April 6, 2003
Box Score
WACO, Texas - Justin Simmons held 10th-ranked Baylor to three hits and eight innings as 12th-ranked Texas completed the weekend sweep of the Bears, winning Sunday 11-3 at Baylor Ballpark.
Simmons (3-4), a first-team all-American a year ago, had struggled early this season but looked strong Sunday against Baylor (23-12, 6-6 Big 12). The Longhorns (25-11, 9-3 Big 12) swept Baylor at home for the first time since 1983.
Trey Taylor (1-3) started on the mound for Baylor, but for the fourth time in his last five starts, did not last five innings. Taylor gave up a solo home run in the first, but took the mound in ths second with a lead after Michael Griffin's two-run double in the bottom of the first put the Bears on top for the first time all weekend at 2-1.
Taylor did not record an out in the second, however, walking two batters and making an error on a sacrifice bunt before being pulled. Mark McCormick took over, making his first relief appearance since Feb. 8, but the freshman was unable to stop the scoring as Texas batted around and scored six runs in the frame.
That seemed to take the life out of the Bears, who had been battling from behind all weekend. After recording two doubles in the first inning, Baylor did not get another hit until David Murphy's solo home run in the eighth inning.
Zane Carlson took over for McCormick in the third and escaped a one-out jam by inducing a double play with his first pitch. Carlson retired the next eight batters in order, but ran into trouble in the sixth, giving up two runs (one earned) on two hits, a walk and two errors. Tyler Bullock, Andy Pape and Russell Reichenbach each pitched one inning to finish out the game.
Baylor's defense continued to struggle, as the Bears made five errors for the third time this season. Baylor recorded 11 errors on the weekend.
Eugene Espinelli pitched the ninth for Texas, allowing two hits but no runs. The Longhorns' hitting stars included Omar Quintanilla and Eric Sultemeier, who each recorded three hits. Quintanilla doubled, homered and scored four runs, while Sultemeier doubled and drove in three.
The Bears, losers of three straight and six of their last eight, head to Arlington to face Texas-Arlington Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
NOTES: Michael Griffin extended his hitting streak to nine straight games, one shy of his season high... The weekend sweep dropped the Bears into sixth place in the Big 12... A crowd of 4,048 fans saw the Bears' loss; that total was the third-largest crowd of the year and the 14th-largest in Baylor Ballpark history... The two-date total of 8,579 made this weekend the second-most attended two-date series in Ballpark history.
