Baylor Baseball: BSB Drops to OU, 6-5, to Close Out Regular Season

[Rhodes, Zach]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – May 22, 2021

Baseball Drops to OU, 6-5, to Close Out Regular Season
The Bears’ rally fell short after scoring three runs in the eighth
Media Link: https://baylorbea.rs/37RVUDI
For more information contact: Zach Rhodes, 919-247-7585, Zach_Rhodes at baylor.edu

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball dropped its second-straight game to Oklahoma, 6-5, on Saturday at Baylor Ballpark in Waco, Texas. The Bears (31-18, 11-13 Big 12) will drop to the No. 6 seed in next week’s Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship after falling to the Sooners (27-26, 11-13 Big 12).

For the seventh-straight game, Baylor scored in the opening frame after sophomore Jack Pineda led the game off with a single and later, second-year freshman Tre Richardson brought him home with a ground out to give the Bears the 1-0 edge.

Oklahoma scored two in the top of the second before a three hour and 41-minute rain delay put things on hold. Following the delay, OU held the 2-1 advantage going to the third. The Sooners pushed the lead to 4-1 with two solo home runs in the third frame.

Second-year freshmen Jared McKenzie and Richardson began the sixth with back-to-back singles and later on, fifth-year senior Andy Thomas brought one home with a sacrifice fly to pull the Bears within two. The Sooners once again responded, this time with another two runs in the top of the seventh to go up 6-2.

Baylor had a chance with the bases loaded, after Davion Downey ripped a bases-clearing double to close the gap to 6-5. Oklahoma got out of the inning and sealed the win in the ninth with a ground out while BU had a runner in scoring position.

Blake Helton (4-3) took the loss after throwing before the rain delay, while OU starter Jake Bennett (4-3) earned the win. Oklahoma reliever Luke Taggart (2) picked up the save in the ninth.

NOTES
• Baylor will be the No. 6 seed at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship after finishing the season 11-13 in conference play.
• The Bears finish the season 23-6 at Baylor Ballpark.
• OU wins the season series against the Bears, 3-1.
• Baylor has scored in the first inning in each of the last seven games. BU is outscoring opponents now 59-19 in the first frame.
• With three runs in the eighth, Baylor is outscoring opponents 44-18 in the eighth on the season.
• Thomas finishes the regular season with a team-leading 59 RBI.
• Downey went 3-for-4 with three RBI.
• McKenzie ended the night 3-for-5 with a run scored.
• Fifth-year senior Luke Boyd came in and hurled 1.2 innings with a season-high four strikeouts.

QUOTE FROM COACH ROD
“We’ve gone through rain delays before so that’s no excuse, I thought our grounds guys did an amazing job keeping the field ready on a day that is just not very traditional. But our guys continued to fight, we had the right guys in scoring positions, had the right guys up, unfortunately, that’s baseball. It’s unfortunate but we need to go into the Big 12 Tournament and win some games now.”

WHAT’S NEXT
The Bears will open the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship on Wednesday, May 26 at 4 p.m. CT as the No. 6 seed against the No. 3 seed Texas Tech at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City. The Bears won the series against the then-ranked No. 5 Red Raiders in Lubbock April 23-25.

To stay up to date throughout the season on all things Baylor baseball, follow the team on Facebook (Baylor Baseball), Twitter (@BaylorBaseball) and Instagram (@BaylorBaseball).

-BaylorBears.com-

Zach Rhodes | Associate Director of Athletics Communications
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 919-247-7585 | O: 254-710-3784

[signature_2144534791]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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