The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Baylor
No. 1 Baseball loses tough 4-3 decision to No. 16 Baylor
03.20.2005 | Baseball
WACO, Texas -- Michael Griffin lined a two-out, RBI-single to right-center in the bottom of the ninth as No. 1 Texas (21-4, 0-3 Big 12) lost a tough 4-3 decision to No. 16 Baylor (15-7, 3-0 Big 12) in front of 4,353 fans at the Baylor Ballpark on Sunday, March 20. With the victory, the Bears earned a three-game series sweep of the Horns to open Big 12 Conference action in 2005.
Griffin's second home run of the year with one out in the bottom of the first staked Baylor to an early 1-0 lead. Singles from Taylor Teagarden (Carrollton, Texas) and Carson Kainer (Tomball, Texas) coming around a sacrifice in the top of the second then tied the game at 1-1 for UT. The score remained that way through the fifth as starters Trey Taylor for Baylor and Adrian Alaniz (Sinton, Texas) for Texas held the respective offenses in check.
In the top of the sixth, Teagarden doubled with two outs and came around to score on a RBI-single from Thomas Incaviglia (Monterrey, Calif.) to give the Longhorns a 2-1 advantage. Immediately answering, the Bears loaded the bases in the bottom of the frame on a hit batter, a base hit and an infield single before a pair of sacrifice flys gave BU a 3-2 lead. The Longhorns looked to tie the game in the eighth when Drew Stubbs (Atlanta, Texas) led off with a double and stole third with no outs, but Abe Woody came out of the Bears' bullpen to register a strikeout and induce a double play to end the inning with Baylor still on top.
Following a scoreless bottom of the eighth, UT was down to its final three outs when pinch-hitter Dooley Prince (Sulphur, La.) singled, moved to second a sacrifice bunt and tied the game at 3-3 on a RBI-base hit from Chance Wheeless (Round Rock, Texas). Battling back in the bottom half of the inning, the Bears put runners on second and third with two outs via an error and an infield single before Griffin lined a 1-1 single to right-center to lift Baylor to a 4-3 win. Picking up the victory in relief was Woody, while UT reliever J. Brent Cox shouldered the loss.
Headlining the afternoon for Texas was Teagarden, who went 2-for-2 with two runs scored, Wheeless, who collected three hits and drove in one run, and Alaniz, who allowed only one run on four hits while striking out a pair over five innings in a no-decision. Baylor, meanwhile, was paced by Griffin, who went 2-for-5 with one runs scored and a pair of RBI, and Taylor, who fanned five over 6.2 innings while allowing two runs on eight hits. Of additional note for UT, Seth Johnston (Boerne, Texas) extended his current hitting streak to a career-long nine games with a fourth-inning single.
The Longhorns now return home to open a three-game series against No. 24 Texas Tech at Disch-Falk Field on Thursday, March 24 at 6:15 p.m. Central.
