April 9, 2002
WACO, Texas - Tuesday night was an evening of firsts for Baylor as the 17th-ranked Bears beat Southwest Texas 12-4 at Baylor Ballpark.
Freshman catcher Josh Ford connected on his first collegiate home run as part of a six-run Baylor fourth inning that put the Bears (23-12) up by eight runs after Southwest Texas (22-15) had cut the lead to 5-3 in the top of the inning.
After starter Justin Taylor (6-1) went 7 2/3 innings for the win, relievers Justin Spooner and Ryan Bennett made their first appearances of the season. Spooner, a senior, struck out the only batter he faced in the eighth to strand two runners, while Bennett, a freshman, pitched a scoreless ninth to close out the game.
Like Bennett, outfielder Reid Brees also made his collegiate debut Tuesday night, pinch-hitting in the seventh inning.
Baylor knocked out SWT starter Paul Schappert (2-6) in the second inning. After scoring a single run in the first, the Bears pinned four runs on Schappert in the second. Reliever Michael Gultz escaped the frame with no more runs scoring, but then allowed six unearned runs in the fourth inning. A two-run, pinch-hit triple by David Murphy and Ford's two-run homer were the big hits in in the inning.
Bobcat reliever Brandon Hankins shut down the Baylor offense for 2 1/3 innings, allowing only one hit, but the Bears pushed across one final run in the seventh off former Baylor pitcher Dickie Gonzalez. With two outs, Trey Webb and Chris Durbin hit back-to-back doubles off the senior lefty, who redshirted in 1998 at Baylor before transferring to SWT.
Making his collegiate debut in the ninth, Bennett loaded the bases with nobody out on two singles and a walk. The freshman righty got out of the jam by inducing a 1-2-3 double play that forced the runner at home and then getting a pop-out to second for the final out of the game.
Michael Griffin extended his hitting streak to 12 games, tops on the team this season, and Mike Huggins pushed his hitting streak to 10 straight games, second-best on the squad this year.
Baylor continues non-conference play Wednesday against UT-San Antonio. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Baylor Ballpark, with freshman Sean Walker starting for the Bears against UTSA's Aaron Rodriguez.
