April 14, 2017

Final Stats

This could become a habit.

For the second time in six days, Baylor baseball came through with some late-inning magic. After the Bears erased a 3-0 deficit with a three-run explosion in the eighth, Kameron Esthay drove in pinch-runner Levi Gilcrease with a two-out single up the middle in the ninth for a walk-off 4-3 win over the Texas Longhorns and their first series victory in over a month.

"Kameron has had some phenomenal at-bats the past couple weeks," said Baylor coach Steve Rodriguez, whose team improved to 22-13 overall and 5-6 in the Big 12. "I was just happy he wasn't trying to rip one down the line. He stayed through it and hit something hard up the middle."

As Gilcrease crossed the plate with the winning run, Baylor's dugout emptied and the players mobbed Esthay, who gave the Bears their second walk-off win of the season and second ninth-inning rally this week. On Sunday, Baylor used a six-run ninth to beat sixth-ranked Texas Tech, 10-9, in Lubbock.

"That's awesome. That's why you play college baseball, it really is," said Esthay, who went 2-for-5 with two RBI to extend his hitting streak to eight games. "I was watching Levi around third the whole time, and I was like, `You've got to get there, baby.' . . . I had already seen the guy once. I was early on the changeup, and I was just trying to stay up the middle. I just saw the fastball up and chunked it."

Through the first seven innings, Baylor had nothing to show for five hits and four walks. The Bears were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and 3-for-14 with runners on base, lining into a pair of inning-ending double plays.

"Our guys took phenomenal at-bats, they really did, and they were hitting the ball hard," Rodriguez said. "I'm sure it was getting frustrating for some of our guys, because they kept hitting the ball hard and didn't have a lot of success. I was just really happy for our upperclassmen to come in in situations like that with Cameron Miller and Kameron Esthay to step up and put us in a position to win."

Baylor starter Montana Parsons "didn't have his greatest stuff tonight," Rodriguez said, but made it through five innings. He gave up three runs (two earned) on five hits and three walks with six strikeouts.

The Longhorns (23-15, 6-8) wasted a pair of first-inning walks, but got on the board with two runs on just one hit in the second to take the early lead.

In and out of trouble, Parsons gave up a leadoff single to Bret Boswell and walked Ryan Reynolds to start the second. Playing station-to-station, both runners moved up on Patrick Mathis' sacrifice bunt, and Boswell scored on David Hamilton's sac fly.

Parsons looked like he would avoid any further damage, but Reynolds scored the second run when Zane Gurwitz reached on a throwing error by shortstop Tucker Cascadden.

Texas added another run in the fifth on three straight hits, but Parsons finished his night with a pair of strikeouts and a fly to right that left two runners stranded in scoring position.

Freshman pitchers Hayden Kettler and Hunter Seay bridged the gap between Parsons and closer Troy Montemayor (2-1), tossing 3 1/3 scoreless innings and giving up just two hits and one walk with four punchouts.

"They did an unbelievable job," Rodriguez said of his freshman relievers. "That's the thing, we need to see those kinds of outings out of them, to know that we're going to have an opportunity later in the season. That was really encouraging. Now, I'm not expecting that every single time. But, it's nice to know it's in there, so at least we have something to build on."

Baylor had a scoring opportunity in the seventh with singles by Davis Wendzel and freshman pinch-hitter Andy Thomas, putting runners on the corners with only one out. But, pinch-runner Steven McLean was doubled off first when T.J. Raguse lined out to short.

In the eighth, Richard Cunningham led off with a single up the middle. Shea Langeliers followed that up with a fielder's choice bouncer to third, with Cunningham sliding in safely at second.

After both runners moved up on a passed ball, Matt Menard delivered an RBI single to center that put the Bears on the board. Langeliers then scored on Esthay's fielder's choice grounder to second, with Menard breaking up a possible inning-ending double play.

With a two-out error keeping the door open, Rodriguez turned to Miller for pinch-hitting duties, and the fourth-year junior came off the bench to deliver a game-tying RBI single. Boswell made a great stop on the hard-hit ball up the middle, but his throw pulled first baseman Kacy Clemens off the bag.

"I just go up there and not think about what's going on and just try to help the team win," Miller said. "It's fun being out there. I'm just honored that Coach put me in that position."

Texas threatened in the ninth, with pinch-hitter Austin Todd leading off with a single and getting around to third on a sac bunt and wild pitch. But, Montemayor struck out Gurwitz on an 11-pitch at-bat, then got Tate Shaw on a weak grounder to second.

Raguse led off the ninth with a walk off reliever Beau Ridgeway and moved to second on Cunningham's sac bunt. Menard flied out to center for the second out, but Esthay came through with the big game-winning hit.

In Sunday's 3:05 p.m. series finale, which will be televised by FOX Sports Southwest, Baylor freshman left-hander Cody Bradford (4-2, 4.32) will get the start opposite Texas junior righty Kyle Johnston (2-1, 3.35).

Trailing 3-0 entering the bottom of the eighth inning, the Bears went to work after missing out on some earlier scoring chances. Richard Cunningham led off with a single, Shea Langeliers reached on a failed fielder's choice, a passed ball moved both runners up to set up a Matt Menard RBI single. After a pitching change, Kameron Esthay plated a run on fielder's choice groundout. Then with two outs, David Wendzel reached on an error to keep the inning alive for pinch-hitter Cameron Miller, who hit an infielder RBI single to tie the game, 3-3.

In the bottom of the ninth, T.J. Raguse led off with a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Cunningham. After an intentional walk to Langeliers and Menard fly out, Esthay delivered a two-out, walk-off single up the middle.

BU reliever Troy Montemayor (2-1) earned the win in relief, tossing 0.2 innings with a walk and strikeout as he left the go-ahead run at third base in the ninth. UT reliever Beau Ridgeway (1-1) took the loss, giving up a run on two hits and two walks with one strikeout in 1.2 innings.

NOTES
*Baylor's 22-13 record through 35 games is its best since going 28-7 in 2012.

*Baylor won its second straight series vs. Texas, a feat that hasn't been accomplished since 2012-13. The Bears have now won four of the last six series vs. the Longhorns (BU owns a 10-7 record in the stretch), dating back to the 2012 season.

*Baylor won its fourth three-game series of the season as the Bears won three in a row to start the season and had lost their last four.

*Baylor posted its second walk-off win this season -- Tucker Cascadden grand slam vs. Texas A&M at Minute Maid Park on March 5 and Kameron Esthay single vs. Texas.

*Baylor trails the all-time series vs. Texas 240-110-4 and 92-63-2 in Waco, but the Bears are 4-2 under head coach Steve Rodriguez.

*Baylor has finished its home schedule with a .500 record or better (14-8 in 2017) in all 18 seasons at Baylor Ballpark (since 1999) and is 411-190 all-time at the park.

*Junior JUCO RHP Montana Parsons has pitched at least five innings with three earned runs or less and three or more strikeouts in seven of nine starts this season.

*Sophomore outfielder T.J. Raguse has a career-high 15-game on-base streak and a career-high six-game hitting streak.

*Junior right fielder Kameron Esthay has an eight-game hitting streak as he posted his team-high 11th multi-hit game and team-high sixth multi-RBI game.

*Senior first baseman Aaron Dodson has a five-game hitting streak.

*Freshman infielder/outfielder Davis Wendzel has a four-game hitting streak.

*Junior RHP Troy Montemayor earned his career-high second win of the season and now has three straight scoreless outings and has posted no runs in 12 of 14 appearances this season.

*Freshman RHP Hayden Kettler tied a career high with three strikeouts in a 2.1-inning scoreless relief effort.

*Freshman LHP Hunter Seay has not allowed a run in all five appearances this season, spanning four innings with four hits allowed, no walks and four strikeouts.

STAT OF THE GAME
4 -- The amount of series wins Baylor has over Texas in its last six tries.

QUOTE OF THE GAME
"Montana [Parsons] didn't have his best stuff tonight, but he was able to go five innings and only allow three runs. Our guys took phenomenal at-bats, they were hitting the ball hard and it was just getting frustrating. I was really happy for our upperclassmen to be able to come into a big situation like that in the eighth and ninth. Cameron Miller and Kameron Esthay stepped up and put us in a situation where we had a chance to win it." -- Head Coach Steve Rodriguez

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor finishes its series vs. Texas with a 3:05 p.m. game Saturday on FOX Sports Southwest.