March 11, 2006

Stats

WACO, Texas -- Baylor scored four runs in the first inning and never looked back Saturday night, defeating Michigan 16-0 in second-day action of the Quala-T Imprints Baylor Classic. It was the largest margin of victory in a shutout for a Baylor team since April 2, 1993, when the Bears defeated Rice 18-0 at Ferrell Field.

Baylor (12-3) has won five straight games after posting its second shutout of the season. In other day two action, Pacific edged Louisiana Tech 11-9.

The Bears tallied seven hits in the first inning, including six straight two-out hits from Kevin Russo, Seth Fortenberry, Tim Jackson, Seth Hammock, Drew Bias and Paul Miles. In his first career start, Miles capped the first-inning uprising with his first career hit - an RBI double to right-center.

Cory VanAllen (3-1) made good use of the run support, holding Michigan (3-6) to four hits and a walk with a season-high eight strikeouts over 6.0 scoreless innings. Reed Woytek pitched a perfect seventh with two strikeouts, and Jake Weghorst pitched a perfect eighth with one strikeout. Kerr Foster hit a batter and walked another in the ninth but used a ground-ball double play and a ground out to preserve the shutout.

Baylor added three runs in the fifth, three in the sixth and capped the scoring with a four-spot in the eighth.

In all, 11 Bears collected at least one hit and eight of nine starters hit safely. The lone starter who did not collect a hit, Kevin Sevigny, had two RBI on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch and a run-scoring groundout. Drew Bias went 3-for-3 with three runs scored and reached safely in all five plate appearances. Beamer Weems, Russo, Fortenberry, Hammock and Miles had two hits each. Weems and Jackson recorded three RBI each, and Russo added two.

In the day's first game, Pacific (11-5) built a 9-2 lead and then withstood a Louisiana Tech (7-9) rally over the middle innings for an 11-9 victory. Matt Berezay had two home runs for Pacific, while Alex Zanini provided an inside-the-park grand slam.

Action in the Quala-T Imprints Baylor Classic concludes Sunday. Pacific and Michigan meet at 11 a.m. CST in the day's first game, while Baylor hosts Louisiana Tech in the event's final game at 3 p.m. The Bears send right-hander Tim Matthews (1-0, 2.14) to the mound. Louisiana Tech has not yet declared a starter.