April 13, 2002

Box Score

WACO, Texas - After a nailbiting 6-5 victory Friday night, 17th-ranked Baylor scored eight runs in the first inning Saturday afternoon and coasted to an 11-5 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Baylor Ballpark.

Baylor (26-12) and TAMU-CC (16-24) waited out an hour-and-28-minute rain delay before starting the game. Baylor starter Jared Theodorakos (3-2) struck out the side in the top of the first inning before the Bears jumped all over TAMU-CC starter Carlos Esquer (4-4) in the bottom of the frame.

Trey Webb, Tim Hartshorn and Chris Durbin greeted Esquer with three straight singles to open the game. Jared Clements made Baylor's first out on a sacrifice fly that drove in run number three. After another single and a hit batsman, David Murphy blasted the first of his two home runs on the day, a three-run shot that made the score 7-0 and knocked Esquer from the game. The Islander starter's line on the day: 1/3 inning pitched, five hits, seven runs (all earned), one walk, no strikeouts, a wild pitch, a balk and a hit batsman.

Trey Webb added a solo home run later in the first inning off reliever Kevin Groeschke before the Islanders could escape the frame, trailing 8-0.

Theodorakos, meanwhile, was cruising through another excellent performance. For the second straight outing, the junior lefty tied his career high with 11 strikeouts. Theodorakos went seven innings, allowing seven hits along with just one walk and one run.

Baylor added single runs in the fifth (on Josh Ford's solo home run, his second of the year), sixth (Huggins' sacrifice fly) and seventh innings (Murphy's second home run of the day, a solo shot).

TAMU-CC batted around in the eighth, scoring four runs to cut the lead to 11-5. Three walks (helped by a suddenly-squeezed strike zone) and two singles led to four runs off reliever Cody Hall, who did not record an out before giving way to Sean Walker. Walker gave up a single and a walk before striking out the final batter of the inning. The freshman pitcher added two more strikeouts in the ninth to close out the game.

Murphy's two home runs marked the first time a Bear has hit two in a game since Chris Durbin knocked out a pair against Texas on April 22, 2001. The sophomore right fielder matched his career-high with four RBI.

Trey Webb added three hits and was one of five Bears with multiple hits on the day. Webb, Hartshorn, Ford and Murphy each scored two runs.

Islander shortstop Roberto Santana led all hitters with four hits, he scored once and drove in one run.

Michael Griffin extended his hitting streak to 15 straight games with a first-inning single. That streak is tops on the team this year and eighth-best in school history. Huggins, however, saw his career-high 12 game streak snapped.

Baylor will look for the series sweep Sunday at 2 p.m.