April 24, 2009
Box Score | Quotes | 
WACO, Texas -- Ryan Duke struck out Brooks Kimmey with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning to close the game as 13th-ranked Oklahoma edged ninth-ranked Baylor 4-2 in Friday night's Big 12 Conference series opener at Baylor Ballpark. Baylor (25-15, 10-9) has lost four straight, while Oklahoma (31-10, 9-7) snapped a four-game conference skid.
Oklahoma loaded the bases with one out and the score tied 2-2 in the top of the ninth. Kendal Volz then struck out Matt Harughty looking and worked the count to 2-2 on Jamie Johnson. Volz recorded his 10th strikeout of the game on the next pitch, getting Johnson to chase a slider in the dirt off the plate away. However, the pitch skipped away, allowing J.T. Wise to score from third. Baylor catcher Gregg Glime tried to get Johnson at first base, but Glime's throw hit Johnson in the back and ricocheted into the field of play, allowing Garrett Buechele to score from second.
Despite the odd play in the top of the inning, the Bears loaded the bases in the bottom of the frame. Dan Evatt and Joey Hainsfurther had consecutive singles to open the inning and later advanced one base each when Josh Ludy drew a two-out walk. Kimmey fell behind 1-2 but worked the count full before swinging through Duke's full-count offering.
That made a winner of Oklahoma starter Andrew Doyle (6-3), who allowed two runs on six hits and no walks with six strikeouts over 8.0 innings. Duke worked around two hits and a walk with two strikeouts in the ninth inning for his ninth save of the season.
Volz (3-4) was saddled with the tough-luck loss. He allowed four runs - three earned - on seven hits and two walks with 10 strikeouts in his first-career complete game. Volz reached double figures in strikeouts for the fourth time in his career and for the first time since a 12-strikeout performance against Kansas last season. He became the first Baylor pitcher to lose a complete game since Ryan LaMotta's eight-inning, complete-game loss at Texas A&M in 2006.
Johnson led off the game with a double to right-center and later scored on a Bryant Hernandez one-out, two-run homer over the right corner of batter's eye.
Baylor got on the board in the fourth when Shaver Hansen singled with one out, moved to third on Aaron Miller's single and scored on Evatt's RBI groundout. Glime tied the game in the fifth, blasting a solo homer down the right-field line; it was the first round-tripper of his career. The Bears have homered in 13 consecutive games, breaking the previous mark of 12 consecutive games established on four different occasions.
Miller extended his hitting streak to 15 games. It is his second streak of at least 15 games this season; he earlier had a career-long 17 game streak. Hansen and Evatt both had two-hit nights.
Baylor and Oklahoma continue the series Saturday with a 1 p.m. CDT first pitch at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears send southpaw Aaron Miller (3-1, 3.05 ERA) to the mound. The Sooners counter with right-hander Garrett Richards (5-1, 6.81 ERA). Saturday's game will be televised nationally on FSN.
NOTES: Baylor leads the all-time series 32-29, including a 21-11 advantage in games played in Waco. The Bears are 21-18 against Oklahoma during the Big 12 era, including a 19-18 edge in regular-season meetings. Baylor is 22-23 against Oklahoma during head coach Steve Smith's tenure. ... Friday's loss marked Baylor's first loss to Oklahoma at home in a series opener since 1997, the first year of the Big 12. ... Friday's game marked the 21st time in the last 25 regular-season meetings between Baylor and Oklahoma that the game was decided by three or fewer runs. ... Volz passed the 200.0-career innings plateau during the game. ... Evatt (three games), Hainsfurther (three games) and Hansen (three games) all extended hitting streaks. Miller also extended his Big 12 hitting streak to nine games. ... Dustin Dickerson was 0-for-4 on the night, snapping his 16-game hitting streak in Big 12 play. It was the longest conference hitting streak in the league this year and the fifth-longest in Baylor history.
