Inside The Bears

Baylor Baseball Announces Opening Weekend Rotation, How to See the Bears in Action

Baseball is set to begin this weekend in Waco. Here's how you can see the action.
Trent Knoop|
BaylorBears.com

Following three straight losing seasons, Baylor baseball had a winning season in 2025, going 33-22. Now, Mitch Thompson's club is looking to break through and make the NCAA Tournament this season.

The road to Omaha starts on Friday for the Bears. Baylor will open its 2026 season with a three-game series against New Mexico State.

Ahead of the game, Baylor released its opening weekend rotation:

  • Game 1: Lucas Davenport (2025 stats: 4-2, 4.25 ERA)
  • Game 2: Ethan Calder (2025 stats: 3-6, 5.18 ERA)
  • Game 3: Cade Hansen (2025 stats: 12-1, 2.68 ERA at Wisconsin-Whitewater)

How to watch Baylor's opening weekend

All three games will be televised on ESPN+ and fans can also tune in to ESPN Central Texas 1660 AM/92.3 FM on Friday and Sunday to hear the Baylor radio broadcast, featuring Derek Smith and Tom Barfield. 

  • Friday, Feb. 13: 4 p.m. CT
  • Saturday, Feb. 14: 2 p.m. CT
  • Sunday, Feb. 15: 1 p.m. CT

Game Notes

  • Baylor Baseball begins the 2026 campaign with a four-game homestand at newly-minted Magnolia Field at Baylor Ballpark in Waco, welcoming New Mexico State for a three-game series on Opening Weekend.
  • The Bears will host Texas State on Tuesday, Feb. 17, in their first midweek contest of the season before heading to back-to-back weekend tournaments in the second and third weeks of the year in Round Rock and Houston.
  • BU returns 20 players from its 2025 roster, including three position player starters (Johnson, Sanders, Riebock), and welcomes 17 newcomers.
  • Baylor has 19 underclassmen (Fr., R-Fr., So., R-So.) on its 2026 squad.

One Baylor Bear lands on preseason All-Big 12 list

Baylor baseball isn't getting a ton of love in the early goings. The Bears were predicted to finish 11th in the preseason Big 12 poll — TCU landed in first with 13 first-place votes.

But the Bears did have one player land on preseason All-Big 12: SS Travis Sanders.

In his first season with the Bears, Sanders hit .335 with eight home runs and 25 RBIs on his way to All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors in 2025. He racked up 55 total hits, including nine doubles and one triple, slugging .549 on the year.

Sanders also stole eight bases and recorded 16 multi-hit games, including five three-hit and a four-hit performance. During conference play, Sanders batted .318, hit five home runs and drove in 17 runs.

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Trent Knoop
TRENT KNOOP

Trent is the Publisher of Baylor Bears on SI and also serves as the Managing Editor for Michigan Wolverines on SI. His work has additionally been featured on Maryland on SI, Wisconsin on SI, and across the USA TODAY Sports network. Trent’s love of sports and being able to tell stories to fans is what made him get into writing.

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