Baylor Baseball Rounds Out Road Stretch at Abilene Christian

Tue Mar 8 19:40:01 CST 2022

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – March 8, 2022

Baylor BSB Rounds Out Road Stretch at Abilene Christian
Bears own 13-2 mark all-time against Wildcats, just 1-0 since ACU jumped to Division I
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

[BU Logo]
BAYLOR BEARS (6-5, 0-0 Big 12)
Location: Waco, Texas
Conference/Affiliation: Big 12
Head Coach: Steve Rodriguez<https://baylorbears.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1811> (Pepperdine, 2001)

Roster<https://baylorbears.com/sports/baseball/roster> | Stats<https://baylorbears.com/sports/baseball/stats/2022> | Game Notes (PDF)<https://baylorbears.com/documents/2022/3/8/BU_BSB_Game_Notes_2022_12_ACU.pdf>
BAYLOR (6-5, 0-0) vs ABILENE CHRISTIAN (7-4, 0-0)
March 9, 2022 • 6:05 p.m. CT
Abilene, Texas • Crutcher Scott Field (4,000)

LIVE STATS: BaylorStats.com<http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=391588>
WATCH: ESPN+<https://www.espn.com/watch/>
LISTEN: Learfield / ESPN Central Texas 1660 AM & 92.3 FM
Talent:  Ryan Boyd (PxP), Max Calderone<https://baylorbears.com/staff.aspx?staff=616> (Analyst)

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/>
[ACU]
ABILENE CHRISTIAN WILDCATS (7-4, 0-0 WAC)
Location: Abilene, Texas
Conference/Affiliation: WAC
Head Coach: Rick McCarty (Murray State, 2003)

Roster<https://acusports.com/sports/baseball/roster> | Stats<https://acusports.com/sports/baseball/stats/2022> <https://uapblionsroar.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats> | Game Notes

STORYLINES

LEADING OFF

• Baylor closes out a five-game road stretch at Abilene Christian on Wednesday, March 9, before returning home for a three-game series with Columbia.

• BU is coming off of another 3-1 week, which includes a 2-1 weekend at the Shriners Children's College Classic.

• The Bears tied for the tournament's best record, though No. 23 UCLA was crowned Tournament Champions thanks to a plus-15 run differential which broke the four-way tie.

• Baylor has won six of its last eight games after being swept by Maryland to open the season.

• BU boasts a 4-2 record against ranked opponents, with wins over No. 23 Duke, No. 23 UCLA and No. 7 LSU.

• Baylor is 49-47 in road games under seventh-year head coach Steve Rodriguez.

• BU is 45-15 in midweek games under Rodriguez, posting a 2-0 mark in midweeks so far in 2022.

• The Bears have won 9 of their last 10 midweek matchups, dating back to the 2021 season.

• Baylor stays close to home in 2022, as 43 of its 52 regular-season contests will be played in the state of Texas.

• BU doesn't leave The Lone Star State until March 25-27, when it travels to take on Oklahoma in Norman.

SERIES HISTORY BY THE NUMBERS

• Baylor is 13-2 all-time against Abilene Christian, though the teams have played just once since 1968.

• In the last meeting, the Bears claimed a 6-3 win over the Wildcats in Waco on March 13, 2019.

• BU has traveled to Abilene just twice before in 1967, when ACU was a Division II school.

• The Wildcats were elevated to Division I in 2017, making this just the second DI meeting between the two sides.

PROBABLE STARTERS

Wednesday, March 9 • 6:05 p.m. CT • RHP Adam Muirhead (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. TBD

BROADCAST INFORMATION

• Wednesday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+, the first-ever baseball game held at ACU's Crutcher Scott Field to air on the platform.

• Fans can also listen to the radio broadcast on ESPN 1660/92.3 FM with Ryan Boyd (PxP) and Max Calderone (Analyst) calling the action.

BEARS SHRINE BRIGHT

• Senior LHP Tyler Thomas was named the 2022 Shriners Children's College Classic Most Outstanding Player after going 8.2 IP with a career-high 10 strikeouts in the win against No. 23 UCLA.

• Thomas also earned Big 12 Pitcher of the Week recognition for his dazzling performance.

• Sophomore OF Kyle Nevin (4-for-10, 1 HR, 6 RBIs, 1 SB) and junior INF Jack Pineda (4-for-12, 5 R, 1 HR, 2 RBIs, 3 SB) joined Thomas on the All-Tournament Team.

TURNING TWO

• Baylor leads the Big 12 and is tied for seventh nationally with 12 double plays turned in 2022.

• Third-year sophomore 2B Tre Richardson has recorded an assist in all 12 twin killings so far.

• The Bears rolled just 33 double plays in all of 2021 (0.65 per game).

TESTED RIGHT FROM THE START

• 2022 is the first season since 1952 in which 9 of Baylor's first 11 opponents currently compete in Power 5 conferences.

• All nine of those opponents have been, or currently are, ranked in one of the two major polls (D1Baseball, Baseball America).

• In the first edition of the 2022 RPI, Baylor comes in at No. 48, with the 37th-best rated strength of schedule.

• The Bears will play 22 games against 10 teams who competed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, including five teams that reached a Super Regional and two that reached the College World Series.

EXTRA, EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT

• Baylor has recorded at least one extra-base hit in 35 of its last 38 games, dating back to last season.

• The Bears have tallied 111 extra base hits, including 67 doubles, 12 triples and 32 home runs over that stretch.

• Baylor has notched at least two extra-base hits in 27 of its last 38 games.

• Through 11 games in 2022, BU has tallied 11 doubles, three triples and four home runs.

ADD ANOTHER TO THE K-COUNTER

• Baylor has racked up double-digit strikeouts as a pitching staff in six of its 11 games in 2022.

• The Bears did so in all three games against Maryland (14, 10, 12), then notched 12 vs. Duke in game one of Feb. 27's doubleheader, and collected 10 against both UCLA (March 4) and LSU (March 6) at the Shriners Children's College Classic.

• The Bears have tallied 92 K's in 11 games this season.

• The Bears only reached double figures in 16 of their 51 games in 2021.

T-THOM A TRUE FRIDAY NIGHT ACE

• Fifth-year senior LHP Tyler Thomas has turned himself into a bonafide Friday night ace, with three outstanding starts so far in 2022.

• Thomas is coming off a career outing in which he went 8.2 innings, allowing just four hits while recording a career-high 10 strikeouts in the 2-1 win over No. 23 UCLA.

• He faced the minimum through seven innings and didn't allow a second hit until the eighth. In fact, no UCLA batter advanced past first base until a one-out solo home run in the ninth.

• Prior to the home run, Thomas extended his scoreless innings streak to 19.2 innings.

• Thomas is 2-1 in 2022 with a 1.31 ERA, having surrendered just three runs across two different frames of his Big 12-leading 20.2 innings pitched.

• He has posted 24 K's and just three walks, leading the conference with an 8.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

BIG 12 TAKES NOTICE

• Thomas was named the Big 12's Pitcher of the Week after his dazzling performance against the Bruins.

• It marked Baylor's first Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honor since 2018, when Cody Bradford won the award three times.

• It is the eighth weekly pitching accolade for the Bears under seventh-year head coach Steve Rodriguez.

• This was Baylor's first Big 12 weekly recognition since the opening week of the 2021 season, when Jared McKenzie was named the league's Newcomer of the Week, Baylor's only recognition of the 2021 campaign.

MARRIOTT TURNS OUT THE LIGHTS

• Freshman RHP Mason Marriott picked up the first two saves of his career in massive spots this past weekend.

• Against UCLA on Friday, he entered with the tying run on second base and, after walking and hitting a batter, was able to force a groundout with the bases loaded by Cody Schrier, who had already collected two of his team's four hits on the day.

• On Sunday against LSU, Marriott came on with two outs in the 8th to look for a four-out save. Though he allowed two hits, including a home run to one of the nation's top power hitters in Jacob Berry, he buckled down to strike out the final two batters looking and leave the tying run at the plate to complete the 9-6 win.

GOING STREAKING

• Jack Pineda leads the Bears with a 14-game on-base streak, which dates back to last season.

• Kyle Nevin has reached safely in each of his last six games.

• Nevin (5) and Pineda (4) are the only Bears with active hit streaks above three games.

-BaylorBears.com-

__________________________________

Max Calderone | Associate Director of Athletics Communications (BSB, FB, EQ)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 254-265-1639

[signature_1407664071]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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