Bears Host UTSA to Start NCAA Postseason Play
6/2/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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NCAA WACO REGIONAL • JUNE 3-6, 2005
No. 8 BAYLOR (39-21)
vs.
TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO (27-32)
BAYLOR BALLPARK • WACO, TEXAS
REGIONAL SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, JUNE 3
Game 2: #2 TCU vs. #3 Stanford, 2 p.m.
Game 1: #1 Baylor vs. #4 UT-San Antonio, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY, JUNE 4
Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 2 p.m.
Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 7 p.m.
SUNDAY, JUNE 5
Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 2 p.m.
Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 7 p.m.
MONDAY, JUNE 6 (if necessary)
Game 7: Game 6 winner vs. Game 6 loser, 6 p.m.
BAYLOR RADIO NETWORK
ESPN/KRZI 1660 AM (Waco)
Tom Barfield, play-by-play
Lark Smith, color
INTERNET FEEDS
Live Stats: www.BaylorBears.com
Audio: www.BaylorBears.com
Video: www.BaylorBears.com
BAYLOR NATIONAL RANKINGS
Baseball America 13th
Sports Weekly/ESPN/Coaches 14th
NCBWA 8th
Collegiate Baseball 10th
PROJECTED BAYLOR ROTATION
Friday, June 3
BU - LHP Trey Taylor (6-5, 3.48 ERA)
Saturday, June 4
BU - RHP Mark McCormick (7-3, 3.08 ERA)
Sunday, June 5
BU - LHP Cory VanAllen (7-4, 4.03 ERA)
Monday, June 6
BU - TBA
WACO REGIONAL AT A GLANCE
No. 8 BAYLOR BEARS
No. 1 Seed • 39-21 • 19-8 Big 12 (t-1st)
HEAD COACH: Steve Smith
Alma Mater: Baylor, 1986
Career Record: 411-255-1 (11th season)
Record at Baylor: 411-255-1 (11th season)
No. 24 TCU HORNED HORNED FROGS
No. 2 Seed • 40-18 • 20-10 C-USA (t-2nd)
HEAD COACH: Jim Schlossnagle
Alma Mater: Elon, 1992
Career Record: 156-91 (4th season)
Record at TCU: 79-44 (2nd season)
BAYLOR-TCU SERIES: Baylor leads 130-99
Waco: Baylor leads 66-39
Fort Worth: TCU leads 48-47
Neutral Site: TCU leads 5-1
Unknown Sites: Baylor leads 16-7
Smith vs. TCU: 11-11
Last Meeting: at TCU 2, Baylor 1 (11) [4/19/2005]
STANFORD CARDINAL
No. 3 Seed • 32-23 • 12-12 Pac-10 (t-6th)
HEAD COACH: Mark Marquess
Alma Mater: Stanford, 1969
Career Record: 1,212-588-5 (29th season)
Record at TCU: 1,212-588-5 (29th season)
BAYLOR-STANFORD SERIES: Never Met
Waco: Never Met
Palo Alto: Never Met
Neutral Site: Never Met
Smith vs. Stanford: 0-0
UT-SAN ANTONIO ROADRUNNERS
No. 4 Seed • 27-32 • 14-13 Southland (t-4th)
HEAD COACH: Sherman Corbett
Alma Mater: Texas A&M, 1985
Career Record: 138-148 (5th season)
Record at UTSA: 138-148 (5th season)
BAYLOR-UTSA SERIES: Baylor leads 22-2
Waco: Baylor leads 15-1
San Antonio: Baylor leads 7-1
Neutral Site: Never Met
Smith vs. UTSA: 20-0
Last Meeting: at Baylor 6, UTSA 5 [5/3/2005]
Baylor continues postseason play this weekend, hosting the 2005 NCAA Waco Regional at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears enter the NCAA Tournament as the No. 4 national seed and the top seed at the Waco Regional. Also participating in the Waco Regional are second-seeded TCU, third-seeded Stanford and fourth-seeded Texas-San Antonio.
Friday's first-day action features TCU and Stanford at 2 p.m. CDT, followed by Baylor and Texas-San Antonio at 7 p.m. Action continues through at least Sunday with an "if necessary" game Monday.
Baylor (39-21) has won eight of its last 11 games after a runner-up finish at last weekend's Big 12 Conference Tournament at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City. Ranked eighth nationally in this week's Baseball America Top 25, the Bears are 31-14 since opening the year 8-7 and have not lost more than two consecutive games this season.
All Baylor baseball games are broadcast live on ESPN/KRZI 1660 AM in Waco. Live streaming audio also is available this weekend online at www.BaylorBears.com, the official website of Baylor Athletics and a member of the College Sports Network. Live streaming video for all games at the Waco Regional is available free of charge at www.BaylorBears.com. Live stats will be provided by the NCAA at www.ncaasports.com.
QUICK NOTES ...
STARTING PITCHER -- LHP Trey Taylor (6-5, 3.48 ERA)
• Baylor is 10-5 in his 15 starts this season, 32-17 in his 49 career starts.
• Friday's start will be the 50th of his career. Taylor joins Steven White (59, 2000-03) and Josh Scott (50, 1998-01) as the only Baylor pitchers with at least 50 career starts.
• Averages 4.60 runs of support per start, lowest of Baylor's three weekend. Averages 2.68 runs of support while in the game and average just under 6.0 innings per start.
• In last 26 starts, has allowed three or fewer earned runs 21 times and two or fewer 16 times.
• Baylor is 17-6 in Taylor's last 23 starts; he is 10-5 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 vs. Texas-San Antonio: 3 G, 1 GS, 1-0, 1.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 15 K
- Feb. 13, 2002, Baylor Ballpark (relief): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
- April 10, 2002, Baylor Ballpark (start): 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K (W)
- May 3, 2005, Baylor Ballpark (relief): 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• Career in NCAA postseason play: 2 G, 0 GS, 1-0, 7.04 ERA, 7.2 IP, 11 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 6 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
• The Bears are 31-10 when the starting pitcher goes at least 5.0 innings.
• Baylor is 29-4 when scoring first and 12-2 when scoring in the first inning.
• Baylor is 32-6 when scoring at least four runs, 25-2 when scoring at least five runs and 19-0 when scoring at least seven runs.
• Baylor is 21-6 when hitting at least one home run and 8-0 when hitting at least two home runs.
• Baylor is 31-3 when out-hitting the opponent.
• Baylor is 11-1 when leading after one inning, 15-4 after two, 19-4 after three, 21-4 after four, 23-2 after five, 30-2 after six, 31-2 after seven and 31-1 after eight innings or later.
• Baylor has recorded 64 infield hits, 17 bunt singles and 53 sacrifice bunts this season. Last season, the Bears produced 48 infield hits, six bunt singles and only 25 sacrifice bunts.
• C/DH Josh Ford has reached safely in 17 consecutive games. He has reached safely in 54 of his last 56 games and in 58 of Baylor's 60 games.
• Ford is hitting .346 (27-for-78) over the last 21 games with six doubles, a triple and two home runs and nine RBI. He has a .526 slugging percentage and a .483 on base percentage in that time.
• C/DH Zach Dillon is hitting .333 (15-for-45) over the last 13 games with five doubles, a triple, a home run and 14 RBI (best on the team in that stretch). In that time, he has a .556 slugging percentage and a .431 on base percentage.
• Dillon leads the team with 23 two-out RBI. He also hits .379 with runners on base (second on the team) and .383 with runners in scoring position (first on the team).
• CF Chase Gerdes is riding a career-long seven-game hitting streak. In that time, he is hitting is hitting .364 (8-for-22). He is hitting .301 (22-for-73) since April 1.
• Gerdes leads the team with a .357 batting average (10-for-28) since May 1; in that time, he has one double, one triple, 3 RBI, a .464 slugging percentage and is 5-for-5 in stolen bases.
• 3B Kevin Russo has hit safely in eight of his last 10 games. He is hitting .400 (12-for-30) in that time with two doubles, one home run, seven runs scored, eight RBI, a .567 slugging percentage and a .512 on base percentage.
• Russo also is 11-for-27 (.407) over the last eight games.
• 2B Michael Griffin is 18-for-59 (.305) since May 1 with one double, two triples, two home runs, 4 RBI, 15 runs scored and a .492 slugging percentage. He leads the team in hits, runs and total bases in that time.
• Griffin enters the weekend with 1,031 career at bats, fifth in NCAA Division I history.
• SS Paul Witt has produced 14 of his 24 RBI this season with two outs (58.3 percent), the best such percentage on the team.
BAYLOR NCAA REGIONAL HISTORY
Baylor makes its 12th NCAA Regional appearance this weekend, the program's seventh regional in the past eight seasons. The Bears are 23-23 all-time in NCAA postseason play, going 21-15 all-time in regional play, 2-4 in Super Regional play and 0-4 at the College World Series.
This marks the third time Baylor Ballpark has hosted a regional. In 1999, Baylor went 3-0 to win the Waco Regional. The Bears went on to face Oklahoma State in the super regional round, falling in three games. In 2000, Baylor was bounced in two games, falling to Texas State (then Southwest Texas) and Florida.
The Bears return to regional play this season after a one-year hiatus. Baylor has won three consecutive regional games after sweeping the 2003 Hattiesburg Regional hosted by Southern Mississippi.
BAYLOR ALL-TIME vs. WACO REGIONAL FIELD
TCU HORNED FROGS
Baylor and TCU have met 229 times on the baseball diamond; the Bears hold a 130-99 advantage in the all-time series, which dates back to the 1904 season. This is the third-most played series in Baylor Baseball history behind only Texas (312 meetings) and Texas A&M (249 meetings). Baylor and TCU have never met in NCAA postseason play.
The Bears hold a 66-39 advantage in series games played in Waco, including a 4-3, 10-inning victory this season. Baylor has won three straight against TCU at Baylor Ballpark, dating back to a 5-3 loss in 2002.
STANFORD CARDINAL
Baylor and Stanford have never met in varsity baseball action.
TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO ROADRUNNERS
Baylor and Texas-San Antonio meet on the diamond for the 25th time Friday. The Bears hold a commanding 22-2 advantage in the all-time series, which dates back to a 12-4 Baylor victory Feb. 23, 1993 at San Antonio. UTSA began its baseball program in 1992. This is the first time the teams have met in NCAA postseason play.
Nearly all the Baylor-UTSA contests have come during head coach Steve Smith's tenure. The Bears are 20-0 against the Roadrunners in that time, including a 4-2 victory at UTSA and a 6-5 victory at Baylor Ballpark earlier this season. UTSA's two victories in the series both came during the 1994 season: 10-2 at San Antonio (2/23) and 7-6 at Ferrell Field (4/27).
BAYLOR vs. 2005 NCAA TOURNAMENT FIELD
Baylor posted a 17-14 record this season against teams participating in the 2005 NCAA Tournament. Nebraska, against which the Bears were 1-3, is the only national top-eight seed to have played Baylor this season. Against the 16 No. 1 seeds, Baylor posted a 7-5 record, facing Long Beach State (1-2), Nebraska (1-3), Tennessee (1-0) and Texas (4-0).
In a stretch from Feb. 18 through March 8, Baylor played 11 consecutive games against would-be NCAA regional participants; the Bears were 5-6 in that stretch. That span was at the heart of a 21-game stretch with 17 games against would-be NCAA regional participants (Feb. 12 through March 20); the Bears were 11-6 in those games.
SMITH HONORED BY SEVERAL OUTLETS
After guiding Baylor to its fourth baseball conference title in the program's 104-year history, head coach Steve Smith was named 2005 Big 12 Conference Coach of Year by four publications within the state of Texas: The Dallas Morning News, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the San Antonio Express-News and the Waco Tribune-Herald.
Smith has been honored as Big 12 coach of the year by at least one outlet in four of the last eight seasons. He was so honored by the Austin American-Statesman and the Waco Tribune-Herald in 1998, by The Dallas Morning News in 1999 and by the Big 12 coaches in 2000.
NINE BEARS NAMED ALL-BIG 12 BY COACHES
2005 Big 12 Conference champion Baylor placed nine players on the Coaches' All-Big 12 Baseball teams, announced last week by the league office. C/DH Zach Dillon, RHP Ryan LaMotta and RHP Mark McCormick earned first-team honors, C/DH Josh Ford and LHP Cory VanAllen were named second team, and OF Reid Brees, 2B Michael Griffin, LHP Trey Taylor and RHP Abe Woody were selected honorable mention.
Nebraska third baseman Alex Gordon was named Player of the Year and Missouri ace Max Scherzer was selected as Pitcher of the Year. Newcomer of the Year honors went to Nebraska ace Joba Chamberlain, Freshman Player of the Year was Oklahoma State outfielder Corey Brown, and Freshman Pitcher of the Year was Johnny Dorn of Nebraska. Huskers' head coach Mike Anderson was named Coach of the Year.
Texas, which finished third in the league standings, led all teams with 16 all-conference recipients, followed by Nebraska (11) and Baylor (9). In the nine-season history of the Big 12, 24 Baylor players have earned first-team all-conference; that total is tied with Nebraska for second all-time behind only Texas (25). Baylor and Texas both lead the Big 12 in number of first-team All-Big 12 pitchers with 12 each.
Griffin, Ford and Woody earned all-conference honors for the third consecutive year. Brees and Taylor were honored for the second straight season. LaMotta was an honorable mention selection in 2003. Dillon, McCormick and VanAllen are first-time honorees.
THANKS FOR THE ASSIST
Through 60 games, Baylor already has established a single-season school record for team assists with 687. That tops the previous school mark of 673, established over 62 games in 2002. In fact, in each of the top six seasons prior to this year, the Bears played at least 62 games.
Furthermore, SS Paul Witt needs two assists to match Trevor Mote's school record of 192 assists from the 2001 season, a mark Mote established in 61 games. 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.
REYNOLDS OUT WITH BROKEN THUMB
1B Kyle Reynolds will miss a minimum of two weeks' action due to a broken left thumb, sustained during the May 22 game against Missouri. Reynolds, who started each of Baylor's first 55 games, did not play in the regular-season finale and missed last week's Big 12 Conference Tournament in Oklahoma City.
A product of Second Baptist High School in Houston, Reynolds leads Baylor with eight home runs and 11 stolen bases. On the season, he is hitting .270 with 40 runs, 57 hits, 14 doubles, 33 RBI, a .450 slugging percentage and a .343 on base percentage. In his first season at first base after two years as a middle infielder, Reynolds has posted a .990 fielding percentage with only six errors in 582 total chances.
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 156-91 (.631), the Bears are ahead of Texas (151-99, .604) and Texas Tech (146-102-1; .588). Included in the first nine seasons for Baylor are two Big 12 championships (2000, 2005) 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 also is the only school to have never finished below .500 in Big 12 play.
Including the 2005 totals, Baylor leads all conference schools in Big 12 history in first-team Academic All-Big 12 selections (45) and is tied for second in all-time first-team All-Big 12 selections (24).
HEAD COACH Steve Smith
The 2005 season marks the beginning of Steve Smith's second decade as head coach at Baylor. 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 411-255-1 (.617) 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 seven NCAA Regional appearances, two NCAA Super Regional appearances and Big 12 Conference titles in 2000 and 2005. 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 first 11 seasons as head coach, the Bears 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, one Johnny Bench Award Winner, 25 first-team all-conference performers, nine freshman All-Americans, and three conference players of the year. Baylor also placed a league-leading 45 players on the Academic All-Big 12 first team in the past nine seasons.
UP NEXT ...
The winner of the Waco Regional advances to next weekend's Super Regional round. That team faces the winner of the Clemson Regional, which includes host and top-seeded Clemson, College of Charleston, Oral Roberts and North Carolina A&T.
