Feb. 27, 2004
Box Score
WACO, Texas- The No. 16-ranked Arizona baseball team won its series opener against No. 15 Baylor, 2-1, at Baylor Ballpark in Waco, Texas, on Friday. The win improved Arizona to 6-4-1 for the season and snapped a five-game winless streak. The loss, Baylor's third straight by one run, stretched the Bears' consecutive loses to four straight and dropped them to 3-5 for year.
UA's Koley Kolberg (1-1) picked up his first win of the year with seven innings of work on the mound. The junior right-hander from nearby Coppell, Texas, gave up just one unearned run on three hits while striking out eight and walking six.
Kolberg, along with relievers Mark Melancon and Derek Rodriguez, stranded 14 BU runners on base, including nine in scoring position. Rodriguez worked around a mistake-plagued ninth inning to pick up his second save of the year.
BU's Ryan LaMotta was charged with his first loss after giving up the go-ahead run on Jason Donald's sacrifice fly in the seventh that scored Nick Hundley from third.
Hundley, who had a tough night behind the plate with a pair of passed balls and a catcher's interference, led off the top of the inning with his first triple of the season. The hard hit ball just missed the glove of outfielder Mike Heldoorn and smacked off the fence for a three base hit.
Scoring first in a game for just the second time in 11 contests this season, the Wildcats ended a string of 13 straight scoreless innings and took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second on Trevor Crowe's RBI single to right center that plated sophomore classmate Derek Decater.
Baylor rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth on Kyle Reynold's sac-fly that scored Heldroon from third, but failed to come up with a clutch hit thereafter. Baylor threatened again in the sixth, eight and ninth innings, but stranded runners in scoring position in all three frames.
With a forecast calling for strong thunderstorms in the Waco area on Sunday, the Wildcats and Bears will play a double header on Saturday. First pitch for the opening game of the double-dip is scheduled for 11 am MST. UA's Luis Cortez (1-0) will face off against BU's Trey Taylor on the mound.
