Feb. 14, 2015 Final Stats
THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas - Baylor baseball claimed the first series of the season with another 8-6 win over No. 13 Cal Poly Saturday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears (2-0) scored two in the sixth and one in the eighth for insurance to top the Mustangs (0-2).
After having a 5-1 lead disappear as a result of Cal Poly's four-run fifth and one-run sixth, the Bears bounced back for the second day in a row to grab a victory. Trailing 6-5 in the sixth, Cameron Miller led off with a walk and moved to second after Steven McLean reached on an error. Following a sac bunt by Hayden Ross and a pitching change to Nick Suniga, Darryn Sheppard walked and so did Logan Brown to force in the tying run. After another pitching change to Michael Gomez, Adam Toth put the Bears back on top with a sac fly.
In the eighth, Ross walked with one out, stole second and moved to third on a bad throw. Walks to Sheppard and Brown again loaded the bases for Toth, who drove in an insurance run with another sac fly.
On the mound, Ryan Smith had a strong start for the Bears on a limited pitch count. Smith's no-decision featured four innings while allowing an unearned run on four hits and two walks with two strikeouts. Joe Kirkland (1-0) earned the win in relief, allowing one run on two hits with one strikeout in 2.1 innings. Sean Spicer nailed down his second save and first multi-inning save with two perfect frames and a strikeout. Cal Poly's Kyle Smith (0-1) took the loss in relief, allowing four runs on three hits and one walk with seven strikeouts in 3.1 innings.
NOTES
*Baylor is 17-8 against ranked teams at home since 2012 and 29-27 against ranked teams overall since 2011.
*Baylor has four series wins over ranked teams since 2014 in seven attempts.
*Baylor has its first season-opening and home-opening series wins since 2012 (Oral Roberts).
*Baylor is now 2-0 all-time vs. Cal Poly as the teams are meeting for the first time - the teams have a combined 2,798 all-time wins.
*Baylor is 139-70 in February under Smith.
*Jonathan Ducoff earned his first career hit for a double.
*Ryan Smith made his first appearance and start since March 25, 2014, at UT Arlington. He was shut down for the rest of 2014 due to injury and only finished with 17.1 innings pitched.
*Steven McLean picked up his first career hit and scored a pair of runs.
*Logan Brown had a career-high four RBI as he went 2-for-3 with two walks for his second straight multi-RBI game.
*Darryn Sheppard went 2-for-3 with two runs and a career-high-tying two walks for his second straight multi-hit game.
*Adam Toth notched his second straight multi-RBI game with two sac flies.
*Kyle Ott made his first appearance since March 16, 2014, vs. Texas Tech. He was also shut down for the rest of 2014 due to injury and only finished with 7.2 innings pitched.
*Levi Gilcrease made his Baylor debut in sixth inning as a defensive replacement in left field and then earned his first career hit in his first at-bat.
*Sean Spicer earned his second career save in as many attempts, second in as many days and first multi-inning save.
STAT OF THE GAME
14 - The amount of runs, hits, RBI and walks Baylor's No. 1 and No. 2 spot hitters had - Darryn Sheppard went 2-for-3 with two runs and two walks at leadoff while Logan Brown went 2-for-3 with four RBI and two walks.
TWEET OF THE GAME
TOP QUOTE
"When seniors play, they need to play well, and [Logan] Brown is off to a really good start; Adam [Toth] is off to a really good start; Duncan [Wendel] is off to a good start. That's really what sets the tone for you. When you get that, then the other guys around them can relax a little bit. I do think Darryn [Sheppard] is doing everything you want out of a guy at [the leadoff] spot in the lineup right now, and maybe it will translate into something special." - BU head coach Steve Smith
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor completes the series vs. No. 13 Cal Poly tomorrow at noon with a chance for the sweep. The pitching matchup features BU freshman RHP Theron Kay vs. CP RHP Justin Calomeni (2014: 8-2, 3.68 ERA).
-BU-
