June 1, 2002
Box Score
AUSTIN, Texas - A cast of unlikely heroes and one unlikely play made up for an evening of miscues as Baylor beat Lamar 10-9 Saturday night to advance to Sunday's championship game in the NCAA Austin Regional.
After jumping on top early, it took a two-out steal of home on a trick play by Tim Hartshorn -- who didn't even start the game -- to put Baylor (36-25) on top to stay. Fifth-year senior Justin Spooner, making only his sixth career appearance, held Lamar (36-24) at bay for 1 2/3 innings to make a winner out of freshman Trey Taylor (4-3).
Lamar was eliminated from the tournament with the loss, while Baylor moves on to face Texas in a rematch of Saturday's 10-8 Longhorn victory. Sunday's championship match will begin at 1 p.m. Should Baylor win, the two teams will square off again Sunday 45 minutes after the completion of the first game. The Bears must win twice to advance to a Super Regional, while Texas (undefeated in the regional) needs only one victory to move on.
Early on, Baylor showed that the team's loss Saturday afternoon to Texas did not get the team down, scoring twice in the top of the first. Trey Webb beat out a bunt to start the game, and Paul Richmond followed with a walk. Jared Clements' groundout and Mike Huggins' double drove in the pair of runs for a 2-0 lead.
Lamar answered, however, scoring five unearned runs in the second and knocking starter Steven White out of the game. Three walks, two singles, two errors, two wild pitches, a passed ball and a double led to the five runs before White was relieved by Trey Taylor.
Baylor, undaunted, retook the lead in the third with a four-run frame. Chris Durbin and Huggins each drove in a run with doubles, while Clements had a sacrifice fly. Huggins scored the fourth run of the inning on an error by Lamar third baseman Mickey Hernandez.
The Bears added two runs in the fifth. Durbin led off the frame with a walk and came home on Ross Bennett's second triple of the year, a blast to right-center that put Baylor up 7-5. Bennett later scored on a wild pitch for the three-run cushion.
A two-out wild pitch in the sixth brought in Baylor's ninth run, putting the Bears up 9-5, before Lamar tied the game in the seventh. Two throwing errors by Webb and Michael Griffin, coupled with three singles and a walk, accounted for four runs (three earned) off Taylor.
In the eighth, Baylor regained the lead on a trick play. With Richmond on first and Tim Hartshorn on third base, two outs and an 0-2 count on Durbin at the plate, Richmond broke early for second base. When pitcher Thomas Atlee tried to run down Richmond at first base, Hartshorn broke for home and scored the go-ahead run when Richmond got back safely to first base. Durbin then flew out to end the inning with Baylor ahead 10-9.
Spooner then came in to start the eighth and retired five of the six men he faced before being relieved by Kyle Edens with two outs and a runner on second in the bottom of the ninth. Edens struck out the final batter of the game for his 14th save, one shy of Zane Carlson's single-season school record.
