Baseball Preview: No. 19 Baylor vs. Northwestern State

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

GAME 15 • MARCH 8, 2005 • 6:00 P.M. CST

19 BAYLOR (8-6)

vs.

NORTHWESTERN STATE (13-5)

BAYLOR BALLPARK • WACO, TEXAS

THE SERIES

Overall Record: Baylor leads 9-6

Waco: Baylor leads 6-3

Natchitoches: NSU leads 3-0

Neutral Site: Baylor leads 3-0

Smith vs. NSU: 6-6

Last Meeting: at Baylor 8, NSU 5 [3/23/2004]

COACHES

BAYLOR: Steve Smith

Alma Mater: Baylor, 1986

Career Record: 380-240-1 (11th season)

Record at Baylor: 380-240-1 (11th season)

NORTHWESTERN STATE: Mitch Gaspard

Alma Mater: Houston, 1987

Career Record: 124-67 (4th season)

Record at NSU: 124-67 (4th season)

BAYLOR RADIO NETWORK

ESPN/KRZI 1660 AM (Waco)

Tom Barfield, play-by-play

Lark Smith, color

INTERNET FEEDS

GameTracker: www.BaylorBears.com

Audio: www.BaylorBears.com

Video (BearCast): None

BAYLOR NATIONAL RANKINGS

Baseball America 19th

Sports Weekly/ESPN/Coaches 29th

NCBWA no poll

Collegiate Baseball NR

PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUP

TUESDAY, MARCH 8

BU - RHP Sean Walker (1-1, 2.70)

NSU - LHP Rusty Jones (1-0, 4.11)

Baylor concludes a four-game home stand Tuesday, hosting Northwestern State at Baylor Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. CST. This is the only meeting of the regular season between Baylor and Northwestern State.

The Bears (8-6), ranked 19th in this week's Baseball America Top 25, salvaged the final game of a three-game weekend series against Long Beach State with a 7-1 victory Sunday at Baylor Ballpark.

The Demons (13-5) have won three straight, 10 of their last 11 and 13 of their last 15. Northwestern State swept a three-game split series with Grambling State last weekend after splitting a two-game midweek set at 16th-ranked Mississippi.

Baylor sends RHP Sean Walker (1-1, 2.70 ERA) to the mound for his third Tuesday night start of the season. He faces Northwestern State southpaw Rusty Jones (1-0, 4.11 ERA), who makes his fourth start of the season.

All Baylor baseball games are broadcast live on ESPN/KRZI 1660 AM in Waco. Live streaming audio and GameTracker also are available for all Baylor baseball games online at www.BaylorBears.com, the official website of Baylor Athletics and a member of the College Sports Network.

LEADING OFF

BAYLOR DROPS TO No. 19 IN BASEBALL AMERICA TOP 25

Baylor slipped five spots to No. 19 in this week's Baseball America Top 25, released Monday by the publication. The Bears slipped to 19th after a 2-2 week, which included losing two of three at home against Long Beach State.

The Bears are one of four Big 12 Conference teams in this week's rankings along with No. 2 Texas, No. 9 Texas A&M and No. 22 Texas Tech.

Preseason-No. 1 Tulane remained the nation's top-ranked team for the fifth consecutive week after going 4-0 on the week. The Green Wave face their toughest test to date this week with a Tuesday game at No. 5 Louisiana State and a weekend series at home against third-ranked and defending national champion Cal State Fullerton.

South Carolina jumped over LSU to No. 4 in this week's poll; Florida, Miami, Vanderbilt (which hosts Baylor this weekend), Texas A&M and Rice round out the top 10. TCU, which travels to Waco next Tuesday, moved up one spot to No. 24.

In the other polls, Baylor dropped out of the Collegiate Baseball Top 30 and slipped to No. 29 in the Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches Poll.

QUICK NOTES

• Baylor and Northwestern State meet for the 16th time Tuesday. Baylor holds a 9-6 advantage in the all-time series, including a 6-3 advantage in Waco.

• The Bears slipped to No. 19 in this week's Baseball America Top 25.

• Other polls: Baylor is 29th in the Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches' Poll.

• 21 of Baylor's first 26 games this season are against teams ranked in one of the four major polls at some point this season, including 20 consecutive weekend games after the season-opener against as yet unranked Houston.

• Baylor's victory Sunday snapped a seven-game Long Beach State winning streak in the series. It also matched the largest margin of victory in the series (LBSU won 7-1 in the 2003 series finale).

• Baylor salvaged the final game of a three-game series Sunday for the second consecutive weekend. That marks the first time a Baylor team has accomplished the feat twice in one season since doing so in successive weeks during the 1992 season.

• Last Friday, the Bears played their fourth game this season in which they faced a preseason All-America pitcher: Jason Bigley (Oral Roberts), Jason Urquidez (Arizona State, twice) and Cesar Ramos (Long Beach State). It also marked the third consecutive weekend in which Baylor has faced one of the nation's five returning 12-game winners.

• The Bears are 3-1 this season in one-run games after going 7-16 in such contests last season.

• Baylor is 1-3 this season in Friday games but 4-0 in Sunday games.

• C/DH Josh Ford recorded his 200th career hit Sunday against Long Beach State.

• Sunday was RHP Mark McCormick's first victory since a 5-0 complete game shutout against Texas A&M at home March 30, 2004. In eight starts since that outing, McCormick was 0-3 with five no-decisions. In the four no-decisions when Baylor trailed upon McCormick's exit, the Bears rallied to win all four games. In the one no-decision where the Bears led upon his exit, Baylor lost.

• 1B Kyle Reynolds record his fifth and sixth stolen bases of the season in as many attempts Sunday. Reynolds was 7-for-8 in his first two seasons, including a career best four swipes last season. He also is adjusting to the change from shortstop to first base, committing only two errors in 162 attempts (.987).

• 20 of Baylor's 25 two-out RBI this season have come from three hitters: Reynolds (eight), SS Paul Witt (five) and DH/C Zach Dillon (seven, including five of Baylor's seven two-out RBI in the Long Beach State series).

• Saturday's loss was the first in four career starts at Baylor Ballpark for LHP Cory VanAllen. He had not allowed a run in 20.0 innings as a starter at home before yielding five in 3.2 innings Saturday.

• Reynolds has reached safely in 13 of 14 games this season. Since March 27, 2004, Reynolds has hit safely in 40 of 48 starts (one pinch-hit appearance) and has reached safely or provided a sacrifice in all but three of those games. In that time, he is hitting .353 (67-for-190) as a starter with eight home runs, six doubles, three triples, 51 RBI and a .542 slugging percentage.

• LHP Trey Taylor has not allowed more than four earned runs in 15 consecutive starts. ... Taylor also has garnered an average of only 2.5 runs of support in four starts this season, getting no more than three runs in any start.

• Dillon currently is riding a career-long tying five-game hitting streak.

• 2B Michael Griffin has not gone more than nine at bats without a hit since an 0-for-10 stretch in June 2003.

• Baylor's leadoff batter has reached base in 53 of 122 innings this season (43.4 percent); 31 times that base runner has scored (58.5 percent). The Bears have scored in 43 innings this season; the leadoff batter reached base safely in 31 of those innings (72.1 percent).

• 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-Los Angeles-36th Round), RHP Mark McCormick (2002-Baltimore-11th Round), IF Kyle Reynolds (2002-Arizona-50th Round), LHP Trey Taylor (2001-Colorado-2nd Round; 2003-Chicago Cubs-20th Round) and LHP Cory VanAllen (2003-Los Angeles-3rd Round).

• 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).

BAYLOR STARTER

RHP Sean Walker (1-1, 2.70) makes his fourth appearance and third start of the 2005 season Tuesday. In 6.2 innings this season, Walker has allowed two runs on three hits and six walks with three strikeouts; opponents hit .158 off the La Mesa, Calif.

Walker makes his 36th career start Tuesday, moving into a 10th-place tie all-time at Baylor with Aaron Lineweaver (1993-95).

THE NORTHWESTERN STATE SERIES

Baylor and Northwestern State meet for the 16th time Tuesday. The Bears hold a 9-6 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 6-3 in games played in Waco, including an 8-5 decision last season. The series is tied 6-6 during head coach Steve Smith's tenure. However, the Bears have won three straight and five of the last six meetings after a five-game Demon winning streak in the series.

THE NORTHWESTERN STATE DEMONS

Northwestern State (13-5) is in its fourth season under the direction of head coach Mitch Gaspard, a 1987 Houston graduate. He has a career record of 124-67, all at Northwestern State.

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 10 of their last 11 games with the only hiccup in that stretch coming in the second game of a midweek two-game series at 16th-ranked Mississippi last Wednesday. Northwestern State swept a three-game series against Grambling State over the weekend, winning 5-1 Saturday at Grambling and taking both ends of a doubleheader -- 11-7 and 16-0 -- Sunday at Natchitoches. ... All five of the Demons' losses have come at the hands of teams ranked nationally in one of the four major polls. NSU was swept at Wichita State to open the season and dropped a 4-0 decision Feb. 20 at Louisiana-Lafayette. The other loss was the 10-1 defeat last Wednesday at Mississippi one day after beating the Rebels 8-7. ... Northwestern State is 1-0 this season against the Big 12 Conferene, defeating Kansas State 2-0 two weeks ago at the NSU Demon Classic. ... The Demons were chosen as CollegeBaseballInsider.com's national team of the week after going 6-0 two weeks ago with midweek wins over Louisiana Tech and Northern Iowa and a perfect record at the NSU Demon Classic. ... Northwestern State is 8-0 at home but 3-5 on opponents' home fields. ... The Demons hit .272 as a team with 11 home runs, 31 doubles and 25 stolen bases in 38 attempts. NSU averages 5.61 runs per game with an offensive efficiency rating of 1.351 (poor). ... The Demons boast a 3.80 staff ERA with six saves and 139 strikeouts against 76 walks in 149.1 innings. Opponents hit .236 against NSU pitching. ... Northwestern State fields at a .974 clip with 17 errors and 12 double plays turned in 18 games. Only four of the 12 double plays turned have been grounded-into twin killings.

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 Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association. One of 30 Division I closers from across the nation in the running for the first-year award, Woody joins Texas junior J. Brent Cox as the only Big 12 Conference closers on the list.

A product of Round Rock [Texas] High School, Woody boasts a career record of 11-1 with a 3.58 ERA and 10 saves in 57 career relief appearances. He led the Bears with five saves last season and is currently tied for second in the Big 12 with two saves this season. Woody has tallied 83 career strikeouts in 110.1 innings of work while holding opponents to a .212 batting average.

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.

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 Lubbock.

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 May 18, 2004, against Rice -- the final midweek home game of the 2004 season. Overall, the UTA crowd ranks 23rd all-time at Baylor Ballpark.

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.

Southern California's 2005 schedule ranks as the nation's toughest entering the season; the Trojans are followed by Arizona, UCLA and Baylor. The Bears are the only team in the top 14 spots that is not from the state of California or does not play in the Pac-10. Texas A&M, the next highest-ranked Big 12 schedule, is 15th.

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 Arizona State, Vanderbilt, Rice, TCU, Long Beach State and Oral Roberts. Baylor also plays 36 games against 13 teams that appeared in the 2004 regionals.

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 America's Preseason Top 25. After Tuesday's game against UT-Arlington, 16 of the Bears' next 19 games are against teams ranked in this week's Baseball America Top 25.

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 Texas (133-89; .599). Included in the first eight 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 eight seasons (1998-2005). Baylor joins Oklahoma State as the only schools to have never finished below .500 in Big 12 play.

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

Steve Smith begins his second decade as head coach at Baylor in 2005. In his first decade, Smith guided the program to near unprecedented heights, including the most successful six-year run in the program's 100-year history.

Smith has compiled a 378-238-1 (.613) 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 Mississippi State boss Ron Polk on the 1998 USA Baseball National Team that posted an overall record of 30-12.

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 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 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, photos, biographical sketches and audio broadcasts, is part of the College Sports Online network, which 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. 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. These remaining games will be available in the BearCast package:

March 15 - TCU

March 19 and 20 - Texas

April 1, 2 and 3 - Oklahoma

April 5 - Houston

April 8, 9, 10 - Kansas State

April 29, 30, May 1 - Texas Tech

May 13, 14, 15 - Texas A&M

May 20, 21, 22 - Missouri

BAYLOR BASEBALL RADIO NETWORK

Catch every inning of Baylor baseball in 2005 on the flagship station for Baylor athletics, ESPN/KRZI 1660 AM Waco.

Tom Barfield and Lark Smith are in their fourth 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 in 2002, 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.

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 John Morris and airing weekdays at 7:25am and 5:25pm on ESPN/KRZI 1660 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 its final non-conference weekend series of the 2005 season, traveling to Nashville, Tenn., for a three-game series at No. 8 Vanderbilt. The Bears and the Commodores meet Friday at 4 p.m. CST, Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. Vanderbilt won two of three at Baylor Ballpark last season.

Baseball Preview: No. 19 Baylor vs. Northwestern State

Players Mentioned

Zach Dillon

Drew Jeffcoat

Cory VanAllen

Footer

Baseball Preview: No. 19 Baylor vs. Northwestern State

Related News

Players Mentioned

Zach Dillon

Drew Jeffcoat

Cory VanAllen

Related Videos

Promotional Background Photo

Footer