May 17, 2000

OKLAHOMA CITY - Anthony Hensley went 2-for-3 with two RBI as the Baylor baseball team cruised past Texas A&M 12-3 in the first round of the Big 12 tournament Wednesday night.

After scoring just two runs in the first five innings, Baylor batted around in the sixth and exploded for six runs. Kelly Shoppach led off with a single to left field and Matt Williams followed up with a single to right center to put runners in scoring position. Batting third, Chris Durbin smacked an RBI single to left to give the Bears a 3-2 lead. Tim Hartshorn then reached base on an error by the second baseman and Preston Underdown singled in Durbin. Hensley finished off the bottom of the sixth with a two-run single to right field to put Baylor up 8-2.

In the seventh inning, the Bears theld the Aggies to just one run and scored four runs to put the game away for good.

Baylor starter Chad Hawkins (11-4) earned the win, scattering three runs on seven hits over eight innings. Khalid Ballouli took the loss for Texas A&M, giving up eight runs on 13 hits in five and two-thirds innings.

With the win, the Bears improve to 42-14 on the season, while the Aggies fall to 23-34.

No. 1 seed Baylor will face No. 4 seed Texas Thursday night at 8 p.m.