Meagan Downing | Lariat Photographer
By Greg DeVries
Sports Writer
There was no shortage of offense for the No. 6 Baylor baseball team as it tied its all-time win streak total of 20 games by beating the Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi Islanders Tuesday 15-2. The game was ended after the top of the seventh due to run rule.
Head coach Steve Smith became the all-time leader in wins for a Baylor coach by recording his 650th win.
“It is absolutely special to be the winningest coach in Baylor baseball history,” Smith said. “It was not something I thought about or set out to do, or anything like that … these kinds of records are sort of records of perseverance or longevity.”
This moves the Bears to 31-7 overall, and they will look to record the club’s longest winning streak in history at 4:05 p.m. today at Baylor Ballpark against the Islanders.
Junior designated hitter Nathan Orf scored on junior first baseman Max Muncy’s blooper single to left field in the bottom of the first inning.
Later in the inning, senior left fielder Dan Evatt hit a three-run home run over the left field fence to give the Bears a 4-0 lead. Muncy and senior catcher Josh Ludy scored on the homerun.
In the bottom of the third with Ludy on first, third baseman Cal Towey hit a triple to the right field wall to extend the Bears’ lead to 5-0.
The Islanders got on the board in the top of the fourth inning after Corpus Christi left fielder Jordan Lee scored on a single up the middle. The Islanders added another run on an RBI double to right field.
After an error by Islander pitcher Trevor Belicek loaded the bases, Muncy drew a two-out walk to make the score 6-2. The walk prompted a Corpus Christi pitching change.
With the bases still loaded, Ludy singled to short and drove in another run. Towey followed with a double, extending the lead to 9-2.
In the top of the fifth inning, the Islanders loaded the bases with nobody out.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Austin Stone was able to escape trouble with no damage done. Stone struck out two batters and forced the third to pop out to shallow center field.
“Bases loaded, no outs, you just have to make all of your pitches and compete,” Stone said. “The first guy got the strikeout, the second guy, [I] had to come back and make the first pitch, and come back and battle.”
Stone was pulled going into the sixth inning for sophomore right-hander Trae Davis. Stone pitched a career-best five innings, and allowed two runs on four hits.
Towey singled to right field in the bottom of the sixth inning, but an error on the left fielder allowed Muncy to also score.
Towey advanced to third on the error. Baylor’s lead was stretched to 11-2.
“It’s a lot of fun when you’re able to just relax and enjoy your at bat out there,” Towey said. “It feels really good when you’re able to put it in left center.”
A throwing error on Corpus Christi’s third baseman Dan Sciantarelli allowed Towey to score. This was the Islanders’ fifth error on the day.
The next batter, junior second baseman Steve DalPorto, singled to load the bases for freshman right fielder Logan Brown. Brown singled to right field to score two more runs for the Bears.
Junior pinch hitter Wes Mercurio singled to center to score DalPorto from third and give the Bears a 15-2 advantage.
