By Greg DeVries
Sports Writer
Baylor baseball wrapped up the QTI Baylor Classic this weekend, finishing 2-2 and bringing its overall record to 9-4.
The Bears kicked off the Classic with a 4-2 win over the University of California, Irvine. Junior left-handed pitcher Josh Turley earned the win for the Bears, his first in three starts.
“It was a typical Josh Turley type of outing. I think it’s very much what he is like when he’s on,” head coach Steve Smith said.
The Bears dropped the first game of their Saturday doubleheader against Lamar University 8-0. Lamar scored in all but three innings.
The second game was against UC-Irvine. The Bears won 6-1 on the arm of senior right-handed pitcher Trent Blank.
“[Blank’s pitching] is unbelievable. That’s about it. I mean, hopefully he keeps it up all year because he is a big tool for us right now,” senior right-handed pitcher Joey Hainsfurther said.
Blank is now 4-0 on the season in five starts with a 0.81 ERA. Batters are only hitting .130 against him this season.
“I got in the groove and started throwing strikes and letting the defense work. That’s what happens,” Blank said.
Baylor closed out the Classic with another loss to the Lamar Cardinals. Lamar was able to jump out to an early lead again, recording five runs, two on a home run to right field by catcher Thomas Henk.
“They were swinging the bat. They swung the bat good,” Smith said. “The first inning [had] a lot of parts … that bothered me in terms of how it was going about. But really if we just play the game the rest of the way, we come back.”
The Bears were able to claw their way back from a 6-0 hole after the top of the first. Trailing 8-7 in the bottom of the ninth inning with the winning run on first base, junior center fielder Logan Vick struck out looking.
Freshman right-fielder Michael Howard only played in the final two games of the weekend but was 4 of 6, scored three runs, drew two walks and had three RBIs.
The Bears take on TCU at 6:30 p.m. today in Forth Worth.
