Series Preview: Baylor Rounds Out Homestand against Oklahoma State

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (30-18, 10-14) rounds out its homestand with a three-game series against Oklahoma State (22-21, 10-11) for a three-game set 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 (30-18, 10-14)

Head Coach: Mitch Thompson

• Career Record: 442-218 (12th season) 
• Record at Baylor: 67-80 (3rd season) 

Notable Opponents:

• Wins: No. 23 Arizona (2), Arizona State, TCU, Kansas, Kansas State, Ohio State
• Losses: No. 8 Oregon State, No. 25 Auburn, Kansas (2), Kansas State (2), Texas Tech (2), TCU (2), Arizona State (2)

2025 Projections:

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

Team Stats:

• Earned Run Average: 4.54 (T4th in Big 12)
• Batting Average: .291 (5th in Big 12)
• Fielding Percentage: .969 (11th in Big 12)
• Strength of Schedule: No. 82 (D1Baseball), No. 70 (Warren Nolan)
• RPI: No. 62 (D1Baseball), No. 61 (Warren Nolan)

Oklahoma State Cowboys (22-21, 10-11)

Head Coach: Josh Holliday

• Career Record: 461-248 (13th season) 
• Record at Oklahoma State: 461-248 (13th season) 

Notable Opponents:

• Wins: UCF (3), Kansas State (3), Texas A&M
• Losses: Cincinnati (2), Arizona (2), Kansas (3), Utah (2), Texas, Clemson, Tennessee

2025 Projections:

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

Team Stats:

• Earned Run Average: 4.54 (T4th in Big 12)
• Batting Average: .258 (14th in Big 12)
• Fielding Percentage: .971 (9th in Big 12)
• Strength of Schedule: No. 13 (D1Baseball), No. 15 (Warren Nolan)
• RPI: No. 58 (D1Baseball), No. 56 (Warren Nolan)

Baylor Projected Starting Lineup

• RF: Enzo Apodaca (RSr.): (.294 BAVG, .392 OB%, 197 AB, 53 R, 21 XBH, 33 RBI)
• 2B: Travis Sanders (RSo.): (.353 BAVG, .447 OB%, 136 AB, 39 R, 15 XBH, 21 RBI)
• SS: Tyriq Kemp (Sr.): (.354 BAVG, .445 OB%, 175 AB, 43 R, 20 XBH, 37 RBI)
• LF: Wesley Jordan (Sr.): (.294 BAVG, .376 OB%, 170 AB, 32 R, 24 XBH, 37 RBI)
• 3B: Pearson Riebock (Fr.): (.325 BAVG, .425 OB%, 157 AB, 27 R, 14 XBH, 28 RBI)
• DH: Hunter Simmons (RSr.): (.328 BAVG, .422 OB%, 180 AB, 28 R, 18 XBH, 35 RBI)
• 1B: John Youens (RFr.): (.214 BAVG, .389 OB%, 14 AB, 3 R, XBH, 3 RBI)
• CF Ty Johnson (Sr.): (.248 BAVG, .395 OB%, 153 AB, 28 R, 8 XBH, 31 RBI)
• C: Cortlan Castle (Sr.): (.282 BAVG, .392 OB%, 85 AB, 12 R, 5 XBH, 16 RBI)

Baylor Projected Bench

• C: JJ Kennett (So.): (.236 BAVG, .371 OB%, 72 AB, 13 R, 3 XBH, 20 RBI)
• OF: Gavin Brzozowski (RSo.): (.271 BAVG, .389 OB%, 59 AB, 16 R, 4 XBH, 12 RBI)
• 1B: Jack Little (RSo.): (.227 BAVG, .335 OB%, 150 AB, 33 R, 14 XBH, 29 RBI)
• 1B: Will Pendergrass (RSr.): (.175 BAVG, .227 OB%, 40 AB, 8 R, 2 XBH, 6 RBI)

*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: Mason Green (So.); (0-1, 5.59 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 9.2 IP, 5 GS)
• OSU SP 1 – LHP: Harrison Bodendorf (Jr.); (8-1, 2.63 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 68.1 IP, 12 GS)
• BU SP 2 – LHP: Ethan Calder (Jr.); (3-5, 5.71 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 58.1 IP, 12 GS)
• OSU SP 2 – RHP: Mario Pesca (Jr.); (4-2, 3.88 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 46.1 IP, 5 GS)
• BU SP 3 – TBD
• OSU SP 3 – RHP: Sean Youngerman (Jr.); (3-1, 1.99 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, 40.2 IP, 4 GS)

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

Oklahoma State Projected Starting Lineup

• LF: Alex Conover (So.): (.291 BAVG, .389 OB%, 79 AB, 20 R, 10 XBH, 18 RBI)
• 2B: Brayden Smith (Jr.): (.299 BAVG, .385 OB%, 167 AB, 32 R, 20 XBH, 26 RBI)
• RF: Nolan Schubart (Jr.): (.289 BAVG, .441 OB%, 152 AB, 42 R, 19 XBH, 44 RBI)
• CF: Kollin Ritchie (So.): (.242 BAVG, .352 OB%, 99 AB, 17 R, 9 XBH, 22 RBI)
• 1B: Colin Brueggemann (Sr.): (.319 BAVG, .401 OB%, 163 AB, 33 R, 22 XBH, 48 RBI)
• DH: Jayson Jones (Jr.): (.253 BAVG, .341 OB%, 158 AB, 34 R, 15 XBH, 27 RBI)
• C: Ian Daugherty (Sr.): (.245 BAVG, .364 OB%, 110 AB, 25 R, 14 XBH, 18 RBI)
• 3B: Brock Thompson (Fr.): (.237 BAVG, .368 OB%, 118 AB, 30 R, 14 XBH, 22 RBI)
• SS: Drew Culbertson (So.): (.159 BAVG, .291 OB%, 88 AB, 16 R, XBH, 13 RBI)

Top Quotes

Head coach Mitch Thompson on what he wants to see from his ballclub over the last couple of weeks:

• “We’ve got to come out and win some games. We have to continue to try to play well. I’m still fighting with the thing that I don’t feel like we’ve meshed it all together at one time consistently. It’d be nice to go two to three weeks and pitch well, play well on defense and swing the bats well. We need to get some of the guys that have struggled going and make our lineup as deep as it can be again.”

Head coach Mitch Thompson on dealing with inconsistencies on his team:

• “I think we’re better offensively than we’ve shown at times. I think we’ve been better on the mound than we’ve shown at times. I just want to put it all together. It’s pretty fun when it all clicks together. It just hasn’t clicked altogether yet for a very long period of time. It’d be pretty nice to do it here for the last two or three weeks of the season.” 

More Reading

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