Baylor
TCU
BSB Welcomes Rival TCU for Marquee Weekend Series
4/16/2026 4:02:00 PM | Baseball
Bears looking for first series win over Horned Frogs since 2019
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BAYLOR BEARS (21-15, 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 (21-15, 8-7) vs TCU (22-14, 8-7) April 17, 2026 • 6:30 p.m. CT April 18, 2026 • 2:00 p.m. CT April 19, 2026 • 1:00 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • Magnolia Field at Baylor Ballpark LIVE STATS: BaylorBears.com/Stats WATCH: ESPN+ Talent: Kyle Youmans (Fri. & Sun.), Mike Leslie (Sat.), Pat Combs LISTEN: ESPN Central Texas 1660 AM/92.3 FM Talent: Derek Smith, Tom Barfield Baylor Social Media:    |
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TCU HORNED FROGS (22-14, 8-7 Big 12) Location: Fort Worth, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Kirk Saarloos (Cal St. Fullerton) Roster | Stats |
STORYLINES
LEADING OFF
• Baylor Baseball is back at home to continue its week-long slate of games against in-state rivals at Magnolia Field at Baylor Ballpark, welcoming rival TCU to Waco for a weekend series.
• Baylor and TCU are two of three teams tied for fifth place in the Big 12 standings at 8-7 entering the weekend.
• BU is coming off a thrilling 10-9 victory in 12 innings over UTSA on Tuesday night, erasing a two-run deficit in the final frame on the heels of Tyce Armstrong's game-tying home run and Dylan Perez's walk-off RBI single.
• The win was Baylor's ninth come-from-behind win of the season and third-consecutive comeback win.
• BU's largest deficit erased in a win this season was a three-run hole against West Virginia (March 13), and the Bears' latest deficit faced was the two-run hole against UTSA in the 12th inning (April 14).
• Baylor is 7-2 in series openers so far in 2026 and has won six of its last seven series openers.
• Prior to the Cincinnati series, BU had won four-straight series openers in Big 12 play, marking the first such streak for the program since 2021.
• The Bears are 6-1 this year in games when redshirt junior RHP Lucas Davenport starts.
• Baylor has turned 31 double plays in 36 games, which ranks fourth in the Big 12 and 29th nationally.
• BU opened the year on a 10-game winning streak at home, its longest home winning streak to start a season since 2021.
• The home winning streak extended to 11 games when counting the 2025 home finale, making it Baylor's longest home winning streak since 2012, when the Bears won 22 in a row in Waco.
HOSTING THE HORNED FROGS
• Baylor holds a 152-138 advantage in the all-time series against TCU, though BU is just 1-8 against the Horned Frogs under fourth-year head coach Mitch Thompson.
• BU is looking for its first series win over TCU since sweeping the Frogs on the road in 2019.
• Last year, Baylor salvaged the weekend series with a 6-3 win at TCU in Fort Worth.
• BU is 9-4 this season against fellow teams from the state of Texas.
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
• Fri. April 17 • 6:30 p.m. CT • RHP Lucas Davenport (3-1, 3.56 ERA) vs. RHP Trever Baumler (1-2, 7.09 ERA)
• Sat. April 18 • 2:00 p.m. CT • RHP Zack Wallace (3-3, 5.66 ERA) vs. RHP Lance Davis (3-3, 5.36 ERA)
• Sun. April 19 • 1:00 p.m. CT • LHP Ethan Calder (3-3, 4.17 ERA) vs. RHP Zack James (4-0, 2.87 ERA)
SWIPING RIGHT (ON THE BASES)
• Through 36 games, the Bears have stolen 65 bases, the most by a BU team at this point in a season since at least 2003.
• Baylor has stolen five or more bases five times in 2026, and have stolen multiple bases in 17 games this year.
• 2026 is the first season since 2013 that BU has had three or more players reach double figures in stolen bases: Brady Janusek, 14; Travis Sanders, 11; Pearson Riebock, 10.
• Cade Dodson (8) and Ty Johnson (7) are within striking distance of also joining the 10+ bags club.
• Janusek sits 10 stolen bases shy of the program's all-time freshman record, set by Mike Robison in 1988 (24).
NO BROOMS AROUND THE BEARS
• With Baylor's win over Cincinnati in last Sunday's series finale, it marked the 16th-consecutive Big 12 series in which the Bears collected at least one win.
• The last time BU was swept in a conference series was May 10-11, 2024, at Oklahoma.
• This was Baylor's fifth-straight win in a weekend finale when down 0-2 in a Big 12 series.
• Baylor had not been down 0-2 in a conference series since May 9-11, 2025, vs. Oklahoma State, making this the first time BU faced an 0-2 deficit on the weekend in six Big 12 series.
DIALING UP THE STRIKES
• Senior LHP Ethan Calder saw his 16-inning streak without allowing a walk snapped in Sunday's finale at UC.
• Of his 27 career starts, Calder has never walked more than three batters, and has allowed two walks or less 23 times. This was Calder's 16th-career start with just one walk allowed or less.
• Calder worked his 13th career start of at least five innings with three or fewer earned runs allowed, and fifth such start of 2026.
• It was also his fourth start of the year with five or more strikeouts.
THE TYCE IS RIGHT
• Redshirt senior 1B Tyce Armstrong is tied for fifth in the Big 12 with 14 home runs and ranks 8th in the league with 43 RBIs.
• Armstrong's 14 home runs mark the 11th time since 2012 that a Bear has hit double-digit homers in a single season and are the most since Josh Ludy hit 16 in 2012.
• This is the second time under fourth-year head coach Mitch Thompson that a Bear has hit 10+ home runs (Jordan, 10 in 2025).
• Armstrong sits just seven homers shy of BU's school record for home runs in a season (Charley Carter, 21 in 1998).
• Armstrong sits two blasts shy of cracking the top-10 on BU's single-season leaderboard.
• Baylor has not had two players hit 10+ home runs in the same season since 2021, when Andy Thomas (11) and Jared McKenzie (10) each did so.
FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH
• Through 36 games, 45% of Baylor's total plate appearances have been taken by players with less than 55 career PA's entering the 2026 season. True or redshirt freshmen account for 34% of the team's total plate appearances.
• That group also accounts for 46% of the team's hits, including 37% from true or redshirt freshmen.
• 48% of Baylor's hits have come from players who have previously redshirted in their careers.
• 42% of Baylor's IP this season have been thrown by players who had thrown less than five career innings at the Div. I level.
• Baylor has nine true freshmen on its 2026 roster and an additional four redshirt freshmen.
• This year, 19 Bears have made their Baylor debuts (9 hitters, 10 pitchers), including 10 true or redshirt freshmen.
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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