Baseball Opens Big 12 Play vs. West Virginia at Baylor Ballpark

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            If this season has shown him anything, Baylor baseball coach Steve Rodriguez knows he has to be flexible for whatever comes next.
            After starting the year with a returning weekend rotation of Cody Bradford, Hayden Kettler and Tyler Thomas, the Bears (13-6) have two of those on the shelf and one that hasn't made it past the fourth inning.
            "You have to understand that things are going to happen," said Rodriguez, whose team is opening Big 12 play with a series against West Virginia (13-7) that begins with Friday's 6:35 p.m. game at Baylor Ballpark. "You're going to have things outside of our control. You're going to have a guy who all of a sudden wakes up sick or whatever it is. You just don't know. But, you don't have control over those things. . . . I really just view it as it's another challenge and a great opportunity to dominate with success."
            Junior left-hander Paul Dickens (2-1, 2.88 ERA), a transfer from Navarro College, started the year as a middle reliever and is now the Friday night starter. Sophomore righty Jimmy Winston (1-0, 0.93) will start Saturday's 3:05 p.m. game, "and then we're going to see how those two games before we decide on a Sunday starter," Rodriguez said.
            Dickens made relief appearances in three of his first four games before getting into the weekend rotation against Nebraska and then moving into the Friday night role last week against Cal Poly, when he threw seven shutout innings and allowed just one hit and two walks with five strikeouts.
            "I was definitely a little nervous," Dickens said. "Basically, the goal was just to get batters out. That's the goal of every pitcher. It doesn't matter if you're starting on Friday night or you're coming out of the pen, like a situational guy, the goal is to get guys out. And thankfully, I was able to do that."
            In the Friday game, Dickens will be opposed by West Virginia right-hander Alex Manoah, who is 3-1 with a 2.17 ERA.
            "We know we're going to see the big donkey on Friday night, so we've got to hit him to the best of our ability," said junior first baseman Andy Thomas, who has bumped his batting average up to .350 after getting just two hits in his first 17 at-bats when he returned from a bout with mononucleosis.
            Rodriguez said he's been impressed with Dickens' versatility as a starter and reliever. He's also made the jump from junior college to Division I baseball.
            "Mostly, it's just pitching for a new team," Dickens said. "Obviously, there's a step up with competitiveness. But, it's just figuring out how to pitch with this team and what role I need to fill with this team."
            While Baylor has had a revolving door with the pitching rotation, the Bears have had more consistency and success at the plate with Thomas, catcher Shea Langeliers and outfielder Cole Haring all returning.
            The Bears are ranked 17^thin the nation with a .309 batting average, eighth in slugging percentage at .492 and 41^stin on-base percentage at .396. They exploded for 22 hits in Sunday's 14-3 series clincher over Cal Poly, then twice rallied from three-run deficits in an 8-7 loss to Sam Houston State on Tuesday.
            "I really like how our guys competed on a day-in, day-out basis," Rodriguez said. "When you have a lot of things that are outside of your control, and you're able to handle those and have that next-guy-up mentality, I'm really proud of our how guys have risen to the occasion and put themselves in a great situation for this weekend."
            All three games will be broadcast on the FOX family of networks, with Friday's game on FOX College Sports and the last two games on FOX Sports Southwest.

STORY LINES
• The Bears return to the friendly confines of Baylor Ballpark after a road Tuesday game and will begin a five-game homestand beginning with a 6:35 p.m. contest on Friday, March 23. Game two is set for 3:05 p.m. CT on Saturday, March 24 and Game three is set for 12:05 p.m. CT on Sunday, March 25.
• The Bears enter the first Big 12 conference series after taking last weekend's series vs. Cal Poly, 2-1, but fell in Tuesday's midweek contest at Sam Houston State.

HOW TO WATCH AND STREAM
All three games will be televised live on the FOX Sports family of networks. All three games can also be found on the FOX Sports Go app. Friday's game is just available on the app, with Saturday and Sunday also available on FOX Sports Southwest.

Projected Pitching Matchups
Friday, March 22 • 6:35 p.m. CT • LHP Paul Dickens (1-0, 2.25 ERA) vs. RHP Alek Manoah (3-1, 2.17 ERA)
Sat., March 23  • 3:05 p.m. CT • RHP Jimmy Winston (1-0, 2.25 ERA) vs. LHP Jackson Wolf (2-1, 3.71 ERA)
Sunday, March 24 • 12:05 p.m. CT • TBDvs. TBD

WAKING UP THE BATS
• In the series-clinching victory over Cal Poly on Sunday, the bats woke up, as the Bears tallied a season-best 22 hits, the most by a Baylor team since collecting 24 vs. Kansas State on April 27, 2018. The 22 hits at Baylor Ballpark were the most since having 23 on May 18, 2017 vs. Kansas State.

IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
• The Bears boast the 17th-highest batting average in the nation (.309). The Bears rank sixth with 2.58 doubles per game and are eighth with 49 total doubles on the year. The Bears' on-base percentage of .396 is 41st-best in the nation, while the can do a lot of different things with the bat as the team's slugging percentage (.492) ranks eighth. The Bears' fielding percentage of 0.977 ranks 30th nationally. The team also ranks 10th with just 6.62 hits allowed per nine innings.
• Individually, Winston also ranks 28th nationally with a 0.93 ERA.

IN BIG 12 OPENERS
• In the first three seasons of Coach Rod's tenure, the Bears are 4-5 in Big 12 opening series. Last year the Bears knocked off then-No. 8 Texas Tech in their conference-opening series, taking games one and two before dropping the third game. In 2017, the Bears also hosted West Virginia in their conference-opening series and dropped the first two games, 7-1 and 6-5, before salvaging the series with an 8-6 victory on Sunday.

Baseball Opens Big 12 Play vs. West Virginia at Baylor Ballpark

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Players Mentioned

Cody Bradford

Paul Dickens

Cole Haring

Hayden Kettler

Shea Langeliers

Andy Thomas

Tyler Thomas

Jimmy Winston

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