Baylor
Missouri
Bears Fail to Tame Tigers, End Tournament Run
5/29/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 29, 2004
ARLINGTON, Texas - Missouri's Cody Ehlers broke a 7-7 tie with a two-run, seventh-inning home run, and Baylor could not rally for a third time as the sixth-seeded Bears dropped a 10-7 decision Saturday against the seventh-seeded Tigers at in semifinal action of the Big 12 Conference Tournament at Ameriquest Field.
The loss eliminated the Bears (29-31) from the double-elimination tournament, while Missouri (37-20-1) advanced to its first ever Big 12 Tournament championship game. It also marks the Tigers' first appearance in a conference tournament championship game since falling to Oklahoma State in the 1989 Big Eight Conference Tournament.
After Baylor erased a 7-4 deficit with three runs in the top of the seventh, Lee Laskowski led off the bottom of the inning with a double down the left-field line off Zane Carlson. Baylor then turned to closer Abe Woody, who worked ahead of Ehlers at 1-2. However, Ehlers drilled the next pitch he saw, a shoulder-high fastball, over the wall in right.
Brad Flanders followed with a double and later scored on a James Boone sacrifice fly. Mark Alexander (4-0) entered the game in the seventh and stopped the bleeding for the Tigers. He held Baylor scoreless on one hit and two walks with one strikeout over the final 2.2 innings for the victory.
Carlson (0-4) was saddled with the loss after allowing two runs on three hits and a walk with four strikeouts in 2.1 innings. Starter Jared Theodorakos did not factor in the decision after surrendering six runs, four earned, on five hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
Missouri put three runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning on four hits and a sacrifice fly. Baylor rallied for four runs on five hits in the top of the fourth to take a 4-3 lead. Josh Ford had the big hit in the inning, a two-run double to right-center.
However, the Tigers were quick to answer with three runs on two hits and two Baylor errors in the bottom of the inning. Boone got the scoring started with a two-run homer to left that chased Theodorakos from the game. Missouri added another run in the sixth on a Gary Arndt RBI single.
Baylor appeared to have some late-inning magic that has escaped the Bears all season. With one run already in, the bases loaded and no outs, Drew Sutton and Michael Griffin popped out to shallow center. Kyle Reynolds followed with a two-run single through the left side to tie the score.
That only set the stage for Missouri to answer a Baylor rally again. It was the second home run of the tournament for Ehlers against Baylor pitching.
The loss marked the first time Baylor has lost a Saturday game at the Big 12 Tournament. The Bears reached the semifinals for the fourth time in six years.
NOTES: Baylor leads the all-time series with Missouri 22-12, including a 5-3 advantage in Big 12 Tournament play. ... Paul Witt ended his career-long, 13-game hitting streak, the second-longest streak by a Bear this season. However, he did manage to reach safely for the 14th consecutive game. Witt has hit safely in 22 of the last 24 games. ... Paul Witt extended his errorless streak at second base to 131 chances spanning 27 games. ... Kevin Sevigny has reached safely in 16 consecutive starts.
