Baylor Baseball Heads to Houston for Midweek Matchup at Rice
Baylor Baseball (3-4) travels to Houston for a mid-week matchup against Rice (2-5) as the Bears begin a five-game road trip.
STORYLINES
HITTING THE ROAD
• Baylor is hitting the road for the first time in 2022, beginning a five-game road trip at Rice on Wednesday, March 2.
• The Bears will stay in Houston for the 2022 Shriners Children's College Classic, which features a six-team field including No. 1/1 Texas, No. 7/8 LSU, No. 17/16 Tennessee, NR/No. 23 UCLA and Oklahoma.
• BU closes out the stretch at Abilene Christian on Wednesday, March 9, before returning home for a three-game set against Columbia.
• Baylor is 48-47 in road games under seventh-year head coach Steve Rodriguez and 15-18 in neutral site contests under Rod.
• The Bears will stay close to home in 2022, as 46 of its 52 regular-season contests will be played in the state of Texas.
• Baylor doesn't leave the state of Texas until April 8-10, when it travels to take on West Virginia in Morgantown.
SERIES HISTORY BY THE NUMBERS
• Baylor is 128-88-1 all-time against Rice.
• The Bears and Owls have only squared off once in the Rodriguez era, with Rice coming away victorious in the 2019 contest, 6-3, at the Shriners Children's College Classic.
• Prior to the most recent meeting, BU had won three-straight over Rice from 2011-2013.
• The last time Baylor played Rice at its home field, Reckling Park, was in the 2011 Houston Regional. The Bears defeated the No. 9 Owls, 3-2.
• BU is 44-15 in midweek tilts under Coach Rod, including winning 8 of its last 9 such games.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Wednesday, March 2 • 6:30 p.m. CT • RHP Henry Cone (0-0, 6.75 ERA) vs. RHP Parker Smith (1-0, 1.13 ERA)
BROADCAST INFORMATION
• Wednesday's game will be streamed on C-USA.tv
• Fans can also tune in to the Baylor radio broadcast on ESPN Central Texas 1660 AM/92.3 FM featuring Derek Smith (PxP) and former Baylor pitcher Jimmy Winston (Analyst) on the call.
TESTED RIGHT FROM THE START
• 2022 is the first season since 1952 in which 11 of Baylor's first 13 opponents currently compete in Power 5 conferences.
• BU is coming off a series win over former No. 23 Duke and presently boasts a 2-1 record against ranked foes.
• The Bears will face three more ranked opponents this upcoming weekend at the Shriners Children's College Classic.
• Maryland, who was unranked during its opening weekend sweep of BU, now sits at No. 21 in both major polls.
• 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.
TURNING TWO
• Entering the third week of the season, Baylor ranks third nationally with 10 double plays turned and fourth with 1.43 DP's per game.
• Third-year sophomore 2B Tre Richardson has recorded an assist in all 10 twin killings so far.
• The Bears rolled just 33 double plays in all of 2021 (0.65 per game).
STRONG STARTERS
• Baylor's starting pitching had a fantastic weekend against Duke, with senior LHP Tyler Thomas and senior RHP Jake Jackson each picking up their first wins of the season.
• The duo, along with sophomore RHP Will Rigney, combined for a 0.53 ERA over the three games, going 17 innings and allowing just one earned run with 15 strikeouts to five walks.
• BU starters have allowed just the one earned run over their last 19 innings pitched.
EXTRA, EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT
• Baylor has recorded at least one extra-base hit in 31 of its last 34 games, dating back to last season.
• The Bears have tallied 104 extra base hits, including 64 doubles, 11 triples and 29 home runs.
• Baylor has notched at least two extra-base hits in 25 of its last 34 games.
• Through seven games in 2022, BU has tallied eight doubles, two triples and one home run.
ADD ANOTHER TO THE K-COUNTER
• After racking up double-digit strikeouts in all three games against Maryland, the Baylor pitching staff reached double figures once again vs. Duke in Sunday's second game of the doubleheader with 12.
• The Bears have tallied 62 K's in seven games this season.
• The Bears only reached double figures in 16 of their 51 games in 2021.
THE BIG RIG
• After suffering season-ending injuries in each of his first two seasons, third-year sophomore RHP Will Rigney is finally healthy and contributing to the pitching staff in a big way.
• The righty, who made his first appearance since March 23, 2021, has tallied 10 strikeouts and walked none in six innings of work so far this season. He currently owns a 3.00 ERA, having allowed just two earned runs.
• His 4.0 IP against Duke were a career high, to go along with 6 K's.