No. 21 Baseball Heads to Houston
3/26/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 26, 2012
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Baylor (18-7) at Houston (10-12) Baylor: RHP Joey Hainsfurther, Sr. (2-0, 1.64 ERA, 11.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 7 K) Houston: RHP Aaron Garza, Fr. (1-2, 3.93 ERA, 18.1 IP, 23 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 4 BB, 11 K) | |
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Baylor baseball heads to Houston for a 6:30 p.m. game against the Cougars on Tuesday night at Cougar Field. The Bears will be playing their fourth midweek road game in the month of March and their first game at Cougar Field since March 14, 2006.
Baylor has lost its last three games at Cougar Field and hasn't won there since a 10-6 win on April 4, 2001. However, the Bears have won three straight games against the Cougars, and two of those wins were at Houston's Minute Maid Park in the 2009 and 2011 Houston College Classic tournaments.
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 weekend games at Baylor Ballpark. All three games of this weekend's series against Oklahoma State will have live video available through an All-Access subscription on BaylorBears.com.
SERIES INFORMATION
HOUSTON COUGARS
Overall: Baylor leads 86-60
Waco: Baylor leads 35-27
Houston: Baylor leads 39-26
Neutral Site: Baylor leads 8-3
Unknown Site: Series tied 4-4
Steve Smith vs. UH: 20-15
Streak: Baylor has won last 3 meetings
COACHES
BAYLOR: Steve Smith
Alma Mater: Baylor, 1986
Career Record: 637-422-1 (18th season)
Record at Baylor: 637-422-1 (18th season)
HOUSTON: Todd Whitting
Career Record: 37-44 (2nd season)
Record at UH: 37-44 (2nd season)
BAYLOR-IMG COLLEGE SPORTS NETWORK
Online at www.BaylorBears.com
1660 ESPN Radio in Waco
Tom Barfield (pxp) and Lark Smith (color)
BAYLOR VS. HOUSTON SERIES HISTORY
Baylor is 86-60 in the all-time series against Houston, including a 39-26 mark in games played in Houston and a 20-15 record during the Steve Smith era. Baylor is 35-27 against the Cougars in Waco, 8-3 against U of H in neutral site games and 4-4 in games played at an unknown site in the series dating back to 1951.
The Bears have won three consecutive series meetings against Houston, including a 5-2 win on March 4 in last season's Houston College Classic. The last time Baylor played at Cougar Field was March 14, 2006, a game the Cougars won 5-3. The Bears have lost three straight games played at Cougar Field, with their last victory there on April 4, 2001.
BAYLOR VS. CONFERENCE USA
Baylor is 226-152-1 all-time against teams currently playing as members of Conference USA. Baylor has played Houston (86-60), Memphis (6-2), Rice (127-87-1), Southern €ˆMississippi (3-1), Tulane (3-2) and UAB (1-0).
STREAKING IN BIG 12 PLAY
Baylor is off to its best start in Big 12 Conference history with a perfect 6-0 record. The Bears have swept consecutive Big 12 series for the first time since April 2005. This marks the seventh time Baylor has won six or more consecutive Big 12 games in a single season.
The program's longest winning streak in Big 12 play is nine games, though the Bears have never swept three consecutive Big 12 series. Combined with the 2011 series finale against Oklahoma, Baylor has won seven consecutive Big 12 regular-season games, which ties for the fourth-longest Big 12 winning streak in program history. Here's a list of Baylor's Big 12 winning streaks of seven or more games:
- 9 games -- March 20-April 9, 1999 - Missouri (2), Texas Tech (3), Kansas (3), Texas (1)
- 9 games -- April 23, 2000-Feb. 24, 2001 - Texas (1), Kansas (3), Kansas State (3), Texas A&M (2)
- 8 games -- March 22-April 10, 1998 - Texas Tech (1), Iowa State (3), Kansas (3), Missouri (1)
- 7 games -- March 18-April 1, 2001 - Oklahoma (1), Kansas (3), Kansas State (3)
- 7 games -- April 3-April 17, 2005 - Oklahoma (1), Kansas State (3), Kansas (3)
- 7 games -- May 21, 2011-present - Oklahoma (1), Texas Tech (3), Kansas (3)
BLANK-ING OPPONENTS
Baylor senior RHP €ˆTrent Blank leads the Big 12 Conference with six wins this season - more victories than 27 Division I €ˆteams have through games of March 25. Combined with 16 teams sitting on five wins, Blank has as many victories as 43 Division I teams.
Blank's success can be attributed to a drop in his arm slot, which was done during a bullpen session at the recommendation of pitching coach Trevor Mote. Blank's first outing with the lower arm slot was May 10, 2011 at TCU, when he went 3.1 scoreless innings.
With the lower arm slot, Blank has combined to go 8-0 with a 2.49 ERA over 55.2 innings pitched. If one bad outing in the 2011 Houston €ˆRegional against California is removed from the record, he's gone 8-0 with a 1.80 ERA €ˆover 55.0 innings of work. Prior to changing his arm slot, Blank had gone 6-4 with a 6.15 ERA €ˆover 98.0 innings in his first two-and-a-half seasons at Baylor. Here's a before and after comparison of his numbers:
| BEFORE Feb. 9, 2009 - April 30, 2011 | AFTER May 10, 2011 - present | |
| W-L | 6-4 | 8-0 |
| ERA | 6.15 | 2.59 |
| IP | 98.0 | 55.2 |
| H | 124 | 43 |
| R/ER | 73/67 | 16/16 |
| WHIP | 1.643 | 1.096 |
QUICK HITS
• Honoring a legend: Mickey Sullivan passed away Thursday morning in €ˆWaco after a long battle with cancer. The Bears' all-time winningest head coach was 80 years of age. He coached Baylor from 1974-1994.
• SERIES: Baylor leads the all-time series 86-60, including a 39-26 mark in games played in Houston and a 20-15 record during the Steve Smith era. The Bears have won three straight games against the Cougars.
• Baylor is ranked in all five college baseball polls this week. The Bears' highest ranking is in the Collegiate Baseball poll, where they jumped nine spots to No. 18. Baylor is also ranked No. 21 (Baseball America and Perfect Game), No. 23 USATODAY/ESPN Coaches Poll and No. 28 (NCBWA).
• Baylor has won 7 straight Big 12 games, which ties for the 4th-longest Big 12 winning streak in BU history.
• Baylor's 6-0 start in Big 12 play is its best in the conference's 16-year history, eclipsing the 4-0 start of 1999.
• Baylor has made 19 errors in 25 games played. The Bears' .980 fielding percentage ranks 13th nationally.
• Baylor is tied for 10th nationally with 125 walks drawn. Combined with 34 HBP, the Bears have more free bases (159) than strikeouts (151). Four Baylor starters have walked more often than they've struck out.
• The Bears play all five March weekends at home, but they play four of five midweek games on the road.
• Baylor has homered in two straight games after snapping a 15-game, 499-at-bat homerless drought.
• Seven Baylor starters have on-base percentages of .406 or higher, including three at .464 or above.
• Baylor started a Big 12 season 3-0 for the first time since sweeping No. 1 Texas to open Big 12 play in 2005.
• Baylor's sweep of Texas Tech was its first Big 12 sweep since May 21-23, 2010 against Oklahoma State.
• Baylor also swept Kansas, giving BU consecutive Big 12 series sweeps for the first time since April 2005.
• Baylor's current 7-game winning streak is tied for the 6th-longest nationally, trailing only Campbell, Saint Louis, New Mexico State, Coastal Carolina and North Dakota State. The Bears have won 8 straight home games.
• Baylor ranks 2nd in the Big 12 in fielding percentage (.980), on-base percentage (.409), doubles (47), triples (11), walks (125), opponents' batting average (.233) and wins (18)
• Six Baylor players have started every game this season, including four who have started at the same position.
• Junior 1B Max Muncy was named Big 12 Player of the Week on Monday, joining Logan Vick (Feb. 27 & March 19) to give the Bears three Player of the Week honors in the last five weeks.
• Senior RHP €ˆTrent Blank is in a 6-way tie for the nation's lead with 6 wins this season - more victories than 27 Division I €ˆteams entering this week.
• Junior C/OF Nathan €ˆOrf has been hit by a pitch 13 times this season - tied for 3rd nationally.
• Junior CF Logan Vick is tied for 11th nationally with 12 doubles and tied for 20th with 22 walks.
UP NEXT
Baylor returns home to host its third consecutive Big 12 Conference series at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears take on Oklahoma State at 6:35 p.m. Friday, 3:05 p.m. Saturday and 1:05 p.m. Sunday.
The series against Oklahoma State is Baylor's annual Military Appreciate Weekend. The Bears will wear camouflage hats for all three games, and all military personnel can purchase up to four tickets for $3 apiece for each game of the series. Baylor students who wear their Baylor Line Jerseys to Friday's game will receive a free burger and soft drink.
