March 5, 2012
 at  vs.  |
Baylor (9-4) at TCU (4-6)
March 6 | Fort Worth, Texas | Lupton Stadium
Baylor (9-4) vs. Michigan State (4-6)
March 7 | Waco, Texas | Baylor Ballpark
GAME NOTES 
|
TUES. | 6:30 P.M.
Probable Starters:BU - RHP Dillon Newman
0-1, 6.43 ERA, 7.0 IP, 8 H, 0 BB, 11 K
TCU - LHP Brandon Finnegan0-2, 2.16 ERA, 8.1 IP, 9 H, 4 BB, 9 K
|  | WED. | 6:35 P.M.
Probable Starters:BU - TBA
MSU - RHP David Garner0-1, 7.45 ERA, 9.2 IP, 11 H, 6 BB, 10 K
|
 |
Baylor starts its third straight five-game week with a pair of midweek games, as the Bears play at TCU at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and then return home to host Michigan State at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday.
Baylor knocked off TCU, 7-1, when the teams met at Baylor Ballpark on Feb. 21. Three Bears combined to carry a no-hitter through 7.2 innings against the Horned Frogs. Baylor's game against Michigan State will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
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
TCU HORNED FROGS
Overall: Baylor leads 137-109
Waco: Baylor leads 71-42
Fort Worth: TCU leads 53-49
Neutral Site: TCU leads 7-1
Unknown Site: Baylor leads 16-7
Smith vs. TCU: 18-21
First Meeting: 4/21/1904
Last Meeting: 2/21/2012
SERIES INFORMATION
MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS
Overall: Never Met
Waco: Never Met
East Lansing: Never met
Neutral Site: Never Met
Smith vs. MSU: 0-0
First Meeting: Never Met
Last Meeting: Never Met
COACHES
BAYLOR: Steve Smith
Alma Mater: Baylor, 1986
Career Record: 628-419-1 (18th season)
Record at Baylor: 628-419-1 (18th season)
TCU: Jim Schlossnagle
Alma Mater: Elon, 1992
Career Record: 429-206 (10th season)
Record at TCU: 352-159 (8th season)
MICHIGAN STATE: Jake Boss Jr.
Alma Mater: Alma, 1993
Career Record: 122-111 (5th season)
Record at MSU: 97-77 (4th season)
BAYLOR-IMG COLLEGE SPORTS NETWORK
1660 ESPN RADIO (Waco)
Tom Barfield (pxp) and Lark Smith (color)
BAYLOR - TCU SERIES HISTORY
Baylor leads the all-time series 137-109, but TCU has won the last three meetings in Fort Worth. The Bears hold a 71-42 lead in games played in Waco, while TCU leads 53-49 in games played in Fort Worth. TCU also leads 7-1 in neutral-site meetings, and the Bears hold a 16-7 lead in games played at unknown sites in the series that dates back to 1904.
BAYLOR vs. MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE
Baylor is 145-113 against teams currently playing as members of the Mountain West Conference. The vast majority of those games have been against TCU (137-109), but the Bears have also played Air Force (2-0), BYU €ˆ(1-1), San Diego State (5-2) and UNLV (0-1). Baylor went 0-3 against Mountain West teams in 2011, dropping both games to TCU and losing 7-4 to UNLV on April 19.
BAYLOR - MICHIGAN STATE SERIES HISTORY
Baylor and Michigan State will be meeting for the first time on Wednesday. Baylor's baseball team began play in 1902 and Michigan State fielded its first team in 1884.
BAYLOR vs. BIG TEN CONFERENCE
Baylor is 51-32-2 all-time against teams currently playing as members of the Mountain €ˆWest Conference. Most of those games were against Nebraska (34-27-1) when the Cornhuskers were members of the Big 12 Conference, but the Bears have also played Illinois (1-1), Iowa (1-0), Michigan (3-1-1), Minnesota €ˆ(6-3), Northwestern (3-0) and Purdue (3-0).
QUICK NOTES
• SERIES: Baylor leads the all-time series against TCU, 137-109, including a 49-53 mark in games played in €ˆFort Worth. The Bears beat the Horned Frogs in Waco, 7-1, on Feb. 21, snapping a three-game losing streak to TCU.
• Baylor is 145-113 all-time against teams currently playing as members of the Mountain West Conference.
• SERIES: Baylor and Michigan State will be meeting for the first time on the baseball diamond.
• The Bears are 51-32-2 all-time against teams currently playing as members of the Big Ten €ˆConference.
• Baylor fell four spots to No. 25 in the latest USATODAY/ESPN Coaches' Poll.
• Baylor has been ranked in at least one in-season Baseball €ˆAmerica Top 25 poll in 14 of the last 16 seasons.
• Baylor leads the Big 12 in team fielding percentage (.986), on-base percentage (.402), hits (121), doubles (26) and walks (71). The Bears rank 2nd in the league in batting average (.291), slugging percentage (.399), runs (73) and RBI (67).
• Baylor fell one spot to No. 28 in the latest NCBWA poll. The Bears went 3-2 in five games last week.
• 12 Baylor relievers have combined for 39 strikeouts, 42 hits and a .214 opponents' batting average over 55.2 IP.
• Baylor went 6-2 in its first 8 games of the season -- all against 2011 NCAA €ˆTournament teams.
• Baylor's 8-2 start tied the second-best 10-game start of the 18-year Steve Smith era (9-1 in 2008).
• Baylor's bullpen went 18.0 innings before allowing its first run this season (9th inning vs. TCU).
• Six Baylor regulars have on-base percentages of .404 or higher.
• Baylor has 3 of the top 4 players in the Big 12 in walks drawn: Michael Howard, Cal €ˆTowey and Max Muncy are all tied for 2nd with 10 walks on the season, while Logan Vick is tied for 5th with 9 walks.
• Baylor is 7-2 at Baylor Ballpark this season and 45-20 in its last 65 home games.
• Baylor is scheduled to play five games for the third straight week. Starting with last Friday's QTI €ˆBaylor Classic, the Bears have 9 games in a 10-day stretch.
• Senior RHP €ˆTrent Blank leads the Big 12 in innings pitched (22.1) and wins (4). He ranks 2nd in the league in ERA €ˆ(0.81) and opponents' batting average (.130). Blank entered the season with a 5.99 career ERA.
• In 29 total plate appearances, freshman Michael Howard has 9 hits and 10 walks for a .655 on-base percentage.
• Baylor is currently 17th nationally in average home attendance (2,776) and total home attendance (24,992).
• Baylor's 2012 schedule is rated the 13th-toughest nationally (No. 1 in Big 12) by Boyd's World.
• Baylor's 56-game 2012 schedule features 28 games against 2011 NCAA €ˆTournament teams.
• Baylor has ranked in the nation's top 25 in attendance in all 13 years since Baylor Ballpark opened in 1999.
• Baylor's 3-game sweep of Oral €ˆRoberts was its first series sweep since May 21-23, 2010.
• Since the start of the 2003 season, Baylor is 24-16 in extra-inning games.
• Baylor returned 20 of 25 letterwinners from last season's 31-28 Houston Regional runner-up team.
• The Bears were picked fourth in the Big 12 preseason coaches' poll, behind Texas A&M, Texas and Oklahoma.
• Baylor is 45-20 in its last 65 games at Baylor Ballpark, including a 26-8 mark in non-conference games.
• Eight players on Baylor's roster have been selected in previous MLB €ˆDrafts.
• Baylor is 1 of 14 programs nationally to play in 12+ NCAA Tournaments since 1998.
• Baylor has had a winning record in 11 of its last 17 regular season weekends.
• Baylor had won 4 straight series (at Nebraska, at No. 19 Oklahoma State, vs. No. 13 Oklahoma, vs. ORU) before dropping the final two games of a three-game set at No. 22 UCLA.
• Baylor snapped a 13-game homerless drought with three home runs in the first three innings of Sunday's series finale at UCLA.
• Three Baylor pitchers combined to carry a no-hitter through 7.2 IP in a 7-1 win vs. No. 15 TCU on Feb. 21.
• The Bears were 28-6 last season when scoring 4+ runs in a game and 3-22 when scoring 3 or fewer -- This season, Baylor is 7-2 when scoring 4+ runs and 2-2 when scoring 3 or fewer.
UP NEXT
Baylor continues a stretch with 14 of 17 games at Baylor Ballpark by hosting a three-game series against Memphis over the weekend. The Bears will be playing their last weekend before hosting Texas Tech to open Big 12 Conference play. Friday's first pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m., followed by Saturday's 3:05 p.m. game and Sunday's 1:05 p.m. series finale.
