WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (11-17) will round out its eight-game homestand with a three-game set against Incarnate Word (15-12). First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Saturday’s contest will start at 2 p.m., and the series finale on Sunday is slated for 1 p.m. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+.
Baylor Bears
Jack Mackenzie - SicEm365
Baylor has won three consecutive games and went 3-1 this past week for just the second time this season.
- 2024 Record: 11-17
- Big 12 Record: 5-7
- RPI: 140
- Notable Wins: No. 24 Texas Tech (2), Cincinnati (2), Texas
- Notable Losses: No. 23 Indiana (3), No. 20 Dallas Baptist, Nebraska, Oregon, No. 5 Tennessee
Head Coach: Mitch Thompson
- Career Record: 403-188 (11th season)
- Record at Baylor: 31-50 (2nd season)
2024 Projections
- D1Baseball: 12th in the Big 12
- Coaches Poll: 11th in the Big 12
Incarnate Word Cardinals
Baylor Athletics
Former Baylor utility player Cam Caley is now UIW’s starting center fielder.
- 2024 Record: 15-12
- Southland Record: 2-4
- RPI: 212
- Notable Wins: N/A
- Notable Losses: No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 23 Texas
Head Coach: Ryan Shotzberger
- Career Record: 94-104 (5th season)
- Record at UIW: 94-104 (5th season)
2024 Projections
- D1Baseball: 4th in the Southland
- Coaches Poll: 4th in the Southland
Baylor Probable Starting Fielders:
*BAVG = Batting Average, OB% = On-Base Percentage, AB = At-Bats*
- C: Cortlan Castle (Jr.) - (.254 BAVG, .313 OB%, 12 R, 5 RBI, 59 AB)
Jack Mackenzie - SicEm365
3B Hunter Teplanszky (Jr.) is 8-for-16 with nine RBIs in his last four games.
- 1B: Mason Greer (Sr.) - (.188 BAVG, .262 OB%, 9 6 R, 6 XBH, 13 RBI, 96 AB)
- 2B: Daniel Altman (Sr.) - (.324 BAVG, .425 OB%, 14 R, 6 XBH, 18 RBI, 71 AB)
- SS: Tyriq Kemp (Jr.) - (.173 BAVG, .300 OB%, 8 R, XBH, RBI, 75 AB)
- 3B: Hunter Teplanszky (Jr.) - (.287 BAVG, .361 OB%, 14 R, 7 XBH, 19 RBI, 108 AB)
- LF: Wesley Jordan (Jr.) - (.318 BAVG, .422 OB%, 18 R, 11 XBH, 15 RBI, 85 AB)
- CF: Ty Johnson (Jr.) - (.295 BAVG, .374 OB%, 5 XBH, 7 RBI, 95 AB)
- RF: Enzo Apodaca (RJr.) - (.354 BAVG, .457 OB%, 24 R, 12 XBH, 23 RBI, 99 AB)
- DH: Zach Mazoch (So.) - (.364 BAVG, .500 OB%, 2 R, 6 RBI, 22 AB)
Projected Bench
- C: Harrison Caley (Sr.) - (.308 BAVG, .400 OB%, 8 R, 4 XBH, 9 RBI, 26 AB)
- 1B: Brayden Buchanan (Fr.) - (.130 BAVG, .333 OB%, 2 R, 23 AB)
- 2B: Chase Womack (Fr.) - (.105 BAVG, .292 OB%, 3 R, 2 RBI, 19 AB)
- OF Kade Fletcher (RJr.) - (.185 BAVG, .361 OB%, 4 R, XBH, 5 RBI, 26 AB)
- OF Caleb Bergman (So.) - (.267 BAVG, .368 OB%, 3 R, XBH, RBI, 15 AB)
Probable Starting Pitchers:
- BU SP 1 – RHP Mason Marriott (Jr.) - (0-3, 4.46 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, 34.1 IP, 7 GS)
- UIW SP 1 – LHP Josh Salinas (Sr.) - (3-0, 1.59 ERA, 0.76 WHIP, 34.0 IP, 6 GS)
- BU SP 2 – RHP Collin McKinney (RFr.) - (2-3, 5.46 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 29.2 IP, 7 GS)
- UIW SP 2 – RHP Isaiah Zavala (Sr.) - (2-2, 5.35 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 35.1 IP, 5 GS)
- BU SP 3 – LHP Mason Green (Fr.) - (1-2, 5.76 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 25.0 IP, 4 GS)
- UIW SP 3 – TBD
Incarnate Word Probable Starting Fielders:
*BAVG = Batting Average, OB% = On-Base Percentage, AB = At-Bats*
- C: JD Gregson (Jr.) - (.311 BAVG, .366 OB%, 24 R, 17 XBH, 25 RBI, 90 AB)
- 1B: Ryan Scott (Jr.) - (.402 BAVG, .533 OB%, 29 R, 8 XBH, 19 RBI, 82 AB)
- 2B: Tony DeJesus (So.) - (.300 BAVG, .338 OB%, 10 R, 2 XBH, 14 RBI, 60 AB)
- SS: Grant Randall (Sr.) - (.311 BAVG, .422 OB%, 19 R, 10 XBH, 24 RBI, 90 AB)
- 3B: Ryder Hernandez (Jr.) - (.240 BAVG, .314 OB%, 13 R, 10 XBH, 15 RBI, 75 AB)
- LF: Daniel Calabrese (Jr.) - (.353 BAVG, .410 OB%, 7 R, 4 XBH, 6 RBI, 34 AB)
- CF: Cam Caley (Sr.) - (.343 BAVG, .496 OB%, 32 R, 15 XBH, 27 RBI, 102 AB)
- RF: Rob Liddington (Jr.) - (.270 BAVG, .338 OB%, 17 R, 8 XBH, 14 RBI, 63 AB)
- DH: Dalton Beck (Jr.) - (.414 BAVG, .472 OB%, 31 R, 19 XBH, 29 RBI, 111 AB)
Baylor Athletics
RHP Collin McKinney (RFr.) struck out a career-high 10 batters in Saturday’s win over Cincinnati.
Top Quotes
Head coach Mitch Thompson on getting back to .500:
- “It’s a big deal for me. I want to keep working on getting there – that’s the whole deal. We want to have a winning season. We want to be playing our best baseball at the end of the year and to do that; you just have to keep going. When you start 1-and-7, you’re in a hole, and it takes time. When you’re playing good people, it takes time to get back there. These are big games this weekend as we keep making progress toward that.”
Second baseman Daniel Altman (Sr.) on making the most of his opportunity:
- “I don’t like the reason that I’m [playing] now. I hate that my teammates are going down, especially Scoob [Simmons], Jack [Little], Gavin [Brzozowski] – I wish that wasn’t the reason I’m playing now. But when they did go down, it was my job to step and play for them. … They have to sit there and watch. For me, it’s important because they don’t get to play, and I do, so I’m playing for them.”
Right-handed pitcher Collin McKinney (RFr.) on his mindset in his 10-strikeout performance against Cincinnati:
- “The biggest thing was [having] the mindset that “I’m better than you.” Just going out there and pitching with confidence and trusting everybody – the defense, Coach Lev[erton], Cort [Castle] behind the plate.”
What I’m Looking For This Weekend + Other Notes
- With UIW coming to Waco and a trip to BYU (11-14) on the horizon next weekend, the Bears have an opportunity to get close to or back to .500 for the first time in the Thompson Era.
- Prediction: At the very least, Baylor needs to win two of three this weekend. The Bears are more than capable of pulling off the sweep but can they play clean baseball for three consecutive games? That will be the question.
