Nick Berryman | Lariat Photographer
By Matt Larsen
Sports Writer
A 10-inning fiesta that included back-to-back triples and a three-run homer boosted Baylor Baseball past the University of Texas at Arlington 9-4 Tuesday in Arlington.
“We just had a tough time getting a timely hit most of the game,” head coach Steve Smith said. “We just pitched it well and eventually got a timely hit.”
Baylor stranded 16 runners on base before getting the win.
In the third inning, sophomore Logan Vick took an inside fastball over the right field wall for his first homer of the season. The solo shot put his team up 1-0.
The Bears again found a way to load the bags on UTA pitcher Brody Walker in the third, this time sandwiching a walk between two base hits from junior Joey Hainsfurther and sophomore Cal Towey. But Walker, a redshirt freshman from Waco, managed to pick up the third out by getting senior Landis Ware to fly out.
Baylor freshman Dillon Newman took over for freshman Brad Kuntz in the second and retired six straight Maverick batters in the second and third.
Smith’s original plan was to use each pitcher for only one inning, but Newman’s performance convinced Smith to let Newman throw two innings.
“That was about as good as I had seen him throw,” Smith said. “He went out and gave us another good one.”
The ensuing inning Newman handed his spot on the mound over to sophomore Crayton Bare who gave up just one hit in the fourth.
Smith kept the revolving door of pitchers swinging in the fifth.
Freshman Trae Davis took the mound, but the Mavericks finally caught up to Smith’s quick rotation of young tossers.
After a throwing error helped extend the inning, the Mavericks used a single from Philip Incaviglia and a double from Jake Pinchback to bring three across the plate for a 3-1 lead.
The Bears quickly responded in the sixth. Freshman Lawton Langford singled and became the first of three Bears’ runs that inning when junior Josh Ludy notched his third single of the night.
Towey followed Ludy’s single with his second triple of the season, bringing Ludy and sophomore Max Muncy across the plate to retake the lead 4-3.
Junior Tyler Bremer lost Baylor’s lead in the seventh. Bremer struck out back-to-back batters but then watched Preston Morrow take the 0-1 pitch into center field to bring home Vaughn and tie up the game at four apiece.
Muncy and Ludy kicked things off in the 10th with back-to-back triples.
Ludy, who finished with four hits and two RBIs, smiled at the rare three-bagger.
“Somebody who has my body type isn’t going to get many of those,” he said.
Towey’s walk then set things up for junior Dan Evatt to take the first pitch over the left-field fence for a three-run homer. The Bears would tack on one more as they batted around in the 10th, retaking the field with a 9-4 lead.
The Bears look to carry the excitement from the extra-inning explosion into the weekend as they face No. 5 ranked Texas A&M.
“Any time you get a win like this, it builds momentum,” Ludy said.
