ARLINGTON, Texas – The No. 8 seed Baylor Bears (26-26, 7-17) will open the Big 12 Tournament against the No. 1 overall seed TCU Horned Frogs (35-18, 16-8) at Globe Life Field on Wednesday afternoon. The first pitch is scheduled for 12:30 P.M.
Since playing TCU in mid-March, the Bears have gone 17-17. While the Horned Frogs went 21-13 and are riding a 7-game winning streak heading into the conference tournament. Baylor proved they could hang with the future Big 12 champions in that series. Most people did not see it since it happened to be the same day as the Baylor vs North Carolina basketball game, but the Bears blew an 8-5 lead in the ninth inning of the Saturday game and ended up losing in extra innings. Hindsight is 20/20, but they were one poor inning away from winning that series.
Probable Starting Fielders: Baylor
C: So. Harrison Caley (.277, 18 R, 36 H, 3 2B, 14 RBI, 20 BB, .382 OB%)
1B: So. Kyle Nevin (.306, 37 R, 64 H, 15 2B, 2 3B, 8 HR, 48 RBI, 20 BB, .359 OB%)
2B: So. Tre Richardson (.296, 59 R, 61 H, 13 2B, 3B, 4 HR, 35 RBI, 31 BB, 9 SB, .398 OB%)
3B: Sr. Esteban Oquendo-Cardoza (.228, 25 R, 38 H, 9 2B, 23 RBI, 14 BB, .323 OB%)
SS: Jr. Jack Pineda (.309, 56 R, 68 H, 15 2B, 5 3B, 7 HR, 35 RBI, 27 BB, 10 SB, .402 OB%)
LF: So. Cam Caley (.316, 3 R, 12 H, 3 2B, 6 RBI, 3 BB, .381 OB%)
CF: So. Jared McKenzie (.298, 35 R, 59 H, 12 2B, 3B, 11 HR, 42 RBI, 26 BB, 4 SB, .400 OB%)
RF: So. Jacob Schoenvogel (.245, 18 R, 12 H, 2B, HR, 8 RBI, 12 BB, .422 OB%)
DH: Sr. Antonio Valdez (.209, 7 R, 14 H, 3B, HR, 11 RBI, 19 BB, .393 OB%)
Jack Mackenzie - SicEm365
Blake Helton on the mound
Probable Starting Pitchers
BU SP1: RHP Blake Helton (0-1, 2.51 ERA)
Helton’s sixth appearance and fifth start this year will go a long way to determining how the Bears’ trip to Arlington goes.
TCU SP1: RHP Brett Walker (5-2, 4.87 ERA)
TOP QUOTES
Coach Rodriguez on the team mindset heading into TCU
“I think our guys feel very comfortable playing against anybody, to be honest. The way we played throughout the year is not really conducive to who we are, obviously with the injuries that we’ve had. But at the same time, our guys know that we have been competitive against every team, and we have had an opportunity to beat every team. We just have to go out there and play well.”
Baylor Athletics
Tre Richardson prepares for a game
Tre Richardson on not pressing
“I think we do a really good job of preaching one game at a time. Especially with the position that we are in. We can’t really afford to look too far into the future and too deep into the past. It’s really not as tough as one would make it seem. We just have to win every single pitch, every single inning every, single out, and nd hopefully by the end of the game, we have the W. ”
What I Am Looking For This Weekend
- The only way to make the NCAA Tournament is by winning the Big 12 Tournament outright. I actually believe that the Bears will have a chance to do some damage this weekend. It’s not very likely with all the injuries to the pitching staff. But outside of the Texas series, Baylor has been competitive against every other Big 12 team. TCU, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, and West Virginia are all locks in an NCAA Regional. I would not be surprised if some of those teams focus on resting some of their pitchers instead of riding them throughout the whole week. The key to success in the conference tournament is staying in the winner’s bracket throughout the first couple of days. The likelihood is low, but there is still a chance. I’m curious to see if this team goes out there and gives it everything they have, or if they view the season as all but finished and go home in two or three games.
