Bears, Longhorns Meet Again
6/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 22, 2005
GAME 70 • NCAA COLLEGE WORLD SERIES • JUNE 22, 2005
No. 4 BAYLOR (46-23)
vs.
No. 5 TEXAS (53-16)
ROSENBLATT STADIUM • OMAHA, NEB.
QUICK NOTES ...
• Prior to this season, Baylor had three all-time victories against top-ranked teams. The 2005 Bears are 4-0 in such games.
• 2B Michael Griffin had three RBI in his previous 19 games before driving in three runs in Tuesday's win over Tulane.
• Baylor's relievers are 4-0 with a 0.85 ERA and two saves in 31.2 innings of NCAA Tournament action.
• In nine NCAA Tournament games, Baylor batters have produced 16 two-out RBI as opposed to five two-out RBI by opposing batters.
• Baylor has held opposing batters to a .183 batting average (15-for-82) with runners in scoring position during the NCAA Tournament.
• In the NCAA Tournament, CF Chase Gerdes is hitting .400 (4-for-10) with runners on base, .429 (3-for-7) with runners in scoring position, .500 (3-for-6) with two outs and leads the team with four two-out RBI.
• In nine NCAA Tournament games, Griffin has reached base to leadoff the first inning five times with four hits.
• 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.
• 32 of Baylor's 69 games have been decided by two runs or less. Baylor is 21-11 in those games, 15-7 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 39-6 when scoring at least four runs, 30-2 when scoring at least five runs and 23-0 when scoring at least seven runs.
• Baylor is 36-8 when allowing four or fewer runs, 31-5 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 34-4 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.
• Baylor has recorded 73 infield hits, 20 bunt singles and 59 sacrifice bunts this season. Last season, the Bears produced 48 infield hits, six bunt singles and only 25 sacrifice bunts.
• Gerdes is hitting .298 (28-for-94) since April 1. He is hitting .327 (16-for-49) since May 1.
• Griffin is 31-for-91 (.341) since May 11 with five doubles, two triples, one home run, six RBI and 18 runs scored. He leads the team in hits, runs and total bases (43) in that time. Also in that time (20 games), Griffin has hit safely in all but three games.
• C Zach Dillon has produced 23 of his 42 RBI this season with two outs (54.8 percent), the best such percentage on the team.
LATE-GAME MAGIC CONTINUES
Tuesday was Baylor's 12th win in its last at bat against only three such losses. Baylor has won four such games this postseason, three in the NCAA Tournament.
The seven-run rally against Tulane was Baylor's second-largest deficit overcome this season. The Bears rallied from an 8-0 hole May 13 against Texas A&M.
Baylor is 6-1 in extra-inning games this season after Monday's 10-inning victory over Oregon State. It was Baylor's third extra-inning victory in postseason play this season. The Bears also defeated Stanford in the NCAA Waco Regional Championship Game (12 innings) and Kansas in the first round of the Big 12 Conference Tournament (10 innings). Baylor's lone extra-inning loss this season was a 2-1 11-inning defeat April 19 at TCU.
GRIFFIN CLIMBS AT BAT CHARTS
2B Michael Griffin enters Wednesday's game with 1,073 career at bats, second all-time in NCAA Division I history. Tuesday, Griffin passed Khalil Green (Clemson, 1999-02) for second all-time. Griffin's total is the most in NCAA history since the 56-game rule took effect.
Here is the all-time NCAA Division I top five in career at bats:
player, school years ab
John Fishel, CS Fullerton 1982-85 1,114
Michael Griffin, Baylor 2002-05 1,073
Khalil Green, Clemson 1999-02 1,069
Mike Lansing, Wichita State 1987-00 1,064
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 252 consecutive games and has appeared in 257 consecutive games, also a school record. Griffin has appeared in 258 of Baylor's 259 games during his career.
KEEPING UP APPEARANCES
RHP Abe Woody appeared in his 36th game of the season Tuesday against Tulane. That establishes a Baylor single-season record, passing the previous mark held by Kyle Evans (2002) at 35.
Woody enters Wednesday's game against Texas tied with Matthew Marcom (1995-98) for third all-time at Baylor with 91 career appearances. RHP Ryan LaMotta ranks second all-time at Baylor with 93 career appearances.
POSTSEASON PITCHING DOMINANT
Baylor has posted a 2.54 ERA in nine NCAA postseason games this season. In that time, the Bears have held opponents to a .257 batting average with 73 strikeouts against 31 walks in 85.0 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.
The strong-point of Baylor's staff in the postseason has been the bullpen, which collectively has gone 4-0 with two saves and a 0.85 ERA. RHP Jeff Mandel has not allowed a run in 7.2 innings over two relief appearances, going 2-0 in those games with a .115 opponents' batting average.
BEARS vs. RANKED OPPONENTS
Wednesday is Baylor's 28th game this season against ranked opponents. The Bears have posted a 18-9 record against nationally ranked opponents, including an 9-2 mark against teams ranked in the top 10. Only two other teams in Baylor history have won more than nine games against ranked teams, let alone against top-10 opponents.
Earlier this season, the Bears established school records with nine consecutive wins against ranked teams and seven consecutive wins against top-10 teams.
Prior to this season, Baylor had defeated the nation's top-ranked team a total of three times. The 2005 Bears are 4-0 against top-ranked opponents, sweeping then-No. 1 Texas in March and defeating top-ranked Tulane at the College World Series.
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. Baylor also has matched the 2003 Bears' school record for wins against teams ranked in the top 10. 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 23-19 all-time in televised games, including an 8-4 mark this season. Baylor has posted wins against Clemson (twice), Texas (twice), Nebraska, Oregon State, Texas A&M and Tulane on television this season with losses to Clemson, Nebraska, Texas and Texas Tech.
Baylor is 6-4 all-time in ESPN network games, 4-2 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 19-13 in televised games under head coach Steve Smith. The 2005 Bears have established a school record with 11 televised games. Baylor played seven televised games in 2000 and in 2003.
LATE-SEASON BLOOMERS
Baylor has posted a 38-16 record since starting the season 8-7. The Bears have been especially strong down the stretch, going 27-11 since April 8. This year's team has established a Baylor record for wins after May 1 (17). The 2005 squad also has established a Baylor record for most wins after April 1 (29), breaking the previous mark of 24 established by the 1999 team.
Baylor is 40-21 in the months of May and June over the past three seasons.
THANKS FOR THE ASSIST
Through 69 games, Baylor already has established a single-season school record for team assists with 789. 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 17th-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 216 assists this season and needs 28 assists to reach the Big 12 Conference record set by Texas' Todd West in 2000.
1B Kyle Reynolds returned to first base Monday and broke Baylor's single-season putouts record; he now has 560 in 58 games. Mike Huggins held the previous school mark -- 547 in 2002.
Chase Gerdes recorded the 15th assist by a Baylor outfielder Monday when he threw out Oregon State's Ryan Gipson at home. It was Gerdes' first outfield assist this year and the fifth time a Baylor outfielder has throw out a runner at home this season.
Kevin Sevigny leads all Baylor outfielders with a career-high nine assists. 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.
