April 18, 2003
WACO, Texas - No. 16-ranked Baylor used a six-run second inning against Missouri ace right-hander Justin James (Yukon, Okla.) to take the first game of a Big 12 Conference series, 10-4, at Baylor Ballpark on Friday. It is the fourth straight loss for the 23rd-ranked Tigers (25-12, 9-6), who still remain in fifth place, a half-game ahead of BU.
Baylor (27-14, 9-7 Big 12) scored first in the bottom of the first with three hits off James (6-4), who fanned Chris Durbin to lead off the inning. David Murphy and Josh Ford singled before Michael Griffin drove a 1-0 pitch to right field to score Murphy. Griffin then got hung up between second and third when Ford was held up at third.
In the second, Mizzou struck back with one out. Following a strikeout by freshman 3B Zane Taylor (Kirksville, Mo.), junior 2B Jeremy Hernandez (Aptos, Calif.) walked on four pitches. Junior OF Ryan Rallo (Chesterfield, Mo.) then hit a 2-1 pitch off Bear starter Steven White (5-2) just under the scoreboard in left-center for his team-leading sixth homer of the season.
The Bears got those runs back and several to spare in the bottom of the second, however, when the Bears batted around. James allowed a leadoff single to Mark Saccomanno before striking out the next two batters. Baylor then scored six two-out runs, starting with Durbin's three-run blast to right, his 12th of the season. Murphy followed with a 2-2 liner just inside the right-field foul pole for back-to-back homers, and Griffin hit a two-run triple to right.
James seemed to settle down from then on, retiring the side in order in the fourth, yet a three-run homer by Trey Webb in the fifth ended the night for James, who set season highs by allowing 10 runs on 13 hits in his 4-1/3 innings.
White remained in control, retiring 11 straight Tigers from the second through fifth innings. In the sixth, however, he put the first three batters on base with a pair of walks and a hit batter. Yet he induced a bases-loaded flare-out to second by junior C Brad Flanders (Smithville, Mo.) before striking out Taylor and Hernandez to get out of the jam.
Mizzou tallied another pair in the seventh on just one hit. With one out and freshman OF Tyler Williams (Delta, British Columbia) on first, freshman DH James Boone (Clinton, Okla.) lined a one-out triple to left-center to score Williams easily. Boone followed when senior OF Jayce Tingler (Smithville, Mo.) grounded out to second for his team-leading 38th RBI of the season.
Freshman LHP Taylor Parker (Bellaire, Texas) did an excellent job in relief of James, scattering three hits and walking none over the next 2-2/3. He also struck out a season-high three Bears in posting his longest outing of the year. Junior RHP Mark Alexander (Independence, Mo.) pitched a perfect eighth.
"We ran into an extremely hot offensive ballclub," said Head Coach Tim Jamieson. "We never gave ourselves a chance on the mound at the start of the game, and they did a great job with the bats. If we can put a 2- or 3-spot up on the board, this might have been a different game. I've seen [White] pitch for four years, and he's always done a great job."
The two teams hook up Saturday at 3 p.m. for the middle game of the three-game series. In a game that will be televised regionally over several FOX Sports Net affiliates, sophomore RHP Garrett Broshuis (Advance, Mo.) will put his 5-2 record up against Baylor freshman RHP Abe Woody (4-0).