Baseball Opens Home Stand with UT-Arlington

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BAYLOR (12-18)
vs.
TEXAS-ARLINGTON (19-12)

April 7, 2004 * 6:00 p.m. CDT
Baylor Ballpark * Waco, Texas

Radio: KRZI-AM (1580/1660)
Internet Audio: Click here.
Internet Video: None
GameTracker:

Baylor returns home Wednesday, hosting Texas-Arlington for a 6 p.m. CDT contest at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears (12-18) have won three of four after taking two of three at Missouri over the weekend, including a 9-6 victory in Sunday's finale. Texas-Arlington (19-12) won two of three at Southeastern Louisiana over the weekend; the Mavericks won Sunday's series finale 5-4. This is the second of three meetings between Baylor and UTA this season. The Mavericks defeated the Bears 5-1 March 9 at Arlington and return to Baylor Ballpark for a single game May 11. All Baylor baseball games are carried via radio in Central Texas on KRZI 1660/1580 AM. Live audio and GameTracker are available for all games at www.BaylorBears.com, the official website of Baylor Athletics and a member of the Official College Sports Network.

PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUP

BU    RHP   Andy Pape (1-0, 4.86 ERA)UTA   LHP   Derek Brehm (1-1, 11.81 ERA)
Rotations subject to change

QUICK NOTES
* Baylor and Texas-Arlington meet for the 90th time Wednesday. The Bears lead the all-time series 64-25; Baylor is 38-10 against UTA in Waco.
* According to the March 30 rankings at BoydsWorld.com, Baylor's strength of schedule ranks third nationally. Through games of April 4, the Bears' first 14 opponents have a combined record of 257-154-3 (.624). Those 14 opponents have played each other 46 times this season, giving Baylor an adjusted opponents' winning percentage of .702 (257-108-3).
* Baylor's 9-6 victory Sunday at Missouri was the Bears' first Sunday victory since taking both ends of a doubleheader Feb. 15 against Loyola Marymount.
* The Bears are hitting .331 in their first nine Big 12 Conference games with 18 doubles, four triples, 13 home runs and 7.4 runs per game.
* Baylor has collected 10 or more hits in six of its last eight and nine of its last 12 games.
* The Bears have recorded at least one double in 15 consecutive games.
* Baylor is 11-4 this season when scoring five or more runs.
* Having committed 39 errors with 41 unearned runs allowed, Baylor has a averted run percentage of 1.051. Last season, the Bears' ARP was 0.733 after committing 105 errors with 77 unearned runs allowed.
* Baylor batters in the leadoff spot tote a .331 average this season. The nine-hole has been even more productive at .346. Meanwhile, the third spot in the order has struggled at .248.
* Baylor is six games below .500 this season; however, ironically, the Bears have outscored their opponents 161-142.
* 3B Michael Griffin, who registered career hit No. 200 last week, cracked Baylor's career charts for home runs with No. 23 Sunday at Missouri, tying Kevin Ellis (1989-1992) for 10th in school history.
* Opposing batters are 5-for-51 (.098) with 16 strikeouts and five double plays in first at bats against Baylor relievers. Baylor's bullpen has stranded 43 of 62 inherited runners this season (69.4 percent); last year, the Bears stranded 81 of 150 inherited runners (54.0 percent).
* First batters are 1-for-12 against RHP Abe Woody with three double plays and four 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-10 in first at bats against RHP Ryan LaMotta, 1-for-9 in first at bats against RHP Zane Carlson, 0-for-8 in first at bats against RHP Andy Pape and 1-for-6 in first at bats against LHP Russell Reichenbach (relief situations only).
* LF Reid Brees has hit safely in 11 straight, the longest streak of the season for the Bears and the longest run of Brees' career. He also has reached safely in 13 straight and in 14 of the last 15 games.
* 3B Michael Griffin currently is riding a season-long nine-game hitting streak. Griffin has hit safely in 24 of 30 games this season without consecutive hitless games. He has reached base safely in 27 of 30 games, including each of the last 21 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.
* RF Mike Pankratz has hit safely in four straight and in 14 of the last 15 games. He has reached safely in 22 of the last 24 games and in 26 of 30 games this season.
* The Bears have four shutouts this season, the most by a Baylor staff since the 2001 corps registered five blankings.
* After hitting just three home runs in their first 17 games, the Bears have knocked 19 homers in their last 13 games.
* The Bears have recorded at least one double in 15 consecutive games.
* Baylor is hitting .327 (118-for-361) with 24 doubles, five triples, 13 home runs and 7.8 runs per game.
* The Bears have played 10 errorless game in 27 games 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 2-1 when committing four or more.
* Since the start of the Big 12 in 1997, the Bears have the league's best conference record at 128-76 (.627). 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 TEXAS-ARLINGTON SERIES
Baylor and Texas-Arlington meet for the 90th time Tuesday, the ninth most-played series in Baylor baseball history. The Bears lead the all-time series 64-25, including a 38-10 advantage in games played in Waco. This is the second of three meetings between the teams this season; the Mavericks defeated Baylor 5-1 March 9 at Arlington visit Baylor Ballpark again May 11. The Bears have won 18 of 23 meetings during head coach Steve Smith's tenure, including six of the last eight. Baylor has won 16 straight against UTA in Waco. The Bears' last home loss to the Mavericks was a 5-4 decision Feb. 18, 1992.

THE TEXAS-ARLINGTON MAVERICKS
Texas-Arlington (19-12) is in its third season under the direction of Jeff Curtis, a 1990 Nebraska-Kearney graduate. Curtis has amassed a 85-66 career record, all coming at UTA. Prior to taking over at Arlington, Curtis served two years as an assistant coach for former head coach Clay Gould.

UTA Notes: UTA is listed among teams also receiving votes in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll. ... The Mavericks are 8-4 in their last 12 games and have won four of their last five. UTA is 3-1 against Big 12 Conference teams this season, defeating Oklahoma twice and Baylor once, and falling 7-6 at Oklahoma State two weeks ago. While the Mavericks have been average away from home (7-6), UTA is 7-1 this season in night games. ... The Mavericks hit .325 as a team with 26 home runs, 68 doubles, 12 triples, 18 stolen bases in 29 ventures and 7.5 runs per game. UTA has tallied 10 or more hits in seven of their last eight and in 18 of their last 21 games. The Mavericks have been shutout just once this season (Feb. 20 7-0 vs. Oregon State). ... LF Hunter Pence (.438, 5 HR, 27 RBI) paces the UTA batters in average, runs (34), slugging percentage (.648), on base percentage (.475) and stolen bases (7-for-7), and he shares the team lead in triples (3), home runs and RBI. 1B Ryan Nelson (.321, 5, 27) shares the team lead in homers with Pence and in RBI with Pence and 3B Aaron Battle (.339, 3, 27). ... The Mavericks boast a 4.01 staff ERA with one shutout, nine saves, 229 strikeouts against 99 walks in 280.2 innings and a .268 opponents' batting average. ... RHP Mike Snapp (1-1, 0.75 ERA) shoulders closer responsibilities for the Mavericks with six saves in 18 appearances this season. Snapp has 20 strikeouts against five walks in 24.0 innings with a .190 opponents' average. ... UTA fields at a .954 clip with 58 errors and 26 double plays in 31 games. The left side of the infield - Battle and SS Josh McSpadden - has combined for 21 errors.

FORMER BEAR BREHM GETS START FOR UTA
LHP Derek Brehm, who began his collegiate career at Baylor, gets the nod on the mound Tuesday for UTA. Brehm has appeared in three games with two starts, going 1-1 with an 11.81 ERA. He has allowed 12 hits with four walks and five strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work; opponents' hit .414 off the southpaw. Brehm was 0-2 with an 8.31 ERA in 12 appearances and 26.0 innings of work for the Bears during the 2001 season.

BEARS HOPE TO EXTEND MIDWEEK HOME STREAK
Baylor has won 12 consecutive midweek home games, including four such wins this season. The Bears' last loss at home in a midweek game was a 9-7 loss to Texas State in the 2003 season opener. Baylor is 86-15 (.851) in such games during head coach Steve Smith's tenure. The Bears enjoyed 32 consecutive victories in midweek home games from April 8, 1997 to April 26, 2000. That streak was ended by a 6-1 defeat at the hands Texas Wesleyan in the Bears' final home game of the 2000 season.

BEARS' SCHEDULE RANKS THIRD NATIONALLY
According to the March 30 strength of schedule ratings at BoydsWorld.com, Baylor's schedule ranks as the nation's third toughest behind only Houston and Gonzaga. The Bears' first 14 opponents have a combined record of 257-154-3 (.624) this season and five are ranked in this week's Baseball America Top 25 (No. 7 Long Beach State, No. 15 Texas A&M, No. 16 UC Irvine, No. 22 Oklahoma and No. 25 Vanderbilt). The records could be even better; as the 14 opponents have played each other 46 times this season. Only one of Baylor's 2004 opponents - Houston (12-18) - has a sub-.500 record, and the Cougars' strength of schedule is ranked first nationally.

BATS STAY HOT AT MISSOURI
Baylor hit .330 (38-for-115) with nine doubles, a triple, seven home runs and 9.3 runs per game in its three-game series at Missouri over the weekend. The Bears recorded nine or more hits in all three games. Over the last 10 games, the Bears are hitting .327 (118-for-361) with 24 doubles, five triples, 13 home runs and 7.8 runs per game. Baylor managed just three home runs in its first 17 games, but the Bears have hit 19 round-trippers in the last 13 contests with homers in nine of those games and at least two homers in seven of those games. The Bears have seen their team batting average raise from a season-low .228 (March 2) to a season-high .287 at present.

GRIFFIN CRACKS CAREER HOME RUN CHART
With his game-winning grand slam Sunday at Missouri, 3B Michael Griffin cracked Baylor's career home runs chart. Griffin now has 23 career round-trippers, tied with Kevin Ellis (1989-1992) for 10th in school history. When Ellis hit his 23rd career home run, he ranked second in school history. Griffin needs three homers to match ninth-place Kelly Shoppach (1999-2001) with 26. In last week's TCU game, Griffin collected career hit No. 200 and moved into ninth place on Baylor's career RBI list. Griffin now has 152 RBI as a Bear, nine shy of seventh-place Jason Jennings (1997-1999). Griffin currently is seventh all-time at Baylor with 87 extra-base hits. He needs 14 hits, two doubles and one triple to crack Baylor's career top 10 lists in those categories.

ERRORS COSTLY FOR BEARS
Through 30 games, the Bears have committed 39 errors, and opponents have turned those errors into 41 unearned runs. That works out to an averted run percentage of 1.051. By comparison, Baylor's APR last season was 0.733 after committing 105 errors with 77 unearned runs allowed. The Bears' current fielding percentage of .965 would tie for fifth in school history. Baylor posted team fielding percentages of .966 in 1999 and in 2000, tied for third in all-time at Baylor. Conversely, the Bears had a 0.590 ARP in 1999 and a 0.568 ARP in 2000.

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 128-76 (.627), the Bears are ahead of Texas Tech (121-81-1; .599). 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).

BAYLOR SOLVES BIG 12 PITCHING
It appears Baylor's tough pre-conference slate, filled with teams bearing quality pitching staffs, has paid dividends. The Bears are hitting .331 in Big 12 Conference games as opposed to .265 in non-conference contests. Baylor's slugging percentage is nearly 154 points higher against Big 12 pitching. The struggles for Baylor in conference games has been fielding, where in nine games the Bears have committed 18 errors. Baylor has committed just 21 errors in 21 non-conference games. The Bears are collared with a .945 fielding percentage in league play.

CARDIAC KIDS
Baylor has played 15 one-run games in its first 30 contests this season; the Bears are 3-12 in such contests. The 12 losses is the most in 10 seasons under the direction of head coach Steve Smith. Five of the Bears' last seven games have been one-run affairs, going 1-4 in those games. Last season, Baylor played 16 one-run games, posting a 9-7 mark in such contests. Baylor has played 153 one-run games during Smith's tenure, going 81-72 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.

SMITH CLAIMS WIN No. 350
The Bears' March 19 victory at ninth-ranked Texas A&M was career win No. 350 for head coach Steve Smith, all coming at Baylor. Now in his 10th season at the helm of the Baylor program, Smith is 355-221-1.

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.

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 355-221-1 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 returns to Big 12 Conference action this weekend, hosting Oklahoma State for a three-game series at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears and the Cowboys meet Friday at 7 p.m. CDT, Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.

Baseball Opens Home Stand with UT-Arlington

Players Mentioned

Ryan LaMotta

Mike Pankratz

Andy Pape

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Baseball Opens Home Stand with UT-Arlington

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Players Mentioned

Ryan LaMotta

Mike Pankratz

Andy Pape

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