Baylor
Texas-San Antonio
No. 11 Baseball Wins Behind Solid Pitching
2/17/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 17, 2004
WACO, Texas - Andy Pape recorded a career-best eight strikeouts as No. 11 Baylor defeated Texas-San Antonio 6-1 at Baylor Ballpark Tuesday night. Baylor advances to 3-1 on the season with its third straight victory, while UTSA falls to 2-2.
With the Bears leading 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh, Josh Ford's two-run single put the game away. Baylor tacked on two more runs in the inning, and relievers Abe Woody and Jeff Mandel struck out five of the last six UTSA batters to end the game.
Baylor's four pitchers - Pape, Ryan LaMotta, Woody and Mandel - combined for 16 strikeouts on the night, the most since the Bears struck out 20 batters in a 22-inning game Feb. 21, 1999 against Houston. It was the most strikeouts by a Baylor staff in a nine-inning game since Pat Combs' school-record 16-strikeout performance April 29, 1988 against Texas Tech.
After retiring the first two batters of the game, Texas-San Antonio starting pitcher Jason Vecchio walked Josh Ford with two outs in the bottom of the first. Ford then stole second and later scored when Jared Clements singled to center giving Baylor a 1-0 lead. The stolen base was the first of Ford's career and was the third RBI for Clements on the season.
Texas-San Antonio quickly responded when junior Chris Lewis homered over the left field fence in the top of the second, knotting the game at 1-1. It was Lewis' third home run on the season after hitting two this past weekend in a three-game series at New Mexico State. Lewis' blast was the first home run surrendered by a Baylor pitcher this season.
In the bottom half of the second, the Bears manufacture another run when Mike Pankratz scored off Drew Sutton's single to center field. The RBI was Sutton's third on the season putting the Bears on top 2-1. After going 1-for-3 tonight, Sutton leads the Bears with a .615 (8-for-13) batting average this season.
After Ford's two-run single in the seventh, Baylor expanded its lead with Jeff Mandel's sacrifice fly to center scoring Ford from third. Clements scored which proved to be the final run of the game for the Bears after Pankratz' singled to left field giving the Bears a 6-1 advantage through seven innings of play.
Baylor returns to action Friday as the Bears travel to California to take on No. 8 Long Beach State in a three-game series. First pitch for Friday's game is set for 8:30 pm CST.
