Travis Taylor | Lariat Photographer
Sports Writer
The Baylor Bears extended their winning streak to three games after defeating the Dallas Baptist Patriots 6-1 Wednesday night.
While Baylor’s three pitchers combined for just four strikeouts, they only gave up one run. Junior left-handed pitcher Doug Ashby closed the game and didn’t allow a hit in the 2.2 innings he pitched.
“I felt good tonight, so I felt fresh in the end,” Ashby said. “I felt good in previous outings, but my control was a little bit off and we noticed a few mechanical adjustments so I worked on those in pre-game and a little bit warming.”
The Patriots made pitching changes frequently to confuse the Baylor offense, but after two scoreless innings, Baylor’s offense got going after a three-run double by senior third baseman Cal Towey, who had two hits on the night.
“I thought they had really good arms that they kept putting out,” Towey said. “There was pretty much a new guy every inning so you had to figure them out pretty quick.”
Dallas Baptist made some mistakes and Baylor made them pay, scoring runs on every error. A fielding error by the third baseman scored junior second baseman Lawton Langford at the bottom of the sixth.
Baylor trailed Dallas Baptist after the Patriots hit back-to-back doubles, allowing a run to get on the board. With another player in scoring position, Baylor picked an opportune time for a double play. Patriot RJ Talamantes flew out to center field and Austin Listi, who was on second, tried to advance to third, but was called out on Brown’s throw to third.
Baylor responded after Dallas Baptist made one of six pitching changes. Senior shortstop Jake Miller hit a lead-off single and advanced to second off of a sacrifice bunt by junior catcher Brett Doe. Brown grounded to the pitcher, but it allowed Miller to advance to third base. Miller would score off of an error by the shortstop, allowing Towey to advance to first.
Baylor didn’t look back as its defense got the job done by not allowing any runs for the rest of the game. Baylor had three double plays, taking the pressure off the pitchers and the offense.
“We took some quality pitches, and they ran a bunch of good arms out there. If you were looking at the gun tonight, this wasn’t really a contest but we were able to get on base,” head coach Steve Smith said.
Baylor had another double play at the top of the eighth when a player grounded out to second who threw it to first for the second out. Baylor finished the game by not allowing a hit.
Baylor will play West Virginia at 6:30 p.m. Friday at home.
