Series Preview: Baylor Prepares for Bruce Bolt Classic, Opens against No. 25 Ole Miss

HOUSTON – Baylor baseball (5-3) will travel to Houston for the Bruce Bolt Classic, starting with a matchup against No. 25 Ole Miss (9-0) at 3:05 p.m., on Friday, Feb. 27, at Daikin Park.

The Bears will then go on to face No. 3 Texas (8-0) at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 28, and UTSA (7-1) at 6:05 p.m. on Sunday, March 1. All three games will be streamed for free on the Houston Astros’ YouTube.

Baylor Bears

2026 Record: 5-3

Head Coach: Mitch Thompson

• Career Record: 452-229 (13th season) 
• Record at Baylor: 80-91 (4th season) 

2026 Projections

• D1Baseball: 10th in Big 12
• Coaches Poll: 11th in Big 12

No. 25 Ole Miss Rebels

2026 Record: 9-0

Head Coach: Mike Bianco

• Career Record: 1,050-636 (29th season) 
• Record at Ole Miss: 950-565 (26th season) 

2026 Projections

• D1Baseball: 12th in SEC
• Coaches Poll: 10th in SEC

No. 3 Texas Longhorns

2026 Record: 8-0

Head Coach: Jim Schlossnagle

• Career Record: 995-464 (25th season) 
• Record at Texas: 52-14 (2nd season) 

2026 Projections

• D1Baseball: 2nd in SEC
• Coaches Poll: 2nd in SEC

UTSA Roadrunners

2026 Record: 7-1

Head Coach: Pat Hallmark

• Career Record: 260-160 (9th season) 
• Record at UTSA: 194-112 (7th season) 

2026 Projections

• D1Baseball: 2nd in American
• Coaches Poll: 2nd in American

Projected Starting Lineup

• SS: Travis Sanders (RJr.): (.448 BAVG, 1.234 OPS, 29 AB, 10 R, 5 XBH, 3 RBI)
• 2B: Pearson Riebock (So.): (.269 BAVG, .832 OPS, 26 AB, 10 R, XBH, RBI)
• 1B: Tyce Armstrong (RSr.): (.310 BAVG, 1.195 OPS, 31 AB, 6 R, 6 XBH, 19 RBI)
• RF: Brady Janusek (Fr.): (.310 BAVG, 1.060 OPS, 29 AB, 8 R, 3 XBH, 5 RBI)
• DH: John Youens (RSo.): (.188 BAVG, .896 OPS, 16 AB, 4 R, 2 XBH, 5 RBI)
• LF: Hunter Snow (RFr.): (.200 BAVG, .898 OPS, 20 AB, 3 R, 3 XBH, 5 RBI)
• C: JJ Kennett (Jr.): (.375 BAVG, 1.045 OPS, 8 AB, 4 R, XBH, RBI)
• CF: Ty Johnson (5Sr.): (.150 BAVG, .570 OPS, 20 AB, 3 R, XBH, RBI)
• 3B: Cade Dodson (So.): (.111 BAVG, .415 OPS, 18 AB, 4 R, 4 RBI)

Projected Bench

• C: Cash McDade (Fr.): (.167 BAVG, .542 OPS, 6 AB, 2 R)
• C: Brayden Buchanan (RSo.): (.278 BAVG, .742 OPS, 18 AB, RBI, XBH)
• INF: Brytton Clements (RFr.): (.250 BAVG, .775 OPS, 8 AB, R, RBI, XBH)
• OF: Caleb Bergman (Sr.): (.333 BAVG, 1.167 OPS, 3 AB, 2 R, XBH, 2 RBI)
• OF: Bo Caraway (Fr.): (.364 BAVG, .728 OPS, 11 AB, 2 R, 2 RBI)

*2026 Stats: (BAVG = Batting Average, OB% = On-Base Percentage, AB = At-Bats, GP = Games Played)*

Probable Starting Pitchers

• BU SP 1 – LHP: Stefan Stahl (Sr.); (0.00 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 6.1 IP, 2 APP)
• UM SP 1 – LHP: Hunter Elliott (RJr.); (4.66 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 9.2 IP, 2 APP)
• BU SP 2 – LHP: Ethan Calder (Sr.); (0.00 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 8.2 IP, 2 APP)
• UT SP 2 – LHP: Luke Harrison (RSr.); (1.86 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 9.2 IP, 2 APP)
• BU SP 3 – RHP: Cade Hansen (Sr.); (6.75 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 8 IP, 2 APP)
• UTSA SP 3 – TBD

*2026 Stats: (ERA = Earned Run Average, WHIP = Walks & Hits Per Inning Pitched, IP = Innings-Pitched, APP = Appearances)*

Top Quotes

Head coach Mitch Thompson on facing some extremely tough teams in the Bruce Bolt Classic:

• “Your scheduling to try and find out a lot about yourself. We’re gonna learn again. We’re playing really good people. Ole Miss, Texas and UTSA are a combined 23-1 right now as a group. It’ll be a challenge, but that’s great. Our guys are excited about it. I’m excited about it. Let’s go see what we can get done.”

Head coach Mitch Thompson on the team’s offensive struggles:

• “We’ve got to get the ball in play. There’s no doubt about it. We’ve got to continue to draw the free passes when they give us opportunities. We need to situationally hit. We need to get guys in scoring position and come through with the big hit. We need to come through with moving runners and handling the game. There’s a lot to like about what’s happened in the first eight games of the year. We’re playing young people. They’re getting experience. We’re playing really good defense. We’re pitching well. At times, our bats look pretty potent as well. We’re stealing bags, we’re athletic. We need to bring it all to the table this weekend.”

Redshirt sophomore catcher Brayden Buchanan on Baylor’s offensive mindset going into the Bruce Bolt Classic:

• “We want to be as competitive as possible. Not necessarily as outcome-focused, but really just focused on our process at the plate and being super, super competitive. We struck out a lot last weekend. That’s a big area to focus on, with trying to move the ball, especially with runners on base this weekend.”

Senior reliever Caleb Bunch on what the Bears learned from the Round Rock Classic and taking those lessons into this weekend in Houston:

• “We feel good. We played some really good teams last weekend and had some really good games as well. We’re going in hoping we can bring some [wins] out, and we’re ready to go. It showed us what kind of team we are, playing against three really good ballclubs, and being able to stay in those games after getting punched and punching right back shows the character of this team.”