Baylor Baseball: Bears Set for Round Rock Classic

Thu Feb 25 10:53:25 CST 2021

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Feb. 25, 2021

Bears Set for Round Rock Classic
Baylor will open with Texas A&M on Friday night at Dell Diamond
Game Notes Link: https://baylor.box.com/s/r09ii3r550nrboh1z4nwtt2bj4v7w863
For more information contact: Zach Rhodes, 919-247-7585, Zach_Rhodes at baylor.edu

ROUND ROCK, Texas – The Baylor baseball team is set to play in the second annual Round Rock Classic at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas, beginning on Friday night at 6 p.m. against Texas A&M (2-3). The Bears (1-2) will also take on No. 17 Auburn (5-0) on Saturday at 12 p.m. and Oklahoma (2-2) for a non-conference matchup on Sunday at 5 p.m. to close out the event.

Individual tickets to all the games are available at RoundRockClassic.net.

SERIES INFO
Date:  Friday-Sunday, Feb. 26-28
Game Times:  6 p.m./12 p.m./5 p.m.
Site: Round Rock, Texas / Dell Diamond (11,631)
TV: FloBaseball $
                • Talent: Friday David Saltzman (pxp), Mike Hardge (color)
                              Saturday Bill Culhane (pxp), Mike Hardge (color)
                              Sunday Chris Mycoskie (pxp), Mike Hardge (color)
Radio:ESPN 1660/92.3 FM (Fri/Sun)
• Talent: Derek Smith (pxp), Alex Phillips (color)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast.com
Twitter Updates:@BaylorBaseball
Series History: 184-130-4 (A&M leads)
                        Streak: A&M, W3
                        First Meeting: April 9, 1904 2020
                        Last Meeting: March 1, 2019
0-0 (Auburn)
                        First meeting
50-48 (OU leads)
                        Streak: BU, W3
                        First Meeting: 1936
                        Last Meeting: May 22, 2019

PITCHING MATCHUP
Fri. Feb. 26 – Baylor RHP Blake Helton (0-0, 4.91 ERA) vs. Texas A&M LHP Dustin Saenz (0-1, 3.60 ERA)
Sat. Feb. 27 – Baylor LHP Tyler Thomas (0-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Auburn RHP Richard Fitts (0-0, 1.80 ERA)
Sun. Feb. 28 – Baylor TBD vs. Oklahoma TBD

STORY LINES
• Second-year freshman Jared McKenzie picked up right where he left off in 2020 through his first three games in 2021. After batting .406 in the shortened season, McKenzie already leads the Big 12 and is seventh nationally in hits with seven (7-for-15, .467 average) in the leadoff spot. The Round Rock native, added some pop to his bat this offseason as he crushed his first two career home runs in the season opener at UTRGV. His two bombs, five runs scored and 13 total bases also lead the Big 12. For his efforts on Sunday, he was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week (2/22).

• JUCO transfers Jack Pineda and Antonio Valdez have provided a spark for the Bears in their first three contests. Pineda is hitting .375 early on, while also showing his strength as a defender at second base. Valdez has a .364 average as the designated hitter for BU.

• Fourth-year junior Tyler Thomas had a strong first start on the mound in 2021, while throwing a career-best six innings and only allowing two runs on four hits, while striking out four against UTRGV in the second game of the doubleheader on Sunday. Thomas threw a total of 6.2 innings last year, all in relief after coming off of surgery to remove a rib in June 2019 due to his Thoracic Outlet Syndrome.

• Through the first three games, BU leads the Big 12 in hits (9th nationally), batting average (13th nationally), home runs (12th nationally) and stolen bases (27th nationally). The Bears are also second in the conference in runs with 24 (8.0 per game).
• Individually, McKenzie leads the team and Big 12 in multiple categories, while fifth-year senior catcher Andy Thomas is first in the league in RBI with six through three games. Second-year freshman Tre Richardson also leads the Big 12 and is seventh nationally in stolen bases with three.

• Baylor has hit 212 home runs in 240 games under Rodriguez, including five (leads Big 12) already in 2021. Before 2020, the Bears were coming off back-to-back-back seasons with at least 50 home runs (51 in 2017, 54 in 2018, 57 in 2019) for the first time since 2008 (52), 2009 (73) and 2010 (57) and first time in the BBCOR era. In 2020, BU was on pace to hit over 50 home runs once again prior to the season getting canceled.

To stay up to date throughout the season on all things Baylor baseball, follow the team on Facebook (Baylor Baseball), Twitter (@BaylorBaseball) and Instagram (@BaylorBaseball).

-BaylorBears.com-

Zach Rhodes | Associate Director of Athletics Communications
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 919-247-7585 | O: 254-710-3784

[signature_1936840385]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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