Baylor staved off elimination on Saturday, using timely hits and solid pitching to beat Lamar, 6-4, in the NCAA tournament Fort Worth Regional. Two freshmen drove in four key runs, while Fort Wayne, Ind., junior Jon Ringenberg improved to a perfect 5-0 as the Bears advanced to play on Sunday.
“That’s one of the most frustrating and cool things about the game. If you’re in (Lamar’s) dugout, that is phenomenally frustrating,” coach Steve Smith said about what proved to be the game winning play.
Max Muncy entered the eighth inning with three swinging strikeouts, and the Baylor dugout cringed as Muncy fell behind 1-2 with two runners on and two outs. But Muncy delivered when it mattered, singling up the middle to bring home Raynor Campbell and Cal Towey and put Baylor ahead, 6-1.
Muncy’s RBI preserved a Baylor win despite Lamar’s Joey Latulippe hitting a three-run home run in the ninth. Josh Turley was pulled after Latulippe went yard, giving Brooks Pinckard the chance to notch his 11th save on the season.
Beside the ninth inning trouble, Turley gave his team 2.2 vital relief innings, allowing three hits and striking out two batters. But the win went to Ringenberg, whom Smith told Friday night he would get the start against the Cardinals.
“(Lamar was) an aggressive swinging team today, and that worked to my advantage, being able to throw my changeup and keep them off balance,” Ringenberg said.
Ringenberg received playing time last week when Baylor played a meaningless game against Kansas in the Big 12 tournament.
He contained the Cardinals throughout his 5.2 inning outing Saturday. Ringenberg conceded one run on five hits, struck out four batters and walked none. Andy Mena’s double that put runners on second and third ended Ringenberg’s day, but Turley and Pinckard finished the job behind a relatively consistent defense.
On Friday, errors led to an insurmountable lead in the Bears’ loss to Arizona. Lamar was not as fortunate and had opportunities thwarted by a much tighter defensive effort.
Lamar’s Ted Zentek, the first batter of the game to reach base, was thrown out by Gregg Glime on a third inning steal attempt. An inning later Glime gunned down Alex Mena trying to take second.
“Gregg was huge for us behind the plate,” senior second baseman Raynor Campbell said. “We did make some big time plays, but we didn’t have to make that many great plays today because our pitchers were down in the zone.”
Campbell did make his own pair of “big time plays,” first in the fourth inning by tracking down a grounder and robbing Wade Mathis of a hit. In the eighth, Campbell dashed into foul territory, sliding several feet before snatching a Mena fly for an out.
Baylor got on the scoreboard first in the fourth inning via Joey Hainsfurther’s single up the middle. Logan Vick doubled in the fifth, bringing in Landis Ware and Josh Ludy.
Baylor advances to the 2 p.m. game on Sunday and will play the loser of tonight’s TCU vs. Arizona game. If Baylor wins at 2, they play again at 7, against the winner of tonight’s game.
Smith’s decision to pitch Ringenberg paid dividends for Baylor beyond Saturday’s win. Because Ringenberg and Turley completed their task, Willie Kempf and Craig Fritsch are both available for tomorrow.
“We made the decision that we felt like would give us the best chance to play through to Monday,” Smith said. “I think we are as prepared for tomorrow as we could possibly be.”