Baylor
Houston
No. 25 Baseball Falls at Houston 10-4
3/2/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 2, 2004
HOUSTON, Texas - Five unearned runs in the bottom of the second inning proved fatal for Baylor's 25th-ranked baseball team here Tuesday as the Bears dropped a 10-4 decision at Houston. Baylor falls to 4-7 with the loss, while Houston improves to 4-7.
After Baylor starter Cory VanAllen retired the first two batters of the inning, a walk and an error gave Houston new life in the inning. An RBI infield hit, a two-run triple, an RBI single and an RBI double followed to put the Cougars up 5-0. Houston added a run on two hits in the fourth.
Baylor battled back with four runs over the next two innings. Mike Heldoorn blasted an opposite-field solo home run with two outs in the fifth. Then the Bears scored three two-out runs in the sixth to pull to within two runs at 6-4. Kyle Reynolds and Zach Dillon had RBI singles, and Michael Griffin had an RBI double in the frame.
That was as close as the Bears would come, though, as the Cougars answered with four runs in the bottom of the sixth to put the game away.
VanAllen (1-1) pitched 3.0 innings, facing two batters in the fourth; he was touched for six runs, only one of which was earned, on six hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
Houston starter Brett Cooley (1-0) lasted 5.0 innings and allowed one run on two hits with six strikeouts.
Baylor returns to action this weekend, hosting UC-Irvine for a three-game series at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears and the Anteaters play Friday at 6 p.m. CST, Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
NOTES: Heldoorn's fifth-inning home run was Baylor's first of the season. It came in the Bears' 317th at bat and 11th game of 2004, the deepest into a season a Baylor team has gone before its first home run since 1972 (box scores not available prior to 1972). ... Baylor entered the game with five two-out RBI in its first 10 games. The Bears plated four runs with two-outs Tuesday night. ... Travis Tully's infield single in the bottom of the second was the first hit allowed by VanAllen as a collegiate pitcher. It ended an eight-inning hitless streak for the freshman southpaw. ... Baylor's pitching staff was touched for season highs in runs and hits (12).
