April 26, 2005
Box Score
WACO, Texas - Michael Griffin went 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBI as No. 11 Baylor defeated Texas-Arlington 8-5 Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark. With the win, Baylor head coach Steve Smith earned his 400th career victory, all with the Bears. Baylor (28-16) also snapped a three-game losing streak on Tuesday and surpassed its 2004 regular-season win total.
Griffin gave Baylor its first lead of the game in the bottom of the third with a two-run homer to left-center, his fifth of the season. Although UTA (22-23) rallied on three occasions, the Bears never relinquished that lead.
Baylor starter Jeff Mandel (1-0) earned his first career victory, allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits and no walks with two strikeouts in 5.0-plus innings. Tyler Bullock, Ryan LaMotta and Abe Woody combined to hold the Mavericks to a pair of unearned runs over the final four innings. Woody recorded his eighth save of the season.
The Bears stretched their lead to 3-0 in the fourth on a Kevin Sevigny RBI single. UTA pushed across a pair of runs in the top of the fifth, but Baylor answered in the bottom of the inning on a Zach Dillon solo home run, his first round-tripper of the season. After UTA plated a run in the top of the sixth, the Bears again answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame. Paul Witt had a two-run double and then scored on a Michael Griffin single.
The Mavericks plated a pair of unearned runs in the seventh before Baylor capped the scoring in the eighth when Kevin Sevigny singled, stole second and scored on a Kyle Reynolds single.
UTA starter Dillon Gee (4-5), who tossed a four-hit, complete-game shutout against Baylor two weeks ago at Arlington, was touched for four runs on eight hits with no strikeouts in 5.0 innings.
Griffin was one of five Bears to record multiple-hit games on the night. Witt was 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBI, while Reynolds, Reid Brees and Sevigny had two hits each.
Baylor returns to action this weekend, hosting Texas Tech for a three-game Big 12 Conference series at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears and the Red Raiders meet Friday at 7 p.m. CDT, Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. Saturday's game will be televised live on Fox Sports Net.
NOTES: Baylor leads the all-time series 66-28, including a 40-12 edge in games played in Waco. The Bears are 20-8 against the Mavericks under head coach Steve Smith. ... Baylor improves to 4-6 this season in Tuesday games and 5-6 in midweek games. ... The Bears are 24-7 when the starting pitcher goes at least 5.0 innings, 6-0 when hitting at least two home runs, 22-2 when out-hitting the opponent and 22-3 when scoring first. ... Baylor is 14-2 when leading after three innings, 16-2 after four, 18-1 after five, 23-1 after six, and 24-1 after seven or later. ... Brees and Sevigny both extended hitting streaks to five games. Witt (four games) and Reynolds (three games) also extended streaks. ... Griffin's home run was the 33rd of his career, tying Mark Malinak (1984-87) and teammate Josh Ford for seventh on Baylor's all-time list. It also was his 107th career extra-base hit, moving into sole possession of fourth place all-time at Baylor. ... LaMotta made his 80th career appearance Tuesday, tying Brett Bergman (1995-98) for fifth place in Baylor history.
