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Bears Travel to Oklahoma State
March 29, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format
GAMES 28-30 • MARCH 30-APRIL 1 BAYLOR (16-11, 2-4) at 14 ALLIE P. REYNOLDS STADIUM • COACHES BAYLOR: Steve Smith Alma Mater: Baylor, 1986 Career Record: 470-295-1 [13th season] Record at Baylor: 470-295-1 [13th season] Alma Mater: Career Record: 132-75 [4th season] Record at OSU: 132-75 [4th season] BAYLOR/ISP NETWORK 1660 ESPN RADIO ( Tom Barfield, play-by-play Lark Smith, color TELEVISION FSN SOUTHWEST (Sunday only) Greg Lucas, play-by-play Jack Lazorko, color INTERNET FEEDS GameTracker: www.BaylorBears.com Audio: www.BaylorBears.com Video: www.okstate.com NATIONAL RANKINGS Baseball NCBWA NR Collegiate Baseball NR PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS Friday, March 30 BU RHP Jeff Mandel (3-4, 3.28 ERA, 46.2 IP, 46 H, 13 BB, 46 K) OSU RHP Oliver Odle (3-2, 4.03 ERA, 38.0 IP, 42 H, 4 BB, 28 K) Saturday, March 31 BU RHP Randall Linebaugh (2-2, 3.40 ERA, 39.2 IP, 32 H, 17 BB, 26 K) OSU RHP Justin Friend (2-2, 2.55 ERA, 24.2 IP, 20 H, 3 BB, 33 K) Sunday, April 1 BU TBA OSU LHP Andrew Oliver (5-0, 3.41, 29.0 IP, 23 K, 12 BB, 28 K) Baylor baseball returns to action this weekend, traveling to Sunday's series finale will be televised live on FSN Southwest. Greg Lucas handles play-by-play duties, while Jack Lazorko provides color analysis. Baylor (16-11, 2-4) have won four of their last five after winning 10-2 Tuesday night at Texas-Arlington. The Bears took two of three at home against Texas Tech last weekend. Baylor is unranked in all four major polls. Baylor and All Baylor baseball games are broadcast live on Live streaming video for the QUICK HITS • Since the start of the 2003 season, Baylor is: - 128-49 (.723) when its starting pitcher lasts at least 5.0 innings - 34-8 (.810) when its pitching staff records at least 10 strikeouts - 122-35 (.777) when scoring first - 140-27 (.838) when out-hitting its opponent - 133-36 (.787) when holding its opponent to fewer than five runs - 117-24 (.830) when scoring at least six runs - 106-16 (.869) when scoring at least seven runs • Since the start of the 2002 season, Baylor is 168-8 (.955) when leading after eight innings, winning 62 of the last 64 and 97 of the last 100 such games. • Baylor has won 23 of its last 24 games when hitting at least two home runs. • Baylor is 14-4 in extra-inning games since the start of the 2003 season. • The Bears are 46-13 (.780) at Baylor Ballpark since the start of the 2005 postseason. • Baylor is 19-3 all-time at Baylor Ballpark in finales with a chance to sweep a three-game series (does not include the • The Bears have three walk-off victories this season, one shy of their total from the last two seasons combined. • Baylor has scored in the first inning 11 times in 27 games this season, going 7-4 in those games. • The Bears have out-scored their opponents 43-11 in the first two innings and 35-7 in the eighth inning this season. • Baylor is 12-4 this season when scoring first. • Baylor's bullpen is 7-2 with a 2.99 ERA this season. The Bears' opponents' bullpens collectively are 1-5 with a 6.26 ERA. • Baylor is hitting .318 over the last 10 games after hitting .249 in the season's first 17 games. • Baylor is in the middle of a 26-game stretch with 22 games against 2006 NCAA Tournament participants. THE Baylor and OSU leads the series 11-10 in games played at Baylor won the season series in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2006; the 2002 and 2004 series were rain-shortened, and the teams split two games. The Bears hold a 5-3-2 Big 12 series advantage, going 2-1-2 in Overall Record: OSU leads 29-22 Neutral Site: OSU leads 7-2 Smith vs. OSU: 17-17 First Meeting: OSU 8, Baylor 7 [4/29/1925] Last Meeting: at Baylor 11-2 [4/9/2006] PLAYER NOTES LF Ben Booker • Last 10 games: .303 (10-for-33) with three doubles, two triples, a home run, six RBI and eight runs scored • Has hit safely in nine of last 11 games • Has reached safely in 11 of last 12 games IF RAYNOR • Last 10 games: .350 (7-for-20) with two doubles, two RBI and five runs scored • Has missed seven games this season due to injury (shoulder, two; hamstring, five) • Has hit safely in 13 of 19 games played this season with eight multiple-hit games • Currently riding a career-long five-game hitting streak RHP Nick Cassavechia • Has stranded 31 of 39 inherited runners during career, including a streak of 22 consecutive inherited runners stranded (ended 2/27/07 vs. UT-Arlington) • Nine scoreless outings in 13 appearances this season • Has recorded at least one strikeout in 11 of 13 appearances • Has not allowed multiple earned runs in 39 of 45 career appearnaces • Currently fifth all-time at Baylor in career saves (12) and tied for fourth in career Big 12 saves (6) • Tied for seventh in Big 12 with four saves DH/1B Dustin Dickerson • Last 10 games: .278 (10-for-36) with one double, one triple, one home run, two RBI and six runs scored • Has hit safely in eight of last 11 games after breaking an 0-for-16 skid CF Chase Gerdes • Last 10 games: .310 (9-for-29) with four doubles, one home run, five RBI, seven runs scored, nine walks, a .500 on base percentage and five stolen bases • Has reached safely and/or scored in 25 of 27 games this season • Has reached safely in six consecutive games and in 13 of last 14 • Has stolen third base four times this season 3B Seth Hammock • Last 10 games: .211 (8-for-38) with three doubles, one triple, one home run, four RBI and eight runs scored • Has hit safely in 11 of 18 starts this season • Last 10 games: .500 (8-for-16) with one home run, six RBI and eight runs scored ... Seven of eight outs recorded were strikeouts • 11 of 15 hits this season have come in four games • Has hit safely in five of last six starts 1B/DH Tim Jackson • Last 10 games: .229 (8-for-35) with two doubles, one home run, four RBI and six runs scored • Is hitless in last three at bats with the bases loaded after starting Baylor career 6-for-7 in such situations • All three home runs this season have tied the score • 5-for-31 since a fifth-inning single against RHP Willie Kempf • Has not allowed a run in eight of nine appearances • Recorded five consecutive strikeouts over two innings against Texas Tech (3/24) • Baylor is 14-6 in his 20 career starts, including a 14-4 mark in 18 career regular-season starts • 7-2 with five no-decisions in 13 career starts in which he has lasted at least 5.0 innings • 8-1 in 25 career appearances at Baylor Ballpark • Has allowed two or fewer earned runs in 16 of 20 career starts • Has logged at least 5.0 innings in every non-predetermined start (innings, pitch count) since going 3.1 innings in first career start • 15th in Big 12 with 3.28 ERA • 10th in Big 12 with a .222 opponents' batting average RHP Jeff Mandel • Has been given just nine runs of support in four losses this season • 2-1 with a 1.64 ERA in three starts since moving to the Friday spot in the rotation • 2-3 with a 2.27 ERA in last five starts • 9-2 with a 2.18 ERA in 36 career appearances (10 starts) at Baylor Ballpark • Tied for fifth in Big 12 with 38 strikeouts • Tied for first in Big 12 with one complete game RHP Tim Matthews • Has not allowed a run in 14 of last 17 relief appearances • First batters faced are 0-for-11 with six strikeouts this season and 0-for-18 with 10 strikeouts in career (as a reliever) • Has recorded at least one strikeout in nine of 12 appearances this season OF Aaron Miller • Last 10 games: .323 (10-for-31) with two doubles, one triple, 10 RBI and four runs scored • Has not gone hitless in consecutive games this season • Has suffered two hitless games in a three-game span only once • Has reached safely in 24 of 27 games this season • Has reached safely and/or produced an RBI in 18 of last 19 games • Last 10 games: .375 (12-for-32) with two doubles, five RBI and five runs scored • Currently riding a career-long eight-game hitting streak • Has reached safely and/or produced an RBI in 14 of 16 starts this season SS Beamer Weems • Last 10 games: .385 (15-for-39) with four doubles, two triples, one home run, 11 RBI and eight runs scored • Has hit safely in 21 of 27 games this season • Has gone hitless in consecutive games only four times in 89 career games • Has hit safely in 20 of last 22 games at Baylor Ballpark • 12 career home runs (10 from right side of plate) • Tied school record with two triples in one game vs. RHP Jake Weghorst • Has not allowed an earned run in 26 of 33 career relief appearances • Ended 2006 season on a 27.0-inning scoreless streak that covered 17 appearances BAYLOR IN THE MIDST OF TOUGH STRETCH Baylor is in the middle of a 26-game span where it plays 22 games against 2006 regional participants. The only games between March 9 and April 22 against teams that did not reach the NCAA Tournament last season were the March 20 victory over Texas Southern and the March 23-25 Texas Tech series. The A LITTLE HELP, PLEASE RHP Jeff Mandel has been given just nine runs of support in his four losses this season, including five runs of support in his last three losses. Meanwhile, Mandel allowed just eight earned runs over 20.0 innings (3.60 ERA) in his last three losses. Baylor batters have given Mandel 4.14 runs of support in his six starts, the lowest of Baylor's five starters. Mandel has posted a 2.27 ERA in his last five starts, allowing nine earned runs in 35.2 innings. He has 31 strikeouts against 10 walks and has held opponents to a .242 batting average in that time. However, Mandel is only 2-3 in those four starts. A product of BEARS ARE EXTRA SPECIAL Baylor is 14-4 in extra-inning games since the start of the 2003 season, including a 2-1 mark in such games this season. Last year, the Bears lost their only extra-inning game -- a 13-inning, 7-6 loss at home to Five of the 14 wins over the past five seasons have come on an opponent's home field ( Baylor's luck was not as good in 2002 when the Bears were 1-5 in extra-inning games, including a span of three consecutive games lost in extra innings in mid-May. TRIPLE YOUR PLEASURE Through games of March 28, Baylor leads the Big 12 Conference with 16 triples this season. LF Ben Booker is tied for the league lead with five triples. RF Aaron Miller is tied for 5th with three triples. 1B/DH Dustin Dickerson and SS Beamer Weems have two triples each, while IF Raynor Campbell, CF Chase Gerdes, 3B Seth Hammock and 1B/DH Tim Jackson also have one triple each. Baylor tied a single-game school record earlier this season with three triples against Last season, Baylor tied for second nationally with 32 triples, which also tied for the fourth-best season total in school history. MIDWEEK SUCCESS CONTINUES Baylor is 19-4 in non-conference midweek games since the start of the 2006 season, including a 17-3 mark on Tuesdays. The Bears have won 11 consecutive Tuesday games and 18 straight Tuesday home games against non-ranked opponents. Baylor was 7-8 in non-conference midweek games during the 2005 season, including a 6-6 mark on Tuesdays. BEARS STRONG AT BAYLOR BALLPARK Baylor's series-finale loss to Oral Roberts earlier this season snapped a 14-game winning streak for the Bears at Baylor Ballpark. It was Baylor's longest home winning streak since a facility-record 15-game run in 2000. Since the start of the 2005 postseason, the Bears are 46-13 (.780) at Baylor Ballpark. Eight of those 13 losses were to ranked opponents. Baylor also has five home wins against ranked opponents during that time, including a sweep of fifth-ranked Baylor has lost consecutive home games only twice since the start of the 2005 postseason: losses to second-ranked Rice and eighth-ranked CAS-SAVE-CHIA NAMED TO STOPPER WATCH LIST RHP Nick Cassavechia was named to the 2007 Stopper of the Year Watch List, announced in early February by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Cassavechia joined A product of St. Mark's High School in Cassavechia's 2006 saves total tied for the sixth-best tally in school history. He tied fellow Bear Jeff Mandel for fourth in the Big 12 last season in saves. Cassavechia and Mandel, who moves to the starting rotation for 2007, are the two top returning pitchers in saves in the conference this year. SCHEDULE AMONG NATION'S TOUGHEST Baylor's 2007 schedule is projected as the nation's 20th-most difficult slate, according to Boyd Nation of BoydsWorld.com. The Bears' schedule is rated as the third-most difficult in the Big 12 behind Long Beach State's schedule is predicted to be the most difficult, followed by Southern California, UCLA, Stanford, Cal Poly, Pacific, Cal State Northridge, Cal State Fullerton, UC Santa Barbara and Texas. BAYLOR RANKED NATION'S 17TH-BEST PROGRAM Baylor was listed as the nation's 17th-best collegiate baseball program since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1999, according to a recent study by Baseball With 150 total points, Baylor was the third highest-rated Big 12 Conference program behind only top-rated Baseball Programs were awarded one point for every .010 above a .500 winning percentage, five points for each regional appearance, seven points for each super regional appearance, 10 points for each College World Series appearance, 20 points for each national title, one point for each CWS appearance prior to 1999, five points for each first-team All-American, three points for each second-team All-American, two points for each third-team All-American, two points for each player drafted in the top 10 rounds and two points for each former player to play in the Major Leagues during the period of study. With 19 players drafted in the top 10 rounds since 1999, Baylor tied BAYLOR/ISP SPORTS NETWORK Catch every inning of Baylor baseball in 2006 on the flagship station for Baylor athletics, 1660 ESPN Radio. Popular on-air personality Tom Barfield enters his fourth season as the primary play-by-play man for Baylor baseball. Barfield, the operations manager for KRZI/KRZX and KLRK-FM in Barfield is joined by Lark Smith in the booth. Smith, whose attachment to Baylor baseball dates back to the days of coach Dutch Schroeder, was sports director for the Baylor campus radio station in the late 1970s and served as play-by-play voice for the Bears' 1977 and 1978 College World Series teams. After nearly two decades in broadcasting, Smith now works for the Heart O' Texas Federal Credit Union in Live audio for all Baylor baseball games also are available online at www.BaylorBears.com. INSIDE BAYLOR SPORTS Inside Baylor Sports, a half-hour look at the world of Baylor athletics, airs weekly throughout HEAD COACH Steve Smith Steve Smith is in his 13th season as head coach of Baylor's baseball program in 2007. In his first 12 years, Smith guided the program to unprecedented heights, including the most successful nine-year run in the program's 102-season history and a College World Series appearance in 2005. Smith has compiled a 470-295-1 career record, all at Baylor. He ranks second among the program's 18 head coaches in career victories. Smith has led Baylor to eight NCAA Regional appearances, three NCAA Super Regional appearances, one College World Series appearance and two Big 12 Conference titles. He also has coached 12 All-America selections and seven USA Baseball National Team members while at Baylor. The 2005 USA Baseball National Team head coach, Smith came to Baylor from A former standout pitcher at Baylor in 1982-1983, Smith led the Southwest Conference with a 1.72 ERA as a junior. He was drafted in the fifth round of the 1983 Major League draft by the San Francisco Giants and played four years of pro ball before moving into the coaching ranks. Smith has tutored seven pitchers in the last 13 years who were selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft. He also has coached at least one all-conference pitcher in each of the last 13 years. UP NEXT ... Baylor begins a five-game home stand Tuesday, April 3, hosting
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