May 17, 2005
Box Score
WACO, Texas - Michael Griffin homered in his 1,000th-career at bat and Zach Dillon drove in three runs as No. 9 Baylor used a 13-hit effort to defeat Texas State 7-4 Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears (35-18) record their fourth consecutive victory, their longest winning streak since a season-long seven-game run in March.
Griffin, who also homered for his first career hit in 2002, becomes just the 11th player in Division I history to record at least 1,000 career at bats. John Fishel of Cal State Fullerton holds the Division I record; he had 1,114 at bats from 1982 to 1985.
Baylor took control of the game early with a run in the first and four in the second. Dillon, who had an RBI triple off the top of the centerfield wall in the first, keyed the second inning out-burst with a two-run double.
Texas State (31-22) rallied for a couple runs on three hits in the third. After Griffin tripled and scored on a Kyle Reynolds sacrifice fly in the sixth, the Bobcats pulled to within two with another two spot in the top of the seventh.
However, that was as close as Texas State would get as Griffin gave the Bears some insurance with the solo homer, his seventh round-tripper of the season, in the eighth. Abe Woody pitched the ninth for his 10th save of the season.
Baylor starter Jeff Mandel (2-0) earned the victory, allowing two runs on five hits with one strikeout in 5.0 innings. Andy Pape, Randall Linebaugh and Tyler Bullock pitched the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, respectively.
Texas State starter Steve Siers (2-2) was touched for five runs on eight hits and two walks with one strikeout in 4.0-plus innings, facing one batter in the fifth.
Griffin finished 3-for-5 and scored three times. Reynolds was 2-for-3 with two RBI. Chase Gerdes added three hits, and Dillon and Kevin Russo had two hits each.
Baylor returns to action this weekend, hosting Missouri for the season's final Big 12 Conference series at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears and the Tigers meet Friday at 7 p.m. CDT, Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Baylor enters the series atop the Big 12 standings with a two-game lead on Nebraska, which hosts Kansas State this weekend.
NOTES: Baylor leads the all-time series 33-14 with a 27-11 advantage in games played in Waco. The Bears are 19-9 against the Bobcats under head coach Steve Smith. ... Baylor improves to 3-1 in games started by Mandel. ... The Bears are 7-7 in midweek games, 6-6 on Tuesday. ... Baylor improves to 29-5 when scoring at least four runs and 22-2 when scoring at least five runs. ... The Bears are 27-4 when scoring first and 10-2 when scoring in the first inning. ... Baylor improves to 10-1 when leading after one inning, 14-4 after two, 17-3 after three, 19-3 after four, 21-1 after five, 28-1 after six and 29-1 after seven innings or later. ... The Bears are 19-8 at Baylor Ballpark this season. ... Josh Ford extended his hitting streak to six games; Dillon (five games) and Griffin (five games) also extended streaks. ... Woody's 10th save of the season ties Jason Jennings' 1997 total for fourth all-time at Baylor. ... Griffin played his 242nd career game Tuesday, tying Matt Williams (1998-01) for first in Baylor history. ... Griffin's triple was the 14th of his career, moving into sole possession of eighth place all-time at Baylor. He had gone 117 consecutive games without a triple and now has one in each of his last two games. ... Woody made his 80th career relief appearance, moving into sole possession of third place all-time at Baylor. He also registered his 18th career save, tying Kyle Edens (1999-02) for second in Baylor history.
