Baylor Baseball Hosts Oklahoma State in Final Home Series

Thu May 8 21:01:20 CDT 2025

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – May 8, 2025

Baylor Baseball Hosts Oklahoma State in Final Home Series
Bears welcome Cowboys to Baylor Ballpark for first time since 2022
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

[BU Logo]
BAYLOR BEARS (30-18, 10-14 Big 12)
Location: Waco, Texas
Conference/Affiliation: Big 12
Head Coach: Mitch Thompson<https://baylorbears.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/mitch-thompson/2403> (Fort Hays St., 1988)

Roster<https://baylorbears.com/sports/baseball/roster> | Stats<https://baylorbears.com/sports/baseball/stats/2024> | Game Notes (PDF)
BAYLOR (30-18, 10-14) vs. OKLAHOMA STATE (22-21, 10-11)
May 9, 2025 • 6:30 p.m. CT
May 10, 2025 • 2:00 p.m. CT
May 11, 2025 • 1:00 p.m. CT
Waco, Texas • Baylor Ballpark (5,000)

LIVE STATS: BaylorStats.com<https://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=bay>
WATCH: ESPN+
LISTEN: ESPN Central Texas 1660 AM/92.3 FM
Talent: Derek Smith, Tom Barfield

Baylor Social Media: [auto twitter icon] <https://twitter.com/BaylorBaseball>  [instagram png] <https://www.instagram.com/baylorbaseball/?hl=en>  [Facebook PNG] <https://www.facebook.com/BaylorBaseball/>
[OSU]
OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOYS (22-21, 10-11 Big 12)
Location: Stillwater, Okla.
Conference/Affiliation: Big 12
Head Coach: Josh Holliday (Oklahoma State, 1999)

Roster<https://okstate.com/sports/baseball/roster> | Stats<https://okstate.com/sports/baseball/stats/2025>

STORYLINES

LEADING OFF

• Baylor Baseball wraps up its home portion of the 2025 schedule this weekend with three games against Oklahoma State before venturing to Orlando next weekend for a three-game set at UCF to wrap the regular season.

• The Bears are coming off a 10-7 victory over UTRGV on Tuesday night, finishing the regular season with a 20-4 non-conference record and 11-1 mark in midweek ballgames.

• BU will recognize 15 seniors on Saturday as part of its Senior Day ceremony.

• With two weeks remaining in the regular season, BU currently sits 11th in the Big 12 standings at 10-14.

• The top 12 teams in the conference standings this season will qualify for the Big 12 Championship Tournament in Arlington, Texas at Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers.

• For the 12th week in a row, Baylor is currently receiving votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Top 25 poll. 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 20-3 when allowing two walks or less in 2025.

• The Bears are 17-5 this year when racking up 10+ hits offensively.

• Baylor owns a +93 overall run differential this season (343 runs scored, 250 runs allowed), which ranks 6th in the Big 12, trailing only West Virginia (+175), Kansas (+149), Arizona State (+140), TCU (+112) and UCF (+111).

• Baylor's 3.39 walks per nine innings ranks 15th in the country and its 1.34 WHIP ranks 30th nationally.

IT'S ABOUT THE RESPONSE

• Baylor is 12-6 this season in games following a loss.

• Baylor has 12 come-from-behind wins this season, including one walk-off victory (April 1 vs. HCU).

• BU's most recent comeback victory came on Tuesday, May 6, vs. UTRGV (trailed 3-0, won 10-7).

• 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 OKLAHOMA STATE

• Baylor is 44-57 all-time against Oklahoma State.

• BU is looking for its first series win over the Cowboys since 2018.

• This is the first meeting between the Bears and the Cowboys in Waco since 2022.

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS

• Fri. May 9 • 6:30 p.m. • LHP Mason Green<https://baylorbears.com/sports/baseball/roster/mason-green/13512> (0-1, 5.59 ERA) vs. LHP Harrison Bodendorf (8-1, 2.63 ERA)

• Sat. May 10 • 2:00 p.m. • LHP Ethan Calder<https://baylorbears.com/sports/baseball/roster/ethan-calder/13507> (3-5, 5.71 ERA) vs. RHP Mario Pesca (4-2, 3.88 ERA)

• Sun. May 11 • 1:00 p.m. • TBD vs. RHP Sean Youngerman (3-1, 1.99 ERA)

SOUTHPAW STARTERS

• Baylor has started a left-handed pitcher in each of its last 37 games, dating back to March 2 (Cole Stasio<https://baylorbears.com/sports/baseball/roster/cole-stasio/13524> 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<https://baylorbears.com/sports/baseball/roster/gabe-craig/13509> 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 21 appearances so far this season, Craig has been outstanding with a 2-0 record, 0.72 ERA and nine saves.

• 19 of his outings have been scoreless, 12 have been hitless, and he has recorded multiple strikeouts in 14 outings.

• Craig boasts a 42:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio and an impressive 0.56 WHIP, having allowed just 11 hits, and has held opponents to a .134 batting average.

• In Big 12 play, Craig has allowed just one run on five hits in 13 innings with a 26:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

• Craig has not allowed a run over his last nine outings -- a scoreless streak of 13.1 innings.

• Craig's nine saves rank as the second-most in the Big 12 and 12th in the country; his 17 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.

TYRIQ KEMP! FROM THE NETHERLANDS!

• Senior shortstop Tyriq Kemp<https://baylorbears.com/sports/baseball/roster/tyriq-kemp/13517> was named to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List in mid-April, an award that honors the nation's top shortstop.

• The 5-foot-7 sparkplug from Rotterdam, The Netherlands, has been one of Baylor's best players in 2025, hitting .354 through 48 games with 14 doubles, five home runs and 37 RBIs, all the while playing gold-glove caliber defense.

• He has more than doubled his HR (2) and RBI (18) total from a year ago, while raising his batting average over 116 points from .238 in the 2024 season.

• In April, Kemp hit .381 (24-for-63) with four doubles, one triple, three home runs and drove in 14 runs.

• Kemp has reached base safely in 24 consecutive games entering the OSU weekend series.

THE BEST DEFENSIVE SHORTSTOP IN THE COUNTRY

• Through 48 games, shortstop Tyriq Kemp<https://baylorbears.com/sports/baseball/roster/tyriq-kemp/13517> has committed just seven errors and fielded at a .967 percentage, tracking to be the best defensive season by a Baylor shortstop in the Statcrew Era (since 2003).

• Kemp ranks 19th in the country and fourth among shortstops in Defensive Runs Saved with 11.33.

• Kemp trails UCLA's Roch Cholowsky (14.97 DRS), TCU's Anthony Silva (13.32 DRS) and Utah Tech's Petey Soto Jr. (12.33 DRS) on the DRS leaderboards, but has made fewer errors and fielded at a higher percentage than both Silva (10 errors, .952 pct.) and Soto Jr. (15 errors, .933 pct.).

• Kemp was featured at No. 8 on SportsCenter's Top 10 plays on Sunday, May 4, after his fantastic back-handed diving stop and throw from deep in the hole for an out against Arizona State.

To stay up to date on all things Baylor baseball, follow the team on its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorBaseball.

-BaylorBears.com-

__________________________________

Max Calderone | Director of Athletics Communications (Baseball, Football)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 254-265-1639

[signature_2738506925]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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