Bears, Huskers Clash in Key Late-Season Series

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BAYLOR (23-25, 10-9)
vs.
NEBRASKA (33-16, 10-11)

May 14-16, 2004
Baylor Ballpark * Waco, Texas

Radio: KRZI-AM (1580/1660)
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Baylor returns to action this weekend, hosting Nebraska for a three-game Big 12 Conference series at Baylor Ballpark. This is the final home Big 12 series of the year for Baylor. The Bears (23-25, 10-9) have dropped two straight after a 7-4 defeat Wednesday night at home against Texas State. The Huskers (33-16, 10-11) have won three straight, including a pair of midweek wins at home against Northern Iowa. This is a key series for both teams. Baylor enters the weekend in sixth place in the Big 12 standings, one-half game behind Texas A&M and one-half game ahead of Nebraska. Live streaming video is available for the series at www.BaylorBears.com. All Baylor baseball games are carried via radio in Central Texas on KRZI 1660/1580 AM. Live audio and GameTracker also 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 STARTERSFriday, May 14BU   RHP   Sean Walker (3-5, 3.79)NU   LHP   Zach Kroenke (7-2, 2.95)
Saturday, May 15BU   LHP   Trey Taylor (5-3, 3.22)NU   RHP   Phil Shirek (5-1, 3.33)
Sunday, May 16BU   RHP   Mark McCormick (2-3, 2.87)NU         TBA

QUICK NOTES
* Baylor and Nebraska meet for the 36th, 37th and 38th times this weekend. The Bears hold a 20-14-1 advantage in the all-time series and have won three of five series as Big 12 opponents with two sweeps (1997 and 2000).
* According to the NCAA statistical rankings, Baylor is 11th nationally with a 3.22 staff ERA through games of May 9. Furthermore, the Bears have faced five of the nation's top 20 staffs in terms of ERA (No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Long Beach State, No. 13 UC Irvine, No. 15 Vanderbilt and No. 20 Missouri) and face a sixth (No. 1 Rice) next week.
* The Bears have more wins (4-13) against this week's Baseball America Top 25 than No. 4 Rice (3-5), No. 6 East Carolina (3-4), No. 10 Notre Dame (2-0), No. 14 Texas A&M (1-3), No. 17 Southern Mississippi (3-3) and No. 23 Central Florida (1-2), and as many wins as No. 25 Georgia Tech (4-5) - or 28 percent of the teams in the Top 25.
* 10 of Baylor's 13 losses against this week's Baseball America Top 25 were one-run losses.
* 20 of Baylor's 25 losses this season have come to teams ranked nationally at some point this season.
* Baylor has played 19 one-run games, 39.6 percent of this season's games.
* Through 19 Big 12 Conference games, Baylor is one game ahead of last year's pace when the Bears were 9-10.
* DH Josh Ford saw his career-long nine-game hitting streak end Wednesday night against Texas State. He also snapped a streak of 18 consecutive starts in which he reached base safely.
* LF Reid Brees extended his hitting streak to six games Wednesday.
* 2B Paul Witt's home run Wednesday against Texas State was his first since May 18, 2003, a span of 36 games and 129 at bats.
* Wednesday was Baylor's first loss in six games this season in which the first-pitch temperature was 80-plus degrees.
* LHP Jared Theodorakos needs two strikeouts to reach the 200 plateau for his career.
* 3B Michael Griffin needs one hit to match David Murphy (2001-2003) for seventh on Baylor's career list.
* CF Chase Gerdes has hit safely in 11 of 13 games this season when getting at least two at bats. Gerdes leads the team with seven infield hits.
* After going hitless in each of his first five starts this season, SS Kyle Reynolds has hit safely in 29 of his last 34 starts, including 21 of the last 23.
* 2B Drew Sutton has reached safely in 42 of 48 games this season, including the last six and 10 of the last 11.
* CF Kevin Sevigny has reached safely in nine consecutive starts.
* LHP Trey Taylor has allowed no more than two earned runs in eight of 12 starts this season.
* Baylor is 20-6 this season when scoring five or more runs and 22-6 when out-hitting the opposition. The Bears are 18-2 when doing both.
* The Bears failed to record an extra-base hit Tuesday against Texas-Arlington, snapping a streak of 31 consecutive games with at least one.
* After hitting just three home runs in their first 17 games, the Bears have knocked 33 homers in their last 31 games.
* Since hitting their first home run March 2, the Bears have not gone more than three games without a round-tripper.
* Having committed 65 errors with 65 unearned runs allowed, Baylor has a averted run index of 1.000. However, Baylor's ARI over the past 10 games is 0.273. Baylor's opponents have committed 65 errors, but the Bears have scored only 38 unearned runs (0.585 ARI).
* The Bears have five shutouts this season, the most by a Baylor staff since the 2001 corps also registered five blankings.
* The Bears have played 14 errorless games in 48 contests this season. Ironically, the 2004 Bears are 5-9 this season when not committing an error.
* Baylor relief pitchers have held opponents to a .231 batting average this season with 152 strikeouts in 163.2 innings.
* Opponents are 7-for-89 (.079) in first at bats against Baylor relievers with six double plays and 28 strikeouts.
* Since the start of the Big 12 in 1997, the Bears have the league's best conference record at 134-80 (.626). 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 NEBRASKA SERIES
Baylor and Nebraska meet for the 36th, 37th and 38th times this weekend. The Bears hold a 20-14-1 advantage in the all-time series, which dates back to a 9-7 Baylor victory April 4, 1938 in Waco. Since the inception of the Big 12 Conference in 1997, the Bears hold a slim 12-10 advantage in the series. However, Baylor is 10-6 against the Huskers in regular season Big 12 games, winning three of five series. The 1998 series was rain-shortened to one game (a Baylor victory), while the 1999 series was completely lost to inclement weather. Baylor swept the series in 1997 and 2000. Nebraska swept the series in 2001. The teams split the series with the home team winning two-of-three in 2002 (at Baylor) and last year (at Nebraska). The Bears hold a 12-4-1 advantage against the Huskers in Waco, including a 5-1 advantage at Baylor Ballpark.

THE NEBRASKA HUSKERS
Nebraska (33-16, 10-11) is in its second season under the direction of head coach Mike Anderson, a 1990 Northern Colorado graduate. Anderson is 80-34 during his stint as skipper for the Huskers. The 2003 Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year, Anderson served as Nebraska's assistant coach for eight seasons before being promoted to head coach last season.

NU Notes: Nebraska is tied for 23rd in this week's Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches Poll and 33rd in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 35. ... The Huskers have won three straight after a four-game losing skid. Nebraska salvaged the final game of a Saturday-Sunday-Monday series at Oklahoma State, winning 9-1, before wins of 15-6 and 5-2 at home Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, against Northern Iowa. ... Nebraska has dropped five consecutive Big 12 series, including three of four on the road this season. The Huskers opened Big 12 play at 5-1 after taking two of three at home against Kansas and sweeping at Kansas State. ... Nebraska hits .291 as a team with 48 home runs, 99 doubles, seven triples, 57 stolen bases in 83 attempts and 7.2 runs per game. In Big 12 play, the Huskers hit .267 with 22 home runs, 45 doubles, three triples, 14 stolen bases in 23 attempts and 5.7 runs per game. ... 3B Alex Gordon (.386, 16 HR, 67 RBI) leads the Huskers in all three Triple Crown categories as well as runs (55), hits (68), doubles (18), triples (4), slugging percentage (.807) and on base percentage (.511). With 10 stolen bases in 12 ventures, Gordon is one swipe off LF Jesse Boyer's (.319, 0, 19) team lead. 2B Jake Mullinax (.347, 8, 33) also weilds a lofty bat, while 1B Curtis Ledbetter (.308, 8, 51) has been the most leathal in Big 12 play (.351, 5, 19). ... Nebraska boasts a 3.83 staff ERA with three complete games, five shutouts, 12 saves, 321 strikeouts against 133 walks in 434.1 innings and a .267 opponents' batting average. In Big 12 play, the Huskers have a 4.81 staff ERA with three complete games, two shutouts, five save, 130 strikeouts against 59 walks in 181.1 innings and a .297 opponents' batting average. ... LHP Zach Kroenke (7-2, 2.95 ERA) gets Friday's start, his 13th in as many appearances this season. Kroenke has tossed two complete games, including one complete-game shutout, with 62 strikeouts and 22 walks in 82.1 innings. Opponents hit .225 off the sophomore southpaw, who is 4-2 with a 3.26 ERA in seven conference starts. ... RHP Phil Shirek (5-1, 3.33) gets the nod Saturday, his ninth start in 13 appearances this season. Shirek, who is 2-1 with a 4.41 ERA in six conference starts and one relief appearance, has 31 strikeouts and 24 walks in 51.1 innings with one complete game and a .257 opponents' batting average. ... RHP Mike Sillman (0-1, 3.38) shoulders closer responsibilities with five saves in 18 appearances, all relief outings. Sillman has 20 strikeouts with six walks in 18.2 innings and a .297 opponents' average. ... The Huskers field at a .976 clip with 45 errors and 44 double plays in 49 games. Gordon is the only Husker with as many as 10 errors.

GRIFFIN EARNS ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT HONORS
3B Michael Griffin was named first-team Academic all-District VI, announced Thursday by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Griffin was a second-team selection last year. An international business major at Baylor, Griffin shares the team lead in home runs at eight with seven coming in Big 12 Conference play. The product of Cedar Hill High School in Dallas, Texas, has started every game this season at the hot corner and is hitting .293 on the year. Griffin also leads the team in runs (38), doubles (14), extra-base hits (22), total bases (98) and stolen bases (15). First-team academic all-district honorees are now placed on the academic all-America ballots. That team will be announced June 1.

BIG 12 TOURNAMENT TAKING SHAPE
Seven schools, including Baylor, have clinched berths in the 2004 Big 12 Conference Tournament, held May 26-30 at Ameriquest Field in Arlington. Baylor, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech have all secured spots in the eight-team field. Missouri, Kansas and Kansas State are still alive for the final berth, although Missouri is the only team that holds its own fate. Both Kansas and Kansas State, who meet in the season's final weekend, would need to win out and have Missouri lose out in order to qualify. Missouri and Kansas play this weekend at Lawrence. Kansas State took two of three from Missouri in the conference season's first weekend. Baylor joins Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M as the only teams to have appeared in ever Big 12 Conference Tournament.

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 134-80 (.626), the Bears are ahead of Texas Tech (131-86-1; .603) and Texas (133-89; .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 seven seasons (1998-2004). 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).

OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY REPORT
Baylor has an uncharacteristically low offensive efficiency rating this season. The Bears have a total offensive production of 19.8 bases per game and an offensive efficiency rating of 1.337 (anything below 1.375 is considered very poor). Things have been ever more troublesome in one-run games, in which Baylor is 5-14. In those 19 one-run contests, the Bears have a total offensive production of 16.1 bases per game with an offensive efficiency rating of 1.264. In the other 29 games, Baylor has a TOP of 22.1 bases per game and an offensive efficiency rating of 1.375. Over the past six seasons, Baylor has toted an offensive efficiency rating of no lower than average with a low of 1.429 in 1998.

NOTE: Total Offensive Production (TOP) and Offensive Efficiency are statistics derived by Larry Little and Martie Cordaro in 1997. TOP measures how many bases a team produces per game (TB+BB+HBP+SF+SH+SB-GDP-CS). If a team produces 24.0 bases per game, that team should score 6.0 runs per game. Offensive Efficiency compares a team's TOP with how many runs that team actually scores (TOP is divided by TB+BB+HBP+SH+SB-RUNS). Offensive efficiency ratings are ranked accordingly: <1.375 -="" very="" poor;="" 1.375-1.399="" -="" poor;="" 1.400-1.424="" -="" below="" average;="" 1.425-1.449="" -="" average;="" 1.450-1.474="" -="" good;="" 1.475-1.499="" -="" great;="" 1.500+="" -="" phenomenal).="" it="" does="" not="" measure="" how="" good="" a="" team="" is="" offensively="" so="" much="" as="" the="" odds="" of="" a="" team="" scoring="" as="" many="" runs="" as="" it="" should="" score="" in="" a="" game.="" for="" example,="" a="" team="" with="" a="" top="" of="" 24.0="" bases="" per="" game="" and="" an="" offensive="" efficiency="" of="" 1.450-1.474="" has="" a="" good="" chance="" to="" score="" at="" least="" 6.0="" runs="" per="" game="" without="" any="" help="" from="" the="" opponent="">

BEARS' SCHEDULE RANKS THIRD NATIONALLY
According to the May 10 strength of schedule ratings at BoydsWorld.com, Baylor's schedule ranks as the nation's sixth toughest. The Bears' schedule has ranked 11th or better all season, including a high of No. 2 on two occasions in April. Through games of May 12, the Bears' first 21 opponents have a combined record of 612-410-5 (.598) this season and six are ranked in this week's Baseball America Top 25 (No. 1 Texas, No. 8 Long Beach State, No. 14 Texas A&M, No. 18 Oklahoma, No. 21 UC Irvine and No. 22 Oklahoma State). Of Baylor's 25 losses this season, 20 have come at the hands of opponents who have been ranked at some point this season in one of the four major college baseball polls. The records could be even better, though, as the 21 opponents have played each other 135 times this season. That gives Baylor an adjusted opponents' winning percentage (total minus losses to common opponents and all games against Baylor) of .698 (587-252-5). Baylor has played 17 games against this week's Baseball America Top 25, going 4-13 in those contests. The Bears actually have more victories against this week's Top 25 than six of the teams in this week's rankings, including No. 4 Rice, No. 6 East Carolina and No. 14 Texas A&M.

ERRORS COSTLY FOR BEARS
Through 48 games, the Bears have committed 65 errors, and opponents have turned those errors into 65 unearned runs. That works out to an averted run index of 1.000. By comparison, Baylor's ARI last season was 0.733 after committing 105 errors with 77 unearned runs allowed. This season, Baylor's opponents have made 65 errors, but the Bears have scored only 38 unearned runs (0.585 ARI). 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 school history. Conversely, the Bears had a 0.590 ARI in 1999 and a 0.568 ARI in 2000.

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 .321 in Big 12 Conference games, 19 points higher than second-place Oklahoma State (.302) and 26 points higher than third-place Texas Tech (.295). The struggle for Baylor in conference games has been fielding, where in 19 games the Bears have committed 37 errors. Baylor has committed just 28 errors in 31 non-conference games. The Bears are collared with a .949 fielding percentage in league play, 13 points behind ninth-place Kansas State (.962).

RAIN, RAIN, STAY AWAY
When more than an inch of snow fell in Waco and forced postponement of Baylor's season opener Feb. 14, the Bears should have guessed it would be a troublesome season weather wise. The following morning, three inches of snow blanketed Ferrell Field but was gone by noon and a doubleheader against Loyola Marymount ensued. Since then, inclement weather has forced Baylor to reschedule one midweek game, play four weekend doubleheaders and cancel two conference games. With the loss of those two Big 12 games and barring any further cancellations, the Bears will play five more road games (15) in conference play than home games. The Bears have seen first-pitch temperatures ranging from 38 degrees (Feb. 15 vs. Loyola Marymount) to 87 degrees (April 27 at TCU). However, only six of the 48 games have started with a temperature at or above 80 degrees (the Bears are 5-1 in such contests). Even in a three-game series at Long Beach State in sunny southern California, Baylor was greeted with temperatures in the lower 50s with persistent rain.

CARDIAC KIDS
Baylor has played 19 one-run games this season; the Bears are 5-14 in such contests. The 14 losses are the most in 10 seasons under the direction of head coach Steve Smith, and 10 have come against teams ranked in this week's Baseball America Top 25. Last season, Baylor played 16 one-run games, posting a 9-7 mark in such contests. Baylor has played 156 one-run games during Smith's tenure, going 82-74 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.

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 366-228-1 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.

UP NEXT ...
Baylor concludes a seven-game home stand with two midweek games, the final two home games of the season. The Bears host fourth-ranked Rice at 7 p.m. CDT Tuesday followed Wednesday by a 7 p.m. game against Texas Southern, a schedule addition to replace the April 23 rainout against Kansas.

Bears, Huskers Clash in Key Late-Season Series

Players Mentioned

Chase Gerdes

Kevin Sevigny

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Bears, Huskers Clash in Key Late-Season Series

Players Mentioned

Chase Gerdes

Kevin Sevigny

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