Baseball Posts 2-1 Win vs. Lamar

Tuesday, April 3

Waco, Texas

6:35 PM

Baylor

14-13

Lamar

6-23

Lamar

Baylor

Baseball Posts 2-1 Win vs. Lamar

4/3/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

April 3, 2018

Final Stats

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

ÃƒÆ'Ã†'Ãƒ € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹After losing four in a row and seven of its last 10, the Baylor baseball team just needed something good to happen to turn things around.

ÃƒÆ'Ã†'Ãƒ € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹Good fortune came the Bears' way in the sixth inning of Tuesday's game against Lamar, when Shea Langeliers reached on a throwing error by catcher Rhett McCall off a swinging third strike in the dirt.

ÃƒÆ'Ã†'Ãƒ € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹With the door opened ever so slightly, freshman Davion Downey came through with a bases-loaded, two-run double just inside the first-base bag as the Bears (14-13) ended their four-game skid and defeated the visiting Cardinals, 2-1, at Baylor Ballpark.

ÃƒÆ'Ã†'Ãƒ € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹"We never apologize for any wins," coach Steve Rodriguez said. "We play really hard, and sometimes we don't win and sometimes we have to take advantage of another team's mistakes. And that's what we did tonight. Little things like that can really propel a team, and that's what I'm hoping for."

ÃƒÆ'Ã†'Ãƒ € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹Downey, who had fouled out to the third baseman on a sacrifice bunt attempt in the fifth, got a chance to redeem himself the very next inning with the bases loaded and two out.

ÃƒÆ'Ã†'Ãƒ € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹"That's what's great about baseball is you're going to get another at-bat, you're going to get another chance, you're going to be able to go and continue to fight and redeem yourself," Rodriguez said. "They know that later on in the game, sometimes those at-bats are going to be big. And it was for him tonight."

ÃƒÆ'Ã†'Ãƒ € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹Frustrated for not getting the bunt down in the fifth that would have put a runner at third base with one out, Downey said, "Coming through with the bases loaded and getting a double to put us up, it was just huge and got our momentum going from there."

ÃƒÆ'Ã†'Ãƒ € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹It was one of the few openings the Bears had against Lamar starter Jace Campbell (0-5), a hard-luck loser who was the Cardinals' Friday night starter at the beginning of the season. He had a three-hit shutout through 5 2/3 innings and would have gotten out of the sixth if McCall hadn't overthrown first base on Langeliers' strikeout.

ÃƒÆ'Ã†'Ãƒ € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹"I've seen better days with the hitting," said junior reliever Kyle Hill (3-1), who pitched three shutout winnings to get his third win of the year. "But, I know we have tons of talent and it's going to come around, I know for sure. . . . You just have to find a way to win, it doesn't matter if you earn (the runs) or not. Whoever has more runs wins the game, and that's all that matters."

ÃƒÆ'Ã†'Ãƒ € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹Pushed into an emergency start at Oklahoma five days earlier when Cody Bradford suffered an injury in practice the day before, Hill gave up three runs on seven hits and three walks in 3.2 innings in a 4-2 loss to the Sooners in the series opener.

ÃƒÆ'Ã†'Ãƒ € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹"I found out (I was starting) six hours before the game, which is not an excuse. I'm still supposed to go out there and pitch like I know how to pitch," Hill said. "Unfortunately, it didn't fall in my favor. . . . I feel like when I start, I think a lot more. Tonight, coming out of the bullpen, I came out and I just threw, got outs and we won the game."

ÃƒÆ'Ã†'Ãƒ € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹Including Hill's sterling relief effort, the Baylor bullpen gave up just one earned run in 11 innings over the last two days.

ÃƒÆ'Ã†'Ãƒ € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹Senior closer Troy Montemayor got the last four outs to record his seventh save of the season and 33rd of his career, leaving him four shy of the school record set by Zane Carlson (37, 2000-04). After Ryan Lekich issued back-to-back two-out walks in the eighth, Montemayor got Secrest on a groundout to second and then worked a 1-2-3 ninth to shut the door on the Cardinals (6-23).

ÃƒÆ'Ã†'Ãƒ € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹"I thought our bullpen did a great job in stepping up and really competing the way they did against Oklahoma and then being able to come through these past two games the way they have," Rodriguez said. "I've been really happy with them." ÃƒÆ'Ã†'Ãƒ € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹

After picking up their first win since blowing out Prairie View A&M, 17-5, on March 27, the Bears will go back into conference play for a series at Texas (17-12, 6-3) this weekend in Austin. Game times are 6:30 p.m. Friday, 2:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.

ÃƒÆ'Ã†'Ãƒ € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Ã†' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹"Even today, I don't think we played our best game," Hill said, "but I could see the intensity in the dugout, the fire in the guys, just the way we played. We came out ready to play today, and I think we're going to take that into the Texas series this weekend."

THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas -- Baylor baseball notched a 2-1 win vs. Lamar on Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears (14-13) only scored in one inning but it was all they needed to top the Cardinals (6-23).

Trailing 1-0 after the fourth, BU caught a break in the sixth as Shea Langeliers struck out swinging with two outs on a pitch in the dirt but the throw to first was offline. Capitalizing on the mistake, Davis Wendzel singled, Andy Thomas walked and Davion Downey hit a two-run double to put the Bears ahead.

From there, reliever Kyle Hill posted three shutout innings, taking over for starter Tyler Thomas, who tossed four one-run frames. Ryan Leckich got the first two outs of the eighth but then walked the next two, forcing BU to bring in Troy Montemayor. The closer needed two pitches to get out of the jam and shut the door in the ninth for his seventh save.

Hill (3-1) earned the win while Lamar starter Jace Campbell (0-5) took the loss, giving up two unearned runs on five hits and one walk with four strikeouts in six innings.

NOTES
*Baylor is 21-10 in midweek games under third-year head coach Steve Rodriguez with a 14-9 home mark and 7-1 road record. BU is 4-2 in 2018 (2-2 at home, 2-0 on road).

*Baylor has finished its home schedule with a .500 record or better (11-5 in 2018) in all 19 seasons at Baylor Ballpark (since 1999) and is 427-198 all-time at the park.

*Troy Montemayor earned his 33rd career save (seventh of the season). He is now within five of topping Baylor's all-time career saves leader Zane Carlson (37, 2000-04). He converted his first eight career save attempts in 2016, and after blowing his ninth try, converted 12 straight before blowing his 22nd attempt. He has converted 24 of his last 25 save tries and 13 straight. He is 33-for-35 in career save chances.

*Tyler Thomas tied a career high with five strikeouts.

*Kyle Hill tied a career high with his third win of the season.

*Davis Wendzel has reached base in 16 straight games.

*Cole Haring has an eight-game hitting streak as he posted his seventh multi-hit game of the season (2).

*Davion Downey had his fourth multi-RBI game of the season (2).

STAT OF THE GAME
4 -- The amount of runners that reached base in the Baylor sixth with two outs.

QUOTE OF THE GAME
"Wins are always good. It's like I told our guys, we never apologize for any wins. We play really hard and sometimes we don't win and sometimes we have to take advantage of another person's mistakes, and that is what we did tonight. Little things like that can really propel a team and that's what I'm hoping for. There is definitely not a lack of effort coming from our guys right now. They're in the cages, they're looking at video, they're wanting to get it right and they're coming in and trying to see what's going on. Sometimes it's just those weird things that happen in baseball. There is really no rhyme or reason, it's just really unlucky, timing is off, whatever it is. Tomorrow, we're going to come out and we're going to have a great practice, going to have kind of an individual deal where we are just helping guys and just let them hit. Hopefully we can take it over into the weekend against Texas." -- Baylor Head Coach Steve Rodriguez

WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears travel to Austin to face Texas on Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT, Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. For tickets to home games, visit: http://www.baylorbears.com/tickets/. For updates on the program follow @baylorbaseball on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

-BU-