Baylor
Texas
Texas Powers Past Baylor, 13-7
4/5/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 5, 2003
WACO, Texas - The 10th-ranked Baylor baseball team showed a lot of heart, but the 13th-ranked Texas Longhorns showed even more muscle in a 13-7 Texas win Saturday night at Baylor Ballpark.
Baylor (23-11, 6-5 Big 12) battled back from a 7-0 deficit, getting within a run at 7-6 in the fourth, but the Bears would never get closer as the Longhorns (24-11, 8-3 Big 12) hammered four home runs off Baylor pitching to win going away.
Texas jumped on Baylor starter Sean Walker (5-2) with a run in the first frame and five runs in the second inning. Singles by Longhorns Joe Ferin and Tim Moss were followed by a two-run homer by Eric Sultemeier as Texas took the early advantage. Texas added a run in the third with an RBI single from Taylor Teagarden and pushed the lead to 7-0.
The Bears showed a lot of resiliency, however, as they began to chip away off Texas starter J.P. Howell in their half of the third. After Paul Witt had reached base on a wild pitch, Chris Durbin walked and David Murphy singled home the Bears' first run of the night. Then, a walk to Josh Ford and a Ross Bennett double that scored Murphy made it 7-2. Michael Griffin followed with a sacrifice fly to right, cutting the Texas lead to 7-3.
Baylor continued cutting into the lead in the fourth off relievers J. Brent Cox and Brantley Jordan. Mark Saccomanno led off the frame with a solo shot that cleared the wall in left center, his third home run in two days. Four consecutive singles by Durbin, Murphy Ford and Bennett suddenly made it a one run game after five innings.
Jesen Merle (2-2) relieved Jordan to start the fifth and kept the Bears in check, giving up just two hits and one run in 2 2/3 innings of work.
The Bears had an opportunity to tie the game in the sixth. With nobody out and runners on the corners, Mark Saccomanno hit a grounder to third. Texas third baseman Huston Street checked pinch-runner Seth Fortenberry at third and threw to second to get the force there. Fortenberry then broke for the plate, but was cut down by Moss's relay throw for a double play.
After the teams exchanged runs in the seventh, Texas finally broke through off Baylor reliever Abe Woody in the eighth. The Baylor freshman hurled a career-best 5 2/3 innings and tied his career high with six strikeouts, but was touched for three runs (two earned) in the eighth as Texas increased their lead. Texas' Ferin hit a two-run home run down the right-field line that made it a 10-7 game, and Moss followed with a triple.
The Bears then turned to Zane Carlson, who was greeted with another two-run homer by Sultemeier, this one to left-center. The Longhorns added another run in the ninth via a solo shot by Dustin Majewski, making the final score 13-7.
The Bears will try to avoid a sweep by Texas when the two teams meet in the series finale Sunday at Baylor Ballpark. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.
NOTES: After beginning the season with three home runs in three seasons, Saccomanno has now hit five this season, including four in his last four games... A crowd of 4,531 saw the Bears' loss, the team's second-highest crowd of the season and seventh-largest in program history.
