Baylor
Illinois-Chicago
Baseball Wins Sixth Straight, 10-1
3/13/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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WACO, Texas - Chris Slater's two-run homer in the sixth inning broke a 1-1 tie, and Baylor added on seven runs in the late innings to knock off Illinois-Chicago, 10-1, Saturday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark.
With the win, Baylor (10-6) extended its winning streak to six games - the Bears' longest since starting the 2008 season with seven straight victories.
Logan Verrett (2-2) earned the win for the Bears. He allowed one run in the first inning, but settled down and kept Illinois-Chicago (2-10) off the board over the next five frames.
Chris Rutta knocked in Jason Ganek with a RBI single in the first to give UIC an early lead, but the Bears responded with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning.
Brooks Pinckard reached on a bunt single - extending his career-best hitting streak to 11 games - and Joey Hainsfurther tied the game with a RBI double.
Neither team would score again until Slater's two-out, two-run homer gave Baylor a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth.
UIC starting pitcher Michael Heesch (1-2) took the loss after allowing three runs on six hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 6.0 innings.
Verrett went back out to work the seventh, but he allowed a leadoff single and walked a batter to put the potential tying run on base, and Craig Fritsch was called in from the bullpen.
After a sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position, Fritsch struck out Steve McGuiggen and got an inning-ending grounder from Ganek to escape the jam with the Bears still holding their two-run advantage.
Verrett allowed one run on six hits with three walks and eight strikeouts in 6.0 innings. Fritsch earned the save, holding the Flames scoreless on three hits with three strikeouts over the last 3.0 innings.
The Bears broke the game open with four runs off of reliever Matt Salemi in the seventh. Jake Miller singled and Logan Vick and Pinckard drew walks to load the bases. Hainsfurther brought in two runs with a single, Raynor Campbell added a RBI single, and Hainsfurther came home to score on a wild pitch, giving Baylor a 7-1 lead.
Two hits and a hit batter loaded the bases for the Flames in the eighth, but Fritsch again escaped the inning without allowing any runs to score, and the Bears added three more runs in the bottom half.
Gregg Glime doubled, Tyler Collins drew a walk, and Vick knocked a RBI double. Pinckard and Hainsfurther followed with consecutive RBI singles, giving the Bears a 10-1 lead.
Hainsfurther finished 4-for-5 with two runs and four RBI. It was his second four-hit game of the season, and he is the only Bear with more than three hits in a game this year.
Slater went 2-for-3 with a run and two RBI, Pinckard went 2-for-4 and scored twice, and Miller had the first multi-hit game of his career, going 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Fritsch worked around a two-out walk and a double in the ninth to earn the save. He stranded seven UIC baserunners over the final three innings.
Baylor and UIC meet for the series finale Sunday at noon at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears will go for their first three-game sweep in a non-conference series since March 10, 2008, when they completed a sweep at Mississippi State.
