Series Preview: Baylor Baseball Heads to Stillwater to Face Oklahoma State for 3-Game Set

STILLWATER, Okla. – Baylor baseball (11-9, 1-2) will continue conference play with a road series against the Oklahoma State Cowboys (13-7, 0-3) this weekend at O’Brate Stadium. The Bears will open the series at 6 p.m. on Friday, March 18. Saturday’s game is also slated for 6 p.m., while the series finale on Sunday is scheduled for 1 p.m. All three games this weekend will be streamed on ESPN+.

Baylor Bears

• Record: 11-9 (1-2)
• RPI: 54th
• SOS: 17th

2026 Season Statistics

• Batting Average: .265 (11th in Big 12)
• Earned Run Average: 5.22 (8th in Big 12)
• Fielding Percentage: .979 (4th in Big 12)

Head Coach: Mitch Thompson

• Career Record: 458-235 (13th season) 
• Record at Baylor: 86-97 (4th season) 

2026 Projections

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

Notable Results

• Wins: No. 25 Ole Miss, No. 22 West Virginia
• Losses: No. 11 Oregon State, No. 20 Southern Miss, No. 3 Texas, UTSA, Kansas State, No. 22 West Virginia (2)

Oklahoma State Cowboys

• Record: 13-7 (0-3)
• RPI: 39th
• SOS: 50th

2026 Season Statistics

• Batting Average: .273 (10th in Big 12)
• Earned Run Average: 5.53 (10th in Big 12)
• Fielding Percentage: .977 (6th in Big 12)

Head Coach: Josh Holliday

• Career Record: 482-259 (14th season) 
• Record at Oklahoma State: 482-259 (14th season) 

2026 Projections

• D1Baseball: 6th in Big 12
• Coaches Poll: Tied for 5th in Big 12

Notable Results

• Wins: Vanderbilt, Missouri State, Dallas Baptist
• Losses: No. 7 Arkansas, No. 8 Oklahoma, UCF (3)

Baylor’s Projected Starting Lineup

• SS: Travis Sanders (RJr.): (.405 BAVG, 1.047 OPS, 74 AB)
• LF: Pearson Riebock (So.): (.208 BAVG, .645 OPS, 53 AB)
• RF: Brady Janusek (Fr.): (.329 BAVG, 1.024 OPS, 73 AB)
• 1B: Tyce Armstrong (RSr.): (.270 BAVG, .986 OPS, 74 AB)
• DH: Hunter Snow (RFr.): (.226 BAVG, .860 OPS, 53 AB)
• 2B: Robert De La Garza (Jr.): (.571 BAVG, 1.268 OPS, 14 AB)
• 3B: Brytton Clements (RFr.): (.304 BAVG, .756 OPS, 46 AB)
• C: JJ Kennett (Jr.): (.269 BAVG, .803 OPS, 26 AB)
• CF: Ty Johnson (5Sr.): (.180 BAVG, .619 OPS, 50 AB)

Projected Bench

• INF: Cade Dodson (So.): (.175 BAVG, .552 OPS, 40 AB)
• DH: Brayden Buchanan (RSo.): (.237 BAVG, .659 OPS, 38 AB)

*2026 Stats: (BAVG = Batting Average, OPS = On-Base Percentage + Slugging Percentage, AB = At-Bats)*

Oklahoma State’s Projected Starting Lineup

• LF: Alex Conover (Jr.): (.349 BAVG, .982 OPS, 63 AB)
• SS: Brock Thompson (So.): (.273 BAVG, .948 OPS, 66 AB)
• CF: Kollin Ritchie (Jr.): (.307 BAVG, 1.309 OPS, 75 AB)
• 3B: Aidan Meola (Sr.): (.310 BAVG, 1.144 OPS, 58 AB)
• C: Campbell Smithwick (Jr.): (.296 BAVG, .813 OPS, 54 AB)
• DH: Remo Indomenico (Fr.): (.200 BAVG, .735 OPS, 20 AB)
• 1B: Colin Brueggemann (Sr.): (.246 BAVG, .840 OPS, 69 AB)
• RF: TP Wentworth (So.): (.315 BAVG, 1.014 OPS, 54 AB)
• 2B: Terrance Bowen (Fr.): (.192 BAVG, .542 OPS, 52 AB)

*2026 Stats: (BAVG = Batting Average, OPS = On-Base Percentage + Slugging Percentage, AB = At-Bats)*

Probable Starting Pitchers

• BU SP 1 – RHP: Lucas Davenport (RJr.); (0.93 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 9.2 IP, 3-3 APP-GS)
• OSU SP 1 – LHP: Ethan Lund (So.); (2.96 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 24.1 IP, 5-5 APP-GS)
• BU SP 2 – TBD
• OSU SP 2 – RHP: Mario Pesca (Sr.); (5.06 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 26.2 IP, 6-5 APP-GS)
• BU SP 3 – LHP: Ethan Calder (Sr.); (2.74 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 23 IP, 5-5 APP-GS)
• OSU 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 what to expect from Oklahoma State:

• “Talented club. They had a rough weekend down in Central Florida. They played in several close games. The left-handed pitcher, Lund, is leading the league in strikeouts. Mario Pesca is as veteran a guy as possible on Saturdays. Then their lineup is always daunting. They always swing the bats, and they’ve got about seven left-handed hitters in the lineup this year. They’re a good club.”

Head coach Mitch Thompson on stretching out Friday night starter Lucas Davenport (RJr.) a bit more:

• “Every week we’re going more with him. The main thing is we’re trying to keep him for the season because you can’t afford to lose another guy like that for the season. Every week, we’ll keep stretching him out. Probably 70 pitches this week, and then we’ll quit worrying about it.”

Head coach Mitch Thompson provides an injury update on left-handed pitcher Stefan Stahl (Sr.):

• “He’s making progress. Hopefully, it’ll be soon. We need him back. If he’s able to come back and do what he was able to do previously, we’ll be in pretty good shape. We’ve got three quality starters that can give some people fits.”

Head coach Mitch Thompson talks about Pearson Riebock’s (So.) injury:

• “Pearson’s finger was a problem. When you get it hit like he got it hit, it was a problem, and it was a problem for him as an infielder. It’s probably affecting him more at the plate than he wants to admit. But it didn’t affect him if we put him out in the outfield, and that’s a guy that we’ve previously done that with in the fall. We knew we could. We’ll see how it continues to progress and heal. We’ve got some guys who are battling through some tough things. JJ got dinged up pretty good several times. Pearson has. Trav is dealing with a few bumps and bruises, and things like that. Guys are tough, and they’re fighting to get in the lineup and working hard to get back to full speed.”

Left-handed pitcher Ethan Calder (Sr.) on losing late on Sunday to West Virginia, despite the 1-0 score going into the seventh inning:

• “I think that game slipped away from us. I think in a month or two, we’re winning those games. I think what you’re seeing right now is the highs and lows of the season. We’ve had some really high highs, winning on Friday against Ole Miss, and some not-so-great games, but that’s what fun about a baseball season is you get 55 of them.”

Left-handed pitcher Ethan Calder (Sr.) on the pitching staff battling injuries:

• “If we have everyone healthy, it’s a really tough rotation. I think we have a lot of guys who have been built up. We have a few guys who are pitching on a tweaked arm. If we get everyone back to healthy and get guys easing into things, it's going to be nice. It’s going to be nice to get everyone at full force. I don’t think our pitching staff has been on full force yet. Same on the hitting side. We have guys playing with broken fingers and strained stuff in their wrists. We’re a tough group, and I think when we get everyone healthy, which is soon, we’re going to be a good team.”