| Sophomore Ryan Hutson hit his eighth homer of the spring and was one of five Roadrunners with two hits on Wednesday night. |
WACO ? UTSA nearly made its 1,000th game in program history a memorable one, but the Roadrunners saw the tying run get gunned down at second base with two down in the ninth and No. 17 Baylor held on for an 8-7 victory on Wednesday night at Baylor Ballpark.
The Roadrunners (25-19), who left 10 runners on base, saw their six-game winning streak come to an end, as the Bears (26-17) avenged last year's 11-7 setback to the Birds.
Trailing 8-5 entering the final at-bat, senior All-American Michael Rockett led off with a single to center, which extended his hitting streak to nine contests. Sophomore Tyler Carpenter pulled the Roadrunners within one run two batters later when he launched a home run to left center for his fifth long ball of the year. Junior Ryan Rummel dropped a base hit to center with two down and junior Gilbert Seanz was inserted as a pinch runner. Logan Verrett's 1-1 offering to freshman Casey Selsor was outside and in the dirt and Seanza took off for second, but Gregg Glime's throw was on the money and Baylor held on the for the one-run victory.
Junior right-handed starter Ryan Proudfoot retired the first seven hitters he faced, but he ran into trouble in the third, as the Bears touched him for three runs.
After the two teams traded tallies an inning later, Baylor pushed across two more in the fifth off Proudfoot to take a 6-1 lead.
UTSA began to rally with a three-spot in its half of the sixth.
Sophomore Brett Aguilar got things going with a single to right center off Bears reliever Max Garner. Three consecutive walks followed and Steve Smith went to his bullpen once again. Selsor promptly greeted Brooks Pinckard with a liner that glanced off the right-hander's glove, which allowed the second tally of the frame to cross the plate. Freshman Jason Mohn's grounder to third brought home the third run of the inning one batter later and the Birds pulled within a pair.
Hutson leadoff homer down the left-field line, his eighth of the season, to start the eighth got UTSA within one at 6-5, but Baylor plated what turned out to be two important insurance runs in its half of the stanza.
Craig Fritsch (2-5) picked up the win after giving up just one run on five hits in his five innings of work. He walked one and struck out five. Verrett picked up his third save of the season.
Proudfoot (1-1) allowed six runs on five hits, walked one and hit a batter in his five innings of work.
Aguilar, Hutson, Mohn, Rummel and Selsor all had two hits for the Roadrunners.
Dan Evatt went 3-for-4, including his sixth long ball of the spring, to go along with three RBIs to lead the Bears offense.
UTSA (14-10 SLC) and I-35 rival Texas State (31-11, 18-5) kick off their annual home-and-home series on Friday night in San Marcos. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the newly-renovated Bobcat Field.