May 14, 2002
Box Score
WACO, Texas - An aggressive Baylor offense doubled Houston's hit total Tuesday night, but it wasn't enough as 10th-ranked Houston held on to beat the 17th-ranked Bears 5-4 here.
Houston (38-14) got a strong start from sophomore pitcher Danny Zell (6-0). He held the Bears (34-19) scoreless through six innings while scattering six hits and walking none.
The Cougars got to Baylor starter Steven White (5-3) early. They scored two unearned runs in the top half of the first after a Trey Webb fielding error. Houston shortstop Jesse Crain followed Webb's misplay with a single to right to give the Cougars an early 2-0 lead.
Houston extended its lead in the second when Hyung Cho hit a solo home run over the left field wall to make it 3-0. Houston tacked on two more in the third when designated hitter Thanos Papavasiliou connected on a White offering for his first home run of the year, a two-run shot to left that upped the Houston lead to 5-0.
After the third inning, White settled in, giving up just one hit during the middle innings, and the Bears clawed back into the game.
Junior Paul Thorp relieved White midway through the seventh and pitched a flawless 2 1/3 innings. The junior allowed no hits or walks and struck out three.
Chris Durbin led off the bottom of the seventh with a double to right and David Murphy followed with a single to right that put runners on the corners. Two batters later, Josh Ford hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Durbin, and Eric Errante followed with a double that scored Murphy and cutt the deficit to 5-2.
The Bears made it interesting in the ninth. After two outs, Michael Griffin beat out and infield single and advanced to second on a throwing error, keeping Baylor's hopes alive. Paul Richmond followed with a pinch-hit double to left, scoring Griffin. Crane, the Houston closer, came in from shortstop to take the mound and gave up a pinch-hit double to Ross Bennett, scoring Richmond and cutting the lead to 5-4. Crain finally closed the door, picking up his eighth save by getting Webb to pop out to second base to end the game.
White lasted 6 2/3 innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on six hits. He struck out a season-high nine batters, one shy of his career high of 10. The outing was his longest since an eight-inning stint against Oklahoma on March 29.
The win for Houston completes a three-game sweep this season against Baylor. The Cougars won 3-2 at Astros Field in Houston and prevailed 10-4 at Cougar Field on the UH campus, both in February.
The Bears concluded their home season by going 25-6 at Baylor Ballpark, among the best records in school history. The team will conclude its regular season by traveling to Lubbock, Texas for a three-game series with Texas Tech. First pitch for the series opener is set for 7 p.m. on Friday.
