WACO, TEXAS (May 1, 2008) Shaver Hansen was 4-for-5 with three doubles and four RBI, while Raynor Campbell and Beamer Weems both homered as Baylor defeated Sam Houston State 14-4 in eight innings Wednesday night at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears (27-20) have won three straight games, out-scoring their opponents 36-11 in those three games.
Sam Houston State (27-19) opened the game with four consecutive extra-base hits, chasing Baylor starter Wade Mackey from the game after only 10 pitches. Todd Sebek doubled, and Keith Stein followed with his eighth home run of the season. Bobby Verbick and Seth Hammock, who spent his first two collegiate seasons at Baylor, doubled consecutively to put runners at second and third with no outs.
However, Craig Fritsch spelled Mackey and struck out the next three batters to get out of the jam. Fritsch was dominant the rest of the way, allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits and no walks with 10 strikeouts. The strikeout total was a career high and a Baylor Ballpark record for strikeouts in relief.
Baylor was quick to answer Sam Houston State’s two-run first as the Bears scored three runs on three doubles and a Bearkat error in the bottom of the inning. Hansen doubled to open the frame, moved to second on Weems’ sacrifice bunt and scored on Dustin Dickerson’s groundout. Adam Hornung then reached on an error, and Aaron Miller and Campbell followed with consecutive doubles to give the Bears a 3-2 lead.
After Sam Houston State got an unearned run in the top of the second, Campbell blasted a three-run homer in the bottom of the third to put the Bears back in the lead at 6-3. Baylor never trailed again.
Weems blasted a two-run homer in the fourth to push Baylor’s lead to 8-3. Verbick led off the fifth with a triple and scored on Hammock’s sacrifice fly, but that was the last offense on the night for the Bearkats. Sebek’s bunt single in the seventh was Sam Houston State’s only hit after Sebek’s fifth-inning triple. Fritsch retired the final 10 batters he faced before giving way to Erik Forestiere, who pitched a perfect eighth.
Hansen had a three-run double in the bottom of the fifth; he added an RBI double and scored on a wild pitch in the seventh. In the eighth, Ben Booker fell behind 0-2 before doubling into the left-field corner on the 11th pitch of the at bat. Jon Ringenberg followed with a pinch-hit RBI single up the middle, invoking the 10-run mercy rule.
Sam Houston State starter Will Skelton (3-4) took the loss. He allowed five runs, two earned, on five hits and a walk with no strikeouts over 2.0-plus innings, facing two batters in the third. The Bearkats used six pitchers on the night, five of which allowed at least one run.
Campbell and Gregg Glime both turned in three-hit nights, while Booker doubled twice and was one of four players with two runs twice. Hansen scored three times.
Baylor returns to action this weekend, facing Texas in the annual split-series. The Bears and the Longhorns meet Friday for a 6:30 p.m. CDT first pitch at Baylor Ballpark. The series then shifts to UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin for games Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. Saturday’s game will be televised nationally on FSN, while Sunday’s game will be televised on Fox College Sports Central.
NOTES: Baylor leads the all-time series 56-37, including a 9-2 advantage in head coach Steve Smith’s tenure. While this is the ninth most-played series in Baylor baseball history, the teams have met just twice since 1999. … Baylor improved to 6-1 against Southland Conference opponents this season. … Booker (six games), Campbell (six games), Hansen (four games), Dickerson (three games), Hornung (three games), Miller (three games), Weems (three games) all extended hitting streaks. … Hornung has hit safely in 12 consecutive non-conference games. … Hansen set a career high with three doubles. … Glime tied his career high with three hits. … Campbell tied his career high with four RBI. … This was the sixth consecutive week in which Baylor played two midweek games. It was the first time since the first of those six weeks that the Bears won both midweek games.
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