Baylor
Sam Houston
Baseball Holds Off Bearkats 10-8
4/13/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 13, 2004
WACO, Texas - Mike Pankratz homered and drove in three, and Baylor held off a Sam Houston State mid-inning rally en route to a 10-8 victory Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears (15-19) have won six of their last eight and notched their 14th consecutive victory in midweek home games.
Baylor scored in each of the first four innings, building a 10-3 lead. Sam Houston State climbed back into the game with a run in the fifth and four in the sixth. However, Zane Carlson and Abe Woody combined to close the door, holding the Bearkats to one unearned run over the final 4.0 innings worked.
Woody entered the game with one on and one out in the eighth, induced a double play and struck out the side with one walk in the ninth for his second save of the season. Ryan LaMotta (2-3), the second of five pitchers used by the Bears, earned the victory; he struck out all four batters he faced and got Baylor out of a jam in the third.
The Bears made Sam Houston State pay for a two-out error in the bottom of the first. Kyle Reynolds and Reid Brees followed with singles to plate Drew Sutton, who reached on the Bearkat miscue.
Baylor pushed its lead to 3-0 with two in the second. Pankratz led off with a double to left-center; two batters and two outs later, Chase Gerdes scored Pankratz with a triple down the right-field line. Michael Griffin followed with a double to right-center, plating Gerdes.
The Bearkats answered, though, with three runs on four hits and a Baylor error in the top of the fourth. The tie was short-lived as Pankratz lined a two-out, two-run home run down the line in left in the bottom of the inning. Baylor then batted around in the fifth, scoring five runs on four consecutive hits and a Bearkat error. Griffin had the big hit in the inning, a two-run double sandwiched between RBI singles by Gerdes and Sutton.
Baylor starter Trey Taylor, on a 50-pitch limit, went 2.2 innings and allowed three runs, one earned, on five hits. Carlson allowed one unearned run on two hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 2.1 innings.
The Bears pounded 15 hits on the night, reaching double figures for the sixth straight game. Gerdes and Griffin collected three hits each, and Griffin drove in three. Pankratz, Brees and Kyle Reynolds all had two-hit games.
Baylor returns to action this weekend, taking on top-ranked Texas in the annual split series. The Bears and the Longhorns meet at 7 p.m. CDT Friday at Baylor Ballpark before the series shifts to Disch-Falk Field in Austin for Saturday's 6:15 p.m. game two and Sunday's 1 p.m. series finale.
NOTES: Baylor extends its advantage in the Sam Houston State series to 55-37 with the win. The Bears are 8-2 against Sam Houston State under head coach Steve Smith. ... Baylor has collected 10 or more hits in 10 of its last 12 and 13 of its last 16 games. ... The Bears have at least one double in 19 straight games. ... Michael Griffin extended his season-long hitting streak to 13 games, the longest run by a Bear this season. Griffin has reached safely in 29 consecutive games. ... Kyle Reynolds (eight games), Paul Witt (six games) and Zach Dillon (four games) also extended hitting streaks. Reynolds has hit safely in 12 consecutive starts.
