Baylor Baseball Rounds Out Season with Final Series against UCF

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (21-29, 9-18) will round out its season against UCF (31-17, 12-14) this weekend at Baylor Ballpark. First pitch on Thursday is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday’s contest will also start at 6:30 p.m., and the series finale on Saturday is slated for 1 p.m. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+.

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Baylor baseball (21-29, 9-18) will miss the Big 12 Tournament for the second consecutive year and the second time in program history.

Baylor Bears

• 2024 Record: 21-29
• Big 12 Record: 9-18
• RPI: 129
• SOS: 44
• Notable Wins: BYU (3), No. 24 Texas Tech (2), Cincinnati (2), Texas
• Notable Losses: No. 18 Oklahoma (3), TCU (3), No. 21 West Virginia (3), Kansas (2), No. 23 Indiana (3), No. 20 Dallas Baptist, Nebraska, Oregon, No. 5 Tennessee

Head Coach: Mitch Thompson

• Career Record: 412-200 (11th season) 
• Record at Baylor: 40-62 (2nd season) 

2024 Projections

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

Team Stats

• ERA: 6.70 (13th in the Big 12)
• Batting Average: .275 (11th in the Big 12)
• Fielding Percentage: .969 (10th in the Big 12)

UCF Knights

• 2024 Record: 31-17
• Big 12: 12-14
• RPI: 41
• SOS: 29
• Notable Wins: Houston (2), Kansas State (2), Texas Tech (2), Kansas (2), Oklahoma State (2), Florida, Miami
• Notable Losses: Texas (2), Cincinnati (2), West Virginia (3), Oklahoma (3)

Head Coach: Rich Wallace

• Career Record: 31-17 (1st season) 
• Record at UCF: 31-17 (1st season) 

2024 Projections

• D1Baseball: 10th in the Big 12
• Coaches Poll: 10th in the Big 12

Team Stats

• ERA: 4.31 (2nd in the Big 12)
• Batting Average: .286 (5th in the Big 12)
• Fielding Percentage: .979 (1st in the Big 12)

Probable Starting Pitchers:

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

• BU SP 1 – RHP Mason Marriott (Jr.) - (3-6, 5.80 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, 63.2 IP, 13 GS)
• UCF SP 1 – RHP Ben Vespi (Sr.) - (3-3, 4.50 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 64.0 IP, 13 GS)
• BU SP 2 – LHP Ethan Calder (So.) - (4-3, 3.33 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 48.2 IP, 2 GS)
• UCF SP 2 – RHP Dom Stagliano (Jr.) - (3-3, 4.07 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 62.0 IP, 11 GS)
• BU SP 3 – RHP Collin McKinney (RFr.) - (3-5, 6.61 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, 49.0 IP, 13 GS)
• UCF SP 3 – TBD

Top Quotes

Head coach Mitch Thompson on missing the Big 12 Tournament for the second consecutive year:

• “It was crushing for all of us. That was the goal to start the year. I had hoped for better than that; I was really looking forward to seeing this team come together with what we had, but I don’t think we ever got the chance [to see that]. It was disappointing because we were fighting every game for it, and they wanted to get there and have a shot to do something. It was a pretty quiet bus ride back [from Norman]; you could tell the care factor was high.”

Head coach Mitch Thompson on the mindset going into this weekend’s series:

• “We have the option of either whimpering out of the season or coming in here and competing our tail off and playing through it and finishing strong. We have no gripe about not being in the tournament. We have to take ownership of the fact that we won nine games – we needed to win more. The only way we could possibly even have a gripe is if we play well and we win all three this weekend.”

First baseman Cole Posey (Sr.) on playing the final series of his collegiate career:

• “I’ve been playing baseball for 20 years, and my dad always says that the last connection to my childhood that he has with me is playing baseball. It’s bitter-sweet, definitely more bitter than sweet. But being here and doing at this place means everything to me, and I couldn’t be more grateful for that.”

What I’m Looking For This Weekend + Other Notes

• At this point, all Baylor is playing for is pride after they were officially eliminated from the Big 12 Tournament last Sunday. UCF, however, is a bubble team fighting for a spot in the NCAA Tournament with first-year head coach Rich Wallace. The Knights will come to Waco hungry and looking for a sweep. Whether Baylor mails it in or fights back will be one of the only story-lines to watch for this weekend.