March 26, 2007
WACO, Texas -- Baylor baseball returns to action Tuesday, March 27, traveling to Arlington, Texas, for a midweek game at Texas-Arlington. First pitch between the Bears and the Mavericks is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CDT at Clay Gould Ballpark on the UTA campus. This is the second of three scheduled meetings between Baylor (15-11) and UTA (9-18) this season; the Bears defeated the Mavericks 9-7 in 10 innings at Baylor Ballpark earlier this season.
The Bears have won three of their last four, including taking two of three against Texas Tech at home over the weekend. Baylor is hitting .387 as a team over the last four games. Unranked in this week's Baseball America Top 25, the Bears are among teams receiving votes in this week's USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll.
The Mavericks have lost nine straight after being swept at home by Texas State over the weekend. UTA also has lost two games to TCU and three games at Lamar during the current slide. The Mavericks are unranked in all four major polls.
Baylor and UTA have played three common opponents this season - Houston, Texas and Texas State. The Bears are 1-4 against those three teams, while the Mavericks are 0-5.
This is the 99th all-time meeting between Baylor and UTA; Baylor holds a 70-28 advantage in the series, including a 27-16 advantage in games played at Arlington. The Bears have won each of the last six meetings and are 24-8 against the Mavericks during head coach Steve Smith's tenure.
Freshman right-hander Wade Mackey (1-0, 1.26 ERA) is scheduled to make his fourth start of the season Tuesday. Mackey has allowed 12 hits and three walks with 13 strikeouts over 14.1 innings in five appearances this season; opponents are hitting .226 against Mackey.
After Tuesday's game, Baylor travels to Stillwater, Okla., for the weekend, facing 14th-ranked Oklahoma State for a three-game Big 12 Conference series.
