Baylor baseball prepares for ranked foe in Stillwater

Junior right-handed pitcher Jared Matheson (27) lunges forward and hurles a pitch toward sophomore catcher Cortlan Castle during Baylor baseball's non-conference contest against Sam Houston State University Tuesday at Baylor Ballpark. Baylor Lariat file photo

After a long 14-game homestand that saw the Bears go 7-7, Baylor baseball now hits the road to take on No. 15 Oklahoma State University in Stillwater for a three-game weekend series.

“We're going to go into a two tradition rich program [that’s] really well coached," head coach Mitch Thompson said. "These guys know how to win. They're expecting to win, and we're going on the road. We're going to have to go in there and really fight and claw and scrap and get it done, and we're going to learn a lot.”

Thompson has preached the same motto all year: “you win, or you learn,” and Baylor (9-12, 2-1 Big 12) has seen both sides of that coin. The Bears are riding a three-game winning streak and Big 12 series win over Kansas State University in hopes of upsetting the Cowboys (17-5, 1-2 Big 12).

“We're improving all over the field,” Thompson said. “Especially [over] our last five to 10 games; our offense has picked up.”

Through the ups and the downs, junior infielder Cole Posey said the team is starting to figure things out.

“On the field, you can see a totally different product," Posey said. "We're playing hard. A couple of these gritty wins we've had down the stretch ... I don't know if we had those a couple of weeks ago. We’re really starting to come together and play competitive baseball.”

Thompson said athletes like freshman outfielder Caleb Bergman and freshman catcher Zach Mazoch have made the most of their playing time that they’ve seen and that they will get more looks as time moves on.

“There's more guys solidifying their roles and solidifying themselves as a starter for us," Thompson said. "There's still some questions and we're going to continue to experiment and continue to give guys opportunities. They're going to get an opportunity and then when they can perform, they'll keep getting those opportunities.”

Looking toward the next series, fifth-year senior right-handed pitcher Blake Helton (0-3) will get the start in game one at 6 p.m. Friday at O’Brate Stadium.

In a 6 p.m. Saturday contest, sophomore right-handed pitcher Mason Marriott (1-2) will open things up on the mound. The final game, a 1 p.m. contest on Sunday, will feature a pitcher that is to be determined.

“The pitchers have done a phenomenal job with some really good shutdown innings and we're kind of just piggybacking off one another right now,” Posey said.

After being picked to finish last in the Big 12 preseason poll, Baylor is off to an early start on getting out of that cellar. But with tough competition on the way, Posey said the group is focusing on itself.

“The guys on this team aren't really worried about what anyone else is saying," Posey said. "We know what we have and we know that we’ve got a lot of growing to do, but we've already done a ton so far, and we're trending in the right direction."