Baylor
UT Arlington
Five Pitchers Lead Baseball Past UTA, 6-1
3/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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WACO, Texas - Five Baylor pitchers combined to hold UT Arlington to seven hits, and the Bears' offense used a four-run fourth inning to knock off the Mavericks 6-1 on Tuesday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark.
With the win, Baylor (14-7) improved to 7-0 this season following a loss. The Bears have not lost consecutive regular-season games since May 1-2, 2010 when Baylor lost two straight games at Texas.
UTA (12-9) jumped out to an early lead when Brian Nephew took advantage of the wind that was gusting to 34 miles-per-hour and hit what looked like a routine fly ball over the left-field fence for a 1-0 lead.
Baylor starting pitcher Jon Ringenberg (2-0) allowed a single after Nephew's home run, but he picked that runner off and allowed only one more baserunner over the next two innings. He earned the win in a predetermined short start, allowing one run on three hits in 4.0 innings to improve to 9-0 in his four-year Baylor career.
"They all threw strikes and just didn't walk anybody," head coach Steve Smith said. "The run Jon gave up was a 3-2 changeup and he got it up a little bit. But any other day, that's not going to leave the park."
The Bears answered with a run in the third against UTA starter Calan Pritchard. Landis Ware reached on a one-out error, Brooks Pinckard laid down his 11th bunt single of the season, and after both runners moved up on a double steal, Max Muncy tied the game with a sacrifice fly to the wall in center field.
Pritchard (1-1) escaped that inning without further damage, but the Bears got to him for four runs in his next trip to the mound. He took the loss after allowing four runs on four hits with two walks in 3.0 innings.
Josh Ludy drew a leadoff walk in the fourth, and Joey Hainsfurther followed with a RBI triple that proved to be the game-winning hit. Chris Slater singled Hainsfurther home and brought Michael Oberto on from the bullpen. Jake Miller singled, Cal Towey brought Slater around to score with a RBI single and Ware's sacrifice fly brought Miller home to give the Bears a 5-1 lead.
Slater went 3-for-4 with two doubles, one RBI and one run scored, while Pinckard went 2-for-4 with a run scored and two stolen bases. Nephew had three of UTA's seven hits, including the Mavericks' only extra-base hit.
Baylor put the final run on the board in the sixth when Pinckard hit a two-out single, stole second base and came around to score when the throw to get him at second went into center field.
"Pinckard brings it every game," Smith said. "He's one of the guys that you don't have to flip a coin. You know what you're going to get. Sometimes you get things you don't even expect, like him scoring on that. That's really incredible. We just need more guys to kind of bring their game on a more consistent basis like he's been doing."
Freshman Brad Kuntz came on in relief of Ringenberg and allowed only a single in 2.0 shutout innings. Tyler Bremer also allowed only a single in 2.0 innings of shutout relief, and Kolt Browder and Max Garner combined on a scoreless ninth to close out the win. It was the first time Baylor pitchers didn't issue a walk in a game since April 20 against Sam Houston State.
The Bears return to action this weekend when they host Kansas State for a three-game series. First pitch in Friday's series opener is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
