Bears Set for Round Rock Classic

Friday, February 26

Round Rock, Texas

6 p.m.

Baylor

Texas A&M

Tickets

Bears Set for Round Rock Classic

2/25/2021 10:55:00 AM | Baseball

Game Notes Tickets

Baylor will open with Texas A&M on Friday night at Dell Diamond

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            For the fourth time in five years, Baylor baseball (1-2) is facing former Big 12 and Southwest Conference rival Texas A&M (2-3) in an early-season tournament at a professional baseball park.
            This time, the matchup will come at 6 p.m. Friday in the Round Rock Classic at Dell Diamond, home of the Texas Rangers' Triple-A club, the Round Rock Express.
            "When you're playing tournaments like this, your awareness really heightens," said Baylor coach Steve Rodriguez, whose team dropped two of three to UTRGV in a hastily scheduled road series in Edinburg, Texas. "You're playing against great teams in a good environment, and it's exciting. When you get in environments like this, you want to see your guys rise to the occasion. And I think our guys have done that the past couple years."
            The indisputable highlight of the COVID-shortened 2020 season was the Bears beating Missouri, No. 11 LSU and sixth-ranked Arkansas at the Shriner's Hospitals of Children College Classic at Minute Maid Park.
            "Everybody wants a shot at some big-name schools," said sophomore right-hander Blake Helton, the starting pitcher for Friday's matchup against the Aggies. "We just have to go into it with the confidence that we're good and we can win any game we want to. We just have to play well and play to our potential. That really starts with the pitching staff. We struggled last weekend, but hopefully we'll get it together."
            You would be hard-pressed to find fault with an offense that scored 20 runs and belted out 31 hits in the series against UTRGV. Second-year freshman centerfielder Jared McKenzie led the way with seven hits, two homers and a .467 batting average, earning Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors.
            "Regardless of the result, it was just good to go and play and get some of those beginning jitters out of our system," Rodriguez said. "I thought we put ourselves in pretty good position most of the weekend. I was really happy with how we swung the bats all weekend. We had some execution areas in some small areas, but overall, I was happy with what we got done at the plate."
            The mound was a different story. Junior lefty Tyler Thomas was solid in the Game 2 start, giving up two runs in six innings, but Helton and Jimmy Winston allowed a combined five runs in 5.2 innings and the Bears came out of the series with a hefty 7.20 ERA.
            "They understand what our expectations are, they understand where they need to be," Rodriguez said. "I know (pitching coach Jon Strauss) is constantly hounding them about the fundamentals and trying to just control certain parts of their game that they have a really good handle on. The hard part, with the lack of games, is trying to get more arms out there in certain conditions and certain environments. But, that's just part of what we're dealing with."
            Like Baylor, Texas A&M struggled out of the gates, losing two of three to Xavier last weekend in College Station and then splitting a pair of midweek games against Abilene Christian and Tarleton State.
            "I know it's special to people when you have an opportunity play A&M and beat them," Rodriguez said. "But, at the same time, we have a lot of games ahead of us. I need to make sure that we're doing things right. And we have to do things right against really good teams. That's what's going to be great about this weekend is we're going to get tested in a lot of different areas. And if we don't do things right, things aren't going to go well for us."
            In a challenging schedule, the Bears will face No. 17 Auburn (5-0) at 12 p.m. Saturday and Oklahoma (2-2) at 5 p.m. Sunday to wrap up the three-day tournament. Sunday's matchup against the Sooners does not count as a conference game.
            McKenzie, who grew up 10 minutes from Dell Diamond and was a ball boy for the Express at one point, said it will be "awesome" playing in that park.
            "It will be good, too, just to know that it's your home turf, a lot of confidence that you've been there, played there, and it's not going to be anything new," he said. "It's just another baseball game. I'm looking forward to it."
            Baylor will return home to host Sam Houston State on Tuesday and then Memphis for a four-game series next Friday-Sunday at Baylor Ballpark.
            "I really like where I see our guys, I really do," Rodriguez said. "We're still trying to figure out who we are. There's a personality missing that I'm still trying to find. And once we find it, it's going to be pretty fun, because this is a really neat group to coach. They're fun to have on the baseball field, and they want to get better. That's about 75 percent of my job."

ROUND ROCK, Texas – The Baylor baseball team is set to play in the second annual Round Rock Classic at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas, beginning on Friday night at 6 p.m. against Texas A&M (2-3). The Bears (1-2) will also take on No. 17 Auburn (5-0) on Saturday at 12 p.m. and Oklahoma (2-2) for a non-conference matchup on Sunday at 5 p.m. to close out the event.

Individual tickets to all the games are available at RoundRockClassic.net.

SERIES INFO
Date: Friday-Sunday, Feb. 26-28
Game Times: 6 p.m./12 p.m./5 p.m.
Site: Round Rock, Texas / Dell Diamond (11,631)
TV: FloBaseball $
                • Talent: Friday David Saltzman (pxp), Mike Hardge (color)
                              Saturday Bill Culhane (pxp), Mike Hardge (color)
                              Sunday Chris Mycoskie (pxp), Mike Hardge (color)
Radio:ESPN 1660/92.3 FM (Fri/Sun)
• Talent: Derek Smith (pxp), Alex Phillips (color)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast.com
Twitter Updates:@BaylorBaseball
Series History: 184-130-4 (A&M leads)
                        Streak: A&M, W3
                        First Meeting: April 9, 1904 2020
                        Last Meeting: March 1, 2019
0-0 (Auburn)
                        First meeting
50-48 (OU leads)
                        Streak: BU, W3
                        First Meeting: 1936
                        Last Meeting: May 22, 2019

PITCHING MATCHUP
Fri. Feb. 26 – Baylor RHP Blake Helton (0-0, 4.91 ERA) vs. Texas A&M LHP Dustin Saenz (0-1, 3.60 ERA)
Sat. Feb. 27 – Baylor LHP Tyler Thomas (0-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Auburn RHP Richard Fitts (0-0, 1.80 ERA)
Sun. Feb. 28 – Baylor TBD vs. Oklahoma TBD

STORY LINES
• Second-year freshman Jared McKenzie picked up right where he left off in 2020 through his first three games in 2021. After batting .406 in the shortened season, McKenzie already leads the Big 12 and is seventh nationally in hits with seven (7-for-15, .467 average) in the leadoff spot. The Round Rock native, added some pop to his bat this offseason as he crushed his first two career home runs in the season opener at UTRGV. His two bombs, five runs scored and 13 total bases also lead the Big 12. For his efforts on Sunday, he was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week (2/22).

• JUCO transfers Jack Pineda and Antonio Valdez have provided a spark for the Bears in their first three contests. Pineda is hitting .375 early on, while also showing his strength as a defender at second base. Valdez has a .364 average as the designated hitter for BU.

• Fourth-year junior Tyler Thomas had a strong first start on the mound in 2021, while throwing a career-best six innings and only allowing two runs on four hits, while striking out four against UTRGV in the second game of the doubleheader on Sunday. Thomas threw a total of 6.2 innings last year, all in relief after coming off of surgery to remove a rib in June 2019 due to his Thoracic Outlet Syndrome.

• Through the first three games, BU leads the Big 12 in hits (9th nationally), batting average (13th nationally), home runs (12th nationally) and stolen bases (27th nationally). The Bears are also second in the conference in runs with 24 (8.0 per game).
• Individually, McKenzie leads the team and Big 12 in multiple categories, while fifth-year senior catcher Andy Thomas is first in the league in RBI with six through three games. Second-year freshman Tre Richardson also leads the Big 12 and is seventh nationally in stolen bases with three.

• Baylor has hit 212 home runs in 240 games under Rodriguez, including five (leads Big 12) already in 2021. Before 2020, the Bears were coming off back-to-back-back seasons with at least 50 home runs (51 in 2017, 54 in 2018, 57 in 2019) for the first time since 2008 (52), 2009 (73) and 2010 (57) and first time in the BBCOR era. In 2020, BU was on pace to hit over 50 home runs once again prior to the season getting canceled.

To stay up to date throughout the season on all things Baylor baseball, follow the team on Facebook (Baylor Baseball), Twitter (@BaylorBaseball) and Instagram (@BaylorBaseball).