The Baylor Red Raiders are quietly having another outstanding baseball season and they won their 20th game of the season Tuesday night at their own Eddie & Gene Etter Baseball Complex/Wyatt McMahan Field.
Tuesday’s night was an 8-3 victory over arch-rival McCallie and was the second straight win over the Blue Tornado as the game was played before a capacity crowd with lots of fans down both foul lines and also in the outfield.
Monday’s 7-4 win clinched the Division II-East region title for Baylor while Tuesday’s victory just added to the Red Raider winning streak, which is now eight straight after their last loss to Knoxville Webb on April 3.
Southpaw Tomas Valincius was the winner as he went the distance, allowing three runs on three hits while striking out seven and walking none.
Baylor co-head coach Greg Elie can normally just sit back and watch as the big lefty does his thing. That was the case in this latest game.
“Any time you have the best pitcher in the state on the mound, it’s going to be a good night,” Elie said following the game.
“I thought Tomas did a great job filling up the zone with strikes and he was as locked in as I’ve seen him all season. The bottom of our lineup stepped up early and made a positive contribution and I thought that Camden Cloud played great at first. Tomas has worked with him all season and it’s making a difference as he played well tonight.
“But I’m just proud of these guys as they’re playing well right now. I just want this train to keep on rolling down the track,” Elie concluded with a smile.
McCallie coach Tim Costo liked the way his team kept battling from start to finish.
“We gave up too many walks and you can’t do that against a team like Baylor, but I thought we had some good approaches at the plate and we battled all the way to the end. We just have to keep working,” he added.
After a scoreless first, Baylor got on the board with two runs in the second before making it 5-0 with three more in the third. Two more in the fourth and one in the sixth was plenty of support for Valincius.
Amari Jefferson and Blake Lundy both walked to lead off the second and both scored on a double to right-center by Nelson McKnight.
Bryce Sanders led off the third for the Blue Tornado with a single and later scored on a wild pitch, but Baylor’s bats came right back and increased the lead with three in the third.
Matt Dill, Monday’s hero at the plate, led off with a single to left and went to third when Valincius doubled to left-center. Jefferson then grounded to second to plate Dill with the first run before Lundy’s single up the middle plated Valincius.
McKnight took a swinging third strike for the second out before Zach Morrison doubled into the corner in left to drive in courtesy runner Will Ratterman.
Graham King led off the Baylor fourth with a walk before Jack Schurman singled to end the night for McCallie starter Nick Gibson. Both runners advanced on a sacrifice by Dill. Valincius then flied to center to drive in King with the first run while the second scored when the throw back to the infield was wild.
David Sabo led off the McCallie fifth with a solo homer to left center, but Valincius escaped further trouble by retiring the next three in a row.
Schurman then walked to lead off the Baylor sixth. He advanced to third on a stolen base and a wild pitch before scoring on a grounder to second by Valincius.
Zach Porter then accounted for the final run of the game when he led off the McCallie seventh with a single and then went to third on back-to-back wild pitches before scoring on a Red Raider boot.
Valincius then struck out Sabo for the first out before Sanders grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to end the game.
Nobody on either team had more than one hit.
While Valincius was the winner, Gibson took the loss after allowing seven runs on six hits before being replaced after facing two hitters in the fourth. He also had six walks and three strikeouts.
The third game of this series will be played at McCallie on Wednesday with a 7 p.m. start.
The Blue Tornado is now 19-11 overall and 6-5 in region play.
McCALLIE 001 010 1 – 3 4 2
BAYLOR 023 201 x – 8 6 1
Gibson, Bandy (4), Stonecipher (5), Choate (6) and Porter; Valincius and Lundy.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)