{"id":237732,"date":"2026-04-06T21:45:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T21:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/237732\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T21:45:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T21:45:11","slug":"bsb-starts-road-swing-at-ut-arlington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/237732\/","title":{"rendered":"BSB Starts Road Swing at UT Arlington"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\t\t\t\"BU
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\n\t\t\tBAYLOR BEARS (18-13, 7-5 Big 12)

\n\t\t\tLocation:\u00a0Waco, Texas\u00a0

\n\t\t\tConference\/Affiliation:\u00a0Big 12

\n\t\t\tHead Coach: Mitch Thompson<\/a>\u00a0(Fort Hays St., 1988)<\/p>\n

Roster<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Stats<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Game Notes\u00a0(PDF)<\/a><\/p>\n


\n\t\t\tBAYLOR\u00a0(18-13, 7-5) at\u00a0UT ARLINGTON\u00a0(13-17, 2-1)

\n\t\t\tApril 7,\u00a02026 \u2022 6:00 p.m. CT

\n\t\t\tArlington, Texas \u2022 Clay Gould Ballpark (1,600)<\/p>\n

LIVE STATS: BaylorBears.com\/Stats<\/a>

\n\t\t\tWATCH: ESPN+

\n\t\t\tLISTEN: ESPN Central Texas 1660 AM\/92.3 FM

\n\t\t\tTalent:\u00a0Derek Smith, Tom Barfield<\/p>\n

Baylor Social Media:\u00a0\"auto<\/a>\u00a0\"instagram<\/a>\u00a0\"Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n


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\n\t\t\t\"UTA\"
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\n\t\t\tUT ARLINGTON MAVERICKS (13-17, 2-1 WAC)

\n\t\t\tLocation:\u00a0Arlington, Texas

\n\t\t\tConference\/Affiliation:\u00a0WAC

\n\t\t\tHead Coach: Mike Trapasso (Oklahoma State, 1987)<\/p>\n

Roster<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Stats<\/a>\u00a0

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STORYLINES<\/p>\n

LEADING OFF<\/p>\n

\u2022 Baylor Baseball hits the road for a full week of away games, starting Tuesday at UT Arlington before its first flight trip of the season to Cincinnati for a three-game set against the Bearcats.<\/p>\n

\u2022 BU has won six of its last eight ballgames, including five of its last six Big 12 contests after a weekend sweep at Houston and taking two of three over BYU this past weekend in Waco.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Baylor is 7-1 in series openers so far in 2026 and has won each of its last six series-opening contests.<\/p>\n

\u2022 This is the first time since 2021 that BU has won four-straight series openers in Big 12 play.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The Bears are 6-0 this year in games when redshirt junior RHP Lucas Davenport<\/a> starts.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Baylor has turned 27 double plays in 31 games, which ranks third in the Big 12 and 25th nationally.<\/p>\n

\u2022 BU opened the year on a 10-game winning streak at home, its longest home winning streak to start a season since 2021.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The home winning streak extended to 11 games when counting the 2025 home finale, making it Baylor’s longest home winning streak since 2012, when the Bears won 22 in a row in Waco.<\/p>\n

MATCHING UP AGAINST THE MAVERICKS<\/p>\n

\u2022 Baylor is 93-35 all-time against UT Arlington and 4-0 against the Mavericks under fourth-year head coach Mitch Thompson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2022 BU has won each of its last six matchups against UTA, dating back to April 6, 2021, when current BU Director of Operations Darin Thomas<\/a> was the head coach of the Mavs.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The Bears are 7-4 this season against fellow teams from the state of Texas.<\/p>\n

\u2022 BU is 4-3 in midweek contests this year, 31-14 in such games during the Thompson Era, and has won 20 of its last 24 such games.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Former Mavericks Tyce Armstrong<\/a> and Cade Dodson<\/a> will return to their old stomping grounds to face their old team, while former BU assistant coach Mike Taylor, former catcher Zach Mazoch and former RHP Danny Valadez will oppose the Bears.<\/p>\n

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS<\/p>\n

\u2022 Tues. April 7 \u2022 6:00 p.m. CT \u2022 RHP Cayden Baker<\/a> (2-2, 8.80 ERA) vs. RHP Dylan Skolfield (0-4, 10.47 ERA)<\/p>\n

STACKING W’S<\/p>\n

\u2022 Baylor won its second-straight Big 12 series after taking two of three from BYU last weekend, including the series opener on Thursday and rubber match in Saturday’s series finale.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The Bears have now won back-to-back Big 12 series for the first time since 2024 (vs. Cincinnati, at BYU).<\/p>\n

\u2022 Saturday’s win marked BU’s first in a rubber match so far this season and its sixth in a Big 12 series under Thompson.<\/p>\n

\u2022 BU has won the series opener in four-straight Big 12 series, its longest such streak since 2021.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Baylor’s series sweep at Houston was the first road sweep by any team in Big 12 play so far this season.<\/p>\n

SWIPING RIGHT (ON THE BASES)<\/p>\n

\u2022 Through 31 games, the Bears have stolen 55 bases, the most by a BU team at this point in a season since 2011 (59).<\/p>\n

\u2022 Baylor has stolen five or more bases four times in 2026, and have stolen multiple bases in 14 games this year.<\/p>\n

\u2022 In Sunday’s series finale at Houston, BU stole eight bases, their most in a single game since May 16, 2006, vs. Dallas Baptist. Eight stolen bases is just one shy of the program’s all-time single-game record.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SOLID STARTERS<\/p>\n

\u2022 Senior LHP Ethan Calder<\/a> and redshirt junior RHP Lucas Davenport<\/a> have been sensational lately, as the duo led the Bears’ rotation to a combined 17.1 innings of work at Houston, a season high.<\/p>\n

\u2022 It was the first time since March 3-5, 2023, against Youngstown State that BU had three starters each go 5+ IP.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Calder followed up his seven-inning performance with a season-high nine strikeouts and six solid frames against BYU, allowing just one run on six hits without allowing a walk.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Calder surpassed the 200-career innings mark, becoming the first Bear since Tyler Thomas (2018-2022) to do so.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Davenport fanned a career-high 12 batters in the series-opening win against the Cougars on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

STREAKING SANDERS<\/p>\n

\u2022 Redshirt junior shortstop Travis Sanders<\/a> carries a 34-game on-base streak into Tuesday night’s game at UT Arlington, dating back to the 2025 season.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sanders’ streak is the 8th-longest on-base streak on Baylor’s modern era (since 2003) leaderboard.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sanders became the first Bear in three seasons to be walked four times in a single game when he did so on Sunday vs. BYU.

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FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH<\/p>\n

\u2022 Through 31 games, 45% of Baylor’s total plate appearances have been taken by players with less than 55 career PA’s entering the 2026 season. True or redshirt freshmen account for 33% of the team’s total plate appearances.<\/p>\n

\u2022 That group also accounts for 45% of the team’s hits, including 34% from true or redshirt freshmen.<\/p>\n

\u2022 50% of Baylor’s hits have come from players who have previously redshirted in their careers.<\/p>\n

\u2022 43% of Baylor’s IP this season have been thrown by players who have thrown less than five career innings at the Div. I level.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Baylor has nine true freshmen on its 2026 roster and an additional four redshirt freshmen.<\/p>\n

\u2022 This year, 19 Bears have made their Baylor debuts (9 hitters, 10 pitchers), including 10 true or redshirt freshmen.<\/p>\n

A LOOK AT THE SCHEDULE METRICS<\/p>\n

\u2022 Through 31 games, Baylor own’s the nations No. 14 Strength of Schedule (WarrenNolan.com)<\/p>\n

\u2022 BU has faced seven ranked opponents for a total of nine games, and five of the top-19 RPI teams at this point in the year (No. 3 Texas, No. 6 Oregon State, No. 10 Ole Miss, No. 16 Southern Miss, and No. 19 West Virginia).<\/p>\n

\u2022 Baylor currently sits at No. 43 in the RPI entering the Tuesday night contest at UT Arlington.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Baylor will play a combined 22 games against 11 NCAA Tournament teams in 2026, including three conference champions from a year ago.<\/p>\n

\u2022 14 30-game winners headline the 2026 campaign, including six teams that won 40 or more games last season.<\/p>\n

\u2022 52% of this year’s schedule features opponents that finished 2025 with a top-75 RPI.<\/p>\n

THE TYCE IS RIGHT<\/p>\n

\u2022 Redshirt senior 1B Tyce Armstrong<\/a> ranks tied for fifth in the Big 12 with 12 home runs and 11th in the league with 38 RBIs.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Armstrong’s 12 home runs mark the 11th time since 2012 that a Bear has hit double-digit homers in a single season.<\/p>\n

\u2022 This is the second time under fourth-year head coach Mitch Thompson<\/a> that a Bear has hit 10+ home runs, as Wesley Jordan<\/a> hit 10 in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Baylor’s school record for home runs in a season is 21, set by Charley Carter in 1998.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Armstrong sits four blasts shy of cracking the top-10 on BU’s single-season leaderboard.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Baylor has not had two players hit 10+ home runs in the same season since 2021, when Andy Thomas (11) and Jared McKenzie (10) each did so.<\/p>\n

To stay up to date on all things Baylor baseball, follow the team on its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorBaseball.

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-BaylorBears.com-

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