BAYLOR BEARS (17-18, 8-7 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas  Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Mitch Thompson                              (Fort Hays St., 1988) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)	BAYLOR (17-18, 8-7) vs. KANSAS (19-14, 7-8) April 19, 2024 • 6:30 p.m. CT April 20, 2024 • 2:00 p.m. CT April 21, 2024 • 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.), Pete Sousa (Sat., Sun.), Pat Combs LISTEN: ESPN Central Texas 1660 AM/92.3 FM Talent: Derek Smith, Tom Barfield Baylor Social Media:
	KANSAS JAYHAWKS (19-14, 7-8 Big 12) Location: Lawrence, Kan. Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Dan Fitzgerald (Minnesota, 2000) Roster | Stats | Game Notes

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
In a "jumbled" Big 12 Conference where no one has really separated, Baylor baseball (17-18, 8-7) sits in fifth place, but the Bears have only one more win than the 11^th-place team in the league going into this weekend.
 
"That's how this league is, for sure," said Baylor coach Mitch Thompson, whose Bears host Kansas (19-14, 7-8) after sweeping a road series against BYU and beating UTA, 3-1, on Tuesday. "I think anybody can beat anybody on any given week. Coach (Trent) Pratt at BYU said, 'I know this, you're not going to win if you don't play good, so go play well and you've got a shot.'''
 
That's exactly what the Bears have done in winning three-straight series and nine of their last 10 games in getting back within a game of .500 for the first time since the opening weekend.
 
"I think we're just rallying around each other and playing good baseball," said freshman pitcher RJ Ruais (2-0, 4.84 ERA), who has allowed just one of eight inherited runners to score. "it's great that every game is super important. We're just going to go out and try to hit the bulk of the schedule that we've still got pretty hard."
 
Saturday's 18-17 win against BYU aside, the bullpen has been one of the biggest differences in Baylor's recent surge. Ethan Calder and Kobe Andrade have two saves apiece, while Ruais, Patrick Hail and Drew Leach have been reliable arms out of the bullpen.
 
"We've got about eight guys right now that we feel really confident about," Thompson said of a pitching staff that includes weekend starters Mason Marriott (2-4, 4.47), Collin McKinney (3-3, 5.50) and Mason Green (1-4, 5.68). "Every time out, they're going to pretty much be the same guy and be able to compete for us.
 
"If we can get the next three or four to be more consistent. So far, it's been a little bit of a coin flip. One time, they're good, the next time they're not so good. If we can get them to be a little more consistent, then our pitching staff really lengthens out and that gives us a whole lot better depth."
 
The Bears have also gotten it done at the plate, scoring at least eight runs in eight of their last 10 games and outscoring their opponents, 97-62, in that stretch.
 
Junior rightfielder Enzo Apodaca, the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week, is hitting .419 since returning to the leadoff spot in the order on March 29 and is riding a team-high 14-game hitting streak.
 
"I don't really change my approach, no matter where I'm at in the lineup," said Apodaca, who hit out of the 3-hole 16 times. "I know who I am as a player, and I try to stick to that, don't try to get too out of my circle, so I can keep the same approach. But I try to stay up the middle and get on base for my guys to knock me in."
 
Junior third baseman Hunter Teplanszky has dipped to .293, but Baylor has consistently had its top five hitters in the lineup all batting over .300. Apodaca leads the way at .368, followed by Wesley Jordan (.324), Ty Johnson (.323) and Daniel Altman (.300).
 
The Bears' ultimate utility man, Altman has played second base, left field and center and hit out of the 4, 6 and 6 spots in the order.
 
"He's played really well everywhere we've played him," Thompson said. "We're throwing him into kind of a tough spot, too, just because of our injury situation. Danny shouldn't probably be a 4-hole hitter, but he's in the 4 or 5 hole for us every day and he's handling it, driving in runs. So, good for him."
 
All three games this weekend will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Lincoln Rose and Pete Sousa sharing play-by-play duties and joining former Baylor pitcher Pat Combs in the television booth.
 
"The formula for winning is playing good baseball – pitch the ball well, play good defense, stay in the game and then have timely hitting and execute," Thompson said. That's the plan is just trying to keep that up."
 

STORYLINES

LEADING OFF

• Baylor Baseball welcomes Kansas to Waco as winners of nine of its last 10 games, including each of its last four,  five of its last seven weekend series and four-straight home series.

• BU is coming off a 3-1 victory on Tuesday night at UT Arlington in which it received five scoreless outings on the mound.

• Baylor has scored eight or more runs in eight of its last 10 games, has tallied nine or more hits in 10 of its last 12 games, and has struck out 10 or more batters in eight of its last 11 games.

• Since moving redshirt junior OF Enzo Apodaca back into the leadoff spot on March 29, the Bears are hitting .341 as a team across those 10 games and have scored 97 runs on 124 hits, including 21 doubles, two triples and 13 home runs.

• According to Pro Baseball Radar, BU faced the nation's toughest schedule through the first month of the season based on 2023's RPI and win percentage.

• Baylor plays 26 games against the 2023 RPI top-50 this season, the most in the Big 12.

• 60% of Baylor's offense (202 of 334 hits) has been produced by underclassmen or players in their first season at Baylor.

• True or redshirt freshmen have accounted for 41% of innings pitched on the mound this season (126.2 of 308.1).

OH HOW SWEEP IT IS!

• Last weekend, Baylor swept BYU in Provo, marking its first sweep in a road series or in Big 12 play since April 26-28, 2019, when BU took all three at TCU in Fort Worth.

• The Bears used a potent offensive attack to down the Cougars, racking up 35 runs on 47 hits over the weekend.

• On Thursday, Baylor rode a pair of three-run innings and another solid start by Mason Marriott (5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 SO) to a series-opening 9-2 victory. 

• On Friday, the Bears erased a 4-1 deficit and scored a run in the seventh and two in the ninth to force extra innings, ultimately taking the contest 8-5 in extras behind a four-run 10th.

• In Saturday's finale, BU got out to an 18-5 lead behind a 21-hit outburst, and held on as BYU scored 12 unanswered to finish off the sweep.

LEADING FROM THE TOP

• Redshirt junior OF Enzo Apodaca was named the Big 12 Player of the Week on Monday after leading the league with a .600 batting average in three games at BYU.

• Apodaca reached base in 12 of his 18 plate appearances against the Cougars, totaling nine hits, a home run and five RBIs.

• The product of Scottsdale, Ariz., drove in runs in each of the three games, including a trio of RBIs in the Saturday finale in which he crushed his career-high fourth homer of the season.

• As BU's leadoff batter, Apodaca has slashed .419/.528/.581 since his return to the top spot in the lineup on March 29.

• Apodaca is riding a team-best 14-game hitting streak, owns 12 multi-hit performances and leads the club with seven multi-RBI games in 2024.

• His weekly award marked BU's third of the season and the fourth of the Thompson era. Additionally, this is the third time since 2015 that BU has had a Player, Pitcher and Newcomer of the Week honoree in the same season. 

BY THE NUMBERS VS. KANSAS

• Baylor leads the all-time series, 61-26, against Kansas though the Bears were swept in Lawrence last season.

• BU has won six of its last eight series against KU, but haven't swept the Jayhawks since 2012.

• Heading into the weekend, the Bears (5th, 8-7) and the Jayhawks (8th, 7-8) are separated by just one game in the Big 12 standings.

PROBABLE STARTERS

• Fri. April 19 • 6:30 p.m. • RHP Mason Marriott (2-3, 4.47) vs. RHP Reese Dutton (7-1, 2.50)

• Sat. April 20 • 2:00 p.m. • RHP Collin McKinney (3-3, 5.50) vs. RHP Dominic Voegele (4-2, 2.52)

• Sun. April 21 • 1:00 p.m. • LHP Mason Green (1-4, 5.68) vs. TBD

BROADCAST INFORMATION

• All three of this weekend's games will be available on Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Lincoln Rose (Fri.) and Pete Sousa (Sat. & Sun.) joining former Bear Pat Combs on the call. 

• Fans can also tune in to ESPN Central Texas 1660 AM/92.3 FM to hear the home radio broadcast featuring Derek Smith and Tom Barfield calling the action.



To stay up to date on all things Baylor baseball, follow the team on its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorBaseball.

 

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