Baylor
UCF
BSB Wraps Regular Season at UCF
5/14/2025 7:15:00 PM | Baseball
Bears make first trip to Orlando in program history
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BAYLOR BEARS (31-20, 11-16 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Mitch Thompson (Fort Hays St., 1988) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
BAYLOR (31-20, 11-16) at UCF (28-24, 8-19) May 15, 2025 • 5:00 p.m. CT May 16, 2025 • 5:00 p.m. CT May 17, 2025 • 11:00 a.m. CT Orlando, Fla. • John Euliano Park (3,900) 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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UCF KNIGHTS (28-24, 8-19 Big 12) Location: Orlando, Fla. Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Rich Wallace (UCF, 2004) Roster | Stats |
STORYLINES
LEADING OFF
• Baylor Baseball hits the road for its final weekend series of the 2025 season, heading to Orlando to face UCF in a Thursday-Friday-Saturday set to wrap up the regular-season slate.
• The Bears are coming off a 1-2 weekend against Oklahoma State that included a 5-4 walk-off win in 10 innings on Sunday, BU's second walk-off and 13th come-from-behind win of the season.
• Baylor finished its non-conference slate with a 20-4 record this season, including an 11-1 mark in midweek games.
• With one weekend remaining in the regular season, BU currently sits 11th in the Big 12 standings at 11-16.
• BU's magic number is one to clinch a spot in the Big 12 Tournament -- a Baylor win vs. UCF OR a BYU loss vs. Texas Tech would send the Bears to Arlington as one of the top 12 teams that qualifies for this season's championship.
• Baylor had received votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Top 25 poll in 12 different weeks this season. Baylor has not been ranked in a major poll since 2019.
• 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.
2025 NOTABLES
• 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 recorded its third shutout of the year on April 19 vs. Utah, its most in a single season since 2022 (3).
• 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 has won three games this year against ranked opponents (two at No. 12 Arizona; one at No. 23 TCU), marking the fifth, sixth and seventh ranked victories for the Bears under Thompson.
BEARS BY THE NUMBERS
• Baylor is 21-3 when striking out nine or more batters this season.
• BU is 20-5 when allowing two walks or less in 2025.
• The Bears are 18-5 this year when racking up 10+ hits offensively.
• Baylor owns a +85 overall run differential this season (350 runs scored, 265 runs allowed), which ranks 6th in the Big 12, trailing only West Virginia (+176), Arizona State (+161), Kansas (+157), UCF (+123) and TCU (+118).
• Baylor's 3.33 walks per nine innings ranks 12th in the country and its 1.33 WHIP ranks 25th nationally.
IT'S ABOUT THE RESPONSE
• Baylor is 13-7 this season in games following a loss.
• BU has 13 comeback victories this season, including two walk-off wins (April 1 vs. HCU, May 11 vs. OSU).
• BU's most recent comeback victory came on Sunday, May 11, vs. Oklahoma State (trailed 4-1, won 5-4).
• Baylor erased a five-run deficit to win 9-7 on Sunday, March 16 at Kansas, the largest comeback of the Thompson Era.
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST UCF
• Baylor is 1-2 all-time against UCF, with the only prior meeting between the two teams coming in a three-game series last season in Waco.
• This will be BU's first trip to face the Knights in Orlando in program history.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
• Thurs. May 15 • 5:00 p.m. CT • TBD vs. RHP Camden Wicker (0-2, 4.75 ERA)
• Fri. May 16 • 5:00 p.m. CT • LHP Ethan Calder (3-6, 5.46 ERA) vs. RHP Russell Sandefer (2-3, 3.15 ERA)
• Sat. May 17 • 11:00 a.m. CT • TBD vs. RHP Matt Sauser (3-2, 3.86 ERA)
SOUTHPAW STARTERS
• Baylor has started a left-handed pitcher in each of its last 40 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 six 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.
CLOSING TIME
• On the mound, sixth-year senior closer Gabe Craig earned a spot on two midseason watch lists: College Baseball Foundation's National Pitcher of the Year and the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award.
• In 22 appearances so far this season, Craig has been outstanding with a 3-0 record, 0.61 ERA and nine saves.
• 20 of his outings have been scoreless, 12 have been hitless, and he has recorded multiple strikeouts in 15 outings.
• Craig boasts a 46:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio and an impressive 0.55 WHIP, having allowed just 13 hits, and has held opponents to a .135 batting average.
• In Big 12 play, Craig has allowed just one run on seven hits in 17.1 innings with a 30:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
• Craig has not allowed a run over his last 10 outings -- a scoreless streak of 17.2 innings.
• Craig's nine saves rank as the second-most in the Big 12 and 18th in the country; his 18 games finished are the most in the league.
• Craig's nine saves are also the most by a Bear since all-time saves leader Troy Montemayor had 11 in 2018.
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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