May 24, 2016 OKLAHOMA CITY -- No. 6 seed Baylor baseball faces No. 3 seed TCU on Wednesday at 4 p.m. CT on FOX College Sports to begin the 2016 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. A double elimination event, the Bears are in the same side of the bracket as TCU, No. 2 Oklahoma State and No 7. Texas.
All Baylor baseball games are broadcast live on Waco's 1660 ESPN Central Texas (1330 AM/100.9 FM in Temple, Belton and Killeen). Derek Smith provides the play-by-play with Steve Johnigan adding color commentary. Live streaming audio will be available for all Baylor baseball games online at BaylorBears.com.
SERIESà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € INFO
Date(s): May 25-29, 2016
Time(s): 4 PM CT| TBA
Location: Oklahoma City, Okla.
Stadium: Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark
TV: FOX College Sports
Talent: Chad McKee (pxp), George Frazier (color)
Radio: ESPN/KRZI 1660 AMà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € (Waco)
Talent: Derek Smith (pxp), Steve Johnigan (color)
SERIES HISTORY (TCU | OSU | UT)
Overall: 142-120 | 38-44 | 108-239-4
Waco: 74-45 | 21-15 | 61-92-3
Road: 50-59 | 14-20 | 43-135-1
Neutral: 4-7 | 3-9 | 8-8
Rodriguez: 4-3| 1-2 | 2-1
SERIES MULTIMEDIA
Live Stats: Big12Sports.com
Audio: BaylorBears.com
Video: Big12Sports.com
Twitter Updates: @BaylorBaseball
BAYLOR BEARS
2016 Record: 24-27
2016 Big 12 Record: 10-14
Head Coach: Steve Rodriguez
Career: 310-327 (13th season)
BU: 24-27 (1st season)
2016 STAT LEADERS
AVG: Matt Menard (.317)
2B: Kameron Esthay (14)
HR: Darryn Sheppard (7)
RBI: Darryn Sheppard (38)
SB: Steven McLean (6)
TCU HORNED FROGS
BA 14 USA 11 CB 14 NCBWA 12 D1 15
2016 Record: 38-14
2016 Big 12 Record: 15-9
Head Coach: Jim Schlossnagle
Career: 631-297 (15th season)
TCU: 554-250 (13th season)
OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOYS
BA 17 USA 16 CB 12 NCBWA 16 D1 19
2016 Record: 35-18
2016 Big 12 Record: 16-8
Head Coach: Josh Holliday
Career: 162-75 (4th season)
OSU: 162-75 (4th season)
TEXAS LONGHORNS
BA NR USA NR CB NR NCBWA NR D1 NR
2016 Record: 22-30
2016 Big 12 Record: 10-14
Head Coach: Augie Garrido
Career: 1,972-949-9 (48th season)
UT: 821-425-2 (20th season)
TEAM QUICK NOTES
*Baylor is 44-45 all-time at conference tournaments, 32-33 in the Big 12 Championship and 34-35 in tournament format.
*Baylor and Oklahoma are the only two Big 12 programs to qualify for all 20 Big 12 Championships.
*Baylor had six players earn All-Big 12 honors: Troy Montemayor (1st team), Daniel Castano (2nd team), Kameron Esthay (2nd team), Steven McLean (2nd team), Matt Menard (honorable mention) and Drew Tolson (honorable mention) -- BU has had multiple All-Big 12 selections in all 20 years as a league member.
*C Matt Menard and RHP Troy Montemayor were named two of 43 semifinalists for the 2016 Gregg Olson Award on May 20. The annual award honors college baseball's breakout player of the year.
*Baylor has won four of its last six games.
*Baylor won its first series over Texas (in Austin) on May 19-21 since a sweep in Waco on April 26-28, 2013.
*Baylor's pitchers issued no walks vs. Texas on May 19 - fewest all season and first time with no walks in a game for BU since April 29, 2014, vs. Sam Houston State.
*Baylor won 10 or more game in Big 12 play for the 18th time in 20 seasons and first time since going 12-11 in 2013.
*Baylor has won five of its 12 three-game series in 2016 and 26 of 56 since 2012.
*Baylor won its first Big 12 Conference series over TCU on May 13-15 after losing the first three. BU won its first three-game series over TCU since a sweep on Feb. 18-20, 2000, in a split series with two games in Waco.
*With a 2-1 decision over No. 10 TCU on May 13-15, Baylor earned its first series win over a Baseball America ranked opponent since sweeping No. 13 Cal Poly on Feb. 13-15, 2015, in Waco.
*With a 2-1 decision over No. 10 TCU on May 13-15, Baylor claimed its first series win over a Baseball America top 10 ranked opponent since taking two of three from No. 4 Cal State Fullerton on March 7-9, 2014, in Waco.
*Baylor has 31 home runs in 51 games in 2016, which are 14 more than the team had in 55 games in 2015 - BU has 30 or more home runs for the first time since blasting 46 in 2012.
*Baylor is 197-291-1 all-time against opponents ranked by Baseball America, 32-39 since 2011 and 3-3 in 2016 - the Bears are 90-148 all-time against top 10 teams and 2-1 this year.
*Troy Montemayor has 14 saves in 15 tries this season and in his career -- he's the ninth player in BU history to record 10 or more saves in a season (first since Josh Michalec set the single-season Baylor and Big 12 records with 21 saves in 2014) and ranks tied for third on BU's single-season saves list and took sole possession of eighth on BU's career list -- he's had six straight scoreless appearances covering five innings.
*Among Big 12 leaders, Montemayor is first in saves (14), Richard Cunningham is third in triples (4) and fifth in HBPs (11), Steven McLean is fourth in HBPs (13), Richard Cunningham is third in triples (4) and fifth in HBPs (11)
*Among NCAA leaders, Montemayor is tied for fifth in saves and McLean is 68th in HBPs.
BAYLOR IN THE BIG 12 BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Baylor is just one of two teams (Oklahoma) to qualify for all 20 Big 12 Baseball Championships and owns a 32-33 all-time record in the event. The Bears are 12-7 in opening games, 8-10 in elimination games and 0-6 in title games. In tournament format, BU is 34-35 in the event. BU's title appearances are as follows:
1999: No. 5 Nebraska 4, No. 2 Baylor 3 | 2000: No. 2 Nebraska 11, No. 1 Baylor 3 | 2003: No. 3 Texas 10, No. 5 Baylor 8 (10 inn.) | 2005: No. 1 Nebraska 1, No. 2 Baylor 0 | 2007: No. 5 Texas A&M 14, No. 6 Baylor 6 | 2010: No. 4 Texas A&M 5, No. 6 Baylor 3 (10 inn.)
Last season in tournament format, No. 8 Baylor topped No. 1 TCU 6-5 before falling 4-3 to No. 5 Texas, eliminating No. 4 Texas Tech 5-4 and being eliminated by No. 5 Texas 4-0 to end the season.
TOLSON NAMED BIG 12 PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Junior right-hander Drew Tolson was named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week, the league office announced May 23. The Houston native was huge on May 19 at Texas in the series opener as he tossed a season-high eight innings to up his career-high win total to six. Tolson allowed one run on six hits with no walks and three strikeouts, retiring the first nine batters of the game and 16 of the first 17. His stellar effort helped Baylor secure a spot in the Big 12 Championship for the 20th straight season (Big 12 record shared with Oklahoma for reaching every single Big 12 Championship).
The honor marks the first weekly award for Tolson from the Big 12 and gives Baylor back-to-back weeks of winning the accolade for the first time since doing so three straight weeks from March 3-17, 2014 (Josh Michalec, Dillon Newman, Austin Stone).
Tolson's recognition is the fourth for Baylor this season as Josh Bissonette was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on March 28 and Daniel Castano was named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week on March 7 and May 16. Tolson gave the Bears their 36th all-time Big 12 Pitcher of the Week selection.
-BU-
THEIR BEST AT BEST TIME Hot Bears Facing #14 TCU at Big 12 Championship By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
While it might have taken longer than he wanted or even expected, and the road certainly hasn't been easy, Steve Rodriguez likes the fact that his Baylor Bears are playing their best baseball at the best time.
After finishing the regular series with series wins over TCU and Texas, the Bears (24-27) are seeded sixth for the Big 12 Championship and will face the 14th-ranked and third-seeded Horned Frogs (38-14) at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Okla.
"Everybody wants to play your best baseball at the end of the year," Rodriguez said. "With the way we've been playing, I would actually say we're playing our best baseball right now. It's an exciting time for us. Our guns are loaded, ready to go up there. Now, we've just got to go play good baseball and leave it all on the field."
With a losing record and RPI ranking at No. 105, Rodriguez and the Bears know their only chance at an NCAA Tournament berth is winning the Big 12 Championship for the first time in program history.
"I've been in this situation before where if you don't win your tournament you don't get to go to postseason," Rodriguez said. "So, this is our postseason. We have to do everything we can to win each game to make sure we advance as far as possible. Every one of our guys should be treating it like that."
The Bears struggled at times this season under their first-year head coach, dropping seven of eight league games and falling to the bottom of the Big 12 standings at 4-9. But they won six of their last 10 and moved up to a tie for sixth with Texas at 10-14, securing a spot in the Big 12 Championship for the 20th consecutive year.
"It gives us a lot of confidence going in, a lot of momentum," said junior pitcher Drew Tolson, who is 6-3 with a 4.93 ERA and the reigning Big 12 Pitcher of the Week. "We're pitching well, hitting well, playing good defense. Anything can happen, and we can beat anyone right now."
Junior left-hander Daniel Castano, a second-team All-Big 12 pick who is 4-4 with a 4.10 ERA, will get the start in Wednesday's game against TCU. The Horned Frogs will go with freshman lefty Dalton Horton, who is 8-0 with a 2.35 ERA but did not pitch against the Bears in the series two weeks ago.
Tolson, who has had back-to-back strong outings, would likely start Thursday's game against either 16th-ranked Oklahoma State (35-18) or seventh-seeded Texas (22-30). The Baylor-TCU winner plays the OSU-Texas winner at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, with the losers playing an elimination game at 12:30.
"All we have to do this week is beat the team that's ahead of us," junior catcher Matt Menard said. "We're going to take it one game at a time and see what happens. But I really like our chances. We'll see how the week shakes out."
After dropping the first two games of the Baylor series, TCU righted the ship by winning its next five, including a three-game sweep of Kansas State. The Frogs are led by Big 12 Freshman of the Year Luken Baker, who hit .340 with four homers and 43 RBI and also went 3-1 with a 1.70 ERA.
Junior third baseman Elliott Barzilli joined Baker on the All-Big 12 first team after hitting a team-best .372 with seven home runs and 39 RBI. Catcher Evan Skoug, second baseman Cam Warner, outfielder Dane Steinhagen and Horton were all second-team picks.
Highlighting Baylor's all-conference selections was sophomore closer Troy Montemayor, a first-team honoree who is 1-1 with a 0.78 ERA and 14 saves, which leads the Big 12 and ranks fifth nationally.
"People don't take you as seriously if you aren't 6-5 and throw 95 (mph)," Montemayor said. "I've just had to compete and work through that. That's just part of my game really. That's been fun, proving people wrong, I guess."
Earning second-team nods were Castano, sophomore outfielder Kameron Esthay (.312, 30 RBI) and sophomore third baseman Steven McLean (.311, 21 RB), while Menard (.317, six homers, 24 RBI) and Tolson were honorable mention selections.
In the other half of the bracket for the Big 12 Championship, fourth-seeded West Virginia (33-21) faces No. 5 seed Oklahoma (28-25-1) at 9 a.m., followed by top-seeded and eight-ranked Texas Tech (40-14) vs. Kansas State (26-29) at 12:30 p.m.
While Tech, OSU and TCU are locks, Baylor and the other four teams would likely have to win the tournament and get the automatic bid to make it into the NCAA Tournament.
"The goal every year is to win the tournament," Tolson said. "But especially this year, that's our way in. That's what everyone is working for. This is it. If we lose, we're done."
