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BAYLOR BEARS (0-0, 0-0 Big 12)
Location: Waco, Texas
Conference/Affiliation: Big 12
Head Coach: Mitch Thompson (Fort Hays St., 1988)
Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
BAYLOR (0-0, 0-0) vs. YOUNGSTOWN STATE (0-0, 0-0)
Feb. 14, 2025 • 3:00 p.m. CT
Feb. 15, 2025 • 2:00 p.m. CT
Feb. 16, 2025 • 12:00 p.m. CT
Waco, Texas • Baylor Ballpark (5,000)
LIVE STATS: BaylorStats.com
WATCH: ESPN+
LISTEN: ESPN Central Texas 1660 AM/92.3 FM (Fri. & Sun.)
LISTEN: Kicker Country 99.3 FM/1590 AM (Sat.)
Talent: Derek Smith, Tom Barfield, Cole Posey
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YOUNGSTOWN STATE PENGUINS (0-0, 0-0 Horizon)
Location: Youngstown, Ohio
Conference/Affiliation: Horizon League
Head Coach: Trevor Charpie (Nevada, 2017)
Roster | Stats
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STORYLINES
LEADING OFF
• Baylor Baseball begins the 2025 season with an eight-game homestand at Baylor Ballpark in Waco, welcoming Youngstown State for a three-game series on Opening Weekend, Feb. 14-16.
• The Bears will host UTSA on Tuesday, Feb. 18, then Gonzaga for a three-game set on Feb. 21-23, and round out the opening slate with SFA on Tuesday, Feb. 25.
• Baylor returns 22 players from its 2024 roster, including six position player starters, and welcomes 18 newcomers.
• BU has 16 seniors on its 2025 roster, including six fifth-year players and three sixth-year players.
• The Bears are led by the outfield trio of seniors -- Enzo Apodaca, Ty Johnson and Wesley Jordan, who accounted for nearly 36% of the team's offense a year ago (176 of 491 hits)
• Baylor plays a combined 13 games against five NCAA Tournament teams in 2025 and will face 10 30-game winners, including two squads that won 40 or more games last season.
• 46% of the schedule features opponents that finished 2024 with a top-75 RPI.
BASEBALL IS BACK - BY THE NUMBERS
• BU is 1-5 on Opening Weekend in two seasons under third-year head coach Mitch Thompson, with the lone win coming in Thompson's debut -- a 10-inning, 6-5 victory over Central Michigan in 2023.
• Baylor is looking for its first series win on Opening Weekend since 2020, when the Bears rebounded to take two of three from Nebraska after dropping the opener in Waco.
• Baylor is 65-37 all-time on Opening Day, with wins in seven of its last 11 season openers.
• BU has won 10 of its last 17 Opening Weekend series, dating back to 2008.
BREAKING DOWN THE BEARS
• Baylor returns 22 players from its 2024 roster and welcomes 18 newcomers.
• The Bears have 17 players on their roster in their fourth year or more of college baseball, including 16 seniors.
• BU has six fifth-year players in OF Enzo Apodaca, RHP Drew Leach, INF Will Pendergrass, RHP Andrew Petrowski, 1B/OF Hunter Simmons and RHP Cole Stasio.
• Baylor has three sixth-year players in LHP Bryson Bales, RHP Gabe Craig and RHP Patrick Hail.
• By position, the Bears are carrying three catchers, three first basemen, eight infielders, six outfielders, 13 right-handed pitchers and seven left-handed pitchers in 2025, including a pair of two-way players (Clewett, Ruais).
SERIES HISTORY VS. YOUNGSTOWN STATE
• Baylor and Youngstown State have split the all-time series, 2-2.
• The only previous meeting between the Bears and Penguins was a four-game series in 2023.
• BU dropped the series opener, 7-5, then split the Saturday doubleheader with a 12-5 victory and 7-5 loss in 10 innings, and won the series finale, 9-7.
• The Bears are 1-0 all-time against all other teams from the Horizon League, having defeated Wright State in an elimination game at the 2018 Stanford Regional.
PROBABLE STARTERS
• Fri. Feb. 14 • 3:00 p.m. • LHP Ethan Calder (5-3, 3.23 ERA)* vs. RHP Jacob Gehring (4-7, 7.03 ERA)*
• Sat. Feb. 15 • 2:00 p.m. • LHP Bryson Bales (4-2, 4.21 ERA)$ vs. RHP JJ Tylicki (0-0, 36.00 ERA)**
• Sun. Feb. 16 • 12:00 p.m. • RHP Cole Stasio (4-2, 5.33 ERA)^ vs. RHP Phil Brennaman (0-0, 36.00 ERA)***
*Stats from 2024 season | $At Hendrix College | ^Stats from 2023 season, 2 IP in 2024
*Stats from 2024 season | **2023 stats at Kansas, DNP in 2024 | ^At Louisiana-Lafayette
BROADCAST INFORMATION
• All three games this weekend will be televised on ESPN+.
• Fans can also tune in to ESPN Central Texas 1660 AM/92.3 FM on Friday and Sunday to hear the Baylor radio broadcast featuring Derek Smith and Tom Barfield on the call.
• Saturday's radio broadcast will be carried by Kicker Country 99.3 FM/1590 AM, with Tom Barfield and former Bear Cole Posey calling the action.
• Posey, a 2024 Baylor graduate and two-year letterwinner, will join the BU radio crew for select broadcasts this season, becoming the first former Bear of the Thompson Era to don the headset.
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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