Baylor
UC Irvine
No. 25 Baseball Falls to UC Irvine 5-4
3/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 6, 2004
WACO, Texas - For the second time in as many games, Baylor's 25th-ranked baseball team could not get a key hit late as the Bears dropped a 5-4 decision to UC Irvine here Saturday. It is the sixth one-run loss of the season for Baylor (4-9), which has now dropped eight of nine.
Baylor jumped out to an early 4-0 lead thanks to a three-spot in the second and another run in the third. Jared Clements got the scoring started with a two-run double off the wall in center. After a Kevin Sevigny walk, Paul Witt singled through the left side to score Clements. In the third, Reid Brees reached on a one-out single up the middle and then scored one batter later on a Tyler Bullock double down the line in left.
Meanwhile, Baylor starter Trey Taylor was rolling along, using just 26 pitches in the first three innings. However, the Anteaters (11-3-1) finally got to the lefty in the fourth. With two outs and the bases empty, Mark Wagner doubled down the line in left and Tim Stewart followed with a walk. Erik Johnson then homered down the line in left, just the third off Baylor pitching in 13 games this season.
Irvine took the lead in the fifth with two runs on two hits. Matt Fisher plated the first run with a one-out single to right, and two pitches later Brett Dalton raced home from third on a wild pitch.
As was the case in Friday night's season opener, the Bears had chances late. In two outs in the seventh, Clements doubled to left-center, but Mike Pankratz was thrown out at home trying to score from first. Clements fell victim to a Blair Erickson strikeout with runners at second and third and two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Baylor left seven runners on base, six in scoring position, over the final four frames and 12 runners on base for the game.
Taylor (2-2) 7.0 innings, the longest start of his career, and was touched for five runs on eight hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Abe Woody tossed the final two frames, holding the Anteaters scoreless on one hit with three strikeouts. Woody has now thrown 7.1 consecutive scoreless innings in his last four relief appearances.
UCI starter Glenn Swanson (3-0) lasted 5.2 innings and allowed four runs on eight hits and three walks with three strikeouts. After 1.2 scoreless innings by Steve Schroer, Erickson scattered two hits with three strikeouts in the final five outs for his seventh save in Irvine's 11 wins this season.
Tyler Bullock went 3-for-5 at the plate to lead the Bears. Pankratz, Clements and Witt each had two hits on the day as Baylor pounded a season-high 13 hits.
Baylor and UC Irvine meet for the series finale Sunday at 1 p.m. Right-hander Sean Walker (0-1, 3.00 ERA) takes the mound for the Bears against fellow righty Chris Nicoll (1-0, 1.59 ERA).
NOTES: Baylor now leads the all-time series 3-2. The home team has never won a game in this series. ... The Bears tallied 13 hits as a team, their highest total of the season. ... Baylor is now 4-2 when out-hitting its opponent. ... Baylor falls to 2-6 this season in one-run games. The Bears have dropped six straight such contests. ... Tyler Bullock posted the first three-hit game of his career. ... Saturday was the second two-double performance of Jared Clements' career. ... With a single in the ninth, Mike Heldoorn has reached base safely in six consecutive games. ... Baylor and UC Irvine combined for 22 hits, a high on the season for any Baylor game.
