Baylor
TCU
BSB Begins Big 12 Slate Against No. 21 TCU
3/17/2022 4:57:00 PM | Baseball
Bears host Horned Frogs for three games in Waco
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BAYLOR BEARS (9-7, 0-0 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Steve Rodriguez (Pepperdine, 2001) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
BAYLOR (9-7, 0-0) vs TCU (12-4, 0-0) March 18, 2022 • 6:30 p.m. CT March 19, 2022 • 3:00 p.m. CT March 20, 2022 • 1:00 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • Baylor Ballpark (5,000) LIVE STATS: BaylorStats.com WATCH: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ Talent: Lincoln Rose (Fri./Sat.), Pete Sousa (Sun.), Talent: Pat Combs (Analyst) LISTEN: Learfield / ESPN Central Texas 1660 AM & 92.3 FM (Fri.) LISTEN: Learfield / Fox Sports Central Texas 1330 AM & 93.9 FM (Sat./Sun.) Talent: Derek Smith, Ryan Boyd Baylor Social Media:    |
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TCU HORNED FROGS (12-4, 0-0 Big 12) Location: Fort Worth, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Kirk Saarloos (Cal State Fullerton) Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
After hopefully no more than a little bump in the road, the Baylor Bears (9-7) open Big 12 play with a three-game series this weekend at Baylor Ballpark versus No. 21 TCU 12-4).
Baylor had won six of its last nine before giving up three ninth-inning runs in Tuesday's 11-10 loss at Sam Houston State. The conference-opening series begins with a game at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
"We've gotten ourselves into a really good position with regards to being prepared," said Baylor coach Steve Rodriguez, whose team is 4-2 versus ranked opponents.
"Feeling good and feeling prepared are two completely different things. I want to make sure our guys feel prepared. Going through the first month of non-conference, I think, has done that. We've been battle-tested with a lot of the teams we've played, with great pitching. Right now, we have to minimize our mistakes and capitalize on theirs."
TCU doesn't appear to have lost a step since Jim Schlossnagle left to take the job at Texas A&M following the 2021 season. Longtime pitching coach and recruiting coordinator Kirk Saarloos has led the Horned Frogs to a 12-4 start that includes series sweeps of Nebraska and Army and Tuesday's 17-6 pounding of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Going into the weekend, TCU is hitting .291 as a team, with Elijah Nunez and Brayden Taylor leading the way at .386 and .382, respectively. Freshman first baseman David Bishop is hitting .377 and leads the Frogs with three homers and 26 RBI.
"They're hitting around .300 with a lot of stolen bases (31 of 36)," Rodriguez said. "They have some power (10 homers) and they've played against really good competition. Pitching-wise, they've got really good starting arms and they're very consistent on the back end of games. We just have to minimize the free bases, make them earn everything they get."
While Baylor's rotation remains the same, with Tyler Thomas (3-1, 0.94 ERA) starting on Friday, Jake Jackson (1-2, 6.86) in Saturday's 3 p.m. game and Will Rigney (0-0, 4.20) in Sunday's 1 p.m. series finale, TCU's is still up in the air.
Riley Cornelio (1-1, 4.79) will start on Friday, but the potential starters after that are Brett Walker (2-0, 3.33), Cam Brown (2-1, 3.38) and Austin Krob (2-0, 4.76).
Baylor's issues have been more on the back end, where pitching coach Jon Strauss is trying to find replacements for his reliable "Old Guys" bullpen. Freshman Mason Marriott has filled in nicely as the closer with a 1-0 record, 1.80 ERA and four saves, but he wasn't available Tuesday when the pen gave up nine runs in the last five innings.
"We're slowly starting to figure that out," Rodriguez said. "We have a really good handle on some guys who can fit in some certain roles, making sure they're capable of doing that role. We feel really good about where we are right now. it's just a matter of keeping guys healthy."
From Troy Montemayor to Kyle Hill to Luke Boyd, Baylor's had a good run of All-American closers. Marriott's only pitched a total of 10.0 innings with eight appearances, but he has been solid so far on the back end.
"We've put him in some pretty big situations against some pretty big teams," Rodriguez said of Marriott, who's had saves against UCLA and LSU and picked up the win in Sunday's 4-3 victory over Columbia, throwing 2.2 scoreless innings of relief. "I don't really know if I can coach that. I have to let him go out there and sink or swim. Luckily, he's been on the swimming end of that. Knowing you can put a young man out there in some heated situations, and him come out on the successful end, is a great sign for Baylor baseball."
Marriott certainly doesn't shy away from the pressure and spotlight of the closer role.
"I love it," he said. "Going in in one-run or two-run games and you're the last guy out of the pen, and you have to get the job done, I live for it."
All three games this weekend will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
STORYLINES
LEADING OFF
• Baylor opens Big 12 conference play by hosting No. 21 TCU this weekend in Waco.
• This is the first time since 2018 that Baylor has hosted TCU in Waco, as the 2020 conference slate was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Baylor boasts a 4-2 record against ranked opponents in 2022, with wins over No. 23 Duke, No. 23 UCLA and No. 7 LSU.
• Last time out, BU dropped an 11-10 contest at Sam Houston as the Bearkats scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth to walk it off.
• Last week, the Bears took two of three from Columbia, including a walk-off win in 10 innings in Sunday's series finale. BU also defeated Abilene Christian, 6-4, in its midweek game.
• Baylor stays close to home in 2022, as 43 of its 52 regular-season contests will be played in the state of Texas.
• BU doesn't leave The Lone Star State until March 25-27, when it travels to take on Oklahoma in Norman.
BY THE NUMBERS
• Baylor leads the all-time series 150-127 over TCU.
• BU is 10-8 against TCU under seventh-year head coach Steve Rodriguez.
• The Horned Frogs have taken each of the last four meetings, including a series sweep in 2021 in Fort Worth, and a win in the 2019 Big 12 Championship.
• However, Baylor has won five of its last six home contests against TCU.
• BU is 2-3 in conference openers under Rodriguez and 8-7 in its first home conference series since 2016.
• Baylor is 77-13 (.713) at Baylor Ballpark over the last five seasons, including a 5-5 mark in 2022.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday, March 18 • 6:30 p.m. CT • LHP Tyler Thomas (3-1, 0.94 ERA) vs. RHP Riley Cornelio (1-1, 4.79 ERA)
Saturday, March 19 • 3:00 p.m. CT • RHP Jake Jackson (1-2, 6.86 ERA) vs. TBD
Sunday, March 20 • 1:00 p.m. CT • RHP Will Rigney (0-0, 4.20 ERA) vs. TBD
BROADCAST INFORMATION
• All games this weekend will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with Lincoln Rose (PxP) and Pat Combs (Analyst) calling the action on Friday and Saturday. Pete Sousa will join Combs for the Sunday broadcast.
• Fans can also tune in to the home radio broadcast, featuring Derek Smith and Ryan Boyd on various stations.
T-THOM A TRUE FRIDAY NIGHT ACE
• Fifth-year senior LHP Tyler Thomas has turned himself into a bonafide Friday night ace, with four outstanding starts so far in 2022.
• Thomas followed up his career-best outing with another stellar start, going 8.0 scoreless against Columbia with seven strikeouts and just three hits allowed.
• Previously, Thomas went 8.2 innings and allowed just four hits while recording a career-high 10 strikeouts in the 2-1 win over No. 23 UCLA.
• Thomas is now 3-1 in 2022 with a 0.94 ERA, having surrendered just three runs across two different frames of his Big 12-leading 28.2 innings pitched.
• He has posted 31 K's and just three walks, ranking first in the conference with an 10.33 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
• T-Thom recorded the second-highest game score in college baseball after his start vs. Columbia, an 83, according to D1Baseball.com. He also scored an 82 in his outing against UCLA, the fourth-best rating amongst March 4 pitchers.
• Thomas has helped lead the BU pitching staff to third in the Big 12 with a combined 3.95 team ERA.
-BaylorBears.com-
