Baylor
Texas Southern
Bears Play Long Ball to Defeat Texas Southern 11-3
5/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 19, 2004
WACO, Texas - Tyler Bullock, Zach Dillon and Josh Ford all homered and Paul Witt tallied three hits as Baylor defeated Texas Southern 11-3 Wednesday night at Baylor Ballpark. It was the final home game of the season for Baylor (27-26); the Bears end the year 20-15 at home.
The Bears started the scoring early with two runs in the first on a Witt single and a Reid Brees groundout. Dillon doubled that lead with a two-run home run to right in the second. Two batters later, Mike Pankratz was hit by a pitch and moved to third on a double by Chase Gerdes. Pankratz then scored on a Witt groundout.
Texas Southern (18-31) answered with three runs on three hits, a walk, a hit batter and a first-and-third double steal. Only one of the three hits left the infield, a Herman Coachmen RBI double down the line in left.
That was all the offense the Tigers could manage as Jeff Mandel got the final out in the inning. Mandel and Zane Carlson, who pitched the eighth and ninth innings perfectly with four strikeouts, combined to hold Texas Southern scoreless on three hits over the final 5.1 innings.
Baylor answered Texas Southern's three-run fourth with two runs in the bottom of the frame. Ford got things started with a one-out solo home run over the batter's eye, and Kyle Reynolds later singled in Gerdes, who was hit by a pitch for the first of two times on the night.
In the seventh, a one-out Drew Sutton double was followed by a Michael Griffin walk. Bullock, who replaced Dillon in the fifth, then hit a towering three-run homer to left. Witt led off the eighth with a double down the line in right, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Brees groundout.
Mandel (1-0) earned his first collegiate victory, tossing 3.1 scoreless innings with one strikeout. Starter Ryan Bennett went 3.0 innings and allowed one run on one hit and a walk with four strikeouts.
Texas Southern starter Brandon Stricklen (2-3) was saddled with the loss after allowing seven runs on eight hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
Witt finished 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBI, while Griffin went 2-for-3 and scored twice. Baylor's catching platoon of Dillon and Bullock combined for a 2-for-4 night with five RBI.
Baylor concludes the regular season this weekend, traveling to Lubbock, Texas, for a three-game Big 12 Conference series at Texas Tech. The Bears and the Red Raiders meet Friday at 6:30 p.m. CDT, Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. The Bears then head to Arlington for the Big 12 Tournament May 26-30 at Ameriquest Field in Arlington.
NOTES: Baylor leads the all-time series 2-0. The only other meeting was a 10-3 Baylor victory two weeks ago at Baylor Ballpark. ... The Bears have won 20 or more games at Baylor Ballpark in each of the stadium's six years. ... Baylor improves to 2-1 on Wednesdays. ... Ironically, Baylor's leading hitter, Reid Brees, was the only starter to not reach safely and he snapped a five-game hitting streak; although, Brees did have one RBI. ... Kyle Reynolds extended his hitting streak to five games and has hit safely in 26 of his last 28 starts. ... Drew Sutton reached safely in 10 straight and in 15 of the last 16 games. ... Baylor played its 16th errorless game of the season Tuesday; ironically, the Bears are 6-10 in such contests. The Bears have committed just six errors in their last eight games. ... Paul Witt (seven games) and Josh Ford (three games) also extended hitting streaks. ... Baylor improves to 9-0 this season when Josh Ford homers.
