April 11, 2011

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Baylor (18-15) at UT Arlington (17-15) April 12, 2011 | 6:30 p.m. CST Arlington, Texas | Clay Gould Ballpark (1,600) PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS (2011 STATISTICS) Baylor: TBA UTA: TBA

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Complete Game Notes in PDF Format

Baylor's baseball team takes on UT Arlington at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Clay Gould Ballpark in Arlington. The Bears look for their fifth straight win against the Mavericks, including a 6-1 victory on March 22 earlier this season.

Baylor dropped a two of three games against No. 8 Texas last weekend. The Bears also lost a midweek game at Sam Houston State, 3-2 in 10 innings. Baylor is looking to snap a three-game losing streak in midweek games; the Bears' last midweek win came against UTA on March 22.

All Baylor baseball games are broadcast live on Waco's 1660 ESPN Radio. Live streaming audio and GameTracker 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 most weekend games at Baylor Ballpark. Friday's game against Texas A&M will be streamed live. Friday's series opener in Waco is slated for 6:30 p.m., and the final two games of the series will be played in College Station, with Saturday's game at 6:35 p.m. and Sunday's series finale at 1:05 p.m.

SERIES INFORMATION

UT ARLINGTON
Overall: Baylor leads 77-29
Waco: Baylor leads 47-12
Arlington: Baylor leads 30-17
Neutral Site: Never Met

Steve Smith vs. UTA: 31-9

COACHES

BAYLOR: Steve Smith

Alma Mater: Baylor, 1986

Career Record: 606-402-1 (17th season)

Record at Baylor: 606-402-1 (17th season)

UT ARLINGTON: Darin Thomas

Career Record: 102-103 (fourth season)

Record at UTA: 102-103 (fourth season)

BAYLOR-IMG COLLEGE SPORTS NETWORK

Online at www.BaylorBears.com

Tom Barfield (pxp) and Lark Smith (color)

BAYLOR VS. UT ARLINGTON SERIES HISTORY
Baylor is 77-29 all-time against UT €ˆArlington. €ˆThe Bears are 30-17 against UTA €ˆin games played in Arlington, including last season's 5-4 win in 10 innings. Baylor knocked off UTA €ˆ6-1 on March 22 this season, giving the Bears their fourth straight win in the series.

BAYLOR VS. SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE
Baylor is 305-135-1 all-time against teams currently playing as members of the Southland Conference. Baylor has nine games scheduled against teams from the Southland in 2011, and BU is 2-4 so far in those games. Baylor beat UT €ˆArlington, split a pair of games against Texas State and lost to UTSA, Lamar and Sam Houston State. The Bears have played Lamar (41-29-1), McNeese State (8-7), Nicholls State (7-2), Northwestern State (11-7), Sam €ˆHouston State (57-39), Stephen F. Austin (27-0), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (5-0), Texas State (45-18), UT Arlington (77-29) and UTSA (27-4).

PINCKARD FASTER THAN 105 DIVISION I TEAMS
When NCAA baseball statistics were released on Tuesday, Brooks Pinckard was tied with SFA's €ˆBryon Miles for the national lead with 26 stolen bases. That total was more than 105 Division I teams, including No. 3 South Carolina, No. 9 Fresno State, No. 11 Stanford, No. 18 Southern Mississippi, No. 21 Alabama and No. 23 Oklahoma State.

Pinckard stole his 27th base of the season on Sunday, moving him into sole possession of eighth place on Baylor's single-season steals list. He needs 13 more to tie Mike Robison (40 in 1991) for the single-season record at Baylor, and he needs 15 more to tie Kansas' John Nelson (42 in 2000) for the Big 12 Conference single-season record.

CARDIAC CUBS WALKING OFF WITH WINS
Baylor has five walk-off wins in 2011 after recording only one such victory last season. Baylor's only walk-off win in 2010 came in its 50th game of the season, when Brooks Pinckard knocked a two-run single to clinch the Bears' spot in the Big 12 Championship by winning the series opener against Oklahoma State on May 21.

Baylor won seven games with runs in its final at-bat in 2010, but the Bears have already scored the winning runs in their final at-bat in six games this season.

• Jake Miller - 10th inning walk-off double vs. Oral Roberts (2/20)
• Max Muncy - 10th inning walk-off grand slam vs. Rice (3/6)
• Chris Slater - 11th inning walk-off single vs. Florida International (3/15)
• Josh Ludy - 9th inning walk-off single vs. Texas Tech (3/19)
• Chris Slater - 9th inning walk-off double vs. Kansas State (3/25)
• Jake Miller - 8th inning single vs. Kansas State (3/27)

COMEBACK WINS IN BUNCHES
Baylor has come from behind to win nine games in 2011, including overcoming a five-run deficit on March 15 against Florida International to give head coach €ˆSteve Smith his 600th career victory. The Bears trailed by multiple runs in seven of the nine comeback wins.

• vs. Oral Roberts (2/20) - trailed 4-2 in bottom 7th
• vs. Rice (3/6) - trailed 7-5 in bottom 7th
• vs. Louisiana Tech (3/12) - trailed 7-5 in bottom 4th
• vs. Florida Int'l. (3/15) - trailed 6-1 in bottom 5th
• vs. Texas Tech (3/19) - trailed 2-0 in bottom 1st
• vs. UT €ˆArlington (3/22) - trailed 1-0 in bottom 3rd
• vs. Kansas State (3/25) - trailed 4-2 in bottom 4th
• vs. Kansas State (3/27) - trailed 2-0 in bottom 5th
• vs. Texas (4/9) - trailed 1-0 in bottom 2nd

BOUNCE BACK BEARS
Baylor didn't lose consecutive games until its 25th and 26th games of the season. The Bears are 10-4 following a loss in 2011, and prior to dropping a pair of midweek games against UTSA and Lamar, the Bears hadn't lost consecutive regular-season games since losing a pair of games at Texas on May 1-2, 2010.

In fact, the Bears hadn't lost two in a row with both games at Baylor Ballpark in more than a year before dropping a pair of midweek games against UTSA (3/29) and Lamar (3/30). The last time that happened was when BU had a five-game losing streak from Feb. 27 through March 5, 2010. All five of those losses came against different teams, and the Bears snapped out of the losing streak by winning eight in a row.

Starting with that eight-game winning streak, the Bears have gone 33-12 on their home field, including an 18-5 mark in non-conference games.

WEEKEND SET SUCCESS
Despite losing each of their last two weekend series, the Bears have posted a winning record in seven of their last 10 regular-season weekends, including five of eight weekends this season.

• 2-1 in three-game series at Texas €ˆTech (May 14-15, 2010)
• 3-0 in three-game series vs. Oklahoma State (May 21-23, 2010)
• 2-1 in three-game series vs. Oral €ˆRoberts (Feb. 18-20, 2011)
• 2-1 in three-game series at Georgia (Feb. 25-27, 2011)
• 2-1 in three games at Houston College Classic (March 4-6, 2011)
• 4-0 in four-game series vs. Louisiana Tech (March 10-13, 2011)
• 1-2 in three-game series vs. Texas Tech (March 18-20, 2011)
• 2-1 in three-game series vs. Kansas State (March 25-27, 2011)
• 1-2 in three-game series at Kansas (April 1-3, 2011)
• 1-2 in three-game split-series vs. Texas (April 8-10, 2011)

MARCHING ON
Baylor is 190-113 (.627) in the month of March during head coach Steve Smith's 17 seasons at the helm. The Bears have had only two losing months of March in those 17 seasons (2004 & 2007).

With a 12-7 record this March, Baylor clinched its fifth straight winning March. The Bears won their most games in the month of March since going 12-6 during the 2006 season.

CONTINUITY IS KEY
Baylor's starting lineup hasn't changed much since the start of the season. The Bears have used the same player in nearly every game in six different positions, and Baylor has split the other two positions among two players. With the exception of left field, where an injury forced Logan €ˆVick to miss 12 games, the only position where the Bears have started more than two different players multiple times is at designated hitter.

Joey Hainsfurther (20 starts) and Josh Ludy (13 starts) have split catching duties, while Chris Slater (12 starts) and Cal Towey (21 starts) have shared time in right field.

Max Muncy has started every game at first base. In fact, Muncy has started at first base in 92 of 93 games since the start of his Baylor career.

Steve DalPorto (28 starts), Lawton Langford (four starts) and Nate Goodwin (one start) have manned second base, while third baseman Jake Miller has and center fielder Brooks Pinckard have each started all but two games at their respective positions. Landis Ware (31 starts) and DalPorto (two starts) have manned the shortstop position. Vick started the first 80 games of his career in left field before a hamstring injury forced him to miss 13 straight starts. Slater (seven starts), Dan €ˆEvatt (five starts) and Josh Turley (one start) have filled in for Vick.

The Bears have used five different players in the DH spot: Ludy (15 starts), Hainsfurther (nine starts), Dan €ˆEvatt (six starts), Josh €ˆTurley (two starts) and Slater (one start).

BEARS TOUGH TO BEAT IN WACO
Baylor is 34-13 in its last 47 games at Baylor Ballpark, including 18-5 in non-conference games.

The Bears had a 10-game winning streak in non-conference home games snapped when they lost the season opener to Oral €ˆRoberts. Before the streak was snapped, ORU was the last non-Big 12 team to beat the Bears in Waco when it took the opener of a four-game set on March 5, 2010. Baylor came back to win the remaining games in the series both times.

Five of Baylor's 12 losses in Waco since dropping the series opener to ORU in 2010 came in extra innings and/or were one-run defeats (vs. Kansas, 12-6 in 14 innings on 3/28/10, vs. No. 2 Texas, 4-2 in 10 innings on 4/30/10, vs. Kansas, 9-8 on 3/26/10, vs. Texas Tech, 6-5 on 3/18/11 and vs. Texas €ˆTech, 10-6 in 10 innings on 3/20/11).

EXTRA SPECIAL
Despite going 1-5 in extra-inning games in 2010, Baylor is 23-14 in such games since the start of the 2003 season. Baylor was 4-1 in extra-inning games in 2009, 1-3 in 2008, 2-1 in 2007, 0-1 in 2006, 6-1 in 2005, 1-0 in 2004 and 5-1 in 2003. Baylor is 3-1 in extras so far in 2011.

The Bears won all four regular season games that went to extra innings in 2009, but fell to No. 2 national seed LSU 3-2 in 10 innings in the second game of the NCAA €ˆBaton €ˆRouge Regional.

Six of the 23 wins over the past eight seasons have come on an opponent's home field (Arizona twice, Arizona State, Texas, Vanderbilt and UT €ˆArlington). Four of the 23 wins were either neutral-site games or games at Baylor Ballpark in which the Bears were the visitor. Four of the 22 wins have come in postseason play, including two at the Big 12 Tournament and one at the College World Series.

Brooks Pinckard STOLEN BASE TRACKER
(BAYLOR RECORD BOOK)

QUICK HITS
• SERIES: Baylor leads the all-time series against UT €ˆArlington 77-29, including a 30-17 mark in games played in €ˆArlington. The Bears have won four straight games against the Mavericks.
• Baylor hasn't grounded into a double play in its last nine games. The Bears have only hit into six GDP this season.
• Baylor is 60-for-69 stealing bases this season and the Bears' 87.0% success rate leads the Big 12.
• Baylor has turned 31 double plays this season and the Bears have only been doubled up 12 times.
• Baylor was unranked in this week's Baseball America Top 25, marking two consecutive weeks out of the rankings. The Bears were ranked in each of BA's first seven polls of the 2011 season.
• Baylor is 18-2 this season when scoring four or more runs in a game and 0-13 when scoring three or fewer.
• Baylor has a 184-128 (.590) record in the month of April during the Steve Smith era.
• Baylor has come from behind to win nine games this season, and the Bears have six last at-bat wins.
• Baylor is 10-4 following a loss during the 2011 season.
• Baylor has five walk-off wins this year after recording only one walk-off win during the 2010 season.
• Baylor had won six straight regular season weekend sets before dropping the series finale against Texas Tech in 10 innings. Baylor has had a winning record in seven of its last 10 regular season weekends.
• Baylor head coach Steve Smith recorded his 600th career victory when Baylor beat FIU on March 15.
• When NCAA €ˆstats were released last Tuesday, Brooks Pinckard had more stolen bases (26) than 105 Division I teams, including No. 3 South Carolina, No. 9 Fresno State, No. 11 Stanford and No. 23 Oklahoma State.
• Baylor has ranked in the nation's top 25 in attendance in all 12 years since Baylor Ballpark opened in 1999.
• The Bears were picked fourth in the Big 12 preseason coaches' poll, behind Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M.
• Baseball €ˆAmerica projected Baylor to finish third in the Big 12 and ranked BU No. 16 nationally in the preseason.
• For the second time in program history, Baylor players won both Big 12 Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week. Logan €ˆVerrett (Pitcher) & Chris Slater (Player) took the honors on March 14.
• Eight players on Baylor's roster have been selected in previous MLB €ˆDrafts, tied for third-most in the Big 12.
• Pinckard has been successful on 16 straight attempted steals and is 27-for-29 on the season. He needs 13 stolen bases to tie the Baylor single-season record and 15 to tie the Big 12 Conference record.
• Baylor LF Logan Vick is expected to see action as a DH and outfielder against UTA. Vick had missed 12 straight games with a hamstring injury before returning as a pinch hitter in Sunday's game at Texas.
• Baylor RHP Jon Ringenberg will become the program's all-time winning percentage leader with his next decision (win or loss). Ringenberg has a 9-0 career record and is one decision shy of the minimum 10.

INDIVIDUAL QUICK HITS
• LHP Crayton Bare has pitched in 13 games out of the bullpen in 2011 after pitching in just four games in 2010.

• RHP Kolt Browder has allowed eight hits and struck out 11 in 9.1 innings over 10 relief appearances (.235 OBA).

• 2B Steve DalPorto has started 29 of Baylor's 33 games at second base and twice at shortstop in 2011.
• DalPorto had his career-long hitting streak snapped at eight games in the middle game of the Texas Tech series (3/19), but he also had a five-game hitting streak and has hit safely in 17 of his last 22 games.

• Freshman RHP Trae Davis picked up a pair of wins pitching out of the bullpen in the season's opening weekend.
• Davis is tied for the team lead with three wins, and all three of his wins have come in relief.

• RHP Max Garner missed all of last season due to a medical issue that forced him to withdraw from school, but he has made 14 relief appearances in 2011. His 23.0 IP this season are more than twice as many as the 9.2 innings he pitched in 2009.
• Garner recorded his first career save by pitching 3.2 innings of one-hit, shutout relief with 4 Ks vs. Louisiana Tech (3/10).
• Garner picked up his first career win by working scoreless 8th and 9th innings in the series opener vs. Kansas State (3/25).
• Garner earned his second save by stranding the tying and go-ahead runs in a win over No. 8 Texas (4/9).
• Garner has allowed only five runs over his last 11 relief appearances totaling 16.2 innings.

• C Joey Hainsfurther moved from third base to catcher for the 2011 season. He had never caught a collegiate game before, but has started behind the plate in 20 of Baylor's first 33 games this season. The Bears are 12-8 when he starts behind the plate.
• Hainsfurther reached base safely eight times in the Kansas series, drawing four walks with three hits and a hit-by-pitch.
• Hainsfurther tied the Bears' game vs. Rice (3/6) in the Houston College Classic with a two-run triple in the 7th.

• C Josh Ludy has started behind the plate 13 times and as DH in 15 games.

• OF Wes Mercurio hit the first pitch he saw in 2011 for a three-run pinch hit homer in the series finale at Georgia.

• 3B Jake Miller had a 10th-inning walk-off double in the series finale vs. Oral €ˆRoberts (2/20).
• Miller has started all but two games at third base this season.
• Miller hit what would prove to be a game-winning RBI single in the 8th inning of the series finale vs. Kansas State (3/27).
• Miller had his career-long hitting streak snapped at seven games in the series opener vs. Texas Tech (3/18).

• 1B Max Muncy has started all 33 games at first base and hit either second, third or cleanup in every game.
• Muncy Big 12 ranks: t-5th home runs (4), t-5th RBI (27), t-9th total bases (62). Muncy ranks in league games: 10th batting average (.348), t-8th RBI (10), t-3rd total bases (28), t-5th walks (8), t-8th OBP (.455), 5th slugging percentage (.609).
• Muncy's 10-game hitting streak in Big 12 games was the seventh-longest by a Baylor player over two Big 12 seasons.
• Muncy had a run-scoring hit to tie the game in the bottom of the first in all three games of the Texas Tech series.
• Muncy had multi-hit games and had at least one RBI in all three games of the series at Georgia.
• Muncy's 10th-inning walk-off grand slam vs. Rice was BU's first walk-off HR since Raynor Campbell on Feb. 27, 2007.
• Muncy's six RBI vs. Rice were the most by a BU player since Aaron Miller had six vs. Illinois on Feb. 29, 2008.

• RHP Dillon €ˆNewman has pitched 18.1 innings over seven relief appearances, averaging 2.2 innings per game in relief.
• Newman has allowed five runs over his last 17.0 innings of work. He made his first career start vs. Lamar (3/30).

• CF/RHP Brooks Pinckard has been named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award preseason watch list.
• Pinckard is second in the nation with 27 steals. He's on pace to break the BU single-season record (40; Mike Robison, 1991).
• Pinckard ranks fifth on Baylor's all-time saves list with 16 career saves.
• Pinckard hit a game-winning homer in €ˆthe seventh inning of the second game vs. Oral Roberts (2/19).
• Pinckard has never grounded into a double play in 422 career at-bats.
• Pinckard is 56-for-62 stealing bases in his career and his 56 steals are seventh-most in program history.
• Pinckard has started all but two games in center field and hit leadoff (28 games) or second in the order (three games).

• RHP Jon €ˆRingenberg (9-0 career record) has never taken a loss in 32 career appearances, including 16 starts.
• Win or loss, Ringenberg's next decision will make him the program's career winning percentage leader (min. 10 decisions).

• OF Chris Slater is one of 30 semifinalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS €ˆAward (one of three from Big 12).
• Slater was named Big 12 Player of the Week (3/14) after having four consecutive three-hit games.
• Slater's walk-off double in the series opener vs. K-State (3/25) was his second walk-off hit this season.
• Slater also hit a walk-off single to beat Florida International in 11 innings on March 15.
• Slater accounted for half of Baylor's 10 extra-base hits during the week of March 21-27 (four doubles, one triple).
• Slater hit an inside-the-park home run vs. Texas Tech (3/19), the first by a BU €ˆplayer since Seth €ˆFortenberry on April 9, 2006.

• RF Cal €ˆTowey drew a total seven walks in a three-game span (3/1-3/5).
• Towey Big 12 ranks in league play: 8th batting average (.367), t-2nd home runs (3), 2nd OBP (.537), 2nd slugging (.767).
• Towey leads the team in on-base percentage (.462) and ranks second in walks (18) despite having only 94 plate appearances.

• LHP/DH Josh €ˆTurley has taken only one loss in 35 career appearances.
• Turley became the first Baylor pitcher to beat Texas in €ˆWaco since 2005 when he allowed three runs in 8.0 innings on April 9.
• Turley hit a pinch-hit double in his first plate appearance of the season in the series opener at Georgia.

• RHP Logan Verrett was named to the Golden €ˆSpikes Award preseason watch list, one of six Big 12 players on the list.
• Verrett tied a Baylor Ballpark record by striking out 14 in a complete-game one-hitter vs. Louisiana Tech (3/11).
• Verrett was named Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week and National Player of the Week (3/14).
• Verrett earned Houston College Classic All-Tournament honors after his win vs. Houston; 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 7 K.
• Verrett has 211 career strikeouts and needs 17 to crack the top 10 in program history.
• Verrett currently holds the Baylor record for strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.77).
• Verrett is third on Baylor's career strikeouts per nine innings list (9.81).
• Verrett is tied for eighth in the Big 12 with 50 strikeouts. He is 11 strikeouts behind the league leaders.

• LF Logan €ˆVick sat out 12 games with a hamstring injury, snapping his streak of 80 consecutive games started in LF, but he returned as a pinch hitter in the series finale at Texas (4/10).
• Vick reached base safely in all 40 career games at Baylor Ballpark before going 0-for-3 vs. Texas State (3/1).
• Vick has drawn 70 walks in 81 career games; he's taken multiple walks in a game in 21 contests.
• When leading off an inning, Vick has a .485 on-base percentage for his career (64-for-132).

• SS Landis Ware is Baylor's most experienced player with 164 games played and 145 career starts.
• Ware has started at shortstop in 31 of Baylor's 33 games in 2011.
• Ware earned Big 12 Conference Player of the Week honors after going 7-for-10 in the Houston College Classic.
• Ware led off the bottom of the 10th with a double and scored the winning run vs. Rice (3/6).
• Ware was named Big 12 Player of the Week after going 7-for-10 in the Houston €ˆCollege Classic.
• Ware was selected to the Houston College Classic All-Tournament Team.

UP NEXT
Baylor returns home to host Texas A&M for the series opener in the Battle of the Brazos at 6:30 p.m. Friday. The final two games of the series will be played in College Station, Texas, with Saturday's game at 6:35 p.m. and Sunday's series finale at 1:05 p.m.