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No. 24 Bears, No. 8 Longhorns Meet in Annual Split Series
April 12, 2006
GAMES 35-37
No. 24 BAYLOR (22-12, 7-5) vs. No. 8 TEXAS (24-12, 9-2) APRIL 13 • BAYLOR BALLPARK • WACO, TEXAS • 7:00 P.M. CDT APRIL 14-15 • DISCH-FALK FIELD • AUSTIN, TEXAS • 7:00 P.M. CDT/2:00 P.M. CDT THE SERIES
Overall Record: Texas leads 214-97-4 Waco: Texas leads 83-55-3 Austin: Texas leads 125-31-1 Neutral Site: Baylor leads 11-6 Since Start of Big 12: Baylor leads 20-15 Regular-Season Big 12: Baylor leads 17-10 Smith vs. Texas: 25-18 First Meeting: Texas 13, Baylor 1 [4/4/1903] Last Meeting: Texas 4, Baylor 3 [6/22/2005] COACHES
BAYLOR: Steve Smith Alma Mater: Baylor, 1986 Career Record: 440-270-1 [12th season] Record at Baylor: 440-270-1 [12th season] TEXAS: Augie Garrido Alma Mater: Fresno State, 1961 Career Record: 1,566-729-8 [38th season] Record at Texas: 415-205-1 [10th season] BAYLOR/ISP SPORTS NETWORK
1660 ESPN RADIO (Waco) Tom Barfield, play-by-play Lark Smith, color BAYLOR NATIONAL RANKINGS
Baseball America 24th Sports Weekly/ESPN/Coaches 19th NCBWA RV Collegiate Baseball 26th PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
THURSDAY, APRIL 13
BU RHP Ryan LaMotta (5-2, 2.47 ERA, 51.0 IP, 31 K)
UT TBA
FRIDAY, APRIL 14
BU LHP Cory VanAllen (4-3, 3.94 ERA, 45.2 IP, 36 K)
UT RHP Adrian Alaniz (5-1, 2.98 ERA, 63.1 IP, 46 K)
SATURDAY, APRIL 15
BU RHP Tim Matthews (3-3, 5.32 ERA, 45.2 IP, 24 K)
UT RHP Kyle McCulloch (4-4, 2.98 ERA, 66.1 IP, 55 K)
Baylor returns to action this weekend, facing Texas in a three-game Big 12 Conference series. The Bears and the Longhorns open the series Thursday at Baylor Ballpark; first pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. CDT. The series then shifts to Austin's Disch-Falk Field for Friday's 7 p.m. game and Sunday's 2 p.m. finale. The Friday and Saturday games will be televised live nationally by CSTV. The games will be shown live in the Waco area on Time Warner Cable Channel 16.
The Bears (22-12, 7-5) dropped a tough 6-4 decision at home Tuesday night against No. 2 Rice. That snapped a three-game winning streak for Baylor after a sweep of Oklahoma State at home last weekend; it also ended Baylor's seven-game home winning streak. The Bears are ranked 24th nationally in this week's Baseball America Top 25, re-entering the poll after a two-week hiatus. Baylor also climbed three spots to No. 19 in this week's Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches Poll, re-entered the Collegiate Baseball Top 30 at No. 26. The Bears are among those receiving votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 30. The Longhorns (24-12, 9-2) fell to Texas-Arlington 6-3 at home Tuesday night, falling victim to four unearned runs. That ended Texas' six-game home winning streak. Since opening the season 9-8, the Horns are 15-4 with losses to Long Beach State, at Texas Tech and at Oklahoma prior to Tuesday's loss to UTA. Texas is ranked eighth nationally by Baseball America and in the coaches poll, sixth nationally by Collegiate Baseball and ninth by the NCBWA. Baylor and Texas have played 10 common opponents: Arizona State, Houston, Long Beach State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Rice, UTA, UT-San Antonio, Texas State and Texas Tech. The Bears are 12-8 against those teams, while the Longhorns are 15-4. All Baylor baseball games are broadcast live on Waco's 1660 ESPN Radio. Live streaming audio and GameTracker also are available for all Baylor baseball games online at www.BaylorBears.com, the official website of Baylor Athletics and a member of the CSTV Network. Live streaming video for the Baylor-Texas series also is available. For more information, visit the BearCasts link at www.BaylorBears.com. PROMOTIONS: FRIDAY, APRIL 13
Second edition of Baylor Ballpark Bash at 5 p.m. CDT. Inflatable games, music, a mini home run derby, and more. An Easter Egg hunt will take place on the softball outfield at 6 p.m. All the candy and eggs will be provided, the only thing fans need is something in which to take home eggs. Even the Easter Bunny will be on hand.
QUICK HITS ...
• Since the start of the 2003 season, Baylor is: - 107-33 (.764) when its starting pitcher lasts at least 5.0 innings - 26-7 (.788) when its pitching staff records at least 10 strikeouts - 102-29 (.779) when scoring first - 118-22 (.843) when out-hitting its opponent - 108-26 (.806) when holding its opponent to fewer than five runs - 100-20 (.833) when scoring at least six runs - 89-15 (.886) when scoring at least seven runs • Baylor has won 15 consecutive games when hitting at least two home runs. • Since the start of the 2002 season, Baylor is 140-7 when leading after eight innings. Tuesday's loss to Rice ended a 34-game winning streak in such games and was Baylor's first loss when leading after eight inning at home since Feb. 4, 2003. • RHP Ryan LaMotta leads the Big 12 Conference among starting pitchers with a 1.23 ERA in league games. • LaMotta has not allowed an extra-base hit in four consecutive starts (29.1 innings). • LaMotta currently has a scoreless streak of 19.1 consecutive innings. • Opposing batters are 14-for-69 (.203) in first at bats against Baylor relievers, including a 1-for-14 mark against RHP Nick Cassavechia. • Cassavechia is 2-1 with one save and a 1.72 ERA in 10career appearances at Baylor Ballpark. In 15.2 innings, he has allowed five runs, three earned, on 11 hits with nine strikeouts. • A Baylor catcher has reached safely in 136 consecutive games. The last game in which a Baylor catcher did not reach safely was April 2, 2004, at Missouri. • RF Kevin Sevigny has not committed an error since May 14, 2004 vs. Nebraska (103 games, 216 chances). • Since the start of the Big 12 in 1997, the Bears have the league's best conference record at 163-96 (.629). Baylor leads all conference schools in total first- and second-team All-Big 12 selections (42), first-team Academic All-Big 12 selections (45), NCAA appearances (seven) and Major League Baseball draft selections (51). • Baylor is the only Big 12 school to have never suffered a sub-.500 season in conference play. • The Bears join Oklahoma and Oklahoma State as the only programs to have qualified for every Big 12 Tournament. LaMOTTA EARNS WEEKLY HONORS
RHP Ryan LaMotta was named to the College Baseball Foundation's National Honor Roll Tuesday. LaMotta is so honored for the first time in his career, and he is the first Baylor player so honored since Mark McCormick's 12-strikeout performance last May against Missouri. LaMotta also was named Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week, sharing the honor with Jason Meyer of Texas A&M. This is LaMotta's first career Big 12 weekly honor. He is the first Baylor pitcher to earn the conference pitcher of the week honor this season. LaMotta is the 10th Baylor pitcher to be so honored in the league's 10-year history; those 10 pitchers have been honored 20 times. A 2005 first-team All-Big 12 selection, LaMotta tossed Baylor's first complete-game shutout in more than two years en route to a 14-0 victory in the series opener against Oklahoma State. In just his 12th start in 104 career appearances, LaMotta did not allow a hit after a leadoff single in the third. He retired the game's final 11 batters after a one-out walk in the sixth and faced three batters over the minimum. He finished with four strikeouts and two walks for his first career complete game. The shutout came on the heels of a three-game stretch in which Baylor pitchers surrendered 46 runs in 25 innings. BAYLOR STARTERS
Baylor's opening weekend rotation of RHP Ryan LaMotta, LHP Cory VanAllen and RHP Tim Matthews remains intact for the Texas series. Thursday will be the 105th career appearance and 13th career start for LaMotta, who makes his first career start against the Longhorns. Baylor is 9-3 in his previous 12 starts; LaMotta is 6-3 with three no-decisions. VanAllen makes his 32nd career start Friday. Baylor is 19-12 in his previous 31 starts; VanAllen is 14-9 with eight no-decisions. Matthews, a sophomore transfer from UT-Tyler, makes his ninth career start Saturday. Baylor is 5-3 in his previous seven starts; Matthews is 3-2 with three no-decisions. THE TEXAS SERIES Baylor and Texas meet for the 316th time Saturday; this the most-played series in Baylor baseball history. The Longhorns hold a 214-97-4 advantage in the all-time series, which dates back to a 11-1 Texas victory April 4, 1903. However, Baylor has won six of the last nine meetings, including last season's series sweep. Texas leads the series both in games played in Waco (83-54-3) and at Austin (125-32-1). However, the Bears hold an 11-6 advantage in neutral-site meetings and a 25-18 advantage in the series during head coach Steve Smith's tenure. Baylor is 20-15 against Texas since the inception of the Big 12 Conference in 1997, including a 17-10 advantage in regular-season Big 12 meetings. The Bears are 6-3 against the Longhorns in postseason meetings in that time. Baylor and Texas met six times last season. After the Bears swept the regular-season series, Baylor edged Texas 9-8 in the semifinals of the Big 12 Conference Tournament at Oklahoma City's Bricktown Ballpark. However, the Longhorns defeated the Bears twice in the College World Series, winning 5-1 in the first round and 4-3 in the national semifinals. LAST TIME vs. TEXAS
TEXAS 4, BAYLOR 3 -- JUNE 22, 2005 • OMAHA, NEB. Chance Wheeless' leadoff homer in the bottom of the ninth inning gave Texas a 4-3 victory over Baylor in the national semifinals at the College World Series. The Longhorns tied the game 3-3 in the eighth when Nick Peoples ran over Josh Ford in a violent collision at the plate to score on a sacrifice fly. Baylor had two runners on in the top of the ninth before Texas turned a double play on a fly ball. Baylor starter Mark McCormick, who lost to the Longhorns in the first round, allowed three hits and two runs in 6.0 innings. Ford also homered in the game. BAYLOR-TEXAS ODDS AND ENDS
• Current Baylor batters are 33-for-115 (.287) with four doubles and 17 RBI in their careers against Texas. • 2B Kevin Russo is the only current to have hit a home run against Texas; although, it does not appear in his career statistics. During the BU-UT game at last season's Big 12 Tournament, Russo hit a would-be three-run homer. However, Russo passed Michael Griffin when rounding first and was therefore ruled out on the play with a two-run single. • Russo and RF Kevin Sevigny have enjoyed the most success in their careers against Texas. Russo is 9-for-22 (.409) with a double and four RBI in six games, all starts, against the Horns. Sevigny is 4-for-10 (.400) with two RBI in eight games and two starts. • Texas' Jeff Boes was a member of Stanford's 2005 team that played at the NCAA Waco Regional. He did not play in the regional championship game, a 4-3, 12-inning Baylor victory. • RHP Reed Woytek was a teammate of Texas' Jordan Danks, Nick Peoples and Chance Wheeless at Round Rock [Texas] High School, the same program that produced former Baylor closer Abe Woody. • RHP Brice Ary was a teammate of Texas' Kyle Walker at The Woodlands [Texas] High School. • Texas' 2006 roster features four players from Austin's Westlake High School, the same program that produced former Bears Reid Brees and Jay Lockett. • Rice's Kyle McCulloch and Drew Stubbs played for Baylor head coach Steve Smith on the 2005 USA Baseball National Team. LaMOTTA SETTLES INTO GROOVE
RHP Ryan LaMotta's complete-game shutout against Oklahoma State last Friday night was the first by a Baylor pitcher since March 20, 2004, when Mark McCormick scattered five hits and four walks in a nine-inning shutout against Texas A&M at Baylor Ballpark. LaMotta's shutout came against and Oklahoma State squad that entered the weekend second in the Big 12 Conference in team batting average (.331) and first in the league in scoring (8.6 runs per game). It also ended a stretch of three games in which Baylor pitchers allowed 46 runs over 25.0 innings. LaMotta held the Cowboys to three hits, all singles, and did not allow a hit after a leadoff single in the third. He also retired the game's final 11 batters after a one-out walk in the sixth. LaMotta faced the three batters over the minimum, allowed only one runner to reach scoring position and used just 102 pitches. With the shutout, LaMotta extended his scoreless innings streak to 19.1 frames; he last allowed a run in the fifth inning of a 6.2-inning effort March 24 at Oklahoma. The Oklahoma State game also was the fourth consecutive start in which LaMotta did not allow an extra-base hit, doing so against Kansas, at Oklahoma and at Texas Tech prior to Friday's shutout. He has not allowed an extra-base hit in his last 31.2 innings since allowing three doubles in the fifth inning March 10 against Pacific. DILLON MAKES A HABIT OF REACHING BASE
Through games of April 11, C Zach Dillon ranks second in the Big 12 Conference with a .514 on base percentage. He joins Nebraska's Jared Goedert (.515) and Oklahoma State's Corey Brown (.507) as the league's only players with an on base percentage of .500 or better. Dillon has reached safely in 18 straight games and in 54 of the last 55, dating back to last season. He also has reached in 24 consecutive Big 12 games, the last 12 of last season and the first 12 this year. Dillon, who currently ranks second all-time at Baylor with a .441 on base percentage in Big 12 games, leads the conference in free passes (38), walks (33) and times reached base safely (74). FORTENBERRY ENJOYS ODD WEEKEND AGAINST OKLAHOMA STATE
LF Seth Fortenberry hit .500 (5-for-10) in Baylor's sweep of Oklahoma State last weekend with five runs scored, a double, a home run, three RBI and three stolen bases in as many attempts. Neither of his extra-base hits was of the ordinary. His double was a wind-blown pop up that landed a few steps to the third-base side of the pitcher's mound. His home run was an inside-the-parker off the batter's eye. Fortenberry was the first Baylor player to record an inside-the-park home run since Feb. 16, 2003, when David Murphy accomplished the feat against Louisiana-Lafayette at the Minute Maid Park College Classic in Houston. It was Baylor's first inside-the-park home run at Baylor Ballpark since Feb. 27, 2001, when Tim Hartshorn accomplished the feat against Mary Hardin-Baylor. So, for the weekend, Fortenberry had a double that never left the infield and a home run that never left the park. BAYLOR QUARTET PRODUCES IN THE CLUTCH
C Zach Dillon, CF Chase Gerdes, IF Tim Jackson and 1B/RHP Jeff Mandel collectively are 40-for-98 (.408) with runners in scoring position this season. Dillon is 13-for-31 (.419) with two doubles, a home run and 26 RBI in that situation; he also has walked 13 times, been hit three times and produced four sacrifice flies for a .569 on base percentage. Gerdes is 12-for-30 (.400) with two doubles, a home run and 18 RBI; he also has walked five times and been hit once for a .500 on base percentage. Jackson is 9-for-22 (.409) with four doubles and 18 RBI. Mandel is 6-for-15 (.400) with a double and eight RBI; Mandel also has walked five times and produced a sacrifice fly for a .524 on base percentage. Put runners in scoring position with two outs and Dillon, Jackson and Mandel are even more lethal, going 18-for-33 (.545). Mandel is 4-for-8 (.500) with a double and two RBI in that situation, Dillon is 8-for-15 (.533) with a double, a home run and 13 RBI, and Jackson is 6-for-10 (.600) with three doubles and 12 RBI. Jackson is 3-for-3 with two doubles and eight RBI with the bases loaded. As a team, Baylor hits .301 (168-for-558) with runners on base, .297 (73-for-246) with runners on base and two outs, .297 (107-for-360) with runners in scoring position and .291 (52-for-179) with runners in scoring position and two outs. BEARS TOUGH WITH LEAD IN NINTH
Tuesday's loss to No. 2 Rice snapped a streak of 34 consecutive wins for Baylor when leading after eight innings. It was the first such loss for the Bears at home since Feb. 4, 2003, against Texas State. Baylor is 140-7 when leading after eight innings since the beginning of the 2002 season. In fact, the Bears had won 69 of their last 70 such games prior to Tuesday. Baylor has not lost when leading by more than one run after eight since the 2003 game against Texas State when the Bobcats scored seven runs in the ninth to overcome a 5-2 Baylor lead. BAYLOR IN BIG 12 STATISTICAL RANKINGS Through games of April 9, Baylor ranks seventh in the league in team batting average (.290), seventh in team ERA (4.24) and third in team fielding percentage (.974). The Bears also rank second in the league in triples (17) and third in stolen bases (50). In league games, Baylor ranks third in the Big 12 in team batting average (.313), seventh in team ERA (4.85) and second in team fielding percentage (.979). Baylor, Nebraska and Texas are the only teams in the conference hitting better in league play than in non-conference games. While Nebraska and Texas both are hitting three points better in Big 12 games than in non-conference games, Baylor is hitting 29 points better in league games than in non-Big 12 contests. The Bears have posted a higher batting average in Big 12 action than in non-conference action each of the last three seasons. RHP Ryan LaMotta's 1.23 ERA in Big 12 games is tops in the league among starting pitchers. Here is how Baylor players rank individually: OVERALL
BATTING AVERAGE: Zach Dillon (18th, .353) TRIPLES: Seth Fortenberry (t-1st, 5); Beamer Weems (4th, 4); Kevin Sevigny (t-5th, 3) HOME RUNS: Seth Fortenberry (t-10th, 6) STOLEN BASES: Seth Fortenberry (t-6th, 12); Kevin Russo (8th, 11) WALKS: Zach Dillon (1st, 33) SLUGGING PERCENTAGE: Seth Fortenberry (9th, .614) ON BASE PERCENTAGE: Zach Dillon (2nd, .514) ERA: Ryan LaMotta (6th, 2.47); Randall Linebaugh (17th, 3.15) WINS: Ryan LaMotta (t-4th, 5) SAVES: Jeff Mandel (2nd, 7) GAMES STARTED: Ryan LaMotta (t-9th, 9) COMPLETE GAMES: Ryan LaMotta (t-3rd, 1) SHUTOUTS: Ryan LaMotta (t-1st, 1) BIG 12 GAMES
BATTING AVERAGE: Zach Dillon (t-12th, .389); Chase Gerdes (15th, .364) HITS: Chase Gerdes (t-7th, 16); Seth Fortenberry (t-10th, 15); Beamer Weems (t-10th, 15) RUNS: Beamer Weems (t-1st, 14); Ben Booker (t-5th, 10); Seth Fortenberry (t-5th, 10); Kevin Russo (t-5th, 10); Kevin Sevigny (t-5th, 10) RBI: Matt Sodolak (t-3rd, 13); Zach Dillon (7th, 12); Chase Gerdes (t-10th, 10); Kevin Russo (t-10th, 10) DOUBLES: Beamer Weems (t-3rd, 5); Ben Booker (t-5th, 4) TRIPLES: Matt Sodolak (t-5th, 1); Beamer Weems (t-5th, 1) HOME RUNS: Seth Fortenberry (t-8th, 2) TOTAL BASES: Beamer Weems (t-7th, 25) STOLEN BASES: Seth Fortenberry (1st, 7); Kevin Russo (2nd, 6); Chase Gerdes (t-5th, 4); Matt Sodolak (t-5th, 4) WALKS: Zach Dillon (t-3rd, 8); Kevin Russo (t-5th, 7) ON BASE PERCENTAGE: Zach Dillon (t-5th, .500) ERA: Ryan LaMotta (3rd, 1.23) WINS: Ryan LaMotta (t-1st, 3); Tim Matthews (t-4th, 2) INNINGS: Ryan LaMotta (t-3rd, 29.1); Tim Matthews (t-10th, 23.2); Cory VanAllen (t-10th, 23.2) STRIKEOUTS: Ryan LaMotta (t-6th, 19); Cory VanAllen (t-9th, 17) APPEARANCES: Nick Cassavechia (t-4th, 6); Jeff Mandel (t-7th, 5) GAMES STARTED: Ryan LaMotta (t-1st, 4); Tim Matthews (t-1st, 4); Cory VanAllen (t-1st, 4) SAVES: Nick Cassavechia (t-3rd, 2), Jeff Mandel (t-3rd, 2) COMPLETE GAMES: Ryan LaMotta (t-3rd, 1) SHUTOUTS: Ryan LaMotta (t-1st, 1) OPPONENTS' BATTING AVERAGE: Ryan LaMotta (10th, .210) NUMBERS WATCH
• C Zach Dillon needs five walks to reach 100 career walks. • CF Chase Gerdes needs two stolen bases to reach 30 career steals. • RHP Ryan LaMotta needs 23 strikeouts to move into sixth place on Baylor's career strikeouts list. He also needs 8.1 innings pitched to crack Baylor's career innings top 10 and one win to reach 20 career wins. • RHP Jeff Mandel needs two saves to move into a sixth-place tie on Baylor's career saves list. He needs one save to move into a sixth-place tie on Baylor's single-season saves list and three saves to become the fifth pitcher in Baylor history to record at least 10 saves in one season. LaMOTTA CLIMBS STRIKEOUTS LIST
RHP Ryan LaMotta moved into seventh place on Baylor's career strikeouts list with his four-strikeout effort last Friday against Oklahoma State. He needs 23 strikeouts to match Trey Taylor for sixth all-time at Baylor. LaMotta currently has 230 career strikeouts in 268.1 innings pitched. 1. Jason Jennings - 377 2. Steven White - 320 3. Kris Lambert - 292 4. Kip Wells - 288 5. Josh Scott - 285 6. Trey Taylor - 253 7. Ryan LaMotta - 230 8. Justin Taylor - 229 9. Glenn Nevill - 225 10. Zane Carlson - 225 TRIPLE YOUR PLEASURE
Baylor has 17 triples through its first 33 games of the 2006 season. The Bears had only 21 three-baggers in 70 games last season. LF Seth Fortenberry is tied for the Big 12 Conference lead with five triples, one more than his career total entering the 2006 season and matching CF Chase Gerdes' team-leading total last season. SS Beamer Weems has four triples, RF Kevin Sevigny has three and C Matt Sodolak has two. C Zach Dillon, Gerdes and 1B/RHP Jeff Mandel have the other three triples. LaMOTTA REACHES 100 APPEARANCES
RHP Ryan LaMotta made his 100th career appearance March 10 with his start against Pacific. Of his previous 99 appearances, 92 were in relief. The senior drew three starts as a freshman in 2003, including the championship game of the NCAA Hattiesburgh Regional. In that game, he held Southern Mississippi to a pair of runs on six hits over 8.1 innings. LaMotta is just the second pitcher in Baylor history to appear in at least 100 games. Zane Carlson appeared in 111 games from 2000 to 2004, a mark that ranks first in Big 12 history and 20th in NCAA Division I history. If LaMotta appears in 15 games this season, Baylor would join Georgia Tech, Miami (Fla.) and North Carolina as the only schools in NCAA Division I history to have two pitchers appear in at least 110 career games. LaMotta and Carlson, who played together in the 2003 and 2004 seasons, would be the first Division I teammates to both reach the milestone. Florida closer Darren O'Day entered the season with entered the season with 84 career appearances. Should O'Day reach 26 appearances this season prior to LaMotta's 15th appearance, Florida would be the first school with teammates to both reach 110 career appearances (Florida's Connor Falkenbach appeared in 124 games from 2002 to 2005). O'Day has appeared in 21 games this season through games of April 11. BAYLOR STRONG IN LATEST APR REPORT
Baylor's baseball team scored a 961 in the latest Academic Progress Rate (APR), released Wednesday by the NCAA. That score was the best among the eight Big 12 schools whose scores were released; scores for Kansas and Texas A&M have not yet been released. Baylor was the only Big 12 baseball team that scored above the national male student-athlete average (943). The Bears joined Missouri as the only Big 12 baseball teams to score above the national baseball average (931). 961 - BAYLOR 941 - Missouri 924 - Nebraska 906 - Oklahoma 903 - Kansas State 888 - Texas 812 - Oklaohma State 778 - Texas Tech n/a - Kansas n/a - Texas A&M 2005 SEASON HIGHLIGHT DVD ON SALE
"Experience the Dogpile," a comprehensive season highlight DVD that chronicles Baylor's 2005 season, is on sale at the Baylor baseball office. The one-hour, 47-minute piece features highlights, interviews and commentary on the program's most successful season. To order, call 254.710.3029. BAYLORBEARS.COM
Baylor's official athletic web site can be found at www.BaylorBears.com. The comprehensive site, which includes releases, photos, biographical sketches and audio broadcasts, is part of the CSTV Network, which currently hosts sites for more than 100 universities, including four Big 12 schools. 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 Waco, is best known as co-host of the afternoon "You Make the Call" call-in show. Barfield also serves as host for the "Countdown to Kickoff" and "The Baylor Fifth Quarter Show" during football season. He has previously served as the radio voice for Tarleton State, McLennan Community College, Mary Hardin-Baylor and several high schools across the state. 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 Waco. Live audio for all Baylor baseball games also are available online at www.BaylorBears.com. BEARCASTS AVAILABLE FOR SELECT GAMES
Live streaming video is available for select games during the 2006 season. A total of 24 games will be available online at www.BaylorBears.com, the official website of Baylor athletics and a member of the CSTV Network. Thirteen of the 24 webcasts will be against Big 12 Conference opponents, including the Bears' three-game league sets against Kansas, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Nebraska, as well as the home game of the Texas series. INSIDE BAYLOR SPORTS TV SHOW
Inside Baylor Sports, a half-hour look at the world of Baylor athletics, airs weekly throughout Central Texas and the region. The program, co-hosted by John Morris and Lori Scott-Fogleman, airs on KCEN-TV Channel 6, Fox Sports Net Southwest and the College Channel (Waco cable channel 18). KCEN carries the show at 10:30 p.m. Sundays, and it airs at 1 p.m. Wednesdays on FSN Southwest. HEAD COACH Steve Smith
Steve Smith is in his 12th season as head coach of Baylor's baseball program in 2006. In his first 11 years, Smith guided the program to unprecedented heights, including the most successful eight-year run in the program's 100-year history and a College World Series appearance in 2005. Smith has compiled a 440-269-1 career record, all at Baylor. He holds the best winning percentage (.620) of any coach in Baylor baseball history, and he ranks second among the program's 18 head coaches in career victories. Smith has led Baylor to seven 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 Mississippi State, where he was an assistant under Ron Polk for five seasons. Prior to that, he served as a graduate assistant for Mark Johnson at Texas A&M from 1987 to 1989. 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. BAYLOR: BIG 12'S MOST TENURED STAFF
With 38 years of combined service at Baylor, the Bears' on-field staff is the Big 12 Conference's most tenured. Head coach Steve Smith joins Missouri head coach Tim Jamieson as the league's second-most tenured head coaches, both in their 12th season in 2006 and trailing only Texas Tech's Larry Hays (20th season). Assistant coach Mitch Thompson (12th year) joined the Baylor staff in Smith's first season, while assistant coach Steve Johnigan (11th year) joined the following season. Volunteer assistant coach Chris Berry (7th year) joined the staff prior to the 2000 season and assumed pitching coach duties this season. Thompson and Johnigan are the second- and third-most tenured assistant coaches in the Big 12 behind only Texas' Tommy Harmon (16 seasons). In fact, Harmon, Thompson, Johnigan and Missouri's Evan Pratte are the only assistant coaches with more tenure at their respective schools than Berry. UP NEXT ... Baylor returns to action Tuesday, April 18, hosting Texas State for a 6 p.m. CDT first pitch at Baylor Ballpark. This is the first of two scheduled meetings between Baylor and Texas State at Baylor Ballpark this season; the Bobcats also visit Waco in early May. The Bears defeated Texas State 4-3 at San Marcos in late February; that was Baylor's first road game of the 2006 season.
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