April 25, 2006
Box Score
WACO, Texas -- Baylor scored three runs in the bottom of the first to erase an early 1-0 deficit and never looked back in an 11-1, eight-inning victory over Texas Southern in midweek action Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears (26-16) have won 11 of their last 12 midweek home games, losing only to second-ranked Rice in that span.
Kevin Russo ended the game with a bases-loaded RBI single down the left-field line, giving the Bears a 10-run lead after seven innings. That made a winner of Kerr Foster (1-0), the Bears' second of three pitchers on the night. It was Foster's first career victory.
Texas Southern (18-23) pieced together three straight one-out hits in the top of the first, ending with Donald Green's RBI double to left-center.
That lead was short-lived, though, as Beamer Weems led off the bottom of the first with his fourth home run of the season. It was the first homer to lead off an inning this season for any Baylor batter. Weems became the first Bear to lead off a game with a homer since June 8, 2003, when Chris Durbin accomplished the feat at Louisiana State in the NCAA Baton Rouge Super Regional.
Baylor added two runs in the inning; Zach Dillon had an RBI single, and Russo was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Kevin Sevigny increased the Bears' lead with a two-run double in the second, and Seth Hammock made the lead 6-1 with an RBI groundout in the third.
The game was then delayed one hour, 48 minutes due to rain. It was the first in-game rain delay at Baylor Ballpark since April 6, 2002, when the Bears' game against Oklahoma State was delayed 48 minutes during the third inning.
Tuesday's delay forced Baylor starter Randall Linebaugh to leave the game after allowing one run on three hits and a walk with five strikeouts over 3.0 innings.
Foster took the mound after the rain delay; he scattered two hits and a walk with a career-high three strikeouts over 2.0 scoreless innings. Brice Ary tossed the final 3.0 innings for his first career save, holding the Tigers scoreless on two hits and a walk with one strikeout.
Baylor stretched its lead to 10-1 with a four-run fourth on three hits, a walk and a Texas Southern error. Dillon walked to lead off the inning, moved to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a Sevigny single and scored when Green, the Texas Southern right-fielder, misplayed the ball.
Two batters later, Matt Sodolak scored Sevigny with an RBI double, and Sodolak later scored on a Russo sacrifice fly. Mike Pankratz followed with a solo homer to left, his first round-tripper of the season. Pankratz, who missed the first two-plus months of the season after knee surgery in January, is 3-for-10 in his first three starts back in the lineup.
Sevigny finished 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. Seth Fortenberry was 2-for-4 and scored twice, and Russo tied his career high with three RBI. Eight of Baylor's nine starters hit safely, and all nine reached base safely.
Baylor concludes a four-game home stand Wednesday, hosting McNeese State for a 6 p.m. CDT first pitch at Baylor Ballpark. Freshman southpaw Cliff Springston (2-0) is scheduled to make his first career start on the mound for the Bears.
NOTES: Baylor leads the all-time series 5-0. All five games have been played during the past three seasons and at Baylor Ballpark. ... Sevigny extended his hitting streak to eight games, eclipsing his previous career long streak of seven games. Dillon (eight games), Weems (four), Fortenberry (three) and Pankratz (three) all extended hitting streaks, as well. ... Dillon has reached safely in 26 consecutive games. He has reached safely in 41 of 42 games this season and in 107 of 111 games over the past two seasons. ... Dillon drew his 40th walk of the season Tuesday night. He is the 17th player in school history to amass 40-plus walks in one season.
