Series Preview: Baylor Faces Loyola Marymount For Three-Game Set

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (9-3) prepares for a three-game series against the Loyola Marymount Lions (8-5) 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

2025 Record: 9-3

Head Coach: Mitch Thompson

• Career Record: 422-205 (12th season) 
• Record at Baylor: 50-67 (3rd season) 

2025 Projections

• D1Baseball: 12th in the Big 12
• Coaches Poll: 13th in the Big 12

Loyola Marymount Lions

2025 Record: 8-5

Head Coach: Donegal Fergus

• Career Record: 32-35 (2nd season) 
• Record at Loyola Marymount: 32-35 (2nd season) 

2025 Projections

• D1Baseball: 6th in the West Coast Conference
• Coaches Poll: 6th in the West Coast Conference

Projected Starting Lineup

• 1B: Jack Little (RSo.): (.306 BAVG, .433 OB%, 49 AB, 16 R, 5 XBH, 9 RBI)
• RF: Enzo Apodaca (RSr.): (.318 BAVG, .448 OB%, 44 AB, 14 R, 4 XBH, 13 RBI)
• LF: Wesley Jordan (Sr.): (.383 BAVG, .455 OB%, 47 AB, 7 R, 7 XBH, 14 RBI)
• DH: Hunter Simmons (RSr.): (.395 BAVG, .509 OB%, 43 AB, 7 R, 4 XBH, 9 RBI)
• 2B: Pearson Riebock (Fr.): (.333 BAVG, .407 OB%, 24 AB, 5 R, 4 XBH, 6 RBI)
• CF Ty Johnson (Sr.): (.302 BAVG, .423 OB%, 43 AB, 8 R, 3 XBH, 11 RBI)
• 3B: Hunter Teplanszky (Sr.): (.227 BAVG, .346 OB%, 22 AB, 2 R, XBH, 5 RBI)
• C: Cortlan Castle (Sr.): (.111 BAVG, .304 OB%, 18 AB, 2 R, RBI)
• SS: Tyriq Kemp (Sr.): (.405 BAVG, .521 OB%, 37 AB, 13 R, 7 XBH, 6 RBI)

Projected Bench

• C: Brayden Buchanan (So.): (N/A)
• C: JJ Kennett (So.): (.333 BAVG, .407 OB%, 24 AB, 5 R, XBH, 7 RBI)
• 1B: Gavin Brzozowski (RJr.): (.176 BAVG, .391 OB%, 17 AB, 6 R, RBI)
• INF: Travis Sanders (RSo.): (.167 BAVG, .267 OB%, 12 AB, 4 R, RBI)
• INF: Will Pendergrass (RSr.): (.083 BAVG, .077 OB%, 12 AB, RBI)
• OF: Caleb Bergman (Jr.): (N/A)

*2025 Stats: (BAVG = Batting Average, OB% = On-Base Percentage, AB = At-Bats, R = Runs, XBH = Extra Base Hits, RBI = Runs Batted In)*

Probable Starting Pitchers

• BU SP 1 – LHP: Ethan Calder (Jr.); (2-1, 2.60 ERA, 0.69 WHIP, 17.1 IP, 3 GS)
• LMU SP 1 – RHP: Kenji Pallares (Sr.); (2-1, 5.63 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 16 IP, 3 GS)
• BU SP 2 – LHP: Bryson Bales (6Sr.); (1-0, 3.46 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 13 IP, 2 GS)
• LMU SP 2 – RHP: Michael Nunez (Sr.); (0-2, 5.25 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 12 IP, 2 GS)
• BU SP 3 – LHP: Carson Bailey (Fr.); (1-0, 1.59 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, 11.1 IP, 3 GS)
• LMU SP 3 – TBD

*2025 Stats: (ERA = Earned Run Average, WHIP = Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched, GS = Games Started)*

Top Quotes

Head coach Mitch Thompson on the hot start to the season:

• “They’re gaining confidence. They are playing loose. They believe in each other and believe in themselves. The other day, we went down 2-0, and it was ‘No big deal. Here we go. Let’s start getting after it.’ It’s a different feeling in the dugout — no question. These guys believe in themselves. I looked at the scoreboard the other day and saw our lineup up there, [showing] .313, .312, .311, .305, .316, and I was going, ‘Holy cow. That’s pretty good.’ There’s a lot of guys off to good starts, and we just need to keep going.”

Head coach Mitch Thompson on beating Ohio State 8-6 last weekend after the Buckeyes tied the game in the eighth inning:

• “The thing this club has continued to do is respond. Generally, every time someone scores on us, we come back and score. That’s a great trait of a winning team. Hopefully, we can keep that up. When we score, we have to go back out there and shut them down.”

Head coach Mitch Thompson on what to expect from Loyola Marymount:

• “Loyola Marymount is a very good team. They are well-coached and will bring a West Coast flavor to it. They’ll be able to play the small ball game, run, bunt and do some of that stuff. Their Friday night guy has a big arm, 94-96 [mph], a right-hander that throws the heck out of it. We want to try to get those guys out of the game early, get to the bullpen and battle our tails off. If we play our game, we’ll be in good shape against anybody that we play. It’s not who we play; it’s how we play.”

Head coach Mitch Thompson on moving LHP Carson Bailey (Fr.) into the weekend rotation:

• “We want to see him get a chance to start on a weekend and see how that looks. That’s going to do two things. It’ll get him in on the weekend, and the other thing is that it will bolster our bullpen even more with a guy like [Cole] Stasio. … It’s a really talented kid with a good arm. It’s time to move him into that Sunday role and see how he can handle it.”

Head coach Mitch Thompson on having three lefties in the weekend rotation:

• “I think they all three are different. They pitch differently and will give different looks. I’m sure there are teams that will hit better off lefties than they do righties. Maybe we’ll make adjustments then, but right now, this weekend, this is how we’re going to go with it.”

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