BAYLOR @ DALLAS BAPTIST                                                                                            
April 11 | Dallas, Texas | Horner Ballpark    April 12 | Waco, Texas | Baylor Ballpark
 
MULTIMEDIA COVERAGE
DBU Audio: Patriot Broadcasting Network
DBU Livestats: DBU Livestats
Baylor Livestats: Baylor Livestats
Facebook: DBU Athletics
 
SERIES INFORMATION
Dates: April 11, 2014 (Horner Ballpark)                                       April 12, 2014 (Baylor Ballpark)
Time: 6:30 PM (Fri.)                                                                         3 PM (Sat. Game 1), *Game 2 Will Follow 30-45 Minutes After Game 1
Stadium: Horner Ballpark (2,000)                                                 Baylor Ballpark (5,000)
Broadcast: Patriot Broadcasting Network
Talent: Reagan Ratcliff & Brendan Smith
 
PROBABLE STARTERS
 
Friday, April 11
BU – LHP Brad Kuntz (4-0, 2.64 ERA, 47.2 IP, 22 BB, 37 K)
vs.
DBU – RHP Paul Voelker (5-2, 2.92 ERA, 49.1 IP, 18 BB, 51 K)

Saturday, April 12 (Game 1)
DBU – RHP Cy Sneed (5-1, 2.01 ERA, 53.2 IP, 16 BB, 40 K) 
vs.
BU – RHP Austin Stone (3-3, 2.22 ERA, 48.2 IP, 17 BB, 27 K)
 
Saturday, April 12 (Game 2)
DBU – RHP Cory Taylor (2-1, 3.15 ERA, 45.2 IP, 21 BB, 52 K)  
vs.
BU – RHP Dillon Newman (3-2, 2.68 ERA, 40.1 IP, 12 BB, 35 K)
 
BACK ON THE DIAMOND – The Dallas Baptist Baseball Team looks to get back on track this weekend as the club faces Baylor University for a split weekend series. DBU (23-9) will host the Bears on Friday at 6:30 PM, before traveling to Waco, Texas, on Saturday for a double-header.
 
Originally set for Saturday and Sunday, the Patriots will play a twin-bill on Saturday with game one's first pitch scheduled at 3 PM.  In double-headers this year, DBU is a perfect 6-0.
 
Dallas Baptist has dropped two in a row after rattling off a season-high eight-game win streak, prior to the recent skid.  Six of those eight victories came on the road, raising DBU's record to 11-5 away from Horner Ballpark.  The Patriots have been tough on their home field as well, posting a 12-4 mark at the friendly confines.
 
Having faced TCU on Tuesday night, the Patriots are in the midst of a five-game stretch versus opponents from the Big 12 Conference.  DBU is 0-3 this year versus Big 12 teams, falling in both match-ups with TCU and on the road at No. 9 Texas.
 
RECENT ACTION – Completing a home-and-home season series versus TCU on Tuesday, the Patriots fell 7-1 at Horner Ballpark. After coming up short in a marathon, 15-inning affair last month, DBU was swept 0-2 in the series this season.
 
Getting the start for the Patriots was sophomore, Drew Smith. In five innings of work, Smith allowed three runs (two earned) off of five hits, while walking two and fanning a career-high seven.  The Crowley, Texas, native fell behind early in the first inning, giving up a bunt single to TCU's Boomer White, that scored the game's first run.  Another pair of runs in the third lifted the Horned Frogs to a 3-0 edge.
 
The Patriots cut into the deficit with their lone run of the evening in the bottom of the frame. Redshirt sophomore, Trevin Sonnier, reached on a fielder's choice, which scored junior, Nash Knight, on the play.  TCU would go on to score two in the seventh and two more in the ninth, to cruise to a 7-1 win.
 
PLAYERS TO WATCH – Freshman, David Martinelli, continues to own the highest batting average on the squad at .304.  The native of Waxahachie, Texas, is the lone Patriot boasting a plus .300 average, and has had a few personal milestones in his rookie campaign already. He notched a team-best, 5-for-5 day in a victory over Bradley two weekends ago.  That was during the midst of a career-long, five-game hitting streak.  The past two hitless contests are the first time Martinelli has gone back-to-back starts without registering a base hit.
 
Matching a team-high, six-game hitting streak, senior, Mike Wesolowski, remains a force near the top of DBU's order with a .299 average. He had one of the club's four hits on Tuesday against TCU to keep the streak alive.  Despite the base hit, Wesolowksi's average dipped below .300 for the first time this season.  The Mesa, Arizona, native also has tallied a hit in 11 of the team's last 13 contests. He's the team-leader with 38 base knocks, and tied for fourth among a trio of players with 19 RBI.  Joining him in that category are teammates, KJ Alexander, and Martinelli.
 
Sophomore, Daniel Salters, is the team leader in slugging percentage at .508 and leads the club with 24 RBI.  He's hitting .267 and is second on the squad with 32 hits.  He also ranks tops on the team with 12 doubles and is tied for third with three home runs.
 
Austin Listi holds the club-lead with five homers, and is second behind Salters with 23 RBI.  Listi's last home run came on March 15 at Missouri State. 

Redshirt sophomore, Justin Wall, has been a force in the middle of the order driving in 22 runs.  His six-game hitting streak was snapped last weekend, but he has reached safely in eight-straight and has a hit in eight of the last 10 games.

DBU shortstop, Trevin Sonnier, has raised his average to .238 and the sophomore leads the club in stolen bases with 11 in 14 attempts.  Sonnier saw his six-game hit streak come to an end on Tuesday in an 0-for-2 day, but reached base safely for the 18th consecutive game.
                               
ON THE BUMP – Through 291.2 innings, DBU hurlers have allowed 126 runs, 96 earned, to compile a 2.96 ERA for tops in the Missouri Valley Conference. In addition, the Patriots lead the league with 289 punch outs.
 
Junior, Paul Voelker, will toe the rubber for his ninth opening series start on Friday.  Voelker's tied for first on the team with five wins, and second with 49.1 innings pitched and 51 strikeouts.  In his last start against Illinois State, the right-hander tossed 6.2 innings, while allowing a run on four hits.  He also walked two and struck out five.
 
Anchoring the starting rotation has been junior, Cy Sneed.  The native of Twin Falls, Idaho, owns the second-lowest ERA on the staff, and lowest among the weekend rotation, with a 2.01 clip.  He's gone at least six innings in seven of his eight starts and has pitched into the seventh inning in four of his last five outings. Sneed has also benefited from great run support this year, as the Patriots average 8.5 runs in games that he starts.
 
Wrapping up the weekend series will be sophomore, Cory Taylor.  Beginning the season as a mid-week starter and reliever, the native of Owasso, Oklahoma, is slated to make his fifth-straight start in the weekend rotation.  Taylor is first on the staff with 52 punch outs, a total that ranks fourth most in the Missouri Valley Conference.  The righty has gone seven innings in three of his last four starts, including his last outing at Illinois State on Sunday.  In a tough-luck loss versus the Redbirds, Taylor allowed three runs on seven hits, as DBU fell 3-1.
 
SCOUTING THE BEARS – Baylor (15-17) enters on a four-game losing streak, including a sweep last weekend to rival, Texas.  The Bears are 11-10 in non-conference contests and have gone 1-11 on the road. Baylor has been a much better club back at home, going 14-3 at Baylor Ballpark.
                                                
The Bears lost on Tuesday night at Sam Houston State, 4-3.  Carrying a 4-2 lead in the bottom 7th, Baylor gave up two runs in the home-half of the seventh.  With the loss, the Bears have now dropped eight of their last 10.  Prior to their most recent 2-8 slide, Baylor had won 8 of their previous 11 games.
 
Baylor is hitting .222 as a team and is averaging 4 runs per game.  Leading the way offensiveliy is Adam Toth, who carries a team-high .276 batting average.  Toth also leads the team in steals with 7.  Grayson Porter and Darryn Sheppard are tied for the team lead in homeruns with 2 each.
 
The pitching staff has posted a team ERA of 3.63, with staff ace Brad Kuntz going a perfect 4-0 alongside a 2.64 ERA.  Saturday's game one starter, Austin Stone, posts the weekend rotation's lowest ERA at 2.22 in 48.2 innings.  Sunday starter, Dillon Newman, began the 2014 season as the Opening Day starter and owns a 3-2 record to go along with a 2.68 ERA.  Baylor's back-end of the bullpen is highlighted by Josh Michalec, whose 11 saves is the most in the Big 12 & 2nd in the nation.
 
SERIES HISTORY – Dallast Baptist trails in the all-time series, 43-21.  DBU Head Coach, Dan Heefner, has gone 2-7 in the past six years versus the Bears.
 
Baylor was able to win both contests last year, 6-1 and 9-5, taking one at each venue. The Patriots have dropped the past six-straight meetings versus Baylor, including a pair of match-ups in the 2012 NCAA Regional hosted at Baylor Ballpark. The last DBU win at Baylor came on April 8, 2009, when the Patriots blasted the Bears, 16-3.
 
In the most recent game between the two clubs on April 23, 2013, at Horner Ballpark, DBU held a 5-4 advantage through seven before things turned sour in the final two innings. Baylor scored a run in the eighth to tie the game and exploded for four runs in the ninth to claim a 9-5 win over the Patriots.  Justin Wall, Austin Listi, and Nash Knight all picked up hits in the game, including a Wall two-RBI triple in the first to put DBU out in front early.

Cory Taylor took the hill as the starter and threw 2.1 innings of one-run ball on three hits.  Sophomore, Joseph Shaw, tossed 3.1 innings allowing a run on no hits and three walks with four strikeouts.  Paul Voelker also saw time on the mound, walking the only two batters he faced.
 
In the one meeting last year at Baylor Ballpark on April 3, the Patriots were only able to collect four hits in the 6-1 setback, with one coming from Listi.  The outfielder also tabbed the solo RBI with a double to right center in the top of the third.  It was DBU's only lead of the night, as Baylor knotted the affair in the bottom half of the third and then tacked on four more runs in the fourth and an insurance run in the fifth.
 
UP NEXT – Dallas Baptist will wrap-up a three-game road trip and stretch of five games versus Big 12 Conference foes on April 15 at Texas Tech University.  First pitch is at 2 PM.
 
The Patriots will play four in a row at Horner Ballpark for the first time in over a month when they return to Missouri Valley Conference action versus Evansville.  The three-game series against the Purple Aces marks the first conference match-ups at home for DBU and will occur on April 18-19. Start times are at 6:30 PM on the 18th, 1 PM on the 19th for game one and the second game of the double-header will follow 30-45 minutes after the completion of game one.

DBU will wrap-up the four-game homestand when they welcome Stephen F. Austin to Horner Ballpark on April 22.  The Patriots prevailed earlier this year at SFA by a final of 20-10.  First pitch is 6:30 PM.