Bears, Mavericks Set for 93rd Meeting
4/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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GAME 35 •
No. 12 BAYLOR (22-12)
at
TEXAS-ARLINGTON (19-17)
CLAY GOULD BALLPARK •
THE SERIES
Overall Record: Baylor leads 65-27
Neutral Site: Never Met
Smith vs. UTA: 19-7
Last Meeting: UTA 9, at Baylor 6 [
COACHES
BAYLOR: Steve Smith
Alma Mater: Baylor, 1986
Career Record: 394-246-1 (11th season)
Record at Baylor: 394-246-1 (11th season)
UT-ARLINGTON: Jeff Curtis
Alma Mater: Nebraska-Kearney, 1990
Career Record: 117-97 (4th season)
Record at UTA: 117-97 (4th season)
BAYLOR RADIO NETWORK
ESPN/KRZI 1660 AM (
Tom Barfield, play-by-play
Lark Smith, color
INTERNET FEEDS
GameTracker: www.BaylorBears.com
Audio: www.BaylorBears.com
Video: None
BAYLOR NATIONAL RANKINGS
Baseball
Sports Weekly/ESPN/Coaches 16th
NCBWA 23rd
Collegiate Baseball 16th
PROJECTED STARTERS
BU - RHP Andy Pape (1-1, 4.11 ERA)
UTA - RHP Dillon Gee (3-3, 5.87 ERA)
Baylor returns to action Tuesday, April 12, traveling to
Baylor (22-12, 6-3) swept
Texas-Arlington (19-17) took two of three at home against
All Baylor baseball games are broadcast live on ESPN/KRZI 1660 AM in
LEADING OFF
BEARS CLIMB THREE SPOTS IN BASEBALL
Baylor climbed three spots in this week's Baseball America Top 25, landing at No. 12 in the season's 11th poll. The Bears posted a 3-1 record last week, including a weekend three-game series sweep of
The top seven teams remained unchanged from last week's rankings with Texas still as the nation's top-ranked team, followed by Cal State Fullerton, Tulane, Georgia Tech, Florida, Arizona and North Carolina.
Baylor remains the second highest-ranked Big 12 team behind
In the other rankings, Baylor climbed one spot to No. 16 in the Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches Poll, one spot to No. 23 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association Top 35 and five spots to No. 16 in the Collegiate Baseball Top 30.
QUICK NOTES ...
• Baylor and Texas-Arlington meet for the 93rd time Tuesday. The Bears hold a 65-27 advantage in the all-time series.
• Baylor's 9-3 start in Big 12 play is its best four-series start since starting the 2001 season 9-3.
• According to the latest rankings at www.BoydsWorld.com (April 5), Baylor ranks second nationally in RPI and eighth in ISR (Iterative Strength Rating).
• Baylor's strength of schedule ranks fourth nationally, according to www.BoydsWorld.com.
• Baylor is 11-6 against the latest RPI top 50, including a 9-4 mark against the top 20 and a 3-0 mark against the top 10.
• Through games of April 10, Baylor's opponents have a combined record of 453-256-1 (.639). The Bears' opponents have played 194 games against each other, giving Baylor's opponents an adjusted winning percentage (total record minus games each other and all games vs. Baylor) of .715 (344-137-1).
• At 10-1, Baylor owns the nation's best record against nationally ranked opponents.
• The Bears have won a program-best nine consecutive games against Top 25 teams. The previous program best was a six-game streak in 1999.
• Baylor has won a program-best six consecutive games against teams ranked in the top 10 nationally. The previous program best was five in 1999.
• The Bears are 20-4 this season when the starting pitcher goes at least 5.0 innings.
• Baylor is 8-1 this season on Sunday.
• Baylor is 9-1 this season in gold jerseys.
• Baylor is 16-1 this season when scoring first.
• Baylor is 6-0 when leading after the first inning,
• The Bears are hitting .301 through the first seven games of April with seven home runs, 12 doubles, three triples and a .473 slugging percentage. Baylor is averaging 10.6 runs per nine innings in April.
• CF Chase Gerdes has been the hottest in April, hitting .500 (8-for-16) in that time. Others hitting above .300 in April with at least 18 plate appearances in that time: 3B Michael Griffin (.360), C/DH Josh Ford (.333), C/DH Zach Dillon (.333), SS Paul Witt (.333) and OF Reid Brees (.304).
• RHP Mark McCormick has allowed only 13 runs, seven earned, on 23 hits and 19 walks with 42 strikeouts over his last 44.0 innings. In that time, he has posted a 1.43 ERA and held opposing batters to a .150 average. McCormick's overall ERA has dropped from 10.27 to 3.02 in that time.
• Baylor is 7-2 this season in McCormick's seven starts.
• In LHP Trey Taylor's last 20 starts, he has allowed three or fewer earned runs 16 times and two or fewer 12 times. Baylor is 13-4 in
• Ford has hit safely in 10 consecutive games, a career-long streak and the longest by a Bear this season. In that time, he is hitting .378 (14-for-37) with three home runs, 11 RBI, eight runs, a .676 slugging percentage, a .452 on base percentage and no errors in 37 chances.
• Ford has reached safely in 29 consecutive games (a career-long streak) and in 31 of 32 games this season.
• RHP Ryan LaMotta has pitched scoreless ball in 14 of 16 appearances this season. Currently, LaMotta has pitched 21.0 consecutive scoreless innings covering his last 10 appearances.
• LaMotta allowed three of the first seven runners he inherited this season to score. Since then, only one of 10 have scored.
• Gerdes has hit safely in five consecutive games (a career-long streak) and reached safely in 15 consecutive games.
• RHP Jeff Mandel has not allowed an earned run in seven consecutive appearances, allowing only one unearned run in that time (12.1 innings).
• 1B Kyle Reynolds has doubled his career home run total entering the season. He has three home runs in the last five games, hitting .350 (7-for-20) in that time.
• LHP Cory VanAllen has won four consecutive decisions. He has lasted at least 6.0 innings in seven of nine starts this season. The only two in which he did not were his only two losses this year. In the other seven starts, VanAllen is 6-0 with a 2.03 ERA and a .220 opponents' batting average.
• Witt leads the team with 11 two-out RBI this season (he has 15 total RBI).
• Baylor's leadoff batter has reached base in 113 of 300 innings this season (37.7 percent); 67 times that base runner has scored (59.3 percent). The Bears have scored in 100 innings this season; the leadoff batter reached base safely in 67 of those innings (67.0 percent).
• 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).
• Since the start of the Big 12 in 1997, the Bears have the league's best conference record at 143-86 (.624). 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 ranks 26th nationally in total wins since 2000, third among Big 12 Conference teams, with 214 wins through games of
• Since 1998, Baylor also is third in the Big 12 in total wins with 305 victories behind only
BAYLOR STARTER
RHP Andy Pape (1-1, 4.11) makes his second start of the 2005 season Tuesday, his eighth appearance overall. In 15.1 innings this season, Pape has allowed seven runs on 11 hits and six walks with eight strikeouts. Opponents hit .200 against Pape. Baylor is 4-3 in Pape's six career starts.
THE TEXAS-ARLINGTON SERIES
Baylor and Texas-Arlington meet for the 93rd time Tuesday. The Bears hold a 65-27 advantage in the all-time series, which dates back to a 3-2 and 2-0 Baylor sweep of a doubleheader
The Bears have lost three of the last four meetings after UTA defeated the Bears 9-6 at Baylor Ballpark earlier this season. Baylor lost its last game at UTA, a 5-1 decision
Baylor leads the series 26-15 in games played at
THE TEXAS-ARLINGTON MAVERICKS
Texas-Arlington (19-17) is in its fourth season under the direction of head coach Jeff Curtis, a 1990 Nebraska-Kearney graduate. Curtis has amassed a 117-97 career record, all coming at UTA.
UTA Notes: The Mavericks have not been more than three games above or below .500 at any point this season. ... UTA has played seven games against teams Baylor has faced this season:
Baylor's Wednesday, April 13, game at Baylor Ballpark against
Fans with tickets for the Feb. 13 game are encouraged to retain their tickets as Baylor will add another game to replace the lost contest. The addition will be announced at a later date.
SMITH NEARS ANOTHER MILESTONE
Baylor head coach Steve Smith enters Tuesday's game at Texas-Arlington six wins shy of victory No. 400 in his collegiate career, all coming at Baylor. Now in his 11th season at the helm of the Baylor program, Smith is 394-246-1.
BEARS RANK SECOND IN PSEUDO RPI RANKINGS
Through games of April 3, Baylor ranks second nationally in the pseudo RPI rankings at www.BoydsWorld.com. With a 0.641 rating, the Bears trail only Tulane (0.651) and rank just ahead of
A large reason for Baylor's high RPI ranking is its strength of schedule and the Bears' record against strong opponents. Baylor holds the nation's best record against nationally ranked opponents at 10-1, and the Bears' schedule ranks as the nation's fourth-toughest entering the week.
Of Baylor's 34 games this season, 32 were against teams ranked in the RPI top 100 with 17 games against the RPI top 50 and 12 games against the RPI top 20. The Bears are 9-4 against the top 20, including a 3-0 mark against the top 10.
WORKING FOR THE WEEKEND
Baylor is 19-8 this season in weekend games but only 3-4 in midweek games. A large reason for the difference in success has been pitching. Baylor boasts a 3.05 ERA in weekend games this season with a .237 opponents' batting average. Additionally, the Bears' weekend starters have combined to go 13-7 with a 3.51 ERA and a .233 opponents' batting average.
In midweek games, meanwhile, Baylor's staff ERA is 4.57. Opponents still hit just .235 against the Bears in midweek games but with 4.86 walks per nine innings. Baylor starters in midweek games have a combined 6.20 ERA with a .236 opponents' batting average and 19 walks in 20.1 innings.
BAYLOR SCHEDULE AMONG NATION'S TOUGHEST
Baylor's 2005 schedule ranked fourth nationally preseason and is so ranked in this week's rankings at www.BoydsWorld.com after one week as the nation's toughest. That tough schedule should come as no surprise; Baylor has ranked 13th or better in strength of schedule each of the past six seasons.
Baylor is a national-best 10-1 this season against ranked opponents, including a 6-0 mark against teams ranked in the top 10.
Last weekend's series against
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 146-86 (.629), the Bears are ahead of Texas Tech (142-92-1; .606) 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).
ARSENAL OF OPPOSING ARMS CONTINUES
Through Baylor's first 34 games, only two opposing pitchers this season had a losing record going into the game: UTSA's Ryan Crew (0-1) and
In fact, the 34 opposing starting pitchers Baylor has faced this season had a combined 63-20 record entering their starts against Baylor. However, the Bears' opposing starting pitchers are 10-18 in their games against the Bears.
Baylor's opposing starters over the past 22 games have entered the games with combined records of 55-14. The Bears are 15-7 in that time, and those starting pitchers went 7-12 against the Bears.
Additionally, Baylor has faced three of the nation's five returning 12-game winners, doing so in successive weekend series against Oral Roberts (Dennis Bigley),
FORD, REYNOLDS ON WALLACE AWARD WATCH LIST
1B Kyle Reynolds and C Josh Ford represent Baylor on the watch list for the Wallace Award, which is presented to the nation's top collegiate player by the College Baseball Foundation. 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. Screening Committee members will evaluate the candidates and will continue their review throughout the entire baseball season. 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
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 [
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.
RHP Mark McCormick is among 42 pitchers named to the initial watch list for the 2005 Clemens Award, presented July 14 to the nation's top collegiate pitcher by the Greater Houston Baseball Association.
McCormick, who is projected to be a first-round draft pick in June's First-Year Player Draft, was 2-4 with a 4.70 ERA in 46.0 innings covering 11 appearances and 10 starts last season. However, he missed six weeks of the season due to a shoulder injury. McCormick was named first-team preseason All-America by Baseball
The list is comprised of all Division I pitchers who were named as pre-season All-Americans by either Baseball America or Collegiate Baseball, in addition to those pitchers who have been honored so far this season as National Pitchers of the Week by the National College Baseball Writers Association. Weekly winners of the writer's award will be added to the list until the start of the first round of voting at the end of April. Additional nominees will be added to the ballot based on notable performances and rankings in the NCAA statistical rankings.
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 394-246-1 (.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 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.
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:
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.
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.
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 continues an eight-game road swing this weekend, traveling to Lawrence, Kan., for a three-game Big 12 Conference series at Kansas. The Bears and the Jayhawks meet Friday at 7 p.m. CDT, Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
