Baylor
Texas-Arlington
Baseball Trips at UTA 5-1
3/9/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 9, 2004
ARLINGTON, Texas - Three unearned runs in the bottom of the third provided Texas-Arlington starter Jake Baxter all the offense he needed as the Mavericks defeated Baylor 5-1 here Tuesday night. The loss drops Baylor to 4-11, while UTA improves to 8-6.
With runners at the corners and two outs in the third, Baylor shortstop Kyle Reynolds misplayed a grounder that would have ended the inning. Instead, the error led to three unearned runs as the Mavericks followed the miscue with back-to-back singles.
UTA added another run in the seventh on a Josh McSpadden RBI single. In the eighth, Brett Lewis was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, moved to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a ground out and then scored on another wild pitch to push the Mavericks' lead to 5-0.
Baylor finally scratched the scoreboard in the top of the ninth, ending a 24-inning scoreless streak. Reynolds led off the game with a single and advanced to third when right fielder Casey Baker misplayed the ball. Mike Pankratz followed with a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Reynolds.
Baxter (2-2) went 8.1 innings, yielding an unearned run on eight hits with no walks and a career-high 12 strikeouts before giving way to Mark Lowe for the game's final two outs.
Baylor starter Cory VanAllen (1-2) was the victim of poor luck for the second straight outing. He allowed three unearned runs on six hits with a walk and two strikeouts over 3.1 innings. Last Tuesday at Houston, VanAllen was touched for five unearned runs in a losing effort. In three starts and four appearances this season, VanAllen has allowed 10 runs, only one of which was earned.
The Bears tallied eight hits on the night, led by Reynolds' three-hit performance. Michael Griffin added two hits. However, the Bears had two base runners thrown out trying to take the extra base, one base runner called out due to batter's interference and hit into one double play.
Baylor returns to action this weekend, hosting Vanderbilt for a three-game series at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears and the Commodores open the series Friday at 6 p.m., followed by a 3 p.m. contest Saturday and the series finale Sunday at 1 p.m.
NOTES: Baylor now leads the series 64-25. The Bears have lost two straight to UTA but have won 18 of 23 meetings since 1996. ... Mike Pankratz saw his career-long five-game hitting streak snapped. ... Michael Griffin has hit safely in 11 of Baylor's 15 games. He has not gone hitless in consecutive games. ... Relief pitcher Abe Woody yielded his first earned run in 11.1 innings this season, snapping a 9.0-inning scoreless streak. ... Woody has inherited seven runners this season, none have scored.
