April 29, 2007

Box Score |  Quotes

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Ben Booker's three-run home run started a seven-run ninth inning as Baylor posted its biggest ninth-inning comeback of the season in a 16-12 victory at No. 18 Texas A&M in Sunday's series finale at Olsen Field. Baylor (25-21, 8-13) salvaged the final game of the series with the victory. Texas A&M (35-11, 11-9) has not swept Baylor since 1996, while the Bears have two sweeps of the Aggies since then.

It was the largest ninth-inning deficit overcome by a Baylor team since the Bears scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth for a 9-8 victory at home against Texas A&M in last season's series finale. It was Baylor's first win against a nationally ranked opponent on the opponent's home field since defeating then-No. 23 Oklahoma 6-5 in last season's series opener.

After Booker's home run tied the score at 12-12 with no outs, Raynor Campbell kept the rally going with a bunt single. Two batters and one out later, Beamer Weems laced an RBI double down the left-field line to put the Bears ahead 13-12. Baylor added three more runs on Dustin Dickerson's RBI single up the middle and Matt Czimskey's two-run single to left-center.

Nick Cassavechia then scattered a pair of singles in the ninth, getting Ben Feltner to pop out to end the game. It was reprieve for Cassavechia, who allowed three of Texas A&M's six runs in the seventh inning and suffered just the third blown save of his career in 19 attempts.

Cassavechia (5-1) earned the victory and has now earned a decision (win or save) in 13 of Baylor's 25 wins this season. He allowed five runs, four earned, on six hits and two walks with six strikeouts over 3.0 innings.

The ninth-inning rally also lifted the Bears into an eighth-place tie with Kansas in the Big 12 standings, one-half game ahead of 10^th-place Texas Tech, one-half game behind seventh-place Kansas State and one-and-a-half games behind sixth-place Oklahoma. Baylor holds tiebreakers over Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas Tech, and the Bears conclude the regular season with a three-game series at home against Kansas State.

Baylor broke a 4-4 tie with five runs in the sixth, keyed by Raynor Campbell's three-run double. Weems and Dickerson also had RBI singles in the inning.

However, Texas A&M rallied for six runs in the seventh on four hits, two walks and two Baylor errors to pull ahead 10-9. Feltner started the rally with an RBI single, and Corey Stinson later added a two-run single to pull the Aggies within two runs at 9-7. After a walk and a strikeout, Brian Ruggiano looped a two-run single down the left-field line to tie the game at 9-9. Baylor had a chance to get out of the inning, but a two-out Campbell throwing error allowed the go-ahead run to score.

The Aggies added solo home runs from Feltner and Stinson in the eighth for what appeared to be insurance runs. However, Shaver Hansen reached on an error to lead off the top of the ninth and Paul Miles followed with a walk. Texas A&M turned to left-hander Jason Meyer, who allowed Booker's home run on an 0-1 pitch.

Meyer (4-1) was saddled with the loss; the sixth of eight Aggie pitchers on the day, Meyer allowed four runs on four hits with one strikeout in 0.1 innings.

Both starters were out of the game by the end of five innings. Baylor's Kendal Volz allowed four runs, two earned, on seven hits and no walks with two strikeouts over 4.1 innings. Texas A&M's Clayton Ehlert allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts over 3.2 innings.

Weems started the game on a good note for Baylor, lacing a two-run homer to right in the top of the first. However, Texas A&M quickly answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning. The Aggies added a pair of run in the second, but Baylor rallied back with solo spots in the third and fourth innings.

The Bears finished with 20 hits on the day, a season high and the most in a Big 12 game since collecting 23 hits against Missouri in 2003. It was Baylor's highest hit total in a Big 12 road game since a 20-hit effort at Oklahoma State the weekend prior to the Missouri game in 2003.

Six Bears had multiple-hit games, combining for 18 of the Bears' 20 hits. Booker led the way, going 4-for-6 with two runs and three RBI. Czimskey, Dickerson, Hansen and Weems all had three-hit days, while Campbell tallied two hits. Weems had four RBI, and Campbell had three.

Baylor returns to action Tuesday, May 1, traveling to Fort Worth, Texas, for a midweek game at TCU. First pitch between the Bears and the Horned Frogs is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CDT at Lupton Station on the TCU campus. The game will be televised nationally on CSTV.