Baylor
Arizona
BSB Duels No. 12 Arizona in the Desert
3/27/2025 6:00:00 PM | Baseball
Bears head to Tucson for first time since 2003 to face Big 12-leading Wildcats
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BAYLOR BEARS (17-7, 2-4 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Mitch Thompson (Fort Hays St., 1988) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
BAYLOR (17-7, 2-4) at ARIZONA (19-5, 5-1) March 28, 2025 • 8:00 p.m. CT March 29, 2025 • 8:00 p.m. CT March 30, 2025 • 2:00 p.m. CT Tucson, Ariz. • Hi Corbett Field (9,500) LIVE STATS: BaylorStats.com WATCH: ESPN+ LISTEN: ESPN Central Texas 1660 AM/92.3 FM Talent: Derek Smith, Tom Barfield Baylor Social Media:    |
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ARIZONA WILDCATS (19-5, 5-1 Big 12) Location: Tucson, Ariz. Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Chip Hale (Arizona, 1987) Roster | Stats |
STORYLINES
LEADING OFF
• Baylor Baseball heads to the desert this weekend to face Big 12 newcomer and top-25 squad Arizona in a three-game weekend series at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, Ariz.
• The Bears are coming off a 13-4 victory over UT Arlington on Tuesday night, remaining undefeated (6-0) in midweek ballgames so far in 2025.
• Baylor has scored at least nine runs in each of its last six wins and seven of its last eight victories.
• BU is 2-4 through the first two weekends of conference play, salvaging each series with wins in the Sunday finales at Kansas and against Kansas State.
• The Bears have now won the series finale three times after trailing 0-2 on the weekend in the Thompson era.
• Baylor is 11-2 this season when allowing two walks or less.
• 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.
• 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.
STRONG FIRST MONTH
• Baylor completed its first Opening Weekend sweep since 2019, outscoring Youngstown State 38-11.
• The Bears posted back-to-back shutouts against UTSA and Gonzaga, the team's first consecutive shutouts since April 1-2, 2021.
• BU's sweep over LMU signaled the fourth time since 2017 that the Bears have swept two opponents at home within the first four weekends of the year.
• Tuesday, March 11's game attendance (2,283) against Sam Houston was the largest crowd against a non-conference opponent, and the seventh-largest overall, of the Thompson era.
• Baylor erased a five-run deficit to win 9-7 on Sunday at Kansas, the largest comeback of the Thompson Era.
• Baylor's 3.42 walks per nine innings ranks 23rd in the country and its 1.27 WHIP places 24th nationally.
• BU's bullpen has allowed 45 earned runs across 113.1 innings of relief, good for a 3.57 ERA.
• For the sixth week in a row, Baylor is currently receiving votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Top 25 poll. Baylor has not been ranked in a major poll since 2019.
BY THE NUMBERS AGAINST ARIZONA
• Baylor is 4-7 all-time against Arizona, including a 2-4 mark against the Wildcats in Tucson.
• The Bears have lost two of three series against U of A, but have split the two prior series in Tucson.
• Arizona swept the first-ever meeting in a 1998 weekend series, but BU took two of three in 2003 at UA.
• The two sides last met twice in the 2010 Fort Worth Regional, as the Wildcats won a 10-9 postseason opener over the Bears, but Baylor eliminated Arizona two days later with a 4-2 victory.
• Baylor is 4-23 against ranked opponents in the Thompson era.
• BU's last road series victory over a ranked foe came at No. 5 Texas Tech in 2021.
PROBABLE STARTERS
• Fri. March 28 • 6:00 p.m. MT • LHP Ethan Calder (3-3, 5.46 ERA) vs. RHP Collin McKinney (0-1, 1.40 ERA)
• Tues. March 25 • 6:00 p.m. MT • TBD vs. RHP Owen Kramkowski (3-2, 6.31 ERA)
• Tues. March 25 • 12:00 p.m. MT • LHP Carson Bailey (2-0, 3.96 ERA) vs. RHP Smith Bailey (1-1, 2.30 ERA)
SOUTHPAW STARTERS
• Baylor has started a left-handed pitcher in each of its last 13 games, dating back to March 2 (Cole Stasio vs. Auburn).
• 2025 is the only season in the Statcrew Era (since 2003) that BU has started five different left-handed pitchers at any point in the year, and the third time in the same span with four different LHP starters.
• 2025 is the only time in the Statcrew Era that the Bears have started four different southpaws consecutively.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
• All three games this weekend will be available on ESPN+.
• Fans can also tune in to ESPN Central Texas 1660 AM/92.3 FM for the Baylor radio broadcast, featuring Derek Smith and Tom Barfield on the call.
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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