WACO, Texas (Interstat) — Travis Sanders drove in four runs, including the go-ahead RBI single in the fifth inning, to lead the Baylor Bears to a 7-6 comeback victory over the West Virginia Mountaineers in a Big 12 Conference opener Friday night at Baylor Ballpark.

The Bears erased a five-run deficit with a five-run fourth inning and survived a late solo home run by the Mountaineers in the ninth to even the series ahead of Saturday’s matchup.

West Virginia struck first without a hit in the opening frame. Leadoff batter Matthew Ineich walked, advanced to second on a groundout and scored when Kelly grounded into a double play.

The Mountaineers extended their lead to 6-1 with a four-run fourth inning off Baylor reliever Lucas Wallace. Wills and Sean Smith hit back-to-back doubles, with Smith’s driving in a run. Guzman followed with an RBI bunt single, Hall added a sacrifice bunt for another run and Kelly capped the rally with an RBI single to center.

Baylor’s offense, held to one run through three innings by West Virginia starter Dawson Montesa, erupted in the bottom of the fourth. After two walks, reliever Bassinger allowed consecutive RBI hits to Cade Dodson and Sanders. Sanders’ two-run single to left center tied the game at 6-6. Bo followed with another single to give Baylor its first lead of the night.

The most critical sequence of the game came in the fifth and sixth innings. After Carson Estridge entered in relief for West Virginia in the fifth, Dodson tripled and scored on Sanders’ fourth RBI of the game, a single to short that proved to be the decisive run.

West Virginia immediately answered in the top of the sixth when Sean Smith launched a solo home run, his second of the season, to cut the deficit to 7-6. The Mountaineers then put the tying run on third with one out, but Baylor reliever Charlie Atkinson entered and induced two groundouts to escape the jam.

Baylor’s bullpen combination of Atkinson, RJ Ruais and Bunch shut the door over the final 3 1/3 innings. West Virginia mounted one final threat in the ninth when Ineich homered with one out off Bunch to pull within a run. Bunch recovered, getting Kelly to ground out and striking out Schoenfeld to end the game.

Sean Smith led West Virginia with three hits, including a double and a home run, driving in one run. Ineich also homered and scored twice. For Baylor, Sanders finished 3 for 5 with four RBIs, while Dodson went 2 for 3 with a triple, an RBI and two runs scored.

West Virginia’s record falls to 11-4 overall and 0-1 in the Big 12. Baylor improves to 11-6 and 1-0 in conference play. The teams will continue their three-game series Saturday afternoon in Waco.