Baseball Preview: No. 8 Baylor at Arizona State
2/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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GAMES 8-10 • FEB. 25-27, 2005
No. 8 BAYLOR (5-2)
vs.
PACKARD STADIUM •
THE SERIES
Overall Record:
Neutral Site: Never Met
Smith vs. ASU: 0-0
Last Meeting: at ASU 3-5, Baylor 1-1 [
COACHES
BAYLOR:
Alma Mater: Baylor, 1986
Career Record: 377-236-1 (11th season)
Record at Baylor: 377-236-1 (11th season)
Alma Mater:
Career Record: 774-367-4 (21st season)
Record at ASU: 407-200-1 (11th season)
BAYLOR RADIO NETWORK
ESPN/KRZI 1660 AM (
Lark Smith, color
INTERNET FEEDS
Audio: www.BaylorBears.com
Video (BearCast): None
GameTracker: www.BaylorBears.com
BAYLOR NATIONAL RANKINGS
Baseball
Sports Weekly/ESPN/Coaches 14th
NCBWA 12th
PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday, Feb. 25
BU - LHP Trey
ASU - TBA
Saturday, Feb. 26
BU - LHP Cory VanAllen (2-0, 0.68)
ASU - TBA
Sunday, Feb. 27
BU - RHP Mark McCormick (0-1, 7.27)
ASU - TBA
Baylor returns to action this weekend, traveling to
Ranked eighth nationally according to this week's Baseball America Top 25, Baylor took two of three from 24th-ranked Oral Roberts last weekend and was rained out in Tuesday's game at home against
All Baylor baseball games are broadcast live on ESPN/KRZI 1660 AM in
LEADING OFF
VanALLEN REPEATS AS BIG 12 PITCHER OF THE WEEK
LHP Cory VanAllen was named Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week for the second consecutive week, the league office announced Tuesday. VanAllen earns the weekly honor for the third time in his career.
With the selection, VanAllen becomes just the fifth pitcher in the league's nine-season history to earn pitcher of the week honors in consecutive weeks. He joins former All-Americans Jason Jennings (Baylor; 1999), Ryan Rupe (Texas A&M; 1998), J.P. Howell (
VanAllen also becomes the 11th pitcher to win the weekly honor at least three times in a career. Only five pitchers have won the honor more than three times, led by former Nebraska All-American Shane Komine with eight.
QUICK NOTES
• This weekend marks only the second time Baylor and
• The Bears are likely to face Arizona State RHP Jason Urquidez this weekend. It marks the second of three consecutive weekend series in which Baylor faces one of the five returning pitchers who tallied at least 10 wins last season.
• The Bears remained No. 8 in this week's Baseball America Top 25.
• Other polls: Baylor is 14th in the Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches' Poll, 12th in the NCBWA rankings and 16th in
• Baylor's series against
• 13 of the Bears' next 15 games are against teams ranked in Baseball America Top 25 at some point this season.
• Baylor pitchers combined to record 16 strikeouts in Saturday's 2-1 victory against Oral Roberts, three shy of the school-record 19 (vs. Texas A&M; March 29, 1957). It marked just the fifth time since 1990 that Baylor has recorded 16 or more strikeouts in a game, just the third time in a nine-inning game.
• DH/C Zach Dillon failed to reach base Sunday for the first time this season.
• C/DH Josh Ford has reached base safely in seven of eight games this season.
• 2B Michael Griffin has hit safely and/or driven in a run in seven of eight games this season.
• 1B Kyle Reynolds has hit safely in seven of eight games this season; he has reached base safely in all eight games.
• SS Paul Witt has hit safely in five of seven games this season with four multiple-hit games.
• LHP Cory VanAllen has won four consecutive decisions, including three straight starts. In six career starts, he is 4-2 with a 0.57 ERA.
• LHP Trey Taylor has won five consecutive decisions. Since the beginning of the 2004 season,
• RHP Abe Woody became the fourth pitcher in Baylor history to record 10 career saves over the weekend. He joins Zane Carlson (37), Kyle Edens (18) and Jason Jennings (13).
• SS Paul Witt saw his errorless streak come to an end with a ninth-inning throwing error last Saturday night. Prior to that, he had handled 157 consecutive chances over 34 games at his primary position (second base in 2004, shortstop in 2005) without an error.
• Baylor's leadoff batter has reached base in 28 of 59 innings this season (47.5 percent); 15 times that base runner has scored (53.6 percent). The Bears have scored in 21 innings this season; the leadoff batter reached base safely in 15 of those innings (71.4 percent).
• According to BoydsWorld.com, Baylor's 2005 schedule is the nation's fourth most-difficult behind only
• Baylor Ballpark has ranked 21st or better nationally in average attendance every year since the facility's opening in 1999, including a program-best ninth in 2001. Baylor ranked 19th nationally in average attendance last season.
• Entering the 2005 season, 2B Michael Griffin is the NCAA active career leader in games played (189), at bats (782) and hits (243). He also is third and one shy of the lead in doubles (50), second and two shy of the lead in RBI (166), and third and four shy of the lead in total bases (405).
• Baylor and LSU are the only NCAA Division I teams to enter the 2005 season with two players who have amassed at least 25 career home runs each. For Baylor, that tandem is C Josh Ford and 2B Michael Griffin, both of whom have 28 career round-trippers.
• Baylor's 2005 roster features five players who have previously been drafted: LHP/1B Drew Jeffcoat (2003-
• Since the start of the Big 12 in 1997, the Bears have the league's best conference record at 137-83 (.623). Baylor leads all conference schools in both first-team All-Big 12 selections (21) and first-team Academic All-Big 12 selections (47), and the Bears are the only Big 12 Conference program to have ranked in the top 10 nationally at some point during each of the past eight seasons (1998-2005).
THE
Baylor and
THE
ASU Notes: After starting the season 6-3 and ranked as high as No. 9 in the Baseball America Top 25, Arizona State has fallen on tough times of late. The Sun Devils have dropped six consecutive games, including an 11-5 loss Wednesday at ninth-ranked
WOODY NAMED TO STOPPER WATCH LIST
RHP Abe Woody has been named to the initial watch list for the 2005 National Stopper of the Year Award, sponsored by the National
A product of Round Rock [
At the end the regular season, the Division I leader in saves and four other relief pitching standouts will be selected as the award's finalists. These finalists will be released June 1, just prior to the beginning of NCAA regional play. From the list of finalists, the NCBWA's All-America Committee will select a winner. The inaugural winner will be announced on June 8, two days prior to the beginning of NCAA Super Regional action.
The NCBWA, founded in 1962, presents the Xanthus-Dick Howser Trophy to the nation's top player. It also selects a Division I All-America Team, Division I and III Players of the Week, Division I District Players of the Year and Division III Players of the Year.
VanALLEN PROVES WORTH AS A STARTER
LHP Cory VanAllen is off to a fast start in 2005, going 2-0 with a 0.68 ERA and 16 strikeouts against two walks over 13.1 innings against 19th-ranked Rice and 24th-ranked Oral Roberts.
VanAllen's success as a starter should come as no surprise, seeing that he was 2-2 with a 0.49 ERA in four starts as a freshman in 2004. Two weeks into his sophomore season, VanAllen is 4-2 with a 0.57 ERA. He has amassed 28 strikeouts with only five walks and has allowed only two earned runs in 31.2 innings as a starter with an opponents' batting average of .200.
Through two starts in 2004 and one start in 2005, VanAllen has yet to allow a run in 20.0 innings as a starter at Baylor Ballpark. In fact, the four hits he allowed Sunday against Oral Roberts were the first he had allowed as a starter at his home facility.
LHP Trey Taylor won his fifth consecutive decision last Saturday, defeating 24th-ranked Oral Roberts 2-1.
Since the beginning of the 2004 season,
BAYLOR STAYS No. 8 IN BASEBALL
Baylor remained the nation's eighth-ranked team, according to this week's Baseball America Top 25 released Monday. The Bears were 2-2 last week, including taking two of three from then-No. 24 Oral Roberts.
The Bears travel to
Tulane remained the nation's top-ranked team, followed by
Vanderbilt, which hosts Baylor for a three-game series in mid-March, moved up two spots to No. 16. Of Baylor's next 16 games, 13 are against nationally ranked teams.
In this week's other rankings, Baylor stayed 12th in the National College Baseball Writers' Association rankings, dropped from No. 13 to No. 16 in
BEARS WHIFF GOLDEN EAGLES
Baylor pitchers Trey Taylor, Ryan LaMotta and Abe Woody combined for 16 strikeouts in Saturday's 2-1 victory against Oral Roberts. That total was three shy of the school record, established
Bears' pitchers have recorded 16 or more strikeouts in a game only five times since 1979 and only three times in a nine-inning game:
17 -
17 -
16 -
16 -
16 -
BAYLOR IN THE BIG 12 STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Through games of Feb. 20, Baylor ranks ninth in team batting average (.285), sixth in team ERA (3.29) and fourth in team fielding percentage (.975) in the Big 12 Conference.
Here is where the Bears stand individually in the latest Big 12 statistical rankings:
- Batting Average: DH/C Zach Dillon (t-11th, .444); 1B Kyle Reynolds (t-14th, .435)
- Home Runs: 1B Kyle Reynolds (t-7th, 2)
- Doubles: C/DH Josh Ford (t-7th, 3); 1B Kyle Reynolds (t-7th, 3)
- Stolen Bases: 1B Kyle Reynolds (t-8th, 4)
- On Base Percentage: DH/C Zach Dillon (6th, .545)
- Slugging Percentage: 1B Kyle Reynolds (t-2nd, .826)
- ERA: LHP Cory VanAllen (6th, 0.68); LHP Trey Taylor (19th, 2.19)
- Wins: LHP Cory VanAllen (t-3rd, 2); LHP Trey Taylor (t-3rd, 2)
- Strikeouts: LHP Cory VanAllen (4th, 16); LHP Trey Taylor (5th, 15)
- Appearances: RHP Abe Woody (3rd, 5); RHP Ryan LaMotta (t-6th, 4)
- Saves: RHP Abe Woody (t-2nd, 2)
- Opponents' Batting Average: LHP Trey
FORD ADDED TO WALLACE AWARD WATCH LIST
C/DH Josh Ford has been added to the Brooks Wallace Award watch. The award is presented to the nation's top collegiate player by the College Baseball Foundation. The list is comprised of 64 Division I players from across the nation. Cal State Fullerton catcher Kurt Suzuki won the initial Brooks Wallace Award last season.
The Wallace Watch will be trimmed to 12 semi-finalists by May 24. The selection committee then will narrow the list to three finalists following the NCAA Super Regionals.
The selection committee for the Wallace Award is comprised of a national panel of coaches, sports information directors, former winners and media. Additional Wallace Watch candidates may be added as the season progresses. Voting for the three finalists and the Wallace Award winner will be conducted by confidential balloting, with totals tabulated by the J.W.Anderson & Associates accounting firm in
RECORD CROWD SHOWS FOR HOME OPENER
Baylor's home opener against Texas-Arlington drew a crowd of 3,721, the largest opening-day attendance in school history. It also was the largest midweek attendance in Baylor Ballpark history, eclipsing the previous mark of 3,139 established
SCHEDULE AGAIN AMONG NATION'S TOUGHEST
Baylor ranked 10th nationally in strength of schedule last season, and 2005 does not appear to be any easier. The Bears' 2005 schedule ranks as the nation's fourth most-difficult, according to BoydsWorld.com. In 2003, Baylor's schedule was deemed the nation's toughest in the preseason and was ranked fifth by season's end.
The 2005 Bears play 25 games against nine teams ranked in the Baseball America Preseason Top 25. Along with three ranked Big 12 opponents, the Bears face
From the weekend of Feb. 18-20 to the weekend of March 25-27, the Bears have five consecutive weekend series against teams ranked in Baseball
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 137-83 (.623), the Bears are ahead of Texas Tech (137-86-1; .614) and
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 eight seasons (1998-2005). Baylor joins
Including the 2004 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 (41).
HEAD COACH Steve Smith
Smith has compiled a 377-236-1 (.615) career record, all at Baylor. He holds the best winning percentage of any coach in Baylor baseball history, and he ranks second among the program's 18 head coaches in career victories. Smith has led Baylor to six NCAA Regional appearances, two NCAA Super Regional appearances and the 2000 Big 12 Conference title. He also has coached 12 All-America selections and seven USA Baseball National Team members while at Baylor.
In January 2005, Smith was named head coach of the USA Baseball National Team for the upcoming summer. Smith is just the second Big 12 Conference coach to serve as head coach of the national team. He also previously served as an assistant coach under his former
Smith led the Bears to their first-ever 50-win season in 1999 and a Big 12 championship in 2000, and piloted the team to six straight NCAA appearances from 1998 to 2003. His Bears have the best conference record in the Big 12 since the league began. Through the 2004 season, Smith ranked 47th 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
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 10 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 a league-leading 41 players on the Academic All-Big 12 first team in the past eight seasons.
BAYLORBEARS.COM
Baylor's official athletic web site can be found at www.BaylorBears.com. The comprehensive site, which includes releases,
STREAMING VIDEO AVAILABLE FOR SELECT GAMES
Live streaming video is available for select games during the 2004 season. A total of 24 games will be available online at www.BaylorBears.com, the official website of Baylor athletics and a member of the College Sports Online network. Seventeen of the 24 webcasts will be against Big 12 Conference opponents, including the Bears' three-game league sets against Oklahoma, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Missouri, as well as the home portion of the Texas series.
Fans may purchase the games for $4.95 per game or $9.95 for a three-series. Fans also have the option of purchasing monthly ($6.95) or annual ($49.95) subscriptions which include all BearCasts in that time period. The following games will be available in this year's Baylor webcast package:
Feb. 18 and 20 - Oral Roberts
March 4, 5 and 6 -
March 15 - TCU
March 19 and 20 -
April 1, 2 and 3 -
April 5 -
April 8, 9, 10 -
April 29, 30, May 1 -
May 13, 14, 15 -
May 20, 21, 22 -
BAYLOR BASEBALL RADIO NETWORK
Catch every inning of Baylor baseball in 2005 on the flagship station for Baylor athletics, ESPN/KRZI 1660 AM Waco.
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
Live streaming audio for all 2005 Baylor baseball games are available on the Internet at www.BaylorBears.com. BU baseball is also a staple of the daily "Baylor SportsBeat" hosted by
INSIDE BAYLOR SPORTS TV SHOW
Inside Baylor Sports, a half-hour look at the world of Baylor athletics, airs weekly throughout
UP NEXT ...
Baylor remains on the road Tuesday, traveling to
