Baylor Baseball Finishes Big 12 Play at Home against No. 8 Oklahoma State

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (25-24, 6-15) finishes the season with a three-game set this weekend against conference opponent No. 8 Oklahoma State (34-17, 13-8) at Baylor Ballpark. Games are slated for 6:30 P.M. Thursday, 6:30 P.M. Friday, and 3:00 P.M. Saturday (ESPN+).

BAYLOR BEARS - (#76 RPI Ranking & #21 Strength of Schedule)

2022 Record: 25-24

2022 Big 12 Record: 6-15

Head Coach: Steve Rodriguez 

• Career Record: 597-443 (19th season) 
• Record at Baylor: 196-143 (7th season) 

2022 STAT LEADERS 

Baylor Athletics

Jared McKenzie celebrates a home run

AVG: Kyle Nevin (.306)

H: Jack Pineda (62)

2B: Kyle Nevin (15)

HR: Jared McKenzie (9)

RBI: Kyle Nevin (46)

R: Tre Richardson (55)

OB%: Tre Richardson (.400)

BB: Tre Richardson (28)

SB: Jack Pineda (10)

No. 8 Oklahoma State - (#14 RPI Ranking & #14 Strength of Schedule)

2022 Record: 34-17

2022 Big 12 Record: 13-8

Head Coach: Josh Holliday

• Career Record: 333-181 (10th season)
• Record at Oklahoma State: 333-181 (10th season)

2022 STAT LEADERS 

AVG: Jake Thompson (.335)

H: Jake Thompson (66)

2B: Jake Thompson (14)

HR: Jake Thompson (12)

RBI: Jake Thompson (50)

R: Zach Ehrhard (45)

OB%: Jake Thompson (.444)

BB: Jake Thompson (35)

SB: Zach Ehrhard (17)

Probable Starting Fielders: Baylor

C: So. Harrison Caley (.283, 17 R, 34 H, 3 2B, 12 RBI, 20 BB, .394 OB%)

1B: So. Kyle Nevin (.306, 35 R, 60 H, 15 2B, 2 3B, 8 HR, 46 RBI, 20 BB, .363 OB%) 

2B: So. Tre Richardson (.303, 55 R, 59 H, 12 2B, 3B, 4 HR, 34 RBI, 28 BB, 5 SB, .400 OB%)

3B: Sr. Esteban Oquendo-Cardoza (.242, 24 R, 38 H, 9 2B, 23 RBI, 14 BB, .341 OB%)

SS: Jr. Jack Pineda (.300, 52 R, 62 H, 14 2B, 5 3B, 5 HR, 33 RBI, 26 BB, 10 SB, .396 OB%)

LF: So. Cam Caley (.281, 3 R, 9 H, 3 2B, 5 RBI, 3 BB, .361 OB%)

CF: So. Jared McKenzie (.293, 29 R, 55 H, 11 2B, 3B, 9 HR, 36 RBI, 22 BB, 3 SB, .389 OB%)

RF: So. Jacob Schoenvogel (.275, 17 R, 11 H, 2B, HR, 6 RBI, 11 BB, .463 OB%)

DH: Fr. Casen Neumann (.309, 13 R, 21 H, 4 2B, 2 HR, 15 RBI, 11 BB, .429 OB%)

Jack Mackenzie - SicEm365

Jake Jackson was nominated Big 12 Pitcher of the Week

Probable Starting Pitchers

BU SP1: RHP Jake Jackson (4-4, 7.87 ERA)

OSU SP1: RHP Victor Mederos (3-3, 6.60 ERA)

BU SP2: TBD

OSU SP2: RHP Justin Campbell (7-2, 3.39 ERA)

BU SP3: RHP Blake Helton (0-1, 2.92 ERA)

OSU SP3: RHP Bryce Osmond (4-2, 4.75 ERA)

TOP QUOTES

Jake Jackson on his Big 12 Pitcher of the Week award

“I think it’s a testament to the work and everything that I have gone through up to this point. There’s been a lot of ups and a lot of downs and embracing the fact that I have to keep working and going about my business in the right way and trust God’s plan. Trust that he has the right intentions for me to be successful for this team, for this program, and do everything that I can in my control to help us win.”

Jack Pineda on having to focus on one game at a time amidst the upcoming Big 12 Tournament

“I think it’s both [hard and easy]. That kind of unknown part of it is really stressful. But we have to play well next week and use this weekend to get hot.”

Coach Rodriguez on facing Oklahoma State

“Oklahoma State has had a phenomenal year. Great starting pitching and a pretty powerful offense. There is a reason they are ranked in the top 10. We have our work cut out for us, but at the same time, it’s going to be another great challenge for us, which we have had pretty much all year.”

What I Am Looking For This Weekend

• All the Bears need is a single win or a Kansas loss to clinch the final spot in the Big 12 Tournament. In order to not make the tournament, Baylor would have to get swept by Oklahoma State and Kansas would have to sweep Texas in Austin. While it could be likely the Cowboys come into Waco and sweep Baylor. It is extremely unlikely Kansas even wins a game against Texas. However, I’m never going to count the Jayhawks out considering the big win the football team picked up in Austin this past year. 

Quick Side Notes

• RPI and SOS rankings were last updated at 12:00 P.M. 5/18
• Coach Rodriguez said Kobe Andrade was not available for the series this weekend and would not give any further comments.