Feb. 23, 2007
Box Score
WACO, Texas -- Chase Gerdes ripped an 0-1 Eric Crichton offering down the line in right with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 10th to give Baylor a 3-2 victory over Oral Roberts in the series opener Friday night at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears (6-3) have won six straight overall and 13 straight at Baylor Ballpark, two wins shy of tying the facility's all-time record from the 2000 season.
Tim Jackson walked with one out in the 10th, and Aaron Miller followed with an infield single that pushed pinch runner Jeff Mandel to second. Raynor Campbell then walked to load the bases and set the stage for Gerdes' heroics. It was Baylor's first walk-off hit since Zach Dillon's ninth-inning RBI single March 10, 2006, against Pacific.
Nick Cassavechia (1-0) earned the victory in relief. He entered the game with two runners on and one out in the top of the ninth. After issuing a walk to load the bases, Cassavechia got a ground ball that forced out a runner at home and then struck out Pat Warfle to end the threat.
Baylor starter Randall Linebaugh held Oral Roberts (2-4) to two runs on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts over 7.0 innings.
Eric Crichton (0-2), Oral Roberts' second reliever, took the loss, allowing one run on two hits and two walks in 1.1 innings. Starter Chris Ashman was touched for two runs, one earned on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts in 5.2 innings.
Oral Roberts scored a run in the first on Chad Rothford's two-out RBI single. Baylor tied the score in the second when Aaron Miller singled, moved to third on an errant pickoff attempt and scored on a Gerdes sacrifice fly.
Rothford put ORU back in the lead with a two-out solo home run to right-center in the sixth. Baylor answered in the same fashion as Tim Jackson blasted a two-out solo home run to left-center in the bottom of the inning. It was the first round-tripper of Jackson's career.
Baylor had chances in the eighth and ninth innings but left the bases loaded in the former and a runner at third in the latter.
Beamer Weems, who made several key defensive plays on the night, joined Campbell, Gerdes, Jackson and Miller with two hits each.
Baylor and Oral Roberts continue their three-game series Saturday at 2 p.m. CST. The Bears send sophomore south paw Cliff Springston (1-1, 3.72 ERA) to the mound opposite ORU right-hander Marcus Tackett (1-0, 4.35 ERA).
NOTES: Baylor leads the all-time series 15-13, including an 11-9 advantage in games played in Waco. The Bears are 7-3 against Oral Roberts during head coach Steve Smith's tenure. ... Baylor reached the 10-hit plateau as a team for the fifth consecutive game. ... Cassavechia has stranded 27 of 30 inherited runners in his career, including 22 consecutive inherited runners. ... Tim Matthews, who pitched 1.1 scoreless innings in Friday's win, has not allowed an earned run in 10 consecutive relief appearances. ... Weems (seven games), Gerdes (four) and Campbell (three) all extended hitting streaks, while Dustin Dickerson saw his seven-game streak end. Weems' streak is the longest of his career.
