March 11, 2008
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TULSA, Okla. -- A wild pitch and an error on the same pitch led to a pair of runs as No. 10 Baylor baseball dropped a 7-6 decision Tuesday at Oral Roberts. It was the first one-run loss of the season for Baylor (11-2) in eight such games. The loss also snapped Baylor's three-game road winning streak.
Trailing 6-5 with two outs and a runner at first in the bottom of the eighth, Oral Roberts (9-2) got a single from pinch hitter Kolby Price to put runners on the corners, and a wild pitch allowed Price to reach second. Craig Fritsch's pay-off pitch to Juan Martinez missed low and away and skipped off the shin guard of a sliding Gregg Glime, allowing David Genao to race home from third. Glime chased down the ball and flipped to Fritsch at the plate in an attempt to get Genao, but Glime's throw was high and that allowed Price to score the winning run.
That made a winner Carlos Luna (3-0), who held Baylor scoreless with one strikeout over 0.2 innings of relief work; he was the fifth of six pitchers on the night for Oral Roberts. T.J. Kelly allowed a two-out walk in a scoreless ninth for his second save of the season.
Fritsch (1-1) took the loss, allowing two runs, one earned, on two hits and one walk with three strikeouts over 1.2 innings. The loss spoiled a strong start from Tim Matthews, who allowed only a pair of unearned runs on three hits and a walk with five strikeouts over 6.0 innings.
Baylor led 5-0 after the top of the sixth. The Bears got a run in the first on Adam Hornung's sacrifice fly and added three runs on three hits and an Oral Roberts error in the third. Shaver Hansen pushed the Bears lead to 5-0 with an RBI single in the sixth.
However, ORU battled back with a pair of unearned runs on two hits and a Baylor error in the sixth. Reliever Erik Forestiere allowed three consecutive hits to start the seventh, all of which eventually scored to tie the game at 5-5. Gregg Glime's RBI single in the top of the eighth gave Baylor a 6-5 lead, but the Bears stranded runners at second and third.
Hansen finished 4-for-4 on the night; it was the fourth game of his career with at least four hits.
Baylor and Oral Roberts conclude their two-game midweek set Wednesday at 3 p.m. CDT. The Bears send right-hander Wade Mackey (2-0, 1.54 ERA) to the mound, while the Golden Eagles are expected to start right-hander Stephen Barnes (0-0, 0.00 ERA).
NOTES: Baylor leads the all-time series 16-15, including an 8-5 advantage during head coach Steve Smith's tenure. Oral Roberts leads the series 5-4 in games played at Tulsa. ... Hansen (eight games), Hornung (six games), Dustin Dickerson (six games) and Aaron Miller (five games) all extended hitting streaks.
