Bears Face Another Full Midweek

April 21, 2008

GAME 41 • APRIL 22 • BAYLOR BALLPARK • WACO, TEXAS

BAYLOR (23-17) vs. TEXAS (23-16) CBS COLLEGE SPORTS TV

TUESDAY: 7:00 p.m. CDT -- Presented by Time Warner Cable; Baylor replica Gold jersey T-shirt first 500 fans

GAME 42 • APRIL 23 • BOBCAT FIELD • SAN MARCOS, TEXAS

BAYLOR vs. TEXAS STATE (23-14)

WEDNESDAY: 6:00 p.m. CDT

Baylor plays two midweek games for the fifth consecutive week. The Bears host Texas for a 7 p.m. CDT first pitch Tuesday at Baylor Ballpark; the game will be televised nationally on CBS College Sports (formerly CSTV). Wednesday, the Bears travel to San Marcos, Texas, for a 6 p.m. first pitch against Texas State at Bobcat Field.

The Bears (23-17) have lost four straight for the first time since a five-game skid in May, 2006, after being swept by 19th-ranked Texas A&M over the weekend. Baylor is 4-6 in its last 10 games. The Bears are 17-6 at home and 6-11 on the road, all coming on opponents' home fields. Baylor is 6-7 in midweek games, including an 0-4 mark in midweek road games. The Bears are among teams receiving votes in this week's USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll.

Texas (23-16) also has lost four straight after being swept at home by 18th-ranked Oklahoma State over the weekend. The Longhorns also lost to UT Arlington 4-3 at home last Wednesday. Texas is 3-7 in its last 10 games, losing six of its last seven. The Longhorns are 9-6 on the road this season, including a 7-4 record on opponents' home fields. Texas is among teams receiving votes in this week's USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll and ranked 25th in the NCBWA Top 30.

Baylor and Texas have played nine common opponents this season -- Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oral Roberts, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas Southern, UT Arlington and UTSA. The Bears are 9-9 against those nine teams, while the Longhorns have posted an 11-9 record against those teams. Baylor is 6-6 against the four Big 12 teams; Texas is 5-7.

Texas State (23-14) has won five straight after sweeping Central Arkansas at home over the weekend. The Bobcats, who play Tuesday night at Texas A&M, are 6-4 in their last 10 games. Texas State is 15-6 at home this season.

Baylor and Texas State have played five common opponents this season -- Illinois, Stephen F. Austin, TCU, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and UT Arlington. The Bears are 4-2 against those five teams, while the Bobcats are 4-3.

All Baylor baseball games are broadcast live on Waco's 1660 ESPN Radio. Live streaming audio and GameTracker also are available for all Baylor baseball games online at www.BaylorBears.com. Live streaming video also is available for the Texas game.

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS

TUESDAY

Baylor: RHP Wade Mackey, So. (2-2, 6.47 ERA, 32.0 IP, 12 BB, 22 K)

Texas: RHP Kenn Kasparek, Sr. (1-3, 5.70 ERA, 36.1 IP, 13 BB, 37 K)

WEDNESDAY

Baylor: TBA

Texas State: RHP Kane Holbrooks, Jr. (2-3, 6.94 ERA, 35.0 IP, 15 BB, 39 K)

THE TEXAS SERIES

Overall: Texas leads 221-97-4

Waco: Texas leads 86-55-3

Austin: Texas leads 128-31-1

Neutral Site: Baylor leads 11-7

Smith vs. Texas: 25-25

First Meeting: at Texas 13, Baylor 1 [4/4/1903]

Last Meeting: Texas 8, at Baylor 3 [3/18/2007]

THE TEXAS STATE SERIES

Overall Record: Baylor leads 39-14

Waco: Baylor leads 32-11

San Marcos: Baylor leads 7-3

Neutral Site: Never Met

Smith vs. Texas State: 26-9

First Meeting: result unknown [3/26/1919]

Last Meeting: Baylor 13, at Texas State 4 [4/24/2007]

TELEVISION

CBS COLLEGE SPORTS

Tom Hart, play-by-play

Royce Clayton, color

BAYLOR/ISP SPORTS NETWORK

1660 ESPN RADIO (Waco)

Tom Barfield, play-by-play

Lark Smith, color

INTERNET FEEDS

GameTracker: www.BaylorBears.com

Audio: www.BaylorBears.com

Video (Tuesday only): www.BaylorBears.com

BAYLOR vs. TEXAS

Baylor and Texas meet for the 323rd time Tuesday; this the most-played series in Baylor baseball history. The Longhorns hold a 221-97-4 advantage in the all-time series, which dates back to an 11-1 Texas victory April 4, 1903.

Texas leads the series both in games played in Waco (86-55-3) and at Austin (128-31-1). However, the Bears hold an 11-7 advantage in neutral-site meetings. The series is tied 25-25 during head coach Steve Smith's tenure.

Baylor is 20-22 against Texas since the inception of the Big 12 Conference in 1997, but Baylor holds a 17-16 edge in regular-season meetings during that time. The Bears are 3-6 against the Longhorns in postseason meetings since 1997.

Baylor and Texas have met 13 times over the past three seasons; neither team has played any other team more times in that span. The Bears won the first four of those meetings, sweeping the 2005 regular-season series and eliminating the Longhorns from the Big 12 Championship. However, Texas has won nine straight since then, defeating Baylor twice at the 2005 College World Series, sweeping the 2006 regular-season series, defeating the Bears at the 2006 Big 12 Championship and sweeping last year's regular-season series.

Six of the last nine regular-season meetings between Baylor and Texas have been decided by two runs or less, including five one-run game.

BAYLOR-TEXAS GAME FEATURES RARITIES

This is the first time the teams have played a regular-season, non-conference game since 1914, the year prior to the inception of the Southwest Conference. ... This is the first time Baylor and Texas have played each other when neither team was ranked in the Baseball America Top 25 since the Bears won two-of-three against the Longhorns in 1997. Since then, the teams have played 26 games with both teams ranked by Baseball America. This is the first time Baylor has played an unranked Texas team since defeating the Longhorns 8-2 at the 1999 Big 12 Tournament.

BAYLOR vs. TEXAS STATE

This is the 55th meeting between Baylor and Texas State; the Bears hold a 40-14 advantage in the all-time series, including a 7-3 advantage in games played at San Marcos. Baylor is 26-9 against Texas State during head coach Steve Smith's tenure. The Bears have won seven straight meetings since a 12-0 loss at San Marcos in 2005.

STREAKS AND TIDBITS

Baylor tallied 22 hits in Sunday's series finale against Texas A&M. It was the most hits by a Baylor team in a Big 12 game since the Bears had 23 hits in a 23-18 loss at home to Missouri in 2003; that hit total was the most ever by a Baylor team in a Big 12 game. ... Baylor was out-homered 15-4 in five games last week. ... The Bears have hit seven first-inning home runs this season, the most by a Baylor squad since the 2003 Bears had 17 first-inning homers. ... 3B Shaver Hansen's leadoff homer against Texas A&M in Sunday's series finale was the second by a Bear this season; OF Ben Booker also led off the second Louisiana Tech game with a homer. It marks the first time Baylor has hit more than one leadoff homer in the same season since hitting five leadoff homers in 2003. ... Hansen has hit safely in 17 consecutive non-conference games, including 11 straight midweek contests. ... 1B/LF Adam Hornung has hit safely in 16 straight home games. He used a home run in each of the last two home games to extend that streak. ... After hitting .172 (11-for-64) in the season's first 20 games, SS Beamer Weems is hitting .324 (24-for-74) over the last 19 games. Weems also leads the team with a .378 average (14-for-37) over the last 11 games.

CARDIAC KIDS

After going 4-5 in one-run games last season, Baylor has reversed its fortunes in such games this year with a 10-7 mark. However, the Bears are 3-7 in their last 10 one-run games after opening the season 7-0 in such games.

Baylor's 10 one-run wins and its 17 one-run games are the most by a Baylor team since the 2005 squad was 15-8, establishing a school record for one-run wins. In 2004, Baylor established school records for one-run one-run losses with a 7-16 mark.

Baylor has won two games in its final at bat -- the season-opener against Purdue and the series opener against Kansas. However, the Bears have lost seven games in their opponents' final at bat, including four in Big 12 play.

WEEKEND PREVIEW

Baylor plays its final full home Big 12 Conference series of the season this weekend, hosting eighth-ranked Nebraska. The Bears and the Huskers meet Friday at 6:30 p.m. CDT, Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. Saturday's game will be televised nationally on Fox College Sports.

Bears Face Another Full Midweek

Players Mentioned

Ben Booker

Shaver Hansen

Adam Hornung

Wade Mackey

Beamer Weems

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Bears Face Another Full Midweek

Related News

Players Mentioned

Ben Booker

Shaver Hansen

Adam Hornung

Wade Mackey

Beamer Weems

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Promotional Background Photo

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