May 22, 2010

BAYLOR 12, OKLAHOMA STATE 7 Box Score | Quotes | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 12 3 1 0 2 2 2 2 2 1 X 12 11 2 Pitching IP H R ER BB SO W - Kempf (7-2) 5.1 3 0 0 0 8 L - Chambers (4-3) 2.0 4 5 4 1 2 Batting Leaders AB H RBI R BB HR BU - Vick 3 2 2 3 1 2 BU - Pinckard 5 3 2 3 0 1 OSU - Uribe 5 3 4 1 0 1 Notes: The Bears clinched either the sixth or seventh seed in next week's Big 12 Championship with the win ... Baylor set a season high with five home runs, eclipsing the previous best of three that had been hit twice this year ... Baylor is 19-4 in its last 23 games at Baylor Ballpark ... Willie Kempf passed Chad Hawkins for sixth place on Baylor's career strikeouts in Big 12 play list with 128 ... Kempf also moved past Jason Jennings and Kyle Edens for fourth on the Bears' strikeouts in relief in Big 12 play list with 50 ... Kempf made his 36th Big 12 appearance, moving him into a tie for fourth-most in program history with Abe Woody, and his 19th Big 12 relief appearance gave him sole possession of ninth place on Baylor career Big 12 relief appearances list ... Kempf joined Logan Verrett, Jeff Mandel and Ryan LaMotta as the only Baylor pitchers to win seven games in a season since 2005, though none of the previous three topped seven wins ... Raynor Campbell now has the second-most career at-bats of any Baylor player in Big 12 play with 387; he moved past Chris Durbin for second ... Brooks Pinckard extended his hitting streak to seven games, and Josh Ludy extended his streak to four straight ... Pinckard stole his 15th and 16th bases of the season; he has been caught stealing just once in his last 25 attempts... Logan Vick has reached base safely (via hit or walk) in all 35 games at Baylor Ballpark this season ... Vick drew his 50th walk of the season, moving him into a tie with Leonard Woods' 1977 season for the third-most in a single season in program history ... Baylor is now 28-35 in the all-time series with Oklahoma State, including a 14-12 mark in games played in Waco and a 23-22 record during the Steve Smith era. BAYLOR BASEBALL CENTRAL • Baylor Athletics Experience • Baseball Media Almana

Oklahoma State (29-25, 8-18 Big 12) jumped out to its early lead with a pair of two-run homers and a RBI double off of Baylor (30-21, 11-13) starting pitcher Shawn Tolleson, but Kempf came on in relief with two outs in the second, and OSU couldn't mount any offense against the senior captain.

Kempf didn't allow a hit until a one-out single in the sixth on his way to pitching 5.1 innings of three-hit, shutout relief. He picked up the win to improve to 7-2 on the season and 20-11 in his four-year career.

"He was the key to the whole thing," head coach Steve Smith said. "Shawn (Tolleson) didn't have his best stuff today and it was a tough day to pitch no matter what type of stuff you had. I think that says a whole lot about what Willie did.

Baylor fell behind 2-0 on Luis Uribe's two-run homer in the first, but the Bears got a run back in the bottom half of the inning when Brooks Pinckard reached on a fielder's choice, advanced on an error, stole third base and scored on a passed ball.

OSU added three more runs in the second on a two-run homer from Josh Botts and a RBI double from Uribe that ended Tolleson's day, but Kempf came out of the bullpen and got some help from his defense when Joey Hainsfurther saved a run with a leaping catch to end the inning.

Logan Vick led off the third with a homer, cutting the OSU lead to 5-2. Pinckard followed with a single, stole second base and ended up scoring on Josh Ludy's sacrifice fly.

The Bears tied the game an inning later. OSU starter Mike Strong was pulled after issuing a two-out walk to Chris Slater, and Landis Ware drilled the first pitch he saw from Kevin Chambers just to the left of the batters' eye in center field for a two-run home that tied the game at 5-5.

Kempf retired the side in order in the fourth and fifth, and the Bears took the lead for good when Pinckard led off the bottom of the fifth with a homer to right field. Two outs later, Gregg Glime got in on the action with a solo homer of his own, giving the Bears a 7-5 lead. Glime homered for the third consecutive Big 12 game.

The Bears added on two more runs in the sixth when Pinckard drove in Ware when he reached on an infield single for his third hit and Vick came around to score on an error.

Chris Slater doubled in a pair of runs in the seventh, and Vick connected on his second home run of the day leading off the eighth to give Baylor a 12-5 lead.

Kolt Browder allowed a pair of runs in the ninth on a double by Mark Ginther that barely landed fair, but he got a flyout to end the game and clinch the series win for the Bears.

Pinckard finished 3-for-5 with a home run, three runs, two RBI and two stolen bases. Ware added two hits, two runs and two RBI, and Vick went 2-for-3 with a walk, three runs and two-RBI in his first career multi-home-run game.

Chambers (4-3) took the loss after allowing five runs on four hits in 2.0 innings. Uribe led the Cowboys at the plate with a 3-for-5 effort and four RBI.

Baylor looks for its first Big 12 series sweep since April 6, 2008 when the Bears and Cowboys meet for the teams' final regular season game at 1 p.m. Sunday. Craig Fritsch is expected to start for Baylor, while OSU has not yet announced a starter.