No. 15 Baseball Hosts No. 16 Arizona

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

No. 15 BAYLOR (3-4)
vs.
No. 16 ARIZONA (5-4-1)

Feb. 27-29, 2004
Baylor Ballpark
Waco, Texas

Baylor returns to action this weekend, hosting Arizona for a three-game series at Baylor Ballpark. Friday's first game is set for 6 p.m., followed by a Noon start Saturday and a 1 p.m. start Sunday. The Bears (3-4) have dropped three straight after getting swept at eighth-ranked Long Beach State last weekend. Arizona (5-4-1) is 0-4-1 in its last five games, including a 4-0 loss Tuesday at No. 12 Arizona State. Baylor enters the contest ranked 15th according to Baseball America and 20th in the Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches Poll. Arizona is 16th in Baseball America and 19th in the coaches poll. All Baylor baseball games are carried in Central Texas on KRZI 1660/1580 AM. Live stats also are available for all home games and most road games at www.BaylorBears.com, the official website of Baylor Athletics and a member of the Official College Sports Network.

PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPSFriday, Feb. 27BU  RHP Mark McCormick  0-1 6.75UA  RHP Koley Kolberg   0-1 3.80
Saturday, Feb. 28BU  LHP Trey Taylor    1-1 3.48UA  RHP Luis Cortez 1-0 5.06
Sunday, Feb. 29BU  RHP Sean Walker    0-1 3.00UA      TBA
Rotations subject to change

QUICK NOTES
* Baylor and Arizona meet for the seventh, eighth and ninth times this weekend. The Wildcats hold a 4-2 lead in the all-time series. This is Arizona's first-ever trip to Waco.
* Head coach Steve Smith enters the weekend four wins shy of career victory No. 350.
* RHP Zane Carlson tied Matthew Marcom's school record of 91 career appearances with his three-inning outing last Sunday at Long Beach State.
* RHP Zane Carlson needs one save to move into a tie for sixth on the NCAA all-time career saves list. He needs two saves to move into a fifth-place tie.
* Baylor has been ranked nationally for 25 consecutive weeks, dating back to the 2003 preseason rankings. The Bears have appeared in the national rankings during 101 of the last 102 weeks. Baylor has been ranked during each of the past 81 regular-season polls. The Bears' last regular season game as an unranked team was Feb. 21, 1999, an 8-2 victory over then-No. 24 Houston.
* Since the start of the Big 12 in 1997, the Bears have the league's best conference record at 124-71 (.636). Baylor leads all conference schools in both first-team all-Big 12 selections (21) and first-team Academic all-Big 12 selections (35), and the Bears are the only Big 12 Conference program to have ranked in the top 10 nationally during each of the past six seasons (1998-2003).
* Baylor is the only Big 12 school and one of just 12 schools nationwide to have been named to each of the past six NCAA Tournament fields; the others are Auburn, Cal State Fullerton, Clemson, Florida State, LSU, Miami, Oral Roberts, Rice, South Alabama, Stanford and Tulane.
* Baylor has won 40-plus games four times during head coach Steve Smith's tenure and nine times in school history, including 45 wins last year.
* In 2003, USA Baseball named Baylor the 23rd-best program in the nation at providing players for the USA National Team. Six Bears have played for a total of seven seasons wearing the Red, White and Blue: Pat Combs (1988), Jason Jennings (1997-1998), Bryan Loeb (1998), Jon Topolski (1998), Zane Carlson (2000) and Michael Griffin (2003).
* Baylor has had 39 players drafted in the past six years, including four first-round picks. That total ties Texas A&M for the most in the Big 12 during that period.
* Baylor Ballpark was named the No. 3 collegiate stadium in the country in a survey of college coaches conducted by Baseball America in January 2003.
* Baylor Ballpark also was featured as the January Stadium of the Month in the 2004 Baseball America Great Parks Calendar. The Bears' home was the only collegiate facility featured.
* Collegiate Baseball has ranked Baylor's recruiting class among the top 25 in the nation four times in the past six years (23rd, 1998; 25th, 2001; 13th, 2002; 19th, 2003).

THE ARIZONA SERIES
Baylor and Arizona meet for the seventh, eighth and ninth times this weekend as the teams played their third three-game series. The Wildcats lead the series 4-2, but the Bears have won two straight. The series dates back to the 1998 season when Baylor opened its campaign with three losses at Tucson. Last year, the Bears returned to Tucson for a three-game set; the Wildcats took the first game of the series before Baylor rebounded to take the next two, both in extra innings. This is Arizona's first-ever trip to Waco.

THE ARIZONA WILDCATS
Arizona (5-4-1) is in its third season under the direction of head coach Andy Lopez, who has amassed a 71-51-1 record during his time at Tucson. Lopez, the national coach of the year in 1992 and 1996, is in his 22nd season as a collegiate head coach with previous stops at Florida (1995-2001), Pepperdine (1988-1994) and Divison II powerhouse Cal State-Dominguez Hills (1983-1988). He has a career record of 758-469-7 and led Pepperdine to a national title in 1992. Lopez is 2-3 all-time against Baylor.

UA Notes: The Wildcats are ranked 16th in this week's Baseball America Top 25, one spot behind Baylor, and 19th in this week's Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches Poll, one spot ahead of Baylor. Like the Bears, the Cats are unranked in this week's Collegiate Baseball and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association polls. ... Arizona has lost four of five, including a 4-0 loss Wednesday at Arizona State in a non-conference meeting, after starting the season with five straight wins. The lone non-loss in that stretch was an 8-8 tie Sunday against Cal-Irvine, Baylor's opponent next weekend at Baylor Ballpark. Cal-Irvine won the first two games of the series. The Wildcats opened the year with a three-game sweep of Cal-Riverside, followed by taking the first two of a three-game set against Cal State Fullerton. ... Arizona hits .309 as a team with 13 home runs and nine stolen bases in 14 attempts. True-freshman SS Jason Donald (.396, 5 HR, 15 RBI) leads the Cats in home runs and RBI, while 1B Pat Reilly (.481, 2, 5) leads the team in hitting and is 3-of-3 in stolen bases. ... The Wildcats tote a staff ERA of 5.67 with one complete game, one save and 75 strikeouts in 92.0 innings. Opponents hit .287 off Arizona pitching. Friday's starter, RHP Koley Kolberg (0-1, 3.68 ERA), has posted 21 strikeouts against six walks in 22.0 innings covering four appearances and three starts; opponents hit .293 against Kolberg. RHP Luis Cortez (1-0, 5.06) gets the nod on the bump Saturday. He has 10 strikeouts against five walks in 16.0 innings covering three appearances, all starts, and holds opponents to a .253 average. ... Arizona fields at a .953 clip as a team; the Cats have committed 19 errors in 10 games with four double plays. Donald has made six errors at shortstop.

SMITH NEARS ANOTHER MILESTONE
Baylor head coach Steve Smith is four wins away from victory No. 350 in his collegiate career, all coming at Baylor. Now in his 10th season at the helm of the Baylor program, Smith is 346-207-1.

CARLSON MATCHES MARCOM'S SCHOOL RECORD
RHP Zane Carlson appeared in his 91st career game Saturday at Long Beach State, tying him with Matthew Marcom for the most pitching appearances in Baylor history. Carlson, who already owned the Big 12 record in this category, needs 21 more appearances to crack the NCAA's all-time top 20 in career appearances.

CARDIAC KIDS
Five of Baylor's first seven games have been one-run affairs; the Bears are 2-3 in such contests. Last season, Baylor played 16 one run games, posting a 9-7 mark in such contests.

POWER OUTAGE
Baylor is seven games into the 2004 season without a home run. That's the deepest into a season the Bears have gone without a round-tripper since 1995 when Baylor hit its first home run in the eighth game of the season. That year, the Bears tallied 10 home runs all season as a team. Since 1994, Baylor has gone past the fourth game of the season without a home run only one other time; the Bears hit their first home run of the 1997 season in game No. 6.

CARLSON EYES NCAA SAVES MARK
With two saves in the Loyola Marymount series, senior RHP Zane Carlson needs 13 saves to break the NCAA Division I career record. The nation's active career saves leader starting the year, Carlson has 36 during his four-plus seasons at Baylor. Former Southern California closer Jack Krawczyk currently owns the record; he tallied 49 saves from 1995 to 1998. Carlson already owns the Baylor and Big 12 Conference records for career saves. As a freshman in 2000, he established Baylor's single-season saves record with 15, ironically also the school career mark at that time. On top of that, Carlson owns the Cape Cod League career saves record with 24. Carlson needs one save to move into a sixth-place tie on the all-time NCAA list and two saves to move into a fifth-place tie.

BAYLOR IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Baylor dropped three spots in this week's Baseball America Top 25, falling to No. 15. The Bears slipped six spots in the latest Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches Poll to 20th. Collegiate Baseball, which had Baylor at No. 11 last week, did not include the Bears in this week's ranking of 30 teams, nor were the Bears included in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association rankings of 35 teams. The Bears have been ranked nationally for 25 consecutive weeks, dating back to the 2003 preseason rankings. Baylor has appeared in the national rankings during 100 of the last 101 weeks and during each of the past 81 regular-season polls. The Bears' last regular season game as an unranked team was Feb. 21, 1999, an 8-2 victory over then-No. 24 Houston.

VanALLEN HONORED BY COLLEGIATE BASEBALL
LHP Cory VanAllen was named one of five National Players of the Week Monday by Collegiate Baseball. VanAllen was honored after combining with RHP Zane Carlson for a seven-inning no-hitter in Baylor's 1-0 victory over Loyola Marymount in the second game of a doubleheader Sunday at Baylor Ballpark. A true-freshman from Sugar Land, Texas, VanAllen carried a perfect game into the seventh inning before leadoff batter Billy Lockin reached by virtue of an error. Carlson then came in and closed the door on LMU, preserving Baylor's seventh no-hitter and first since 2000. VanAllen is the first Baylor freshman to ever participate in a no-hitter. The southpaw did not walk a batter and struck out four in his 6.0-plus innings of work. Others honored by Collegiate Baseball this week were Zach Jackson (LHP, Texas A&M); Luke Holscher (RHP, Western Michigan); Jered Weaver (RHP, Long Beach State); and David Purcey (LHP, Oklahoma). Baylor is likely to face Jackson, Weaver and Purcey this season.

BIG 12 HONORS VanALLEN, AS WELL
LHP Cory VanAllen joined Oklahoma's David Purcey and Texas A&M's Zach Johnson as Big 12 Conference Pitchers of the Week, the league office announced Tuesday. Jackson also tossed a no-hitter as the Aggies blanked Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 15-0 in seven innings Saturday. Purcey hurled seven shutout innings as the Sooners blanked Arizona State 6-0 Sunday, snapping ASU's NCAA-record of 506 consecutive games without being shutout. Texas 2B Seth Johnson earned Big 12 Player of the Week honors.

2004 SCHEDULE AMONG NATION'S TOUGHEST
Baylor's 2004 schedule ranks as the nation's 10th-toughest, according to the preseason schedule rankings released by BoydsWorld.com. The Bears' 2003 schedule was ranked first in the preseason rankings and was deemed the fifth-toughest by season's end. One component of schedule strength is the strength of one's opponents' schedules. Baylor plays 13 teams ranked the preseason top 30 in the strength of schedule rankings: Arizona (2nd), Cal-Irvine (4th), Texas (5th), Long Beach State (7th), Texas A&M (13th), Houston (14th), Oklahoma (19th), Rice (20th), Texas Tech (22nd), Oklahoma State (23rd), Texas State (25th), Loyola Marymount (26th) and Nebraska (28th).

BAYLOR AMONG ALL-TIME WINNINGEST PROGRAMS
With 1,780 all-time wins in 102 seasons of collegiate baseball, Baylor ranks 39th nationally in total victories to start the 2004 campaign, according to the NCAA Baseball Records Book. Baylor is sixth in the Big 12, trailing Texas (2nd/2,760); Texas A&M (19th/2,094); Oklahoma State (22nd/2,057); Oklahoma (26th/2,006); and Missouri (36th/1,834). Fordham, which first fielded a team in the 1850s, leads all schools with 3,174 victories in 145 seasons. Baylor also ranks 23rd nationally in total victories through the first four seasons of the 21st century with 163. That ranks third in the Big 12 behind Nebraska (5th/195) and Texas (7th/189).

BEARS BEST IN THE BIG 12
At the start of the 2004 season, Baylor has the best conference record of any team in the Big 12 Conference since the league's start in 1997. At 124-71 (.636), the Bears are ahead of Texas Tech (120-77-1, .609). Included in the first seven seasons for Baylor are one Big 12 championship (2000) and a pair of runner-up finishes (1998, 1999). On top of that, Baylor is the only Big 12 Conference school to have ranked in the top 10 nationally during each of the past six seasons (1998-2003). Including the 2003 totals, Baylor leads all conference schools in Big 12 history in both first-team all-Big 12 selections (21) and in first-team Academic all-Big 12 selections (35).

BAYLOR BALLPARK NO. 3 STADIUM IN AMERICA
Baylor Ballpark was named the No. 3 collegiate baseball park in the country in a nationwide survey of college coaches released by Baseball America in January. In voting by the nation's coaches, Baylor Ballpark placed third, just behind Auburn's Plainsman Park and Arkansas' Baum Stadium. Nebraska's Haymarket Park and LSU's Alex Box Stadium rounded out the top five. College media relations contacts were also asked to vote on their favorite stadiums. Baylor Ballpark finished fourth in that survey, behind Auburn, Mississippi State's Dudy Noble Field and Arkansas. The survey asked coaches and media relations contacts to rank their top 10 parks based on aesthetics, facilities (dugout, locker rooms, extra cages/bullpens, etc.), fan amenities, playing conditions and tradition. Baylor Ballpark also was featured as the January Stadium of the Month in Baseball America's 2004 Great Parks Calendar. The Bears' home was the only collegiate park featured in the calendar.

HEAD COACH Steve Smith
Head coach Steve Smith is in his 10th season as head coach at Baylor; in that time, he has compiled a 346-207-1 record. Smith led the Bears to their first-ever 50 win season in 1999 and a Big 12 Championship in 2000, and has piloted the team to six straight NCAA appearances. His Bears have the best conference record in the Big 12 since the league began and are the only Big 12 team to have appeared in each of the past six NCAA tournaments. Through the 2003 season, Smith ranked 37th nationally among active coaches in winning percentage with a .628 mark, fourth among Big 12 coaches. 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 in 1982-1983, Smith led the Southwest Conference with a 1.72 ERA as a junior. He was drafted in the fifth round of the 1983 Major League draft by the San Francisco Giants and played four years of pro ball before moving into the coaching ranks. An accomplished pitching coach, Smith has tutored six pitchers in the last 12 years who were selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft. He also had at least one pitcher named to the all-conference first team for 11 straight years (1992-2002). In Smith's nine seasons as head coach, the Bears have produced four first-round draft picks, 10 all-Americans, six Academic All-Americans, one National Player of the Year, one GTE/CoSIDA Academic all-American of the Year, 25 first-team all-conference performers, nine freshman all-Americans, and three conference players of the year. Baylor has also placed 35 players on the Academic all-Big 12 first team in the past seven seasons, a number that leads the Big 12.

BAYLORBEARS.COM
Baylor's official athletic web site can be found at www.BaylorBears.com. The comprehensive site, which includes releases, photos, biographical sketches and audio broadcasts, is part of the Official College Sports Network. OCSN currently hosts sites for more than 100 universities, including four Big 12 schools.

STREAMING VIDEO AVAILABLE FOR SELECTED GAMES
Live streaming video of 26 Baylor baseball games during the 2004 season will be available through an Internet webcast package with New Media Networks. Eighteen of the 26 webcasts will be against Big 12 Conference opponents, including the Bears' series at Oklahoma and Nebraska. Fans may purchase the games for $5.95 per game ($154.70 if each of the 26 games were purchased individually), $8.95 for a series ($89.45 for every series and three single games) or $39.95 for the entire season. The video and audio for each game will be provided by the home team. Visit http://BaylorBears.nmnathletics.com for access to streaming video. For a list of selected games, visit www.BaylorBears.com, the official website of Baylor Athletics and a member of the Official College Sports Network.

BAYLOR BASEBALL RADIO NETWORK
Catch every inning of Baylor baseball in 2003 on the flagship station for Baylor athletics, News/Talk Radio KRZI 1660/1580-AM. Tom Barfield and Lark Smith are in their second season together as the primary play-by-play and color men for Baylor baseball. Barfield, the operations manager for KRZI/KRZX and KLRK-FM in Waco, is best known as co-host of the afternoon "You Make the Call" call-in show. Barfield saw his first action calling Baylor baseball last season, when he and Smith called the Bears' sweep of Southern California at Dodger Stadium. Smith, whose attachment to Baylor baseball dates back to the days of coach Dutch Schroeder, was Sports Director for the Baylor campus radio station in the late 1970s and served as play-by-play voice for the Bears' 1977 and 1978 College World Series teams. After nearly two decades in broadcasting, Smith now works for the Heart O'Texas Federal Credit Union in Waco. All Baylor Baseball games in 2003 will be available on the internet at www.BaylorBears.com. BU baseball is also a staple of the daily "Baylor SportsBeat" hosted by Morris and airing weekdays at 7:25am and 5:25pm on KRZI 1660/1580-AM.

INSIDE BAYLOR SPORTS TV SHOW
Inside Baylor Sports, a half-hour look at the world of Baylor athletics, airs weekly throughout Central Texas and the region. The program, co-hosted by John Morris and Lori Scott-Fogleman, airs on KCEN-TV Channel 6, Fox Sports Net Southwest and the College Channel (Waco cable channel 18). KCEN carries the show at 10:30 p.m. Sundays, and it airs at 1 p.m. Wednesdays on FSN Southwest.

UP NEXT ...
Baylor hits the road Tuesday for a 7 p.m. game against Houston at Cougar Field. This is one of only three road games in a 17-game stretch for the Bears, during which time Baylor does not leave the Lone Star State.

No. 15 Baseball Hosts No. 16 Arizona

Related News

Related Videos

Promotional Background Photo

Footer