May 28, 2005
Box Score
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Kevin Russo's eighth-inning two-run single that cleared the leftfield wall capped Baylor's third rally of the day as the 13th-ranked Bears defeated No. 5 Texas 9-8 in Saturday's semifinal at the Big 12 Conference Tournament at SBC Bricktown Ballpark. Baylor (39-20) advances to its fourth Big 12 Tournament Championship game with the win. Texas (45-16) is eliminated from the tournament.
Baylor faces the winner of Saturday's Missouri-Nebraska semifinal match up in Sunday's championship game at 1 p.m. CDT. The Huskers must defeat the Tigers twice to reach the championship game. Both teams won their regular-season series against Baylor. The Bears match Nebraska for the conference record of four championship game appearances.
With one out, Texas leading 8-7, Michael Griffin at first and Paul Witt at second, Russo lifted a high fly ball just over the wall in left field. However, Griffin retreated to first base on the ball, causing Russo to pass him on the base path between first and second. By rule, Russo was credited with a two-run single.
Russo's heroics gave reliever Tyler Bullock his first career victory and gave the Bears their fourth victory over Texas this season. It marks the first time in school history that a Baylor baseball team has defeated Texas four times. The 2005 squad improves to 9-1 against Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech.
Bullock (1-0), who replaced starter Cory VanAllen in the seventh, allowed one run on two hits in 1.0 inning of work but was the pitcher of record after Russo's game-winning hit.
Abe Woody tossed 2.0 innings of no-hit relief with one walk and two strikeouts, including one looking against former high school teammate Chance Wheeless to end the game. That gave Woody his 11th save of the season and the 19th of his career, passing Kyle Edens (1999-02) for sole possession of second place all-time at Baylor.
Baylor rallied on three different occasions on the day, the most number of deficits overcome in a game this season. After a Zach Dillon RBI single in the top of the first, Carson Kainer gave Texas a 2-1 lead with a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning. Texas stretched its lead to 5-1 with three runs in the bottom of the fourth.
However, the Bears rallied for four runs on four hits in the top of the fifth, tying the game at 5-5. Kevin Sevigny got the rally started with an RBI single, Seth Fortenberry followed with a two-run single, and Jeff Mandel capped the rally with a sacrifice fly.
Texas immediately recaptured the lead with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, but the Bears re-tied the game in the top of the seventh when Russo scored on a passed ball and Josh Ford scored on a Fortenberry groundout. Nick Peoples gave the Longhorns an 8-7 lead with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh. However, with one out in the eighth, Witt was hit by a pitch and Griffin singled through the right side to ignite Baylor's third rally of the game.
Russo finished 3-for-4 with a double, two runs and two RBI. Griffin was 3-for-5 with three runs scored. Sevigny added two hits, and Fortenberry had three RBI.
VanAllen struggled on the mound for the Bears and not factor in the decision, but he did eat up 6.0 innings to rest a Baylor bullpen thinned by recent injuries. The sophomore southpaw allowed seven runs, five earned, on 11 hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
Texas starter Kyle McCulloch, who joined the team in Oklahoma City late Friday night after remaining in Austin earlier in the week with back spasms, did not factor in the decision, either. He allowed seven runs, five earned, on nine hits and four walks with five strikeouts.
Jordon Street (0-1) was saddled with the loss, allowing two runs on two hits with one strikeout in 2.0 innings.
Sunday's championship game will be televised live on FSN Southwest, channel 26 on Time Warner Cable in Waco.
NOTES: Texas leads the all-time series 212-97-4, including a 10-5 advantage in neutral-site meetings. The Bears have won five of their last seven against the Longhorns. ... Baylor is 25-16 against Texas under head coach Steve Smith, including a 20-13 advantage since the inception of the Big 12 Conference. Baylor is 3-1 against Texas all-time at the Big 12 Tournament. ... Baylor improves 13-6 against nationally ranked teams. The Bears are 7-0 this season against teams ranked in the top 10, extending their school-record winning streak in such games to seven. ... The Bears improve to 6-0 this season in neutral-site games, 11-16 when the opponent scores first and 7-6 when the opponent scores in the first inning. ... Baylor is 10-5 this season on Saturday and 7-4 in green jerseys. ... The four-run deficit erased after four innings is the third-largest deficit overcome this season (eight runs vs. Texas A&M; five runs at Arizona State). ... Saturday was Baylor's eighth win this season when trailing after seven innings or later. ... The Bears improve to 29-4 when scoring first and 12-2 when scoring in the first inning. ... Baylor is 31-9 this season when the starting pitcher goes at least 5.0 innings. ... The Bears improve to 32-6 when scoring at least four runs, 25-2 when scoring at least five runs and 19-0 when scoring at least seven runs. ... Gerdes extended his career-long hitting streak to seven games. Dillon also extended his hitting streak to three games. ... Ford has reached safely in 16 consecutive games. He has reached safely in 53 of his last 54 games and in 57 of 59 games this season. ... Ford tied his career high with three walks. It marked the eighth time this season he has drawn at least two walks in a game. He has reached at least twice in the same game 24 times this season. ... Fortenberry tied his career high with three RBI. ... Russo tied his career high with three hits. It was his fifth three-hit game of the season. ... Griffin posted his team-best seventh three-hit game of the year. ... Griffin and Russo lead the team with 19 multiple-hit games each. ... Russo posted his team-best 12th multiple-RBI game of the season. ... VanAllen's seven runs and 11 hits allowed were both career highs. ... Witt was hit by a pitch for the 22nd time Saturday, moving into seventh place all-time at Baylor.
