Michael Baird

Class:
Freshman
Height:
6-4
Weight:
200
Hometown:
Parker, Colo.
High School:
Legend

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Two-time first-team All-MVC (2016, 18) ... Second-team All-Midwest Region (2016) ... Led MVC and ranked 12th nationally in ERA in 2016 (1.76) ... Top-10 in SIU history in career games started (2nd), innings pitched (2nd), and strikeouts (6th) ... 28 career quality starts ... Took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against Illinois in 2016 and finished with a one-hit shutout (SIU won the game, 1-0) ... Pitched five career complete games and two complete-game shutouts ... Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 23rd round of the 2018 MLB Draft.

2018 (SENIOR)

First-team All-MVC ... First-team MVC Scholar-Athlete ... Made 15 starts, all as the team’s No. 1 starter ... Led the team with a 3.16 ERA over 99.2 innings ... Limited opponents to a .250 average ... Led the MVC in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.60 : 1) ... Second in the MVC in innings pitched (99.2), strikeouts (92) and ERA (3.16) – the only pitcher in the league in the top-2 of all three categories ... Pitched a complete-game shutout at Evansville with a career-high 12 strikeouts (4/27) ... Also pitched a complete-game win against Valparaiso (4/6), taking a shutout into the ninth inning ... Earned a spot on the MVC Academic Honor Roll.

2017 (JUNIOR)

Started the season with 28 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run (t-1^st in nation to start the season along with LSU’s Jared Poche’) ... Team went 9-4 in Baird’s 13 starts ... Started two shutout victories (6.2 IP at Stetson on Feb. 18 and 7.0 IP at Louisiana Monroe on Feb. 25) ... Struck out 51 (season high seven strikeouts vs. WIU and also vs. Evansville) ... Allowed just three singles in 6.2 scoreless innings against Stetson (2/18) ... Struck out six and allowed just one run against Dallas Baptist (4/29) ... Preseason MVC Pitcher of the Year pick by Baseball America, Perfect Game and D1Baseball.com ... Preseason All-MVC.

2016 (SOPHOMORE)

Second-team All-Midwest Region selection ... First-team All-MVC ... MVC Pitcher of the Week (3/21) after taking no-hitter into ninth vs. Illinois ... Started 15 games ... Went 9-4 with three complete games and one complete-game shutout ... Led the MVC with a 1.76 ERA (second place among qualified pitchers was 2.38) ... Also led the MVC in wins with nine ... Limited opponents to a .206 batting average, which ranked second in the MVC ... Limited right handed batters to a .178 average ... Took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against Illinois and finished with a one-hit complete-game shutout ... Struck out a season-high nine batters in six shutout innings against Western Illinois ... 12 of his 15 starts were quality starts ... Never allowed more than three runs in any start ... Pitched a complete game at Wichita State, allowing only one run.

2015 (FRESHMAN)

Made 18 appearances on the season with two starts … Finished the year with 44 strikeouts … Had a season-high seven strikeouts against Northern Illinois and SEMO … Pitched a season-high 6.2 innings against Missouri State in the MVC tournament, holding the Bears to one hit.

PRIOR TO SIU

Was named to the 2nd team All-Continental League ... Helped lead his team to a district championship in 2013 ... Was an All-State Academic honorable mention ...Posted a 4-1 record as a junior.

PERSONAL

Son of John and Leslie Baird ... Has two siblings (Emily and Jack) ... His grandfather played basketball at Kansas State ... Graduated in May 2018 with a degree in speech communication.