Baylor Baseball Faces Rival-TCU for Critical Conference Series

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (20-23, 9-12) will take on the rival TCU Horned Frogs (26-16, 10-14) for a critical conference series this weekend at Baylor Ballpark. 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

• 2024 Record: 20-23
• Big 12 Record: 9-12
• RPI: 117
• SOS: 58
• Notable Wins: BYU (3), No. 24 Texas Tech (2), Cincinnati (2), Texas
• Notable Losses: No. 21 West Virginia (3), Kansas (2), No. 23 Indiana (3), No. 20 Dallas Baptist, Nebraska, Oregon, No. 5 Tennessee

Baylor Athletics

Caption

Head Coach: Mitch Thompson

• Career Record: 411-194 (11th season) 
• Record at Baylor: 39-56 (2nd season) 

2024 Projections

• D1Baseball: 12th in the Big 12
• Coaches Poll: 11th in the Big 12

Team Stats

• ERA: 6.12 (12th in the Big 12)
• Batting Average: .278 (9th in the Big 12)
• Fielding Percentage: .967 (12th in the Big 12)

TCU Horned Frogs

• 2024 Record: 26-16
• Big 12: 10-14
• RPI: 36
• SOS: 35
• Notable Wins: Kansas State (2), Texas Tech (2), No. 20 UCLA (3), USC (2), No. 19 DBU
• Notable Losses: Texas (2), Cincinnati (3), Oklahoma State (2), Oklahoma (3), Kansas (2)

Baylor Athletics

Former Baylor 2B Tre Richardson helped lead the Horned Frogs to Omaha last season. So far this spring, the Horned Frogs have disappointed and are 10-14 in conference play.

Head Coach: Kirk Saarloos

• Career Record: 108-62 (3rd season) 
• Record at TCU: 108-62 (3rd season) 

2024 Projections

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

Team Stats

• ERA: 4.61 (4th in the Big 12)
• Batting Average: .267 (12th in the Big 12)
• Fielding Percentage: .977 (2nd in the Big 12)

Baylor Probable Starting Fielders:

*BAVG = Batting Average, OB% = On-Base Percentage, AB = At-Bats*

• C: Cortlan Castle (Jr.) - (.277 BAVG, .336 OB%, 19 R, 4 XBH, 14 RBI, 101 AB)
  

  Baylor Athletics

  1B Cole Posey (Sr.) is 7-for-7 at the plate in his last two games with three runs; he was a double shy of the cycle in Tuesday’s win over UTA.
• 1B: Cole Posey (Sr.) - (.348 BAVG, .444 OB%, 18 R, 9 XBH, 16 RBI, 69 AB)
• 2B: Daniel Altman (Sr.) - (.269 BAVG, .374 OB%, 25 R, 8 XBH, 27 RBI, 130 AB)
• SS: Tyriq Kemp (Jr.) - (.236 BAVG, .362 OB%, 21 R, 8 XBH, 13 RBI, 123 AB)
• 3B: Hunter Teplanszky (Jr.) - (.288 BAVG, .383 OB%, 22 R, 11 XBH, 29 RBI, 160 AB)
• LF: Wesley Jordan (Jr.) - (.336 BAVG, .461 OB%, 32 R, 19 XBH, 29 RBI, 122 AB)
• CF: Ty Johnson (Jr.) - (.308 BAVG, .385 OB%, 8 XBH, 14 RBI, 159 AB)
• RF: Enzo Apodaca (RJr.) - (.339 BAVG, .423 OB%, 37 R, 16 XBH, 35 RBI, 168 AB)
• DH: Zach Mazoch (So.) - (.283 BAVG, .389 OB%, 8 R, XBH, 14 RBI, 60 AB)

Projected Bench

• C/1B: Brayden Buchanan (Fr.) - (.154 BAVG, .286 OB%, 4 R, 2 XBH, 39 AB)
• 1B/2B: Mason Greer (Sr.) - (.182 BAVG, .255 OB%, 9 6 R, 6 XBH, 13 RBI, 99 AB)
• OF Kade Fletcher (RJr.) - (.229 BAVG, .356 OB%, 8 R, 4 XBH, 5 RBI, 48 AB)
• OF Caleb Bergman (So.) - (.241 BAVG, .343 OB%, 5 R, XBH, 2 RBI, 29 AB)

Probable Starting Pitchers:

Jack Mackenzie - SicEm365

RHP Mason Marriott (Jr.) is coming off his worst outing of the year, in which he surrendered eight runs and didn’t make it out of the second inning.

*ERA = Earned Run Average, WHIP = Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched, GS = Games Started*

• BU SP 1 – RHP Mason Marriott (Jr.) - (3-4, 5.44 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, 51.1 IP, 11 GS)
• TCU SP 1 – LHP Payton Tolle (Jr.) - (5-3, 3.16 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 62.2 IP, 11 GS)
• BU SP 2 – RHP Collin McKinney (RFr.) - (3-5, 5.98 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 43.2 IP, 11 GS)
• TCU SP 2 –TBD
• BU SP 3 – TBD
• TCU SP 3 – TBD

TCU Probable Starting Fielders:

*BAVG = Batting Average, OB% = On-Base Percentage, AB = At-Bats*

• C: Kurtis Byrne (RSr.) - (.255 BAVG, .344 OB%, 25 R, 15 XBH, 33 RBI, 157 AB)
• 1B: Karson Bowen (So.) - (.228 BAVG, .308 OB%, 24 R, 10 XBH, 28 RBI, 145 AB)
• 2B: Ryder Robinson (Fr.) - (.246 BAVG, .354 OB%, 23 R, 9 XBH, 18 RBI, 122 AB)
• SS: Anthony Silva (So.) - (.248 BAVG, .353 OB%, 24 R, 10 XBH, 24 RBI, 145 AB)
• 3B: Peyton Chatagnier (Sr.) - (.226 BAVG, .371 OB%, 30 R, 13 XBH, 15 RBI, 133 AB)
• LF: Sam Myers (Fr.) - (.328 BAVG, .386 OB%, 20 R, 11 XBH, 17 RBI, 119 AB)
• CF: Chase Brunson (Fr.) - (.313 BAVG, .413 OB%, 33 R, 11 XBH, 20 RBI, 128 AB)
• RF: Luke Boyers (Sr.) - (.290 BAVG, .367 OB%, 13 R, 9 XBH, 18 RBI, 124 AB)
• DH: Logan Maxwell (Jr.) - (.339 BAVG, .462 OB%, 21 R, 13 XBH, 17 RBI, 127 AB)

Top Quotes

Head coach Mitch Thompson on what he sees from TCU:

• “Their lefty is probably as good as anybody in the conference. They have a good club. Even though they’ve struggled in conference at times, they have a good club. This is a team that, right now, is scheduled to be an NCAA Regional team, so you know the talent is there. We just have to come out and play our game and score one more than them.”

First baseman Cole Posey (Sr.) on the team remaining confident despite the losing streak in Big 12 play:

• “If we can pitch it how we can, play good defense and get the bats going again – I like our chances. That stretch we had in the middle of conference [play] is closer to the team that we are. We’ve had some lulls and ups and downs, but if we can tap back into that, I like our chances and our possibilities.”

Left-handed pitcher Ethan Calder (So.) on the team’s recent struggles with free passes:

• “We’re focusing too much on the free passes. We’re like, ‘Oh, it’s a 3-2 count, I can’t walk him.’ We have to flip our mindset to attacking hitters and being confident in our stuff.”

What I’m Looking For This Weekend + Other Notes

Baylor Athletics

LF/DH Wesley Jordan (Jr.) suffered a concussion last weekend against West Virginia and is questionable for the TCU series.

• Left fielder Wesley Jordan (Jr.) extended his on-base streak to 30 games after going 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs against Sam Houston on Tuesday, April 23. Jordan became the first player since Davis Wendzel (37) in 2018 to reach safely in 30 consecutive games. In Friday’s opener against West Virginia, however, Jordan was hit by a pitch and removed from the game, presumably for a concussion; he did not return at any point during the series. The star slugger is “day-to-day” for this weekend, and his absence would be a massive blow to Baylor’s already depleted lineup.
• Houston (6-15) and BYU (6-18) continue to separate themselves toward the bottom of the conference, and neither will likely earn a bid to Arlington. The final couple of spots, however, appear to be a three-team race between Baylor (9-12), TCU (10-14), and UCF (9-12), making this upcoming weekend’s series between the Bears and Horned Frogs massive for both teams.
• TCU entered the season as the favorite to win the conference and was ranked as high as No. 3 in national polls. The Horned Frogs are way more talented than their record indicates, and for whatever reason, they just haven’t put it together this season in Big 12 play. Usually, TCU has a knack for getting hot late in the spring, and it would be a massive misstep to sleep on this team going into this weekend’s series.
  

  Baylor Athletics

  This weekend’s series is crucial for Big 12 standings – the winner will have a much easier path to the conference tournament.
• Prediction: In order for Baylor to get a series win this weekend, it will need to start on the mound. In the current five-game conference losing streak, the pitching staff has surrendered 45 earned runs and 36 walks in 41 innings – that absolutely cannot happen this weekend if the Bears want any chance at winning. If the pitching staff prevents free passes, Baylor has a big opportunity to take two of three and set itself in a good position to make the conference tournament. If not, the Bears could be looking at missing out on Arlington in back-to-back years for the first time in program history. 

Other Reading

• Posey Pushes Baylor Baseball Past UTA in Midweek Matchup, 5-3

• Meltdown in Morgantown: Where Does Baylor Baseball Go From Here?

• Danny Altman Making the Most of His Opportunity for Baylor Baseball

• SicEm365 Baseball Podcast: Baylor versus WVU Recap, Preview For TCU