Baylor hitters were begging for pitches in the strike zone, but no more than McCallie coach Greg Payne.
Payne's pitchers, as talented as they are, couldn't zero in and Baylor hitters made them pay when it counted, piecing together a six-run, seventh-inning rally to upend the Blue Tornado 9-8 Tuesday night.
"If you can't throw strikes you're not going to win," Payne said. "That's all we preach: Throw to contact, throw to contact. That's basic baseball."
It was a bitter pill for McCallie, which rallied for a 3-3 tie in the third and led 5-3 after five innings. The Blue Tornado increased that lead to 8-3 in the top of the seventh but then couldn't hold it, primarily because their pitchers couldn't consistently find the strike zone.
"With a five-run lead and the pitchers we had in the stable, we had to feel pretty good, and then ball, ball, ball. There's nothing anybody can do. The defense can't do anything; the coach can't do anything; it's that guy holding the ball," Payne said. "It's embarrassing is what it is."
McCallie pitchers issued four free passes in that fateful seventh, and Baylor combined just enough hits to snip the Tornado's season-opening win streak at five.
Wilson Maclellan pitched the first six innings for the Red Raiders, and it was his bat that started and ended the pivotal rally. He led off with a single and his second hit of the inning, a screaming rocket at the shortstop, allowed Tate Prater to cross with the winning run.
Gavin Roberson's two-run single to right tied the game, and Keaton Baker previously had a run-scoring single, also to right.
"We took till we got a strike, and a couple of times we gave guys the take sign on 3-and-1," Baylor coach Billy Berry said. "I thought our guys were especially patient."
Maclellan was 3-for-4 while catcher Pierce Collins went 3-for-3 and Baker was 2-for-3.
"We wanted to make them throw strikes, and then we were able to do some things to get runs on the board," Berry added.
It probably pained Payne, but he offered an honest assessment of his opponents.
"It took a lot of courage to come back, and then Gavin had that big hit," Payne said. "I thought we helped an awful lot, but you have to admire their tenacity and you have to tip your hat to a couple of big hits in that last inning."
Baylor outhit McCallie 11-5 but won just two of the seven innings, according to the Red Raiders' coach.
"Our philosophy is to win each inning, and winning the game will take care of itself. This time, I felt like we won two innings - the first and, fortunately, the last," Berry said.
Baylor failed to plate a run and left the bases loaded in the fifth.
McCallie didn't squander many chances, leaving only two baserunners through the first six innings. The Tornado scored three in the seventh but left the bases loaded.
"We didn't swing the bat exceptionally well, and I thought we relaxed too much in the seventh. We had a chance at a kill shot and didn't take it," Payne said.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.