Bears, Beavers Battle to Stave Off Elimination
6/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
GAME 68 • NCAA COLLEGE WORLD SERIES • JUNE 19, 2005
No. 4 BAYLOR (44-23)
vs.
No. 2 OREGON STATE (46-11)
ROSENBLATT STADIUM • OMAHA, NEB.
QUICK NOTES ...
TODAY'S PITCHER -- LHP Trey Taylor (7-6, 3.50 ERA)
• Baylor is 11-6 in his 17 starts this season, 33-18 in his 51 career starts.
• 4-1 in six starts following a Baylor loss this season, 8-3 in such games over the past two seasons.
• Averages 4.65 runs of support per start, lowest of Baylor's three weekend starters. Averages 2.88 runs of support while in the game and averages just 6.0 innings per start.
• In last 28 starts, has allowed three or fewer earned runs 23 times and two or fewer 16 times.
• Baylor is 18-7 in Taylor's last 25 starts; he is 11-6 in that time.
• 10 times since the beginning of the 2004 season, Taylor has pitched at least 5.0 innings and allowed fewer earned runs than the opposing pitching staff and did not earn a win. Taylor is 0-3 in those 10 starts with seven no-decisions.
• Career in NCAA postseason play: 4 G, 2 GS, 2-1, 4.76 ERA, 22.2 IP, 25 H, 13 R, 12 ER, 7 BB, 22 K
- June 1, 2002 vs. Lamar (relief): 5.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K (W) -- Austin Regional
- June 8, 2003 at Louisiana State (relief): 2.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K -- Baton Rouge Super Regional
- June 4, 2005 vs. Texas-San Antonio (start): 9.0 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 10 K (W) -- Waco Regional
- June 11, 2005 vs. Clemson (start): 6.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K (L) -- Waco Super Regional
• Baylor is the first team to reach the College World Series one year after a losing season since Kansas in 1993.
• The Bears will not lose three consecutive games this season, the first year since 1977 (Baylor's first College Worlds Series team) that a Baylor team has not lost three straight games.
• 30 of Baylor's 67 games have been decided by two runs or less. Baylor is 19-11 in those games, 13-7 in one-run games.
• The Bears are 35-12 when the starting pitcher goes at least 5.0 innings.
• Baylor is 32-5 when scoring first and 14-3 when scoring in the first inning.
• Baylor is 37-6 when scoring at least four runs, 29-2 when scoring at least five runs and 22-0 when scoring at least seven runs.
• Baylor is 35-8 when allowing four or fewer runs, 30-5 when allowing three or fewer runs, 18-3 when allowing two or fewer runs and 12-1 when allowing one run or less.
• Baylor is 25-6 when hitting at least one home run and 11-0 when hitting at least two home runs.
• Baylor is 33-4 when out-hitting the opponent.
• Baylor is 13-2 when leading after one inning, 18-5 after two, 22-4 after three, 25-5 after four, 28-3 after five, 34-3 after six, 35-2 after seven and 35-1 after eight innings or later.
• Baylor has recorded 71 infield hits, 20 bunt singles and 55 sacrifice bunts this season. Last season, the Bears produced 48 infield hits, six bunt singles and only 25 sacrifice bunts.
• C/DH Zach Dillon leads the team with 23 two-out RBI. He also hits .355 with runners on base (second on team) and .356 with runners in scoring position (first on team).
• CF Chase Gerdes is hitting .297 (27-for-91) since April 1. He is hitting .326 (15-for-46) since May 1.
• 2B Michael Griffin is 27-for-81 (.333) since May 11 with four double, two triples, one home run, three RBI and 17 runs scored. He leads the team in hits, runs and total bases (37) in that time. Also in that time (18 games), Griffin has hit safely in all but three games.
• Dillon has produced 23 of his 42 RBI this season with two outs (54.8 percent), the best such percentage on the team.
• SS Paul Witt has produced 15 of his 28 RBI this season with two outs (53.6 percent), the second-best such percentage on the team.
• Gerdes has produced 11 of his 22 RBI this season with two outs (50.0 percent), the third-best such percentage on the team.
BOUNCE-BACK BEARS
Baylor is 17-5 this season following a loss. The Bears will not lose three consecutive games this season, the first Baylor team to accomplish that feat since 1977 (Baylor's first College World Series team).
In games following a loss, Baylor typically hits the ball better than usual. The Bears hit .284 in games following a loss as opposed to .262 in all other games.
Monday's starter LHP Trey Taylor is 4-1 in six starts this season following a Baylor loss. He is 8-3 in such starts over the past two seasons.
FORD ON-BASE STREAK SNAPPED
C/DH Josh Ford was kept off base Saturday against Texas, snapping a streak of 23 consecutive games reaching base. It marked the third game this season in which Ford has not reached base. Texas (Alaniz/Cox) joined Oral Roberts (Bigley/Robinson) and Nebraska (Duensing/Dorn) as the only opponents to keep Ford off base.
Ford's 23-game streak came one game removed from a career-long streak of 37 consecutive games, meaning he had reached safely in 60 of 61 games.
Ford leads the team in on base percentage (.436), times reached base safely (130), walks (33) and times hit by pitch (16 -- a figure that is tied for second all-time at Baylor).
GRIFFIN CLIMBS AT BAT CHARTS
2B Michael Griffin enters Monday's game with 1,063 career at bats, fourth all-time in NCAA Division I history. With his next at bat, he will tie Mike Lansing (Wichita State, 1987-90) for third all-time. Here is the all-time NCAA Division I top five in career at bats:
John Fishel, CS Fullerton 1982-85 1,114
Khalil Green, Clemson 1999-02 1,069
Mike Lansing, Wichita State 1987-00 1,064
Michael Griffin, Baylor 2002-05 1,063
Jim Thomas, Wichita State 1997-00 1,062
Griffin, whose first career hit was a home run, homered in his 1,000th career at bat. He has started a school-record 250 consecutive games and has appeared in 255 consecutive games, also a school record. Griffin has appeared in 256 of Baylor's 257 games during his career.
KEEPING UP APPEARANCES
RHPs Ryan LaMotta and Abe Woody made their 92nd and 90th career appearances, respectively, in Saturday's game against Texas. LaMotta moved into sole possession on second place all-time at Baylor, passing Matthew Marcom (1995-98). Only Zane Carlson ranks ahead of LaMotta, appearing in 111 career games. LaMotta and Woody are the only Baylor pitchers to ever appear in 75 or more games in their first three seasons.
RECORD CROWD WATCHES BAYLOR
Saturday's attendance of 26,641 was the largest crowd to ever watch a Baylor game, eclipsing the previous mark of 21,995 that watched the Bears defeat Tennessee 3-2 at the Minute Maid Park College Classic earlier this season. The crowd also was the largest attended fourth session in College World Series history.
Baylor established a school record for total home attendance this season, drawing 109,621 fans to 36 dates (also a school record). The previous mark was 95,367 over 34 dates in 2001. This season's average home attendance of 3,045 ranks second all-time behind only the 3,057 avearge in 2003.
A school-record total of 263,507 fans have attended Baylor games this season.
POSTSEASON PITCHING DOMINANT
Baylor has posted a 2.32 ERA in seven NCAA postseason games this season. In that time, the Bears have held opponents to a .264 batting average with 58 strikeouts against 21 walks in 66.0 innings of work.
The Bears were even more dominant on the mound against Clemson in the NCAA Waco Super Regional. Baylor pitchers posted a 1.67 ERA and a .235 opponents' batting average with 27 strikeouts against nine walks in 27.0 innings.
BEARS vs. RANKED OPPONENTS
Monday is Baylor's 26th game this season against ranked opponents. The Bears have posted a 16-9 record against nationally ranked opponents, including a 7-2 mark against teams ranked in the top 10. Earlier this season, the Bears established school records with nine consecutive wins against ranked teams and seven consecutive wins against top-10 teams.
The 2005 Bears have established a school record for wins against ranked teams, a mark previously held by the 2003 team that went 14-16 in such games. The 2003 Bears hold the school record for wins against teams ranked in the top 10 (eight). This season's winning percentage both against ranked opponents and against top-10 opponents are assured to be school records. The 2005 Bears also will join the 1999 team (9-8), the 1993 team (8-5) and the 1985 team (6-5) as Baylor's only teams to finish with a winning record against ranked opponents.
BAYLOR ON TELEVISION
The Bears are 21-19 all-time in televised games, including a 6-4 mark this season. Baylor has posted wins against Clemson (twice), Texas (twice), Nebraska and Texas A&M on television this season with losses to Clemson, Nebraska, Texas and Texas Tech.
Baylor is 4-4 all-time in ESPN network games, 2-2 on ESPN. The Bears' 2003 games at the NCAA Baton Rouge Super Regional were televised by ESPN+Plus. Earlier this season, Baylor defeated Texas A&M 9-8 on ESPN2.
The Bears are 17-13 in televised games under head coach Steve Smith. The 2005 Bears have established a school record with 10 televised games. Baylor played seven televised games in 2000 and in 2003.
LATE-SEASON BLOOMERS
Baylor has posted a 36-16 record since starting the season 8-7. The Bears have been especially strong down the stretch, going 25-11 since April 8. This year's team has established a Baylor record for wins after May 1 (15). The 2005 squad also has established a Baylor record for most wins after April 1 (27), breaking the previous mark of 24 established by the 1999 team.
Baylor is 38-21 in the months of May and June over the past three seasons.
THANKS FOR THE ASSIST
Through 67 games, Baylor already has established a single-season school record for team assists with 769. That tops the previous school mark of 673, established over 62 games in 2002. In fact, the difference between this season's total and the 2002 total is larger than the difference between the 2002 total and the 15th-place total.
Furthermore, SS Paul Witt has passed Trevor Mote's previous school record of 192 assists from the 2001 season, a mark Mote established in 61 games. Witt has 209 assists this season and needs 35 assists to reach the Big 12 Conference record set by Texas' Todd West in 2000.
1B Kyle Reynolds was on pace to break Baylor's single-season putouts record before breaking his thumb two weeks ago. Reynolds, who has 544 putouts this season, is just three putouts shy of Mike Huggin's 2002 mark of 547.
Baylor outfielders have combined for 14 assists this season, led by Kevin Sevigny with a career-high nine. In the May 1 game against Texas Tech, Sevigny threw out runners at home twice, both ending innings. Seth Fortenberry (three) and Mike Pankratz (two) are responsible for Baylor's other oufield assists this season. The outfield has combined for only seven errors this year, five of which were of the throwing variety. Sevigny has not made an error this season, and LF Reid Brees has committed just one.
