The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Baylor
No. 2 Baseball sweeps Baylor with 4-1 win
05.02.2010 | Baseball
May 2, 2010
AUSTIN, Texas -- The No. 2 Texas Longhorns had three pitchers combine to allow just four hits and one unearned run in a 4-1 victory over the Baylor Bears on Sunday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
The Longhorns set a Big 12 record with their 17th consecutive league win as Texas recorded their fifth straight weekend series sweep. Texas' run topped the 16-game streak Texas A&M recorded in 2008.
With the win, Texas also ran their overall win streak to 20 games. This is the Longhorns' longest win streak since winning 20 in 1988.
On the weekend, Texas pitchers combined to allow only one earned run on 21 hits and nine walks while striking out 29 over 33.0 innings.
On Sunday, Brandon Workman (9-1) allowed one unearned run on four hits and one walk while striking out six over 5.2 innings to earn the victory. Andrew McKirahan entered the game with two runners in scoring position and fanned a batter to get out of the sixth inning. He also recorded the first two outs of the seventh to put a scoreless inning in the books. Stayton Thomas finished the game with 2.1 hitless innings to record his first save of the season. He fanned two of the seven batters he faced.
Texas drew first blood in the bottom of the second. Cameron Rupp reached on leadoff walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Russell Moldenhauer. Kevin Keyes laced a single up the middle to drive him home for the 1-0 lead.
The Longhorns inflated the cushion to 2-0 with a run in the third. Connor Rowe hit a leadoff triple and scored on a groundout by Cohl Walla.
Baylor broke the scoring seal in the sixth. Don Lambert singled up the middle to start the inning. Jake Miller laid down a bad sacrifice bunt attempt, but an errant throw by Workman on the force play at second put runners on the corners. Logan Vick followed with a double to centerfield to drive in Lambert and cut the lead to 2-1. With two runners in scoring position and no outs, Workman fanned the next two batters he faced, before stepping aside for McKirahan.
Nursing a 2-1 lead, the Horns tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the sixth. Brandon Loy started the rally with a double down the rightfield line and scored when Tant Shepherd singled to centerfield. Cameron Rupp followed with a double down the leftfield line to put two runners in scoring position. After Keyes was intentionally walked, Kevin Lusson plated Shepherd with a sacrifice fly to give Texas a 4-1 advantage.
Loy led the offensive attack for Texas, going 2-for-4 with one double and one run. Vick was the lone Bear to record multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with one double and one RBI.
Craig Fritsch (0-3) was saddled with the loss for Baylor. He yielded four runs on six hits and two walks while striking out one over 5.0 innings.
After the weekend's action, the Longhorns own a seven-game lead over second-place Kansas State (30-12, 10-7 Big 12). Either a Texas win or a Kansas State loss would give Texas their second consecutive Big 12 crown and their sixth overall.
Texas returns to action on Tuesday when the Longhorns host Prairie View A&M in a 6:05 p.m. contest at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
Big 12 Overall
Texas 19-2-0 .905 38-7
Kansas State 10-7-0 .588 30-12
Texas Tech 12-9-0 .571 26-22
Oklahoma 10-9-0 .526 32-12
Texas A&M 9-11-1 .452 25-17-1
Kansas 7-10-1 .417 26-19-1
Missouri 7-10-0 .412 23-19
Oklahoma State 7-11-0 .389 26-18
Baylor 7-12-0 .368 25-20
Nebraska 7-14-0 .333 20-24
