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Baseball Preview: Baylor vs. Centenary
May 5, 2003
Complete Release in PDF Format
#18 Baylor Baseball (34-17, 14-10 Big 12) vs. Centenary (20-29) Tuesday, May 6 (6 p.m.) Baylor Ballpark * Waco, Texas
This Week in Baylor Baseball The Bears begin the week on a six-game winning streak, their second-longest of the season. Since dropping the final two games of the series against Missouri, Baylor has gone 7-1. While the offense has continued to steamroll, solid pitching has been the difference in the Bears' turnaround. During the first 12 games of April, during which time Baylor went 5-7, the Bears hit .340 and scored 10 runs a game, but gave up an equal number of runs (122) with an ERA of 8.40. Since then, Baylor has won seven of eight games, hitting .371 was a team and scoring 10.6 runs a game but compiling a staff ERA of just 2.48. Centenary comes to Waco having lost 11 of its last 12 games, including three-game sweeps at the hands of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Sacramento State. After Tuesday's game, the Bears have the weekend off for final exams before hosting Southwest Texas May 13 in their final home game of the 2003 regular season. All Baylor baseball games are carried in Central Texas on KRZI 1660/1580 AM. Live stats are also available for all home games and most road games at www.BaylorBears.com, the official website of Baylor Athletics and a member of the Official College Sports Network.
Baylor Quick Hits
Last Time Out
* SATURDAY: #20 Baylor 10, Kansas 1 (Game 2/2)
* SUNDAY: #20 Baylor 12, Kansas 2 (8 innings)
Baylor in the Rankings Baylor moved up two spots to No. 18 in the USA Today Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches' Poll, climbed two places to No. 21 in Baseball America's poll, held tight at No. 24 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association (NCBWA) poll, and jumped three spots to No. 25 in Collegiate Baseball's poll. Baylor's best-ever final ranking is No. 6 (Collegiate Baseball, 1978), while the team's highest ranking at any time was No. 3 (Baseball America, May 8, 2000). The Bears have ranked as high as No. 6 twice this season (March 3, Baseball America, and March 24, USA Today Sports Weekly/Coaches).
Bears' RPI Sky-High BoydsWorld.com also offers a Pseudo-RPI, which attempts to duplicate the official RPI formula used by the NCAA in its tournament seeding. Baylor ranks 11th through games of April 27. Baylor opponents in the top 25 include Rice (4th), Texas (12th), Nebraska (14th), Texas A&M (17th), Long Beach State (20th) and Houston (23rd). The Bears' schedule is ranked as the second-toughest in the nation; only USC is said to be playing a harder schedule this year.
Durbin Named to Golden Spikes Watch List Durbin, a senior from Wylie, Texas, was one of five Big 12 players named to the list. Five finalists will be announced in June, with the winner being revealed in July. Past winners of the award, given out by USA Baseball, include current Major League Baseball stars Robin Ventura, Jason Varitek, Mark Kotsay, Phil Nevin, Pat Burrell, Mark Prior and Baylor's own Jason Jennings, the 1999 National Player of the Year. For more information on the award, including a complete listing of the 2003 watch list, please visit www.USAbaseball.com.
Bears Among Big 12 Season Stat Leaders... Noteable among the hitters: David Murphy leads the league in batting (.427) by an amazing 19 points, and also tops the conference in hits (97). Chris Durbin, Murphy and Michael Griffin rank 1-2-3 in the Big 12 in total bases. Durbin also leads the Big 12 in runs (77) and is second in the league in home runs (16) and walks (34). Griffin leads the league in doubles (22) and is second in RBI (61). Durbin and Murphy each rank among the league leaders in nine different categories. On the mound, Steven White leads the Big 12 in strikeouts (101) and starts (14), while Abe Woody leads the league in opposing batting average (.199).
The complete list:
... And Among Big 12 Conference Stat Leaders
Chris Durbin: 2nd in runs (34), t-2nd in home runs (7), t-3rd in doubles (10), 4th in walks (14), 4th in total bases (66), t-6th in hits (35), 8th in on-base percentage (.471), 9th in slugging (.673), 15th in batting (.357)
Record-Setting Seasons While complete updated recordbooks are found later in these notes, below are listed some of the most endangered records (existing records in italics):
Average: .427, David Murphy [modern record: .417, Steve Macko, 1977]
White Moving Up the Charts White also ranks among the Baylor career leaders in:
Games Started: 54 1st Wins: 25 4th (needs 1 to t-3rd, 2 to t-2nd, 3 to t-1st) Innings Pitched: 330.2 2nd (needs 7.0 to t-1st) Strikeouts: 291 3rd (needs 1 to t-2nd)
Durbin's Bat Rewriting Recordbook Against Texas on April 4, Durbin recorded his 65th career double to set a new school record; he has added 10 more since then for a total of 75. That total also is a new Big 12 Conference record, surpassing Jeff Ontiveros' 66 doubles for Texas (1999-02). With his first of two doubles April 26, Durbin broke a tie with Jon Topolski to set a new career extra-base record. Durbin's career numbers:
Average: .347 3rd (needs 21 points to t-2nd) Games Played: 213 t-8th (needs 2 to t-7th) At-Bats: 816 5th (needs 9 to t-4th) Hits: 283 4th (needs 35 to t-3rd) Runs: 219 3rd (needs 9 to t-2nd) Doubles: 75 1st Home Runs: 39 t-3rd (needs 4 to t-2nd) RBI: 162 7th (needs 3 to t-6th) Extra-Base Hits: 121 1st Total Bases: 489 3rd (needs 34 to t-2nd) Walks: 105 NR (needs 4 to t-10th) Slugging Pct: .599 3rd (needs 14 points to t-2nd, 16 points to t-1st)
Closer Carlson Claims Another Saves Record Carlson also holds the Baylor career and single-season saves records; he laid claim to both records after saving 15 games as a freshman in 2000. On top of that, Carlson also holds the Cape Cod League career saves record with 24. The NCAA record is 49, set by Southern California's Jack Krawczyk (1995-98). Carlson ranks among the Baylor career leaders in:
Games Pitched: 79 t-5th (needs 1 to t-4th, 4 to t-3rd) Games Relieved: 78 2nd (needs 1 to t-1st) Saves: 29 1st
Bears Gunning for Conference Records
Season Runs: 77, Chris Durbin [97, Keith Ginter, TT, 1998]
Best in History? Part One OPS is simply on-base percentage plus slugging percentage, and the statistic is considered to be perhaps the best "easy" measure of a player's overall offensive ability.
Charley Carter, 1998 1.232 Steve Macko, 1977 1.190 Chris Durbin, 2003 1.161 Jason Jennings, 1999 1.158 Marty Crawford, 1996 1.153 Jon Topolski, 1998 1.147 Mike Malinak, 1986 1.135 Kelly Shoppach, 2001 1.117 Jon Topolski, 1999 1.116 David Murphy, 2003 1.109 Eric Nelson, 1999 1.079 Gene de los Santos, 1980 1.077
Best in History? Part Two Considering that scoring across the country has declined since the late 1990s (when the Bears set most school team records for offense), the 2003 season may showcase the best-hitting Baylor team ever.
Power Surge for Saccomanno After beginning the season with just three home runs in 118 career games, Saccomanno has hit seven home runs in 28 starts this season, tied for third on the team. Saccomanno, who started 59 games at shortstop for the Bears in 2001, hit three home runs in one weekend against Texas (April 4-6), including his first career two-homer game April 4 in Austin. His slugging percentage of .630 ranks second on the team, while his .386 average ranks third.
No Knock On Woody As a reliever, Woody is 6-0 with a 2.20 ERA over 18 appearances. In 45.0 innings, he has struck out 30 while allowing less than one baserunner per inning (27 hits, 12 walks). Through games of May 5, Woody leads the league in opposing batting average (.199) while ranking among the most-used relievers in the league (49.0 innings in 19 appearances). With numbers like those, Woody has teamed with fellow freshman Ryan LaMotta and Big 12 career saves leader Zane Carlson to provide the Bears with confidence going to the pen late in games.
Regional Predictions Baseball America predicted April 11 that the Bears would be a No. 2 seed in Baton Rouge. No. 1 seed LSU would play host to Baylor, No. 3 Tulane and No. 4 Southern. In their April 29 prediction, the folks at SEBaseball.com sent Baylor to the Houston Regional as a No. 2 seed. Rice is projected to be the No. 1 seed and host, welcoming No. 3 Lamar and No. 4 Central Connecticut State. BoydsWorld.com offered only a guess at the 64-team field on April 15, not actual regionals, but did include Baylor among seven Big 12 teams picked to advance (Baylor, Texas, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, Missouri, and Texas Tech).
O Captain, My Captain
Bears Best in the Big 12 On top of that, Baylor is the only Big 12 Conference school to have ranked in the top 10 nationally during each of the past six seasons (1998-2003). Baylor also leads all conference schools in Big 12 history in both first team All-Big 12 selections (18) and in first team Academic All-Big 12 selections (30).
Thrice is Nice for Players of the Week Durbin was named the Big 12 Player of the Week (Feb. 17-23) after hitting .588, slugging 1.176 and reaching base at a .650 clip as the Bears went 4-0 on the week, including a weekend sweep of No. 7 Southern California. Durbin scored eight times in four games and drove in five runs, including knocking home the winning run in three of the four games. The award marked the first time Durbin was named Big 12 Player of the Week. The senior centerfielder was also named CollegeBaseballInsider.com's West Region Player of the Week. The very next week, Bennett duplicated Durbin's honor. The senior from Cape Girardeau, Mo., was named Big 12 Player of the Week for games played Feb. 24-March 2 for his feats against UT-San Antonio and UC-Irvine. For the week, Bennett hit .786 (11-for-14) with five RBI and five runs scored. The honor was the first of Bennett's career. Two months later, Durbin received his second player of the week award. The senior hit.524 and slugged .857 for the week as Baylor pounded TCU 22-4, then took two of three from Kansas on the weekend. Durbin got the Bears' offense rolling in all four games, reaching base safely to start every game last week. He hit four doubles, homered, drove in four runs and scored eight times out of the leadoff spot in the order.
Ford Named to Bench Award Watch List Ford, a sophomore from Baytown, Texas, was one of just six sophomores named to the list. Ten semifinalists will be selected from those on the watch list and announced on May 20; a national panel will then select three finalists, who will be announced June 2 prior to the College World Series. The winner will be announced at the 6th Annual Greater Wichita Sports Banquet in Wichita, Kan. The award, sponsored by Coleman and named after Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench, was first given to LSU's Brad Cresse in 2000. Baylor all-American Kelly Shoppach earned the award in 2001 after hitting .397 and making just one error all season behind the plate. Alabama's Jeremy Brown won the honor in 2002.
Six Bears Named All-Tournament in Houston Joining Griffin on the all-tournament team were Josh Ford (C), Paul Witt (2B), Trey Webb (SS), Chris Durbin (OF) and David Murphy (OF).
Smith Reaches Another Milestone Smith leads all Baylor coaches in career winning percentage (.627), and he trails only Baylor legend Mickey Sullivan among Bears' head coaches in total wins. Sullivan, whom Smith replaced in 1995, compiled a 649-428 record while helming the Bears from 1974-1994.
Griffin's Six Hits Set Record Griffin knocked out five singles and a home run in the Bears' 11-9, 11-inning win over the Wildcats and tied his career-high with six RBI.
Baylor Ballpark No. 3 Stadium in the Nation In voting by the nation's coaches, Baylor Ballpark placed third, just behind Auburn's Plainsman Park and Arkansas' Baum Stadium. Nebraska's Haymarket Park and LSU's Alex Box Stadium rounded out the top five. College media relations contacts were also asked to vote on their favorite stadiums. Baylor Ballpark finished fourth in that survey, behind Auburn, Mississippi State's Dudy Noble Field and Arkansas. The survey asked coaches and media relations contacts to rank their top 10 parks based on aesthetics, facilities (dugout, locker rooms, extra cages/bullpens, etc.), fan amenities, playing conditions and tradition.
Bear Fans Rushing Through Turnstiles Average attendance at Baylor Ballpark has increased each season since the park's opening in 1999. Last season, the Bears drew 2,882 fans per game, ranking 15th in the nation in average attendance. Baylor has ranked among the top 25 in both average and total attendance each year since moving into Baylor Ballpark.
Bears' Schedule Toughest in Nation Nine of the Bears' 2002 opponents qualified for the NCAA Tournament a year ago: Houston, Long Beach State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Rice, Southern California, Texas and Texas Tech. Of those, Nebraska, Rice and Texas each advanced to the College World Series last year, with the Longhorns coming away as national champions.
Webb Snares Top Honor The publication noted that "While he's relatively small at 5-foot-11 and 160 pounds, SS Trey Webb is the hands-down choice as the top college defender at a premium position. He has soft hands, good range and enough arm strength to be a legitimate shortstop in pro ball."
Baylor Alums in the Pros In 2002, Jennings won National League Rookie of the Year honors after going 16-8 with a 4.52 ERA (see above note). Wells, meanwhile, was honored as the Houston-Area Major League Pitcher of the Year. NOTES: Jennings started Opening Day 2003 for the Rockies in Houston against the Astros, his first opening day start... Jeremy Dodson was let go by the Royals but is now in the Cardinals' system... Matt Williams began the season at Low-A Peoria but was moved up to High-A Palm Beach after just two games... Paul Thorp and Kelly Shoppach are each in extended spring training rehabbing injuries... Wells hit the longest home run by a Pirate in PNC Park history April 25 against the Dodgers, a 457-foot shot to dead center. For a complete list of Baylor alums in the pros, see the sidebar on page nine of these notes.
Baylor's Jennings 2002 NL Rookie of the Year The 24-year-old Jennings went 16-8 with a 4.52 ERA and became the first Colorado player to win the award. He got 27 first place votes and five seconds for 150 points in voting by the BBWAA. The award came as no surprise to Baylor fans, who saw Jennings named consensus National Collegiate Player of the Year after compiling a 13-2 record, 2.58 ERA and 172 strikeouts in 146.2 innings as a junior in 1999. Jennings also served as the Bears' DH, hitting .386 with 17 home runs and 68 RBI that season. Following his outstanding year, Jennings was drafted in the first round (16th overall pick) by the Rockies. A three-year starter, Jennings holds Baylor records for wins in a season (13), innings pitched in a season (146.2) and strikeouts in a season (172) and in a career (377). He is second in career wins (27) and career saves (13), third in career home runs (39) and fourth in career batting average (.344).
Baylor Developing Pro Prospects Baseball America updated its list in early April; that ranking included David Murphy as the No. 39 college draft prospect for 2003, and Steven White at No. 47.
Draft Dodgers
Team Year Round Team Trey Taylor 2001 2nd Colorado Rockies Mark McCormick 2002 11th Baltimore Orioles Steven White 2002 18th Milwaukee Brewers Ross Bennett 1998 42nd Montreal Expos Jared Theodorakos 2002 49th Colorado Rockies David Murphy 2000 50th Anaheim Angels Kyle Reynolds 2002 50th Arizona Diamondbacks
Baylor and USA Baseball Five Bears have played a total of six seasons wearing the Red, White and Blue: Pat Combs (1988), Jason Jennings (1997-98), Bryan Loeb (1998), Jon Topolski (1998) and Zane Carlson (2000). Stanford, Miami, Cal State Fullerton, Southern California and Florida State were recognized as the top five programs based on their contributions to USA Baseball from 1984-2002.
It's In Their Blood Freshman infielder Kyle Reynolds' father Craig played fifteen seasons in the major leagues (1975-1989), including 11 with the Houston Astros. Craig was selected for the 1978 and 1979 All-Star Games. Redshirt sophomore Reid Brees' brother Drew became a household name among college football fans when he finished third in the 2000 Heisman voting while at Purdue. Drew is now the starting quarterback for the San Diego Chargers. Freshman Russell Reichenbach's uncle, Mickey Reichenbach, was named the 1975 College World Series MVP while a sophomore at Texas. A four-year lettermen for the Longhorns, Mickey hit .455 with three doubles and a home run to earn MVP honors.
Head Coach Steve Smith The 2000 Big 12 Coach of the Year, 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 at Texas A&M. A former standout pitcher at Baylor in 1982-1983, Smith led the Southwest Conference with a 1.72 ERA as a junior, bettering league foes and future major leaguers Norm Charlton, Roger Clemens, Doug Drabek and Calvin Schiraldi. An accomplished pitching coach, Smith has tutored six pitchers in the last 11 years who were selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft. He has also had at least one pitcher named to the all-conference first team in each of the last 11 years. In Smith's eight full seasons as head coach, the Bears have produced three first-round draft picks, nine all-Americans, five Academic All-Americans, one National Player of the Year, one GTE/CoSIDA Academic all-American of the Year, 22 first-team all-conference performers, seven freshman all-Americans, and three conference players of the year. Baylor has also placed 30 players on the Academic All-Big 12 first team in the past six seasons, a number that leads the Big 12.
Baylor on the Air Tom Barfield and Lark Smith begin their first season together as the primary play-by-play and color men 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 saw his first action calling Baylor baseball last season, when he and Smith called the Bears' sweep of Southern California at Dodger Stadium. 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. All Baylor Baseball games in 2003 will be available on the internet at www.BaylorBears.com. BU baseball is also a staple of the daily "Baylor SportsBeat" hosted by Morris and airing weekdays at 7:25am and 5:25pm on KRZI 1660/1580-AM.
BaylorBears.com Live scoring updates are available on BaylorBears.com for all Baylor baseball home games and most road games.
Inside Baylor Sports
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