March 5, 2016 Final Stats
THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢' ¬" Baylor baseball lost a 10-4 decision at No. 21 Houston to even the weekend, three-game series on Saturday night at Schroeder Park. The Bears (6-4) overcame an early 4-0 deficit but the Cougars (5-5) kept the runs coming with BU unable to answer.
A sloppy first inning put Baylor down 4-0 right away as a leadoff walk issued by starter Drew Tolson was a sign of things to come. After a wild pitch, strikeout, single and walk to load the bases, Clay Casey roped a two-run single through the left side. Then a strikeout on the next play led to two more runs as UH sent the runners on the pitch and the throw to third was wild, letting both runners score for a 4-0 Houston lead.
Like Baylor has done most of the season early on, it didn't give up. In the third, the Bears had a rally of their own with some help. Justin Arrington led off with a double, Steven McLean walked and Levi Gilcrease singled home Arrington. After a bunt by Richard Cunningham caused a UH error to load the bases, Matt Menard grounded a sharp ball that was deflected by the pitcher for a run-scoring out at first. Darryn Sheppard followed with an RBI grounder that was mishandled at shortstop and Aaron Dodson capped the inning with a game-tying sac fly to right.
Unfortunately, Houston answered right away in the bottom half of the third with three straight hits. The go-ahead hit that proved to be the game-winner was a two-run triple by Justin Montemayor. Zac Taylor then scored Montemayor on a ground out for a 7-4 lead.
UH created more separation with a Connor Wong solo homer in the fourth, Jacob Campbell sac fly in the sixth and Michael Pyeatt RBI triple in the sixth to make it a 10-4 UH lead that stood.
UH starter John King (2-1) earned the win after allowing four runs (one earned) on five hits and one walk with six strikeouts in six innings. Nick Hernandez picked up a save by finishing the last three innings in relief. Tolson (1-1) took the loss, giving up eight runs (six earned) on seven hits and two walks with six strikeouts in five innings.
NOTES
*Baylor first five-game winning streak since 2013 came to an end.
*Dating back to last season, Baylor's first four-game road winning streak since 2012 came to an end.
*Baylor leads the all-time series against Houston 88-66 and 41-29 in Houston.
*Baylor is 195-289-1 all-time against opponents ranked by Baseball America, 30-37 since 2011 and 1-1 this season.
*Steve Rodriguez is 4-2 all-time against Houston as a head coach and 1-1 at Baylor.
*Baylor is 2-1 on its four-game road trip.
*Richard Cunningham has a 10-game on-base streak and three-game hitting streak, and stole his first collegiate base.
*Josh Bissonette's eight-game on-base streak came to an end.
*Levi Gilcrease has a four-game hitting streak.
*Justin Arrington has a three-game hitting streak.
*Steven McLean has a three-game on-base streak and stole his third base of the season as he posted his team-high-tying third multi-hit game of the season, tying a career high with two hits.
STAT OF THE GAME
5 ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢' ¬" The amount of runners each team left on base and the amount of combined errors in the game.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
"We just didn't play all that well. You have to tip your hat off to Houston ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢' ¬" they hit the ball well today. They put pressure on us. We just have to come back tomorrow and do a better job." ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢' ¬" Baylor head coach Steve Rodriguez
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor finishes its three-game series at Houston this weekend with a 1 p.m. CT tilt Sunday. BU will throw RHP Nick Lewis (0-1, 2.38 ERA) as UH will go with LHP Seth Romero (first appearance in 2016) in the series rubber match.
-BU-
