2005 Baylor Bears baseball team


The 2005 Baylor Bears baseball team represented Baylor University in the 2005 NCAA Division I baseball season. The head coach was Steve Smith, serving his 11th year. The team played its home games at Baylor Ballpark in Waco, Texas.

Season summary

The Bears played one of the toughest schedules in the nation and managed a 39-21 record going into NCAA postseason play. The team won the Big 12 Conference behind a 19-8 conference record and hosted a NCAA Regional in Waco. The Bears defeated UTSA, TCU, and Stanford, to progress to a NCAA Super Regional. The Clemson Tigers, out of the ACC Conference, came to Waco for the two-of-three series. The Bears lost the Saturday night game but rebounded on Sunday and Monday to advance to the 2005 College World Series.
In the CWS, the Bears were matched against the University of Texas, whom they had beaten 3 times during conference play. The Longhorns defeated the Bears in Game 1, putting Baylor into an elimination bracket with Oregon State. In an extra innings contest, the Bears defeated Oregon State, 4-3, to advance to play #1 Tulane. After being down 7-0 early in the game, Baylor scored 8 runs in the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings, including 3 runs in the 9th, to beat the highly ranked Green Wave, 8-7. In a rematch against the University of Texas, Baylor led 3-2 in the 8th inning, but fell to the Longhorns 4-3 to end the season. The strength of the 2005 team was their pitching, with a weekend rotation of Trey Taylor, Cory VanAllen, and Mark McCormick with closers Abe Woody and Ryan LaMotta. The offense was criticized heavily in the regular season for lack of power, but produced in postseason play. Many players from this team continue to play baseball.

Roster

Schedule