FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball head coach Steve Smith announced his program’s 2011 schedule Friday. The 54-game slate features 31 games at Baylor Ballpark, including a 14-game homestand, and includes 20 games against nine teams that participated in the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
The 2011 season opens Feb. 18-20 when the Bears host Oral Roberts for a three-game set. Baylor hosted ORU for four games last season, dropping the opener before taking the final three games to start a seven-game winning streak.
Baylor then hosts TCU for a midweek game (Feb. 22) before hitting the road for each of the next two weekends. The Bears travel to Athens, Ga. for three games against Georgia (Feb. 25-27), then head to Minute Maid Park for the Houston College Classic. Baylor is schedule to play Houston (March 4), Utah (March 5) and Rice (March 6) in the 11th annual event.
After a midweek game at Texas State (March 8), the Bears return home to start a season-long 14-game homestand, beginning with four games against Louisiana Tech (March 10-13). Baylor welcomes Florida International (March 15) for a midweek game before opening Big 12 play at home against Texas Tech (March 18-20). FIU’s Garrett Wittels enters the 2011 season riding a 56-game hitting streak, two shy of the NCAA Division I record held by Robin Ventura.
Baylor hosts a three-game conference series against Kansas State (March 25-27) in between midweek games against UTA (March 22) and UTSA (March 29). The Bears close out the homestand with a midweek game against Lamar (April 30), a team eliminated by the Bears in the NCAA Fort Worth Regional last season.
A three-game series at Kansas (April 1-3) starts a stretch of eight of 11 games on the road. The Bears host the first two games in their annual split series with Texas (April 8-9) before traveling to Austin for the finale (April 10). The following weekend features the “Battle of the Brazos,” with Baylor hosting the opener against Texas A&M (April 15) before heading down Highway 6 to play the final two games in College Station (April 16-17).
The Bears host Missouri (April 21-23) before playing eight of their next nine games on the road, including three-game sets at Nebraska (April 29-May 1) and Oklahoma State (May 13-15) and a midweek road trip to TCU (May 10). Baylor closes out the regular season with a three-game set against Oklahoma (May 19-21) at Baylor Ballpark.
Baylor returns seven starting position players and nine letter-winning pitchers from a 2010 team that went 36-24 and made the program’s 11th regional appearance in the past 13 years. Logan Verrett, Landis Ware and Brooks Pinckard have been selected as team captains.
To view complete schedule, click here.
