turley has pitched into the seventh inning in four of his last five starts after doing so only once in first 32 career outings.
• Turley became the first Baylor pitcher to beat Texas in €ˆWaco since 2005 when he allowed three runs in 8.0 innings on April 9.
• Turley hit a pinch-hit double in his first plate appearance of the season in the series opener at Georgia.

• RHP Logan Verrett was named to the Golden €ˆSpikes Award preseason watch list, one of six Big 12 players on the list.
• Verrett tied a Baylor Ballpark record by striking out 14 in a complete-game one-hitter vs. Louisiana Tech (3/11).
• Verrett took a tough-luck loss after allowing only two unearned runs in a complete game at No. 5 Texas A&M (4/17).
• Verrett was named Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week and National Player of the Week (3/14).
• Verrett earned Houston College Classic All-Tournament honors after his win vs. Houston; 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 7 K.
• Verrett has 226 career strikeouts and needs two more to crack the top 10 in program history.
• Verrett currently holds the Baylor record for strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.90).
• Verrett is third on Baylor's career strikeouts per nine innings list (9.76).
• Verrett is eighth in the Big 12 with 63.1 innings pitched and sixth with 65 strikeouts.

• LF Logan €ˆVick missed 13 starts with a hamstring injury, snapping his streak of 80 consecutive games started in LF, but he returned to start at UT €ˆArlington (4/12) and hit a home run in his second at-bat of the game.
• Vick reached base safely in his first 40 career games at Baylor Ballpark.
• Vick has drawn 76 walks in 89 career games; he's taken multiple walks in a game in 22 contests.
• When leading off an inning, Vick has a .462 on-base percentage for his career (66-for-143).

• SS Landis Ware is Baylor's most experienced player with 172 games played and 153 career starts.
• Ware has started at shortstop in 39 of Baylor's 41 games in 2011.
• Ware earned Big 12 Conference Player of the Week honors after going 7-for-10 in the Houston College Classic.
• Ware led off the bottom of the 10th with a double and scored the winning run vs. Rice (3/6).
• Ware was selected to the Houston College Classic All-Tournament Team.

UP NEXT
Baylor hits the road to Lincoln, Neb. for its final Big 12 Conference series against Nebraska. €ˆFriday's series opener is scheduled for 6:35 p.m., while Saturday's game is slated for 2:05 p.m. and Sunday's finale is at 1:05 p.m.