Danny Corona was one of three Baylor sophomores who left the yard Wednesday night against the Red Raiders' biggest rival.
The 2018 Division II-AA state champions continued their impressive, powerful and undefeated start to the season with a 10-6 win at McCallie.
Baylor hit four home runs in the first four innings, with all of the homers coming from the left side as sophomores Cooper Kinney and Nick Kurtz and junior Colin Ahearn joined what looked like a home run derby early for a team that is 6-0 despite playing every game so far on the road.
"We were really locked in at the cages before the game today," said Corona, who had three of his team's seven hits, including a line-drive solo shot to the grassy parking lot behind the right-field fence, where several Baylor students were tailgating.
"We compete against one another each day while also having each other's backs. I feel like our whole lineup is strong one through nine."
February's downpours left Baylor's field more than eight feet underwater at one point, leading to the road-heavy start to the season, but it has not fazed the Red Raiders or limited their power. Ahearn and Kinney each has three home runs already.
"To be honest, I have seen every one of our hitters in our lineup leave the yard," Red Raiders coach Greg Elie said. "We have a bunch that really can drive the baseball and takes good approaches. They attack whatever they do and don't ever stop playing."
McCallie (1-4, 1-4 East/Middle Region) lost 10-0 on Tuesday in the opener of the rivals' three-game series. The finale is Thursday night at 6:30.
On Wednesday, the Blue Tornado's Dane Beard had three of his team's six hits and drove in speedy Daulton Payne twice.
Baylor, 5-0 in region play, broke through for six runs in the bottom of the fourth as Kurtz and Ahearn each smacked opposite field two-run home runs, and Kinney drove in his third and fourth RBIs on a single to right field as he waited back on a 3-2 curveball. That made it 9-2.
McCallie answered with three runs in the fifth, when leadoff batter Daalen Adderley doubled down the left-field line and later scored on a successful double steal as he beat the throw home from second base just in time.
Catcher Carter Edge helped the Blue Tornado join the slugfest as the fifth and final home run of the game one-hopped the street high above the left-field fence in the sixth.
Ahearn was the winning pitcher, working one out into the fifth and striking out seven batters in the game. Kurtz helped escape jams in relief with three strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings, and Luke Courdin shut things down with a 1-2-3 seventh.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.