Feb. 25, 2010

COMPLETE GAME NOTES | TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

GAMES 5-7 • FEB. 26-28• BAYLOR BALLPARK• WACO, TEXAS

BAYLOR (3-1) HOSTS FIFTH-ANNUAL QTI BAYLOR CLASSIC

FRIDAY: 2:00 p.m. CSTvs. Texas State -- McDonald's Family Four Pack

SATURDAY: 1:00 p.m. vs. Texas A&M -- Baylor Beanie Giveaway (first 500)

SUNDAY: 1:00 p.m. vs. Western Kentucky -- Family Sunday

Baylor returns to action this weekend, hosting the fifth-annual QTI Baylor Classic at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears face Texas State at 2:00 p.m. CST Friday, Texas A&M in a non-conference game at 1 p.m. Saturday and Western €ˆKentucky at 1 p.m. Sunday. Other games in the event are Texas A&M vs. Western Kentucky at 6 p.m. Friday, Western Kentucky vs. Texas State at 6 p.m. Saturday and Texas State vs. Texas A&M at 5 p.m. Sunday.

The Bears (3-1) haven't played since defeating 22nd-ranked Georgia on Sunday. Baylor was scheduled to play No. 11 TCU on Wednesday, but snow in the Waco area forced the game to be postponed until April 28. The Bears are unranked in the four major polls, but are receiving votes in the NCBWA Top 30.

Texas State (3-0) started the 2010 season hot with a three-game sweep at Houston last weekend. The Bobcats will be returning to the diamond for the first time since Sunday because their midweek game at Rice was postponed. Texas State entered the season with high expectations after returning 19 letterwinners from last year's team that went 41-17 and won the Southland Conference. Like Baylor, Texas State is unranked in any of the four major polls, but the Bobcats are receiving votes in the NCBWA Top 30.

Texas A&M (3-1) opened the 2010 season with a three-game sweep of Seton Hall in College Station, but lost to Stephen F. Austin, 7-6, in midweek action. The Aggies return 17 letterwinners from last season's 37-24 squad. Texas A&M was ranked No. 1 in the nation in the Baseball America preseason poll a year ago, but the Aggies finished sixth in the Big 12. They went 1-2 at the NCAA €ˆFort Worth Regional. Texas A&M is ranked 28th in the NCBWA €ˆTop 30 and 29th in the Collegiate Baseball Top 30. The Aggies are unranked by Baseball America and are receiving votes in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll.

Western Kentucky (2-1) rebounded from dropping the season opener to take two of three from Kent State last weekend. The Hilltoppers will be playing for first time since then because their midweek game at Belmont was postponed. Western Kentucky won a share of the Sun Belt Conference regular season title last season, and the Hilltoppers fell one win short of taking the NCAA €ˆOxford Regional championship.

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, the official website of Baylor Athletics and a member of the CBS College Sports Network.

Live streaming video also is available for Saturday's game between Baylor and Texas A&M. For more information, follow the Baylor All-Access link at www.BaylorBears.com.

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS (2010 STATISTICS)

FRIDAY

Baylor: RHP Shawn Tolleson, Jr. (1-0, 4.50 ERA, 6.0 IP, 3 BB, 11 K)

Texas State: RHP Michael Russo, Sr. (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.0 IP, 2 BB, 4 K)

SATURDAY

Baylor: RHP Logan Verrett, So. (0-1, 7.71 ERA, 7.0 IP, 1 BB, 5 K)

Texas A&M: RHP Ross Stripling, So. (1-0, 4.50 ERA, 5.0 IP, 1 BB, 3 K)

SUNDAY
Baylor: RHP Willie Kempf, Sr. (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.0 IP, 4 BB, 3 K)
Western Kentucky: RHP Shane Cameron, Sr. (0-0, 3.86 ERA, 4.2 IP, 2 BB, 3 K)

QTI €ˆBAYLOR €ˆCLASSIC €ˆSCHEDULE

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26
Texas State at Baylor, 2:00 p.m.
Texas A&M vs. Western Kentucky, 6:00 p.m.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY €ˆ27
Texas A&M at Baylor, 1:00 p.m.
Western Kentucky vs. Texas State, 5:00 p.m.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY €ˆ28
Western Kentucky at Baylor, 1:00 p.m.
Texas State vs. Texas A&M, 5:00 p.m.

NOTE: Home team listed second

SERIES INFORMATION

Baylor vs. Texas State

Overall: Baylor leads 42-16
Waco: Baylor leads 31-12
San Marcos: Baylor leads 10-3
Smith vs. Texas State: 28-11
First Meeting: March 26, 1919

Baylor vs. Texas A&M

Overall: Texas A&M leads 147-114-1
Waco: Baylor leads 73-69
College Station: Texas A&M leads 71-37-1
Neutral Site: Baylor leads 6-5
Smith vs. Texas A&M: 25-26
First Meeting: April 9, 1094

Baylor vs. Western Kentucky

Overall: Baylor leads 2-0
Waco: Baylor leads 2-0
Bowling Green: Never Met
Smith vs. Western Kentucky: 0-0
First Meeting: March 12, 1987

COACHES

BAYLOR: Steve Smith

Alma Mater:: Baylor, 1986

Career Record: 555-364-1 [16th season]

Record at Baylor: 555-364-1 [16th season]

TEXAS STATE: Ty Harrington

Alma Mater: Texas, 1989

Career Record: 340-252 [11th season]

Record at Texas State: 340-252 [11th season]

TEXAS A&M: Rob Childress

Alma Mater: Northwood, 1990

Career Record: 159-93 [fifth season]

Record at Texas A&M: 159-93 [fifth season]

WESTERN KENTUCKY: Chris Finwood

Alma Mater: VMI, 1988

Career Record: 176-205 [eighth season]

Record at Western Kentucky: 124-108 [fifth season]

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: www.BaylorBears.com

QUICK NOTES

PLAYER NOTES

QTI BAYLOR CLASSIC HISTORY

This is the fifth year of the QTI Baylor Classic (formerly the Quala-T Imprints Baylor Classic). Past winners of the event were Louisiana Tech (2006), Mississippi State (2007) and Baylor (2008, 2009). In 2008, Baylor became the first team to go undefeated in the event; the Bears and the winning team were 2-1 in each of the first two classics, and the Bears again went undefeated last season.

In 2006, Baylor and Louisiana Tech met in the event's finale to determine the champion; the Bulldogs jumped out to an 8-0 lead with a five-run first and a three-run second and never looked back en route to a 12-4 victory. Louisiana Tech finished 2-1, while Michigan and Pacific both finished 1-2. Baylor's Drew Bias, Zach Dillon, Seth Fortenberry, Tim €ˆJackson, Kevin Russo and Cory VanAllen earned all-tournament honors, while Louisiana Tech's Jericho Jones was named MVP.

In 2007, the champion was determined by virtue of the Saturday game between Baylor and Mississippi State. The Bears scored three runs in the sixth to take a 6-4 lead, but MSU recaptured the lead with a three-run seventh and added a run in the ninth for an 8-6 victory. Mississippi State finished 2-1, while San Francisco and Winthrop both finished 1-2. Baylor's Ben Booker, Chase Gerdes, Tim Jackson and Jeff Mandel earned all-tournament honors. Mandel was named Most Outstanding Pitcher, while Mississippi State's Edward Easley was named Most Outstanding Player.

In 2008, Baylor posted wins over Illinois (20-6), Illinois-Chicago (5-4) and Stephen F. Austin (4-3) to win the event. Illinois-Chicago was 2-1 on the weekend, while SFA was 1-2 and Illinois was 0-3. Baylor's Ben Booker, Dustin Dickerson, Erik Forestiere, Shaver Hansen, Aaron Miller, Kendal Volz, Landis Ware and Beamer Weems earned all-tournament honors. Miller, who hit three home runs in the Bears' game against Illinois, was named MVP.

Last season, Baylor knocked off South Alabama (14-4), UC Irvine (4-3) and UAB (11-8) to sweep the tournament. UC Irvine finished 2-1, while UAB went 1-2 and South Alabama dropped all three games. Baylor came away with an easy victory over South Alabama, then defeated No. 5 UC Irvine on Dickerson's walk-off single. The Bears capped the weekend by rallying from down 7-0 to beat UAB 11-8.

Aaron Miller was named the event's MVP for the second consecutive season. He was joined on the all-tournament team by Volz, Logan €ˆVerrett, Dickerson, Hansen, and Joey Hainsfurther.

TOLLESON NAMED BIG 12 CO-PITCHER OF THE WEEK AFTER OPENING WEEKEND

Baylor senior right-handed pitcher Shawn Tolleson was named Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Co-Pitcher of the Week following games of the season's opening weekend, in voting by a panel of media covering the conference.

Tolleson struck out 11 Duke batters in 6.0 innings in his opening-day start for Baylor. He allowed three runs in the first inning, but bounced back to limit the Blue Devils to just two hits over the next five frames on his way to earning the win.

The Fairview, Texas native escaped a jam in the third inning when Duke had a pair of runners in scoring position with one out. Tolleson struck out each of the next two batters, starting a string of seven consecutive outs recorded by strikeout. Ten of the final 12 outs he recorded came via strikeout, with the two exceptions coming on a groundout and a caught stealing.

With 11 strikeouts, the junior right-hander fell one short of his career high, when he struck out 11 in a four-hit shutout of Kansas State in 2008.

It's the second time Tolleson has been named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week. He was also honored on March 17, 2008, after turning in a two-hit shutout against 23rd-ranked Oklahoma State. This time, Tolleson shares the honor with Texas Tech's Chad Bettis.

KEMPF NAMED TO CB360's FIRST PRIMETIME PERFORMER WEEKLY HONOR ROLL

Baylor senior right-handed pitcher Willie Kempf was one of 20 student-athletes across the nation selected to the inaugural Primetime Performer Weekly Honor Roll, presented by CollegeBaseball360.com.

A native of Castroville, Texas, Kempf was honored for his performance in the Bears' win over 22nd-ranked Georgia on Sunday. Making his first start of the season, Kempf held the Bulldogs to just an unearned run in 6.0 innings on his way to earning the victory.

Kempf allowed one hit in each of his six innings of work, but the only two Georgia baserunners to advance past second base did so after advancing from first to third on errant pickoff attempts. The win over Georgia gave the Bears a 3-1 record in QTI Apparel's Opening Weekend Classic.

CB360 names student-athletes to the Honor Roll based on "primetime" criteria. Players are considered for selection on strength of opponents, clutch performances and team leadership.

MIDWEEK €ˆPREVIEW

Baylor continues its season-opening homestand with midweek games against BYU and Louisiana Tech. The Bears take on €ˆBYU €ˆon Tuesday, and then return to action to face Louisiana Tech on Wednesday. Both games are slated for 6:30 p.m. CST.

BAYLOR-BYU SERIES €ˆHISTORY

Baylor and BYU met for the first time in 2009. Landis Ware scored on a two-out passed ball in the ninth inning to give the Bears a 7-6 walk-off win in a rare Monday game on February 23, 2009 at Baylor Ballpark.

BAYLOR vs. THE €ˆMOUNTAIN WEST €ˆCONFERENCE

Baylor is 143-107 all-time against programs currently in the Mountain West Conference. The vast majority of that was against TCU (135-105). Baylor also has played Air Force (2-0), BYU (1-0) and San Diego State (5-2).

BAYLOR-LOUISIANA €ˆTECH SERIES €ˆHISTORY

Baylor and Louisiana Tech have met five times, and the Bears hold a 3-2 advantage in the all-time series. Louisiana Tech leads 2-1 in games played in Waco, while the Bears have won both neutral site meetings. The last time the two programs met was in 2008, when the Techsters came to Waco for a pair of midweek games. Baylor dropped the first game 9-6, but came back to win 7-6 the following day.

BAYLOR vs. THE €ˆWESTERN ATHLETIC €ˆCONFERENCE

Louisiana Tech is the only team Baylor has played from the Western Athletic Conference. The Bears are 3-2 all-time against the Techsters.