 vs.  |
Baylor (4-5) vs. Oral Roberts (1-3)
Waco, Texas | Baylor Ballpark (5,000)
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FRI., MARCH 5 | 6:30 P.M.
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Probable Starters:BU - RHP Shawn Tolleson
1-0, 3.75 ERA, 12.0 IP, 17 K
ORU - RHP Seth Furmanek0-0, 2.25 ERA, 4.0 IP, 2 K | 
| SAT., MARCH 6 | 1 P.M.
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| SAT., MARCH 6 | 4:30 P.M.
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| SUN., MARCH 6 | 1 P.M.
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Baylor looks to snap a four-game losing streak when it takes on Oral €ˆRoberts for a four-game set this weekend. The Bears and Golden €ˆEagles meet at 6:30 p.m. Friday, and then play a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The series finale is slated for Sunday at 1 p.m.
Oral €ˆRoberts enters the weekend with a 1-3 record. The Golden €ˆEagles dropped a pair of one-run games while being swept at Florida International in their first weekend series, but they rebounded to knock off Central €ˆArkansas with a 10th-inning walk-off double on Tuesday.
The Bears are trying to rebound from a pair of midweek losses. Baylor lost to BYU, 7-5, on Tuesday, and it gave up eight runs over the final three innings in a 14-6 loss to Louisiana Tech on Wednesday. The Bears had started the season 4-1 before losing to Texas A&M and Western Kentucky in their last two games in the QTI €ˆBaylor Classic last weekend.
All Baylor baseball games are broadcast live on Waco's 1660 ESPN Radio. The Saturday games against Oral Roberts have been shifted to 104.9 FM, due to conflicting times with the Baylor men's basketball broadcast. 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 is available for the series opener against Oral Roberts. For more information, follow the Baylor All-Access link at www.BaylorBears.com.
SERIES INFORMATION
ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES
Overall: Oral Roberts leads 17-15
Waco: Series Tied 11-11
Tulsa: Oral Roberts leads 6-3
Neutral Site: Never Met
Smith vs. ORU: 8-6
First Meeting: 4/21/1978
Last Meeting: 3/12/2008
COACHES
BAYLOR: Steve Smith
Alma Mater: Baylor, 1986
Career Record: 556-368-1 (16th season)
Record at Baylor: 556-368-1 (16th season)
ORAL ROBERTS: Rob Walton
Career Record: 255-100 (seventh season)
Record at ORU: 255-100 (seventh season)
BAYLOR-ISP SPORTS NETWORK
1660 ESPN RADIO (Waco)
Tom Barfield (pxp) and Lark Smith (color)
BAYLOR-ORAL ROBERTS SERIES HISTORY
Baylor and Oral €ˆRoberts have met 32 times and the Golden Eagles hold a 17-15 advantage in the all-time series. Baylor is 8-6 against ORU in the Steve Smith era, and the Bears have a split 11-11 record in home games against the Eagles. Baylor has an 8-4 record against Oral Roberts in games at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears last played Oral Roberts in 2008, when they traveled to Tulsa, Okla. from Starkville, Miss. Though the Bears came in hot after sweeping Mississippi State in Starkville, they dropped both games against the Golden Eagles.
BAYLOR vs. THE €ˆSUMMIT LEAGUE
Baylor is 19-19 all-time in games against teams currently in the Summit League. The Bears have played only Oral Roberts (15-17) and Centenary (4-2).
LAST TIME VS. ORU
ORAL ROBERTS 7, BAYLOR 6 • MARCH €ˆ11, 2008 • J.L. JOHNSON STADIUM • TULSA, OKLA.
A wild pitch and an error on the same pitch led to a pair of runs as No. 10 Baylor baseball dropped a 7-6 decision at Oral Roberts. It was the first one-run loss of the season for Baylor (11-2) in eight such games. The loss also snapped Baylor's three-game road winning streak.
Trailing 6-5 with two outs and a runner at first in the bottom of the eighth, Oral Roberts (9-2) got a single from pinch hitter Kolby Price to put runners on the corners, and a wild pitch allowed Price to reach second. Craig Fritsch's pay-off pitch to Juan Martinez missed low and away and skipped off the shin guard of a sliding Gregg Glime, allowing David Genao to race home from third. Glime chased down the ball and flipped to Fritsch at the plate in an attempt to get Genao, but Glime's throw was high and that allowed Price to score the winning run.
That made a winner Carlos Luna (3-0), who held Baylor scoreless with one strikeout over 0.2 innings of relief work; he was the fifth of six pitchers on the night for Oral Roberts. T.J. Kelly allowed a two-out walk in a scoreless ninth for his second save of the season.
Fritsch (1-1) took the loss, allowing two runs, one earned, on two hits and one walk with three strikeouts over 1.2 innings. The loss spoiled a strong start from Tim Matthews, who allowed only a pair of unearned runs on three hits and a walk with five strikeouts over 6.0 innings.
Baylor led 5-0 after the top of the sixth. The Bears got a run in the first on Adam Hornung's sacrifice fly and added three runs on three hits and an Oral Roberts error in the third. Shaver Hansen pushed the Bears lead to 5-0 with an RBI single in the sixth.
However, ORU battled back with a pair of unearned runs on two hits and a Baylor error in the sixth. Reliever Erik Forestiere allowed three consecutive hits to start the seventh, all of which eventually scored to tie the game at 5-5. Glime's RBI single in the top of the eighth gave Baylor a 6-5 lead, but the Bears stranded runners at second and third.
Hansen finished 4-for-4 on the night; it was the fourth game of his career with at least four hits.
ORAL ROBERTS 12, BAYLOR 2 • MARCH €ˆ12, 2008 • J.L. JOHNSON STADIUM • TULSA, OKLA.
No. 10 Baylor baseball suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season as the Bears fell at Oral Roberts 12-2. Oral Roberts (10-2) swept the two-game midweek set after a 7-6 victory the previous night. Baylor (11-3) ended its longest road trip of the season 3-2.
Brian Van Kirk's three-run home run capped a six-run second inning for ORU. The Golden Eagles added two runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth.
The Bears did not get on the board until the seventh, scoring two runs on two hits and two walks. Aaron Miller had the lone run-scoring hit in the game, a two-run double. ORU added an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh to cap the scoring.
Baylor starter Wade Mackey (2-1) was saddled with the loss, allowing six runs on seven hits and no walks with one strikeout over 1.2 innings.
Stephen Barnes (1-0), the first of five ORU pitchers, earned the victory in a predetermined three-inning start. Barnes scattered three hits and a walk and did not allow a run.
Miller was 4-for-5 with three doubles, while Dustin Dickerson and Shaver Hansen both turned in two-hit games. Hansen extended his career-long hitting streak to nine games.
QUICK NOTES
• Baylor is in the middle of a 17-game homestand to start the 2010 season.
• The Baylor pitching staff has posted a 3.00 ERA in weekend games.
• Baylor's pitching staff is tied for second in the Big 12 with four saves. Texas Tech leads with five.
• The Bears have won 30 consecutive games when leading after eight innings since squandering a six-run, ninth-inning lead against Texas A&M in the 2008 series finale €ˆ(April 20).
• Baylor's 4-5 start to the season is its worst since 2004 when it started 4-11. However, the 2005 Bears that went to Omaha were only one game better at 5-4 through the season's first nine game.
PLAYER NOTES
• True freshman Logan €ˆVick hit safely in his first eight games at Baylor. He hit leadoff in all eight of those games, but went hitless for the first time when moved to the three-spot, though he walked twice and scored two runs.
• RHP Shawn Tolleson was named Phillip 66 Big 12 Baseball Co-Pitcher of the Week for games in the season's first weekend. It was the second time Tolleson has won a Big 12 Pitcher of the Week award.
• RHP Willie Kempf was selected to the inaugural CollegeBaseball360.com Primetime Performer Weekly Honor Roll following his win over No. 22 Georgia in the finale of QTI Apparel's Opening Weekend Classic.
• Raynor Campbell is tied for 14th in the Big 12 with a .379 batting average. Max Muncy is 16th at .378.
• Muncy is tied for fourth in the league in hits (14), tied for third in home runs (3) and tied for ninth in RBI (9).
• Muncy is also tied for fifth in total bases (23).
• Campbell is tied for second in the league with four stolen bases.
• Cal Towey and Vick are tied for seventh in the league with seven walks.
• Logan Verrett is in a four-way tie for the Big 12 lead with 14.0 innings pitched.
• Tolleson is third in the Big 12 with 17 strikeouts, while Verrett is tied for ninth with 12 Ks.
• Brooks Pinckard is tied for second in the Big 12 with three saves.
MIDWEEK €ˆPREVIEW
Baylor continues its season-opening 17-game homestand with a rematch against Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs knocked off the Bears 14-6 on Wednesday. Louisiana Tech jumped out to an early 6-0 lead, and after Baylor cut the deficit to one at 6-5, the Bulldogs pulled away with eight runs over the final three innings.
BAYLOR-LOUISIANA TECH SERIES €ˆHISTORY
Baylor and Louisiana Tech have met six times, and the teams have an even 3-3 record in the all-time series. Louisiana Tech leads 3-1 in games played in Waco, while the Bears have won both neutral site meetings. The last time the two programs met before this season was in 2008, when the Bulldogs 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 CONFERENCE
Louisiana Tech is the only team Baylor has played from the Western Athletic Conference. The Bears are 3-3 all-time against the Bulldogs.
LAST TIME VS. LOUISIANA TECH
LOUISIANA TECH 14, BAYLOR 6 • MARCH €ˆ3, 2010 • BAYLOR BALLPARK • WACO, TEXAS
Louisiana Tech jumped out to an early 6-0 lead, and after Baylor closed the deficit to one, the Bulldogs pulled away with eight runs over the last three innings on their way to a 14-6 victory at Baylor Ballpark.
The loss was the fourth straight for Baylor (4-5), while Louisiana Tech improved to 6-2 on the season.
Baylor starter Craig Fritsch (0-1) took the loss after allowing six runs - five of which were earned - on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 5.0 innings.
Louisiana Tech jumped out to an early lead when Clint Stubbs led off the third inning with a triple and scored on Clint Ewing's RBI groundout.
One inning later, Joey Ford knocked a Grand Slam over the wall in left-center field, and Louisiana Tech added an unearned run to take a 6-0 lead going to the bottom of the fourth.
Baylor nearly overcame the deficit with the help of a pair of homers. Max Muncy drilled his third homer of the year - a two-run shot in the fourth, and after Brooks Pinckard led off the bottom of the fifth with a double, Raynor Campbell knocked a two-run home run to cut the deficit to 6-4.
LTU starter Trevor Petersen then walked Logan Vick, and the Bulldogs called on Caleb Dudley out of the bullpen. Dudley struggled, giving up a single to Muncy and a walk to Jon Ringenberg, and he was pulled from the game in favor of Jeb Stefan.
With the bases loaded and one out, Jake Miller drove in Tyler Vick with a sacrifice fly to get the Bears within one, but Baylor couldn't push any more runs across.
Muncy finished the game 3-for-5 with one run and two RBI, giving him his second three-hit game in as many nights. Campbell went 2-for-5, scored once and drove in a pair of runs.
The Bulldogs added two runs in the seventh off reliever Josh Turley, and Ewing led off the eighth with a solo homer off Kolt Browder, giving Louisiana Tech a 9-5 lead.
Joey Hainsfurther came on in relief to start the ninth, making his first pitching appearance of the season. The Bulldogs tagged Hainsfurther for five insurance runs - three of which were earned - extending their lead to 14-5.
The Bears added on a run in the ninth when Don Lambert connected on a two-out triple and came home on a wild pitch, but Stefan got Miller to ground out to end the game.
Stefan(1-2) got the win by allowing just one run on four hits in 5.0 innings of relief. Alex Williams and Devon Dageford both went 2-for-4 and scored twice to lead the Louisiana Tech offense.
