Preview: Baylor Baseball Travels to Stillwater to Face No. 20 Oklahoma State

STILLWATER, Okla. — Baylor baseball (9-12, 2-1) will travel to Stillwater, Oklahoma, to take on No. 20 Oklahoma State (17-5, 1-2) for a weekend series. Friday’s first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at O’Brate Stadium and will be televised on ESPN+. 

Saturday’s game will take place at 6 p.m., and Sunday’s game will be at 1 p.m. Both will be streamed via okstate.com.

SicEm365

Baylor has won four of its last five games and is currently riding a three-game winning streak.

Baylor Bears

2023 Record: 9-12

Head Coach: Mitch Thompson

• Career Record: 9-12 (1st season) 
• Record at Baylor: 9-12 (1st season)

2023 Projections

• D1Baseball: 9th in the Big 12
• Coaches Poll: 9th in the Big 12

No. 20 Oklahoma State Cowboys

2023 Record: 17-5

Head Coach: Josh Holliday

• Career Record: 379-202 (11th season) 
• Career Record: 379-202 (11th season) 

2023 Projections

• D1Baseball: 1st in the Big 12
• Coaches Poll: 2nd in the Big 12

Levi Caraway - SicEm365

Freshman SS Kolby Branch leads the team in virtually every offensive category.

2023 STAT LEADERS

• AVG: Kolby Branch (.354)
• H: Kolby Branch (29)
• 2B: Kobe Andrade (7)
• HR: Kolby Branch, John Ceccoli (3)
• RBI: Kolby Branch (18)
• R: Kolby Branch (23)
• OB%: Kolby Branch (.470)
• BB: Kolby Branch (17)

Probable Starting Fielders: Baylor

• C: So. Cort Castle (.267, 30 AB, 7 R, 8 H, 2 RBI, 2 BB, .333 OB%)
• 1B: So. John Ceccoli (.290, 62 AB, 11 R, 18 H, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 7 BB, .389 OB%) 
• 2B: Jr. Cole Posey (.292, 48 AB, 9 R, 14 H, 6 2B, HR, 7 RBI, 8 BB, .433 OB%)
• 3B: So. Hunter Teplanszky (.315, 54 AB, 10 R, 17 H, 2 2B, 2 3B, 7 RBI, 8 BB, .412 OB%)
• SS: Fr. Kolby Branch (.354, 82 AB, 23 R, 29 H, 6 2B,  3B, 3 HR, 18 RBI, 17 BB, .470 OB%)
• LF: Jr. Hunter Simmons (.318, 66 AB, 7 R, 21 H, 3 2B, 3B, 14 RBI, 6 BB, .397 OB%)
• CF: Fr. Caleb Bergman (.167, 18 AB, 2 R, 3 H, 2B, 5 RBI, .211 OB%)
• RF: RS-Fr. Gavin Brzozowski (.210, 62 AB, 10 R, 13 H, 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 15 BB, .380 OB%)
• DH: Jr. Kobe Andrade (.192, 73 AB, 10 R, 14 H, 7 2B, 3 3B, HR, 10 RBI, 7 BB, .271 OB%)

Levi Caraway - SicEm365

In his last start, sophomore Mason Marriott only allowed one earned run in six innings pitched.

Probable Starting Pitchers

• BU SP1: RHP Blake Helton (0-3, 7.77 ERA, 1.97 WHIP, 24.1 IP)
• OSU SP1: RHP Brian Hendry (1-0, 2.76 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 16.1 IP)
• BU SP2: RHP Mason Marriott (1-2, 4.94 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 23.2 IP)
• OSU SP2: RHP Ben Abram (3-0, 4.79 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 20.2 IP)
• BU SP3: TBD
• OSU SP3: RHP Juaron Watts-Brown (2-1, 2.96 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 27.1 IP)

Top Quotes

Levi Caraway - SicEm365

Junior 2B Cole Posey has had multi-hit performances in four of his last five games.

Cole Posey on the confidence of the team heading into the OSU series:

• “A couple of these gritty wins we’ve had down the stretch, I don’t know if we have those a couple of weeks ago because we are really starting to come together and play competitive baseball. I think that’s something the fans can feel and we can definitely feel.”

Blake Helton on the pitcher’s mindset with the offense currently on a hot streak:

• “You can play a lot looser on defense knowing that if you do give up a run, it’s not going to be a huge deal to get it back. If you give a three-spot in an inning, you might feel like it’s the end of the game. But how we’ve been hitting recently, it feels like we’re always in the game.”

Mitch Thompson on what’s causing the recent hot streak:

• “I think we’re improving all over the field to be honest with you, especially our last five to 10 games. I think our offense has picked up. We’ve had some hitters make some adjustments. They’re coming through better with runners in scoring position, two-out hitting, two-strike hitting. Our pitching staff, we’re getting a lot of guys out there, especially in the bullpen. For the most part, they are performing very well … I think we’re trending up, but the competition is going to keep trending up too as we continue to play.”

Mitch Thompson on if Will Rigney will be the starter on Sunday:

• “To be determined yet. Still to be determined. We’re going to figure out what’s the best way to use [Will Rigney] and the best way to use the rest of our staff. I think we’ve announced our Friday and Saturday starters, and after that, we’ll be TBD.”

Mitch Thompson on what he sees from No. 20 Oklahoma State:

• “Really talented club. I mean a really talented club. Lost a lot of pitching, but they have a bunch of arms – I mean a bunch of arms. Really well-coached team. Offensively, they return a lot of their lineup … It’s going to be a real challenge … But they are a really good team that knows how to win, really well coached, power, speed, like to run, big arms.”

What I Am Looking For This Weekend

Baylor Athletics

Junior RHP Will Rigney has recorded 18 outs this season; 13 of them have been strikeouts.

• Baylor has won four of its last five games and is riding a three-game winning streak heading into the series against No. 20 Oklahoma State. This will be the first series since Duke where the Bears face a sizeable gap in roster talent. It will be interesting to see if they steal a game or two against the conference’s best.
• Oklahoma State is a really good team, and they are going to hit the ball. Hopefully, the pitching staff will build off of the recent momentum and keep from surrendering “big innings. Over this five-game stretch; the Bears have only allowed one “big inning” where the opposing team has scored three or more runs. In the three weeks prior, the pitching staff surrendered 20 “big innings.”
• The Bears have reached nine or more hits in four of their last five games. I’m curious to see how the offense will do against some of the better arms in the conference.
• OSU’s Sunday starter Juaron Watts-Brown is their most talented arm and was the 2023 Big 12 Preseason Pitcher and Newcomer of the Year.