Baylor
Dallas Baptist
Stone Throws Baseball to 9-2 Win Over DBU
6/3/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
 2 DBU (41-18) Rank: NR |
| Quotes | Photo Gallery Waco, Texas • Attendance: 3,801 |  9BAYLOR (47-15) Rank: #5 |
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June 3, 2012
WACO, Texas - Baylor freshman Austin Stone carried a no-hitter through 5.1 innings, and the Bears' offense did enough early damage to lead BU to a 9-2 win over Dallas Baptist in Sunday night's NCAA Waco Regional game at Baylor Ballpark.
With the win, Baylor (47-15) forced a winner-take-all championship game at 6:30 p.m. Monday. Dallas Baptist (41-18) will be home the team, but the Bears will be playing in front of their home crowd. Baylor's win against DBU was its second of the day, as the Bears stayed alive with a 5-2 win over Oral Roberts in an elimination game Sunday afternoon.
Stone (3-1) pitched a career-long 5.2 innings and allowed one run on two hits with three strikeouts in his first start since April 24. Ryan Smith worked 1.1 innings of relief, and Trent Blank came on to close out the game with 2.0 innings of shutout relief.
"I was really, really proud of Austin Stone in the way that he went out and just pitched," head coach Steve Smith said. "He executed pitches, had composure, and did everything and more that the team could possibly hope for."
Dan Evatt hit a two-run homer in the third inning, then robbed Boomer Collins of a solo homer in the third inning with a highlight-reel leaping catch over the left-field wall.
Evatt's homer was one of three for the Bears, as Max Muncy and Cal Towey hit solo shots in the eighth inning, and Baylor also stole five bases in the game. Nathan Orf reached base safely five times, going 3-for-4 with two walks and a stolen base out of the leadoff spot in the lineup.
Stone needed 15 or fewer pitches in each of his first five innings before Austin Elkins broke up the no-hit bid with a sharp grounder that just skipped under Muncy's glove and down the right-field line for a double. Ronnie Mitchell followed with a RBI double to get DBU on the board, but the Bears escaped the inning without further damage.
Baylor jumped out to an early lead with one run in each of the first two innings and a four-run outburst in the third. Orf led off the first with a walk, and Josh Ludy drove him home with a groundout. Adam Toth added a two-out RBI single in the second.
Evatt's home in the third was followed by a pair of two-out singles by Lawton Langford and Jake Miller, and after Miller stole second base, Toth reached on an error by Kenny Hatcher that allowed two more runs to score to stake Stone to a 6-0 lead.
"Offensively our guys were hooked up from the get go," Smith said. "All in all this was a very hard-fought day, and I am proud of the guys."
DBU added a run in the seventh, but Smith limited the damage to just one run, and Vick's RBI double in the bottom half moved the Bears' lead back to five runs at 7-2.
Dallas Baptist freshman Jay Calhoun (3-3) took the loss after allowing six runs on six hits in 2.2 innings. Reliever Jake Johansen allowed three runs on six hits in 4.2 innings, and six different Patriots hitters had one hit apiece.
Neither team has announced a starting pitcher for Monday's game. Tickets can be purchased for as little as $6, and fans not in attendance can watch a free live web stream at www.baylorbears.com/wacoregional.
