Friday, March 5
Waco, Texas
6:30 p.m.
Baylor
vs
Memphis
Baseball Hosts Four-Game Series with Memphis
3/4/2021 1:49:00 PM | Baseball
The Bears and Tigers will open on Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Baylor Ballpark
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Steve Rodriguez is ready for a "normal" weekend.
After the scheduled season-opening series against Jacksonville State was canceled because of weather, Baylor baseball (3-4) squeezed in three games in 30 hours at UTRGV and then played three different opponents last weekend at the Round Rock Classic.
Not even this weekend's series is "normal" – they're mixing in a Saturday doubleheader to get in four games – but at least the Bears will have more of a regular routine with a Friday-Saturday-Sunday series against the Memphis Tigers (4-1) at Baylor Ballpark. Game 1 is 6:30 p.m. Friday, followed by the 2 p.m. doubleheader Saturday and a 12 p.m. series finale on Sunday.
"Playing the same team over a weekend is going to be nice," said Rodriguez, whose team is coming off a 4-0 shutout victory over Sam Houston State in its first home game on Tuesday. "Our guys are going to like that as well. We're supposed to have great weather. I think all of us are looking forward to it."
Junior left-hander Tyler Thomas (1-0, 2.45), the scheduled starter for the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, said this will be his first twinbill in four years at Baylor.
"We've had a lot of talks as a pitching staff and as a team, and I think we all realize that it won't be normal," he said. "You've just got to be prepared, do what you can do, and that's kind of it."
Thomas has been one of the few exceptions on a Baylor pitching staff that's issued 60 free bases (43 walks, seven hit batters and 10 wild pitches) through the team's first eight games. Even in Tuesday's three-hit shutout of Sam Houston, the five pitchers combined for seven walks.
"One thing that's been important is that we've been able to get a lot of our pitchers out on the mound to get rid of some of that anxiousness," Rodriguez said of using six freshmen among the 14 pitchers that have gone already. "We've had a lot of younger guys going out there pitching, and it's just been good to get them out there. At some point, the walks need to be eliminated, and everybody knows that."
The general rule of thumb is that your walks and earned runs will be about the same. That's played out so far for the Bears, who have given up 39 earned runs and 43 walks.
"I think the focus, really, is just pounding the zone and trusting my defense," said Thomas, who got the win with five solid innings in Saturday's 12-6 upset of then-No. 17 Auburn at the Round Rock Classic. I have a solid infield, great outfield right behind me. Perfect example is Davion (Downey) robbing a home run (against Sam Houston). That's just pure trust in him right there."
Downey's home run-stealing grab of a Jack Rogers blast in the sixth inning highlighted an error-free game for the Bears. They rank in the bottom half of the Big 12 with a .965 fielding percentage, but six of Baylor's errors came in two games.
Junior second baseman Jack Pineda, a transfer from College of Southern Nevada, said the Bears had some "uncharacteristically bad defensive games early on."
"That's unexpected by everybody in the clubhouse, especially on Coach Rod's teams. They're notoriously (good) defensive teams," Pineda said.
Rodriguez said he doesn't mind "aggressive" errors, "what I don't want is careless errors, cautious errors.
"When you're aggressive, you can really make better decisions, as opposed to being passive," Rodriguez said. "I'm glad our guys are staying aggressive in a lot of the things they're doing. I want them to stay aggressive. As long as there's some intelligence that goes along with it, I'm going to be OK."
What hasn't been an issue is the bats. Baylor ranks second in the league and 18th nationally with a .314 batting average and has shown some pop with 10 home runs and a healthy .443 slugging percentage.
"What's funny is, going into the season, we always thought it was going to be like get the next guy up and we're going to single people to death," said Pineda, who is fifth in the Big with a .387 batting average. "We've actually hit for quite a bit of pop. . . . You're starting to see the lineup come together. There's a lot of tough outs. We're going to put the ball in play, and we're going to force people to beat us."
All four games of the Memphis series will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with KWTX anchor Pete Sousa and former Baylor baseball standout Richard Cunningham calling the action.
WACO, Texas – Baylor will host its first weekend series of 2021 when it welcomes in Memphis to Baylor Ballpark beginning on Friday at 6:30 p.m. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 2 p.m. with the first game going seven innings and the second the full nine innings. The series will finish up on Sunday at 12 p.m.
There will be a BU water bottle giveaway on Saturday, as individual and season tickets are still available to the public.
SERIES INFO
Date: March 5-7 (Fri.-Sun.)
Game Times: 6:30 p.m./2 p.m. (DH)/12 p.m.
Site: Waco, Texas / Baylor Ballpark (5,000) (25 percent)
TV: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
• Talent: Pete Sousa (pxp), Richard Cunningham (color)
Radio: 1660 ESPN/92.3 FM
• Talent: Derek Smith (pxp); Ryan Boyd (Sunday)
Live Stats: BaylorStats.com
Twitter Updates:@BaylorBaseball
Series History: BU leads, 8-3
Streak: BU, W1
First Meeting: March 6, 1996
Last Meeting: April 16-18, 2018 (BU won the series 2-1)
Under Rodriguez: 2-1
PITCHING MATCHUP
Fri. March 5 – Baylor RHP Blake Helton (0-1, 5.14 ERA) vs. Memphis RHP Blake Wimberley (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Sat. March 6 – Baylor LHP Tyler Thomas (1-0, 2.45 ERA) vs. Memphis LHP Chris Durham (0-0, 5.79)
Sat. March 6 – Baylor LHP Cam Caley (0-1, 15.75 ERA) vs. Memphis RHP Jackson Cothren (0-0, 0.00)
Sun. March 7 – Baylor TBD vs. Memphis RHP Landon Kelly (1-0, 3.00)
STORY LINES
• BU is coming off a three-hit shutout against Sam Houston on Tuesday night with Logan Freeman, Jimmy Winston, Hambleton Oliver, Ryan Leckich and Luke Boyd combining for the first shutout for the Bears in 2021.
• Second-year freshman Jared McKenzie already has two multi-home run games with four homers total after not hitting one last season. He currently leads the team in runs (10), RBI (9), home runs (4) and total bases (24).
• Newcomer Jack Pineda is fifth in the Big 12 with a .387 average through seven games, Pineda is also tied for 4th in the conference with McKenzie in total hits (12).
• The Bears have already hit 10 home runs on the season. With Rodriguez, BU has hit 217 in 244 games.
• On the mound, Tyler Thomas continued to impress as he earned his first win since May 14, 2019 against UT Arlington after throwing five innings, while only giving up one earned run and striking out three on Saturday, vs. Auburn. Thomas has already thrown more innings than he did last year as he threw a total of 6.2 innings, all in relief after coming off of surgery to remove a rib in June 2019 due to his Thoracic Outlet Syndrome.
• Through the first seven games, BU is second in the Big 12 in hits (18th nationally) and batting average (19th nationally). The Bears are also fourth in the conference with 10 home runs. Pineda has a hit in every game in 2021.
To stay up to date throughout the season on all things Baylor baseball, follow the team on Facebook (Baylor Baseball), Twitter (@BaylorBaseball) and Instagram (@BaylorBaseball).
Baylor Bear Insider
Steve Rodriguez is ready for a "normal" weekend.
After the scheduled season-opening series against Jacksonville State was canceled because of weather, Baylor baseball (3-4) squeezed in three games in 30 hours at UTRGV and then played three different opponents last weekend at the Round Rock Classic.
Not even this weekend's series is "normal" – they're mixing in a Saturday doubleheader to get in four games – but at least the Bears will have more of a regular routine with a Friday-Saturday-Sunday series against the Memphis Tigers (4-1) at Baylor Ballpark. Game 1 is 6:30 p.m. Friday, followed by the 2 p.m. doubleheader Saturday and a 12 p.m. series finale on Sunday.
"Playing the same team over a weekend is going to be nice," said Rodriguez, whose team is coming off a 4-0 shutout victory over Sam Houston State in its first home game on Tuesday. "Our guys are going to like that as well. We're supposed to have great weather. I think all of us are looking forward to it."
Junior left-hander Tyler Thomas (1-0, 2.45), the scheduled starter for the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, said this will be his first twinbill in four years at Baylor.
"We've had a lot of talks as a pitching staff and as a team, and I think we all realize that it won't be normal," he said. "You've just got to be prepared, do what you can do, and that's kind of it."
Thomas has been one of the few exceptions on a Baylor pitching staff that's issued 60 free bases (43 walks, seven hit batters and 10 wild pitches) through the team's first eight games. Even in Tuesday's three-hit shutout of Sam Houston, the five pitchers combined for seven walks.
"One thing that's been important is that we've been able to get a lot of our pitchers out on the mound to get rid of some of that anxiousness," Rodriguez said of using six freshmen among the 14 pitchers that have gone already. "We've had a lot of younger guys going out there pitching, and it's just been good to get them out there. At some point, the walks need to be eliminated, and everybody knows that."
The general rule of thumb is that your walks and earned runs will be about the same. That's played out so far for the Bears, who have given up 39 earned runs and 43 walks.
"I think the focus, really, is just pounding the zone and trusting my defense," said Thomas, who got the win with five solid innings in Saturday's 12-6 upset of then-No. 17 Auburn at the Round Rock Classic. I have a solid infield, great outfield right behind me. Perfect example is Davion (Downey) robbing a home run (against Sam Houston). That's just pure trust in him right there."
Downey's home run-stealing grab of a Jack Rogers blast in the sixth inning highlighted an error-free game for the Bears. They rank in the bottom half of the Big 12 with a .965 fielding percentage, but six of Baylor's errors came in two games.
Junior second baseman Jack Pineda, a transfer from College of Southern Nevada, said the Bears had some "uncharacteristically bad defensive games early on."
"That's unexpected by everybody in the clubhouse, especially on Coach Rod's teams. They're notoriously (good) defensive teams," Pineda said.
Rodriguez said he doesn't mind "aggressive" errors, "what I don't want is careless errors, cautious errors.
"When you're aggressive, you can really make better decisions, as opposed to being passive," Rodriguez said. "I'm glad our guys are staying aggressive in a lot of the things they're doing. I want them to stay aggressive. As long as there's some intelligence that goes along with it, I'm going to be OK."
What hasn't been an issue is the bats. Baylor ranks second in the league and 18th nationally with a .314 batting average and has shown some pop with 10 home runs and a healthy .443 slugging percentage.
"What's funny is, going into the season, we always thought it was going to be like get the next guy up and we're going to single people to death," said Pineda, who is fifth in the Big with a .387 batting average. "We've actually hit for quite a bit of pop. . . . You're starting to see the lineup come together. There's a lot of tough outs. We're going to put the ball in play, and we're going to force people to beat us."
All four games of the Memphis series will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with KWTX anchor Pete Sousa and former Baylor baseball standout Richard Cunningham calling the action.
WACO, Texas – Baylor will host its first weekend series of 2021 when it welcomes in Memphis to Baylor Ballpark beginning on Friday at 6:30 p.m. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 2 p.m. with the first game going seven innings and the second the full nine innings. The series will finish up on Sunday at 12 p.m.
There will be a BU water bottle giveaway on Saturday, as individual and season tickets are still available to the public.
SERIES INFO
Date: March 5-7 (Fri.-Sun.)
Game Times: 6:30 p.m./2 p.m. (DH)/12 p.m.
Site: Waco, Texas / Baylor Ballpark (5,000) (25 percent)
TV: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
• Talent: Pete Sousa (pxp), Richard Cunningham (color)
Radio: 1660 ESPN/92.3 FM
• Talent: Derek Smith (pxp); Ryan Boyd (Sunday)
Live Stats: BaylorStats.com
Twitter Updates:@BaylorBaseball
Series History: BU leads, 8-3
Streak: BU, W1
First Meeting: March 6, 1996
Last Meeting: April 16-18, 2018 (BU won the series 2-1)
Under Rodriguez: 2-1
PITCHING MATCHUP
Fri. March 5 – Baylor RHP Blake Helton (0-1, 5.14 ERA) vs. Memphis RHP Blake Wimberley (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Sat. March 6 – Baylor LHP Tyler Thomas (1-0, 2.45 ERA) vs. Memphis LHP Chris Durham (0-0, 5.79)
Sat. March 6 – Baylor LHP Cam Caley (0-1, 15.75 ERA) vs. Memphis RHP Jackson Cothren (0-0, 0.00)
Sun. March 7 – Baylor TBD vs. Memphis RHP Landon Kelly (1-0, 3.00)
STORY LINES
• BU is coming off a three-hit shutout against Sam Houston on Tuesday night with Logan Freeman, Jimmy Winston, Hambleton Oliver, Ryan Leckich and Luke Boyd combining for the first shutout for the Bears in 2021.
• Second-year freshman Jared McKenzie already has two multi-home run games with four homers total after not hitting one last season. He currently leads the team in runs (10), RBI (9), home runs (4) and total bases (24).
• Newcomer Jack Pineda is fifth in the Big 12 with a .387 average through seven games, Pineda is also tied for 4th in the conference with McKenzie in total hits (12).
• The Bears have already hit 10 home runs on the season. With Rodriguez, BU has hit 217 in 244 games.
• On the mound, Tyler Thomas continued to impress as he earned his first win since May 14, 2019 against UT Arlington after throwing five innings, while only giving up one earned run and striking out three on Saturday, vs. Auburn. Thomas has already thrown more innings than he did last year as he threw a total of 6.2 innings, all in relief after coming off of surgery to remove a rib in June 2019 due to his Thoracic Outlet Syndrome.
• Through the first seven games, BU is second in the Big 12 in hits (18th nationally) and batting average (19th nationally). The Bears are also fourth in the conference with 10 home runs. Pineda has a hit in every game in 2021.
To stay up to date throughout the season on all things Baylor baseball, follow the team on Facebook (Baylor Baseball), Twitter (@BaylorBaseball) and Instagram (@BaylorBaseball).
Players Mentioned
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