May 19, 2007
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WACO, Texas -- Baylor erased a one-run deficit with four unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth en route to a 13-7 victory over Kansas State in Big 12 Conference action Saturday night at Baylor Ballpark. Baylor (30-24, 11-15) clinched the series against Kansas State (33-21, 10-15) with the win, and - by virtue of Nebraska's 11-9 victory at Kansas - the Bears clinched a berth in next week's Big 12 Conference Championship in Oklahoma City, Okla.
The series win is Baylor's first in a season's final series since sweeping a three-game set at Kansas State in 2000. The Bears also continued their dominance of Kansas State in Waco, improving to 17-0 against the Wildcats at home since the inception of the Big 12 Conference. Kansas State has not won a game in Waco since 1966.
Both team struggled defensively as the Bears and the Wildcats combined for eight errors, tying a Baylor Ballpark record. Baylor committed five errors.
However, it was Kansas State's three-error fourth that proved to be the difference in the game. After Ben Booker's one-out single, Raynor Campbell reached on a throwing error by Kansas State shortstop Eli Rumler. One out and two batters later, Beamer Weems singled through the right side to score Booker and erase a 7-6 deficit. Chase Gerdes then scored on a wild pitch to give the Bears an 8-7 lead they would never relinquish
Dustin Dickerson followed with an RBI single, and the next two Baylor batters reached on errors to allow Dickerson to score and push the Bears' lead to 9-7.
From there, reliever Willie Kempf took over the game. He retired the side in the fifth - something the Bears had not done to that point - and escaped a sixth-inning jam unscathed before retiring the side in the seventh and eighth innings.
Campbell added an RBI single in the fifth, while Matt Czimskey and Tim Jackson had RBI singles in the eighth.
Kempf exited the game after hitting a batter and issuing a walk to start the ninth. After William Draper hit a batter to load the bases, Nick Cassavechia struck out the next three batters to close the game for the Bears. It marked the second consecutive night Cassavechia pitched Baylor out of a bases-loaded, no-outs jam without allowing a run.
Neither starter factored in the decision. Baylor's Kendal Volz allowed five runs, only one of which was earned, on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts over 3.0-plus innings, facing one batter in the fourth. Kempf (2-2) earned the victory, holding the Wildcats to two runs, one earned, on three hits and a walk with a career-high seven strikeouts over 5.0 innings.
Kansas State starter Trevor Hurley allowed six runs on five hits and three walks with two strikeouts over 2.0-plus innings, facing two batters in the third. A.J. Morris (4-2) was saddled with the loss, allowing six runs, only two of which were earned, on seven hits with three strikeouts over 5.1 innings.
Baylor scored three runs in the bottom of the first on Weems' two-run triple and Dickerson's sacrifice fly. That lead was short-lived, though, as Kansas State scored three unearned runs in the top of the second. Campbell gave the Bears a 4-3 lead with a solo home run in the second, but the Wildcats answered with an unearned run in the third to tie the game at 4-4.
Back-to-back sacrifice flies from Czimskey and Jackson gave the Bears a 6-4 lead in the bottom of the third, but Kansas State again answered with three runs in the top of the fourth to take a 7-4 lead. That was the Wildcats' final lead of the night.
For the second consecutive night, eight of Baylor's nine starters hit safely. Weems and Dickerson both had three-hit games, while Campbell and Czimskey had two hits each. Weems led the Bears with three RBI, while Czimskey, Dickerson and Jackson all had two-RBI nights. Gerdes and Weems scored three runs each.
Baylor and Kansas State conclude their three-game series Sunday at 1 p.m. CDT. Freshman right-hander Wade Mackey (3-2, 2.16 ERA) makes his first career Big 12 start for the Bears, while Kansas State counters with junior southpaw Chase Bayuk (5-4, 4.71).
NOTES: Baylor leads the all-time series 26-9, including an 18-1 advantage in games played in Waco. The Bears are 25-8 against the Wildcats since the inception of the Big 12 Conference. ... Czimskey (15 games) and Campbell (12 games) both extended career-long hitting streaks; Czimskey's is the longest by a Baylor player since Josh Ford's 15-game run in 2004. Dickerson has hit safely in seven straight games to match the longest streak of his career. Booker (12 games), Czimskey (11 games), Campbell (eight games), Dickerson (seven games) and Gerdes (six games) all extended hitting streaks in Big 12 play. ... Campbell has reached safely in 25 straight games and in 30 of his last 31. ... Cassavechia has recorded at least one strikeout in 18 consecutive appearances and in 23 of 25 outings this season. ... Czimskey and Dickerson both have reached safely in 20 consecutive games. ... Weems eclipsed the 50-RBI plateau on the season, becoming the first Baylor player with at least 50 RBI since five players accomplished the feat in 2003.
