March 29, 2012

vs.
Baylor (19-7, 6-0) vs. Oklahoma State (14-11, 1-2) March 30-April 1 | Waco, Texas | Baylor Ballpark (5,000) GAME NOTES
FRI. | 6:35 P.M. Probable Starters:BU - LHP Josh Turley 3-0, 2.08 ERA, 34.2 IP, 31 K OSU - LHP Andrew Heaney5-1, 1.12 ERA, 48.0 IP, 65 K		SAT. | 3:05 P.M. Probable Starters:BU - RHP Trent Blank 6-0, 1.76 ERA, 41.0 IP, 25 K OSU - LHP Kyle Ottoson, Sr.1-3, 3.45 ERA, 28.2 IP, 21 K		SUN. | 1:05 P.M. Probable Starters:BU - TBA OSU - TBA

Baylor puts its longest regular-season winning streak since 2003 on the line when the Bears host Oklahoma State for a three-game series at Baylor Ballpark this weekend.

The 21st-ranked Bears have won eight consecutive games overall, eight consecutive home games and seven consecutive Big 12 Conference games. The Bears' Big 12 winning streak is tied for the fourth-longest in program history.

Baylor swept Texas Tech and Kansas in its first two Big 12 series of the season, giving the Bears the best Big 12 start in program history at 6-0. The Bears have never swept three consecutive Big 12 series, but the longest Big 12 winning streak in program history is nine games.

First pitch in Friday's series opener is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Saturday's game is at 3:05 p.m., and Sunday's series finale is slated for 1:05 p.m. The Oklahoma State series is Baylor's annual Military Appreciation Weekend. All military members can purchase up to four tickets for $3 each throughout the weekend. Additionally, students wearing Baylor Line jerseys to Friday night's game will receive a free hamburger and soft drink.

All Baylor baseball games are broadcast live in Waco on 1660 ESPN Radio. Tom Barfield provides the play-by-play with Lark Smith adding color commentary. 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 most weekend home games. All three games of the Oklahoma State series will have live video available through a Baylor All-Access subscription. For more information, follow the Baylor All-Access link at www.BaylorBears.com.

SERIES INFORMATION
OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOYS
Overall: Oklahoma State leads 37-31
Waco: Baylor leads 15-12
Stillwater: Oklahoma State leads 16-13
Neutral Site: Oklahoma State leads 9-3
Smith vs. OSU: 26-24
First Meeting: 4/20/1995
Last Meeting: 5/25/2011

COACHES

BAYLOR: Steve Smith

Alma Mater: Baylor, 1986

Career Record: 638-422-1 (18th season)

Record at Baylor: 638-422-1 (18th season)

OKLAHOMA STATE: Frank Anderson

Alma Mater: Emporia State, 1985
Career Record: 311-194 (9th season)

Record at OSU: 311-194 (9th season)

BAYLOR-IMG COLLEGE SPORTS NETWORK

1660 ESPN RADIO

Tom Barfield (pxp) and Lark Smith (color)

HONORING A LEGEND
Baylor legend Mickey Sullivan passed away on March 22 in Waco after a long battle with cancer. He was 80 years old. Sullivan's memorial service was held on March 26 at Baylor Ballpark, where his casket rested at home plate.

Sullivan played three seasons on both the Baylor football and baseball teams. He remains the only Baylor baseball player ever to be named a first-team All-American in two seasons, and he established the Southwest Conference record with a .519 batting average in 1954.

Sullivan went on to coach 21 years at Baylor before turning over the reins to current head coach Steve Smith at the end of the 1994 season.

BAYLOR - OKLAHOMA STATE SERIES HISTORY
Baylor is 31-37 in the all-time series against Oklahoma State, including a 15-12 record in games played in €ˆWaco and a 26-24 mark during the Steve Smith era.

The Bears have won the last three three-game series against OSU. Baylor won the final two games last season in Stillwater to record its first road series win against a ranked opponent since 2006. In 2010, Baylor closed the regular season with a three-game sweep of the Cowboys, and in 2008 Baylor won the final two games of a three-game series in Waco. The 2009 series was split at one game apiece after rain cancelled the third game.

Baylor has won eight of the last 10 regular-season three-game series against OSU, and the Bears haven't lost a Big 12 series in Waco against the Cowboys since 1998. Including a Super Regional matchup in 1999, Baylor is 13-6 all-time against OSU at Baylor Ballpark.

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 €ˆ(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)

CONSISTENCY IS KEY
Six Baylor players have started all 26 games in 2012, including four who have started at the same position in every game. Max Muncy (1B), Cal Towey (3B), Logan €ˆVick (CF) and Jake Miller (SS) have started every game at the same position, while Lawton Langford (2B) has started 21 of the last 22 games, giving the Bears the same infield starters in 21 of 22 games since Feb. 21.

Nathan €ˆOrf (LF/DH) and Josh €ˆLudy (C/DH) have also started every game. The consistency carries over to the batting order, as Orf (leadoff/2nd/3rd), Muncy (2nd/3rd), Ludy (cleanup/6th) and Vick (cleanup/5th) have hit in three or fewer spots in the lineup in every game.

Adam Toth started 7 of the first 8 games in right field before breaking his wrist, and Logan Brown (11 games) and Michael Howard (8 games) have split time with Toth out.

BLANK-ING OPPONENTS
Baylor senior RHP €ˆTrent Blank leads the Big 12 Conference with five wins this season -- more victories than 41 Division I €ˆteams have through games of March 19. Combined with 15 teams sitting on five wins, Blank has as many victories as 56 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 7-0 with a 2.90 ERA over 49.2 innings pitched. If one bad outing in the 2011 Houston €ˆRegional against California is removed from the record, he's gone 7-0 with a 2.02 ERA €ˆover 49.0 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:

QUICK NOTES
• SERIES: Baylor trails in the all-time series 31-37, but the Bears hold a 15-12 lead in games played in Waco. The Bears have won five of the last six regular season meetings against Oklahoma State.
• 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 in two polls.
• Baylor has scored 8+ runs in six straight games for the first time since an 8-game streak in 1998.
• Baylor's current 8-game winning streak is tied for 3rd-longest nationally, trailing only Campbell (18) and New Mexico State (13). The Bears have also won 8 straight home games and 7 straight Big 12 games.
• Baylor's 8-game winning streak is its longest regular-season winning streak since 2003.
• 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 21 errors in 26 games played and it ranks 3rd in the Big 12 with a .978 fielding percentage.
• Baylor is tied for 11th nationally with 130 walks drawn. Combined with 37 HBP, the Bears have more free bases (167) than strikeouts (159). Five Baylor starters have as many walks as strikeouts.
• Baylor has homered in three straight games after snapping a 15-game, 499-at-bat homerless drought.
• Six Baylor starters have on-base percentages of .423 or higher, including three at .452 or higher.
• 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 ranks 2nd in the Big 12 in on-base percentage (.410), doubles (49), triples (11), walks (130), opponents' batting average (.236) and wins (19). The Bears are 3rd in slugging (.417), hits (249) and ERA (3.18).
• Six Baylor players have started every game this season, including four who have started at the same position.
• Junior 1B Max Muncy was named NCBWA €ˆNational Hitter of the Week and Big 12 Player of the Week on Monday. He joined Logan Vick (2/27 & 3/19) to give Baylor three Big 12 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 14 times this season -- tied for 3rd nationally.
• Junior CF Logan Vick entered the week tied for 11th nationally with 12 doubles and tied for 20th with 22 walks.
• Baylor is 15-3 at home in 2012, and BU is 53-21 in its last 74 home games (25-12 in Big 12 games).
• According to BoydsWorld.com, the Bears have played the nation's 20th-toughest schedule. Only Rice (14) has played a tougher schedule and has as many wins as Baylor.
• Baylor has swept three series this season (Oral Roberts, Texas Tech, Kansas) after sweeping one series in 2011 (LaTech). The last time Baylor swept three series in a season was 2008 (Purdue, Mississippi State, Kansas).
• 18 Baylor relievers have combined for 82 strikeouts, 80 hits and a .217 opponents' batting average over 103.0 IP.
• Muncy has started 108 consecutive games at 1B for Baylor. He has missed one start in 145 team games since joining the Baylor program before the 2010 season.
• Vick has won Big 12 Player of the Week twice this season (Feb. 27 & March 19). He's the fifth player in program history to win multiple Big 12 Player of the Week awards in the same year.
• The Bears play all five March weekends at home, but they play four of five midweek games on the road.
• Baylor has had winning streaks of 6 and 8 games this season. €ˆThe Bears started the year 6-0.
• For the first time in Big 12 history, Baylor plays its first 9 conference games at home. Baylor's longest previous league-opening homestand was 7 games in 2003 (Bears went 5-2).
• Baylor is 3-3 this season when scoring three or fewer runs. The Bears were 3-22 in such games last season.
• Baylor is currently 20th nationally in total home attendance (45,705) and 23rd in average (2,688).
• Baylor has ranked in the nation's top 25 in attendance in all 13 years since Baylor Ballpark opened in 1999.
• Baylor's 9-0 win vs. Kansas on March 24 was its first shutout since May 1, 2011 at Nebraska.
• Baylor's 2-1 win vs. Memphis was its first victory with 3 hits or less since March 15, 2005 against TCU.
• Baylor tied an NCAA €ˆrecord with 10 batters hit by pitch on March 6 at TCU. The teams combined to hit 13 batters in the game, breaking the previous NCAA €ˆrecord of 12 combined hit batsmen.
• Three Baylor pitchers combined to carry a no-hitter through 7.2 IP in a 7-1 win vs. No. 15 TCU on Feb. 21.
• Baylor has played two doubleheaders this season and has won both games both times.
• Baylor's 55-game 2012 schedule features 28 games against 2011 NCAA €ˆTournament teams.
• Baylor's complete 2012 schedule is rated the 13th-toughest nationally (No. 1 in Big 12) by Boyd's World.
• Since the start of the 2003 season, Baylor is 25-16 in extra-inning games.
• The Bears were picked fourth in the Big 12 preseason coaches' poll, behind Texas A&M, Texas and Oklahoma.
• Eight players on Baylor's roster have been selected in previous MLB €ˆDrafts.
• Baylor is 1 of 14 programs nationally to play in 12+ NCAA Tournaments since 1998.
• Baylor has been ranked in at least one in-season Baseball €ˆAmerica Top 25 poll in 14 of the last 16 seasons.
• Baylor went 6-2 in its first 8 games of the season -- all against 2011 NCAA €ˆTournament teams.
• Baylor's 8-2 start tied the second-best 10-game start of the 18-year Steve Smith era (9-1 in 2008).

UP NEXT
Baylor hosts Texas State at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday in its final home game before hitting the road for the first time this season in Big 12 play. The Bears travel to Columbia, Mo. to take on Missouri in a three-game series over Easter Weekend. €ˆBaylor's series at Missouri will be played Thursday through Saturday due to the Easter holiday.

The series at Missouri starts a stretch with 12 of Baylor's final 15 Big 12 games on the road. The Bears' only remaining Big 12 home games are April 21-22 vs. Texas A&M €ˆand May 17 vs. Texas.