March 15, 2001
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The Oklahoma Series -- Baylor (16-6, 4-2), ranked 16th in this week's Baseball Weekly/USA Today coaches poll, plays host to Big 12 rival Oklahoma (8-14, 4-2) for a three-game conference series. First pitch for games on Friday and Saturday is set for 7 p.m. and Sunday's game will begin at 2 p.m at Baylor Ballpark.
All games will be broadcast on KRZI 1580/1660 with Mark Rogers and Reagan Ratcliff calling the action. The broadcasts can also be heard over the internet by visiting www.GoBaylorBears.com.
Probable Starters --
Fri. Steven White (RHP) vs. Evan Gruesel (RHP)
Sat. Josh Scott (LHP) vs. Rocky Cherry (RHP)
Sun. TBA vs. Austin Mix (RHP)
Baylor vs... -- Against Oklahoma, the Bears hold a 15-14 series lead. Last season in Norman, Baylor took two of three from the Sooners (15-3, 6-3, 6-12). Baylor has never swept Oklahoma in a conference series, but the Sooners took three games from the Bears in Norman in 1995.
The Last Time Out -- After nearly a week off, Baylor returned to action in explosive fashion, defeating UT-San Antonio 14-3 Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark.
The Bears got to Roadrunner starter Kevin Carrejo (1-1) early, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning when Baylor catcher Kelly Shoppach ripped a two-RBI single to center field, extending his hitting streak to 13 games. Matt Williams' double down the left field line in the second scored two, pushing the lead to 7-0. Chris Durbin's third inning single to center field scored Nolan Leinweber and Trevor Mote, extending the Bear lead to 9-0.
Oklahoma comes to Waco on the heels of a disappointing 11-4 loss at Oral Roberts Tuesday night. The Sooners also dropped two games to Texas A&M last weekend in Norman.
About Coach Smith -- Steve Smith is in his seventh season as head coach at Baylor and owns a 241-136-1 (.638) career record. He led the Bears to a Big 12 regular season championship in 2000 and their first-ever 50-win season in 1999.
The 2000 Big 12 Coach of the Year, Smith came to Baylor from Mississippi State, where he was an assistant under Ron Polk for five seasons. Prior to that, he served as a graduate assistant at Texas A&M.
A former standout pitcher at Baylor from 1982-83, Smith led the Southwest Conference with a 1.72 ERA in 1982, bettering league foes and future major league pitchers Norm Charlton, Roger Clemens, Doug Drabek and Calvin Schiraldi.
Almost two decades later, Smith is passing his pitching knowledge on to his players. In the past seven years, he has tutored six pitchers who were selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft, including Jason Jennings, the 1999 consensus national player of the year and the 16th pick by the Colorado Rockies in 1999.
In Smith's six years as Baylor's head coach, he has produced six All-Americans, five GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-Americans and one GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year. Baylor has also had 18 first-team all-Big 12 performers, including the Big 12 Player of the Year in 1998 and 1999.
On the Defensive -- With a .968 team fielding percentage, the Baylor defense ranks second among Big 12 teams. The Bears have also turned a league-high 28 double plays.
In the Pitching Category -- Baylor ranks first among conference teams with a 2.33 team ERA. Bears starter Steven White is No. 1 in individual pitching category with an incredible 0.83 ERA. Don't Forget the Hitters -- With a .316 team batting average, Baylor ranks second in the the Big 12.
Catcher Kelly Shoppach leads the Big 12 in individual batting with a sizzling .469 average. He ranks second in RBI with 29.
OF Chris Durbin leads the league with 11 doubles, and 2B Trevor Mote is second in the runs scored category with 29.
Leading Off -- So far this season, the Bears have had two successful leadoff hitters in OF Chris Durbin and OF/2B Tim Hartshorn.
Earlier in the season, Durbin hit .324 in the leadoff role, and Hartshorn has gone 17-for-41 (.414) with nine RBI in the last 10 games batting in the No. 1 hole.
Control Freaks -- Through 22 games this season, the Baylor pitching staff has put together a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2-to-1. LHP Josh Scott leads the team with 27 strikeouts, while RHP Steven White has 26.
Stingy Staff -- In addition to a stellar team ERA, the Baylor pitching staff has given up just three home runs this season. Amazingly, the Bears went 160 innings without giving up a home run, having given up a bomb against Rice in the first game of the season and one against Houston in the 20th game.
And the Hits Keep Coming -- Matt Williams needs just one hit to reach 200 in his career at Baylor.
Kelly Shoppach got his 100th career hit against Texas A&M (Feb. 25). He accomplished the feat in just 104 games, averaging a hit in nearly every game he's played.
Streaking -- Junior C Kelly Shoppach is currently riding a 13-game hitting streak, dating back to Feb. 18. He is the second Baylor player this season to hit in at least ten straight games this season. Senior 2B Trevor Mote began the season with a 10-game hitting streak, which ended on Feb. 18 against Nicholls State.
The longest hitting streak recorded last season was a nine-game run notched by Jaime Bubela from Feb. 20-March 18, 2000.
Hitmen -- Chris Durbin leads the team with 13 multiple hit games. Teammate Kelly Shoppach is not far behind, having smacked multiple hits in 12 games this season. Durbin smacked four hits in a 12-2 win over Missouri (March 4), while Shoppach went 4-for-5 against Houston (March 6).
A First Time For Everything -- Back-up catcher Paul Richmond's grand slam against Southwest Texas was the first he's ever hit -- and that includes his time in Little League, high school and junior college baseball.
Freshman OF David Murphy belted his first collegiate home run, a first-pitch, bases loaded shot to right field against Houston (March 6).
Lots of Runs -- Baylor's 22 runs scored against Southwest Texas marks the first time the Bears have scored 20 or more runs in a game since defeating Minnesota 22-6 in the 1999 Waco Regional. The Bears have scored ten or more runs in nine games this season.
All-Tournament Team -- Catcher Kelly Shoppach was named the Most Outstanding Player by a vote of the media at the inaugural Astros College Classic. The junior hit .316 over three games with three doubles, a home run and six RBI. 2B Trevor Mote and LHP Josh Scott were also named to the team.
Home Sweet Home -- Last year, in the first full season at Baylor Ballpark, the Bears posted an impressive 26-6 record at home. In 2001, the Bears are off to an 11-5 start on their home field.
In 2000, Baylor ranked 13th nationally in attendance, averaging more than 2,700 fans per game.
Setting New Records -- With his second save of the season and the 17th of his career against Texas A&M (Feb. 24), sophomore closer Zane Carlson continues to set new Baylor records for career saves. Last season, he racked up 15 saves to set the school single season saves record.
The NCAA record for saves in a career is 49, set by Jack Krawczyk of Southern Cal (1995-98).
Baylor on the Radio -- For the first time in school history, all of Baylor's baseball games will be broadcast during the 2001 season. Every game will be broadcast on the flagship station for Baylor Athletics, News/Talk Radio KRZI 1660/1580-AM.
John Morris will be joined by former Baylor pitcher Mark Rogers and Reagan Ratcliff in the broadcast booth.
Young Guns -- This season, Baylor is fielding a young and experienced team. In fact, 18 of the top 25 players on last season's Big 12 Championship team were freshmen and sophomores. Senior LHP Josh Scott is the only senior on a pitching staff dominated by sophomores.
New Faces -- There are 14 new faces on this year's Baylor squad, including 11 freshmen and three transfers. 2B Trevor Mote transferred to Baylor from Arizona, while C Paul Richmond came from Navarro JC and LHP Chris Deleenheer transferred in from Triton JC in Chicago.
Getting Experience -- Four true freshmen, 3B Jared Clements, RHP Cody Hall, OF David Murphy, and SS/2B Trey Webb have seen action this season. Murphy leads the young bunch, appearing in 21 games and starting 16.
Early Honors -- Sophomore relief pitcher Zane Carlson, the 2000 Big 12 Freshman Pitcher of the Year has been named to several preseason all-America lists. In addition, he has also been selected as the relief pitcher of the year in preseason rankings by the Dallas Morning News.
Community Service Honors -- Junior Tim Hartshorn was recently named a Bank of America/Big XII Conference Community Champion for his dedication to academic excellence and community service.
225 Wins -- With a 10-1 victory over Texas Tech at the 2000 Big 12 Tournament, Bears coach Steve Smith earned his 225th career win. Smith, 40, is one of the nation's winningest coaches under the age of 45.
Nine to Go -- Head Coach Steve Smith needs just nine wins to reach 250 career wins in his just his seventh season as a head coach.
Baylor in the Postseason -- The Bears made their third straight postseason appearance in 2000. Last season also marked the second consecutive year in which Baylor hosted an NCAA regional.
In the Record Books --
Senior 3B Matt Williams is currently tied for sixth place on the career home runs list with 31. He needs two home runs to move into fifth place. On the career runs scored chart, Williams ranks seventh.
LHP Josh Scott currently ranks fourth on the Baylor career strikeouts list with 258. The senior needs 27 strikeouts to move past Kip Wells into third place (288, 1996-98). Scott is tied with Bruce Aguilar (1986-89) for third place on the career games started list with 41.
Last season, Scott became just the seventh Baylor pitcher to strikeout 200 batters in his career.
In the News -- Catcher Kelly Shoppach is featured in this month's edition of Baseball America magazine. A story on the junior from Fort Worth can be found in the Colleges West section by Jim Callis. Last season, pitcher Kyle Evans was featured in the same section.
David Murphy has been interviewed for an MSNBC documentary on child prodigies. As a nine-year-old, he was spotted throwing a tennis ball against a wall by pro scouts at a high school game. The scouts were so impressed, they videotaped Murphy. No word on when the special will air.
Watch List -- Three Baylor players, including Kelly Shoppach, Zane Carlson and Mike Huggins are currently on the watch list for the Rotary Smith Award, one of the top awards in college baseball. Baylor's Jason Jennings won the award in 1999.
Big 12 Pitchers/Players of the Week -- Just four weeks into the season, Baylor players have twice been honored by the Big 12 conference for their weekly performances.
Sophomore righty Steven White was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week (Feb. 12) for his performance in the Bears' 5-0 win over Cal State Fullerton. White tossed seven shutout innings, giving up just two hits, while striking out five batters and issuing just four walks. The League City, Texas native also limited the Titans to a .087 batting average.
Sophomore 1B Mike Huggins was named the Phillips 66/Big 12 Player of the Week (Feb. 19) for his performances against Southwest Texas and Nicholls State. He hit a sizzling .615 with a pair of doubles and five RBI.
Up Next -- Baylor travels to Houston Tuesday for a rematch with top-ranked Rice. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. at Reckling Park.
The Bears and Owls last met on February 1 at the Astros College Classic. The teams battled through 10 innings, with Rice winning, 1-0.
