Baseball Hosts Northwestern State
3/22/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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BAYLOR (8-14)
vs.
NORTHWESTERN STATE (12-8)
6:00 p.m. CST
March 23, 2004
Baylor Ballpark
Waco, Texas
Radio: KRZI-AM (1580/1660)
Internet Audio: Click here.
Internet Video: None
GameTracker:
Baylor returns to action Tuesday, hosting Northwestern State for a 6 p.m. CST contest at Baylor Ballpark. Tuesday's game concludes a 17-game stretch with 14 home games for the Bears. Baylor (8-14) took two of three games against ninth-ranked Texas A&M over the weekend; the Bears have won four of their last seven. Northwestern State (12-8) has won five straight after sweeping Louisiana-Monroe at home over the weekend. Neither team is ranked nationally in any of the four college baseball rankings this week. All Baylor baseball games are carried via radio in Central Texas on KRZI 1660/1580 AM. GameTracker also is 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.
QUICK NOTES
* Baylor and Northwestern State meet for the 15th time Tuesday. The Bears lead the all-time series 8-6, including a 5-3 mark in Waco.
* Baylor's weekend attendance figure of 7,354 was the fifth-largest two-date series total in Baylor Ballpark history. Saturday's crowd of 3,905 ranked 19th in the stadium's six-year existence.
* Baylor is six games below .500 this season; however, ironically, the Bears have outscored their opponents 95-88.
* Opposing batters are 3-for-34 with 10 strikeouts and five double plays in first at bats against Baylor relievers. Baylor's bullpen has stranded 30 of 41 inherited runners this season (73.2 percent); last year, the Bears stranded 81 of 150 inherited runners (54.0 percent).
* Saturday's nine-inning, complete-game shutout by RHP Mark McCormick was the first by a Baylor pitcher since Feb. 17, 2001 (Josh Scott vs. Nicholls State) and the first in a Big 12 game since April 29, 2000 (Kyle Evans vs. Kansas). It also was the first complete game of McCormick's career and extended his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 16.0 innings.
* RHP Abe Woody has stranded 11 of 13 inherited runners (84.6 percent) this season. First batters are 1-for-8 against Woody with three double plays and two strikeouts. Woody has walked the first batter he has faced twice; both times, he recorded an out on the next batter.
* Opposing batters are 1-for-8 in first at bats against RHP Ryan LaMotta, 0-for-6 in first at bats against RHP Zane Carlson and 0-for-5 in first at bats against RHP Andy Pape (relief situations only).
* RF Mike Pankratz extended his career-long hitting streak to seven games Sunday. That is the longest streak of the season for the Bears. Pankratz has hit safely in 12 of the last 13 with a sacrifice fly in the other game. He has reached safely in 15 of the last 16 games and in 19 of 22 games this season.
* 2B Drew Sutton also extended his hitting streak to five games, tying his career long. This is the third five-game streak this season for Sutton. He also has reached safely to start the game in five consecutive contests and in six of the last eight.
* DH Josh Ford saw his six-game hitting streak end Sunday; that was his longest this season. However, with a walk he continued his streak of seven consecutive games reaching base safely.
* 3B Michael Griffin has hit safely in 16 of 22 games this season without consecutive hitless games. He has reached base safely in 19 of 22 games, including each of the last 13 contests. In the other three games, he reached by virtue of an error once and on a fielder's choice once and scored both times.
* LF Reid Brees has hit safely in three straight. He also has reached safely in five straight and six of the last seven games. Brees is hitting .353 (6-for-17) over his last five games.
* C Tyler Bullock has hit safely in each of his past four starts and five of his last six starts.
* CF Kevin Sevigny is six for his last nine (.667) and eight for his last 15 (.533).
* The Bears have three shutouts this season after three shutouts all of last season and none in 2002.
* After hitting just two home runs in their first 15 games, the Bears have knocked eight homers in their last seven games.
* Baylor is hitting .341 with seven home runs, a .526 slugging percentage and a .416 on base percentage over the last five games.
* The Bears have played 10 errorless game in 22 contests this season. Last year, Baylor played 18 errorless games all season. Ironically, the 2004 Bears are 2-8 this season when not committing an error but 2-0 when committing four or more.
* Since the start of the Big 12 in 1997, the Bears have the league's best conference record at 126-72 (.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).
THE NORTHWESTERN STATE SERIES
Baylor and Northwestern State meet for the 15th time Tuesday. The Bears hold an 8-6 advantage in the all-time series, which began with a 16-2 Baylor victory April 15, 1960 at the Northeast Louisiana Easter Tournament in Monroe, La. After two more meetings at the same tournament in 1962, the teams did not meet again until a three-game set in Waco during the 1995 campaign. The Bears lead the series 5-3 in games played in Waco. This is the first meeting between the teams since Baylor swept a two-game set Feb. 5-6 at Baylor Ballpark. Northwestern State leads the series 6-5 during head coach Steve Smith's tenure. However, the Bears have won four of the last five meetings after a five-game Demon winning streak in the series.
THE NORTHWESTERN STATE DEMONS
Northwestern State (12-8) is in its second season under the direction of Mitch Gaspard, who has amassed a career record of 55-25 (all at NSU). Gaspard was an assistant coach at Northwestern State in the early 1990s under current Alabama head coach Jim Wells. Gaspard, who spent time with Wells at Louisiana State before his first stint at Northwestern State, also served on Wells' staff at Alabama before returning to NSU.
NSU Notes: The Demons have won five consecutive games and seven of their last eight. Northwestern State swept Louisiana-Monroe at home over the weekend to begin Southland Conference play. The Demons are 1-1 against ranked opponents with an 8-4 loss to then-No. 16 Nebraska and a 6-2 victory over then-No. 17 North Carolina, both coming at the Rice Tournament in Houston. ... The Demons hit .318 as a team with 11 home runs, 50 doubles and 44 stolen bases in 54 attempts. NSU averages 8.2 runs per game. ... 2B Brandon Morgan (.500, 0 HR, 19) leads the squad in average, doubles (9), runs (27) and on base percentage (.581); he also has 12 stolen bases in 13 tries. DH Bobby Barbier (.328, 5, 22) leads the team in home runs and slugging percentage (.623), while 1B Hunter Thoms (.370, 0, 28) leads in RBI. Seven of nine starters hit .300 or better. ... Northwestern State totes a 5.03 staff ERA with two complete games, two shutouts, 157 strikeouts in 170.0 innings and an opponents' batting average of .260. ... Tuesday's projected starter is LHP Dwayne Hall (2-0, 5.50 ERA). This will be his fifth appearance, all starts; he has nine walks and eight strikeouts in 18.0 innings of work and opponents hit .206 off the southpaw. ... The Demons field at a .960 clip with 29 errors and 17 double plays in 20 games.
FORD, McCORMICK ENJOY MONSTER WEEK
Just as the temperatures warmed last week with the approach and beginning of spring, DH Josh Ford and RHP Mark McCormick warmed up, as well. Ford blasted four home runs in the week's first three games and hit .471 (8-for-17) on the week. He posted three multiple-hit games with five runs scored, eight RBI, a 1.176 slugging percentage and a .500 on base percentage. McCormick, meanwhile, tossed Baylor's first nine-inning complete-game shutout since Feb. 17, 2001 with a 5-0 blanking of ninth-ranked Texas A&M Saturday night. It also was Baylor's first nine-inning complete-game shutout of a Big 12 opponent since April 28, 2000 and the first complete game of McCormick's career. The sophomore extended his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 16.0, the longest of his career. Baylor has back-to-back shutouts in McCormick starts.
SMITH CLAIMS WIN No. 350
Friday's 8-7 victory at ninth-ranked Texas A&M was career win No. 350 for Baylor head coach Steve Smith, all coming at Baylor. Now in his 10th season at the helm of the Baylor program, Smith is 351-217-1.
BAYLOR BATS WARMING UP
The Bears are hitting .341 (59-for-173) over their last five games with nine doubles, seven home runs, a .526 slugging percentage and 6.8 runs per game. Baylor is hitting .301 (102-for-339) over the past 10 games. Baylor managed just two home runs in its first 15 games, but the Bears have hit eight in the last seven contests. The Bears have seen their team batting average raise from a season-low .228 (March 2) to a season-high .269 at present. Baylor raised its team average 15 points in the Texas A&M series.
BEARS BEST IN THE BIG 12
Baylor has the best conference record of any team in the Big 12 Conference since the league's start in 1997. At 126-72 (.636), the Bears are ahead of Texas Tech (120-77-1; .609). Included in the first seven-plus 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). Baylor joins Oklahoma State as the only schools to have never finished below .500 in Big 12 play. 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).
CARDIAC KIDS
Baylor has played 12 one-run games in its first 22 contests this season; the Bears are 3-9 in such contests. Last season, Baylor played 16 one-run games, posting a 9-7 mark in such contests. Baylor has played 150 one-run games during head coach Steve Smith's tenure, going 81-69 in such contests. The 2002 season saw the most one-run games in that time as the Bears went 11-11. Baylor's best record in one-run games during Smith's time at Baylor was his first season, 1995, when the Bears went 12-4. In 2000, Baylor was 10-5 in one-run games, winning each of their last seven.
BEARS OPPONENTS DOING JUST FINE, THANK YOU
Baylor's 8-14 record is quite deceiving, considering the Bears have played one of the nation's toughest schedules through the first six weeks of the 2004 season. The Bears' first 10 opponents have a combined record of 133-84-2 (.612) this season and three are ranked in this week's Baseball America Top 25 (No. 7 Long Beach State, No. 10 Texas A&M and No. 19 UC Irvine). The records could be even better; as the 10 opponents have played each other 11 times this season. Only one of Baylor's 2004 opponents - Houston (8-14) - has a sub-.500 record, and the Cougars have played 15 games against ranked opponents.
CARLSON EYES NCAA SAVES MARK
With a three-inning save March 12 against Vanderbilt, 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 37 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 currently is tied for sixth in NCAA history and needs one save to move into a fifth-place tie.
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 ranked 39th nationally in total victories at the beginning of 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).
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 349-216-1 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 SELECT GAMES
Live streaming video is available for select games during the 2004 season. In all, live streaming video of 26 Baylor games during 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 at Kansas State, along with home games against Nebraska, Texas and Texas A&M. 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 for just its second weekend road series of the season. The Bears travel north on I-35 for a three-game set against Oklahoma at L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman, Okla. Games are set for 6:30 p.m. CST Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
