David Li | Lariat Photographer
By Greg DeVries
Sports Writer
History was made for the second game in a row at Baylor Ballpark.
On Tuesday, head coach Steve Smith became Baylor’s all-time leader in wins as a coach. On Wednesday, the Bears beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to claim the longest winning streak in program history — 21 straight wins.
“[The winning streak] is nice to talk about, and it’s interesting, but you don’t get anything for it. You don’t win anything for that,” Smith said. “The way the guys are going about their business so consistently clearly has influenced the outcomes. Give them credit for that.”
Sophomore left-handed pitcher Brad Kuntz earned the win for the Bears. Kuntz pitched five innings and allowed just one hit and one run but walked four batters. He moves to 4-2 on the year.
“I was a little rusty,” Kuntz said. “[I am] a little disappointed, but I thought I competed well … it is hard to complain when you are winning like this.”
A wild pitch by Kuntz allowed the Islanders to get on the board first in the top of the first inning. Despite the quick start, Kuntz escaped the inning with minimal damage.
Islander pitcher Jacob Dorris started the bottom of the first inning by hitting both junior designated hitter Nathan Orf and sophomore second baseman Lawton Langford. Junior first baseman Max Muncy drew a walk to load the bases.
Junior third baseman Cal Towey drew an RBI walk to tie the game in the bottom of the first. The bases remained loaded for senior left fielder Dan Evatt.
A wild pitch to Evatt advanced all of the runners and scored Langford from third to tie the game at one. Evatt’s sacrifice fly to left field scored Muncy from third and gave the Bears the lead.
David Li | Lariat Photographer
Towey would steal third before junior center fielder Logan Vick cracked a double to the warning track to give the Bears a 4-1 advantage. Corpus Christi changed pitchers after the fourth run crossed the plate with just one out recorded.
Vick advanced to third on a wild pitch before junior shortstop Steve DalPorto singled up the middle to score the fifth run of the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, freshman right fielder Adam Toth singled to second base. Two wild pitches allowed Toth to advance to third base. Dalporto’s sacrifice fly to center field allowed Toth to score on the next play.
With the bases loaded, Muncy and Towey drew back-to-back RBI walks to bring the Bears’ lead to 8-1. Vick followed with an RBI single to right field that advanced everybody one bag.
Dalporto started the bottom of the seventh inning with a double to the left field warning track. Sophomore catcher Nate Goodwin drove him home on a single.
“I’ve been working really hard in practice. Things are just coming a little more easily,” Goodwin said. “I just want to go out and compete and have a good time.”
After freshman second baseman Ryan Smith singled and Muncy walked, senior Joey Hainsfurther hit a sacrifice fly to right field. Goodwin scored on the play. With the Bears leading 11-1, the run rule took effect, and the Bears won their 21st game in a row.
