BAYLOR BASEBALL: No. 2 Baseball Defeats No. 7 Oklahoma to Open 2019 Big 12 Championship

[Caton, Rachel]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – May 22, 2019

No. 2 BASEBALL DEFEATS NO. 7 OKLAHOMA TO OPEN 2019 BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
The Bears’ will play the winner of tonight’s TCU vs. OSU matchup at 7:30 p.m. CT tomorrow night.
For more information contact: Rachel Caton, 254-652-2061, Rachel_Caton at baylor.edu<mailto:Rachel_Caton at baylor.edu>


THE RUNDOWN
OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 2-seeded Bears opened up the 2019 Big 12 Championship much like how they left in 2018, with a big win, this time an 8-2 victory over Oklahoma on Wednesday evening at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

The Bears (34-15) launched three home runs, with Shea Langeliers and Andy Thomas each launching two-run bombs, along with Cole Haring connecting on his team-leading 10th home run of the year.

Thomas and Langeliers each had a team-high two hits on the day, while Thomas led the team with three RBIs. Eight-of-nine Bears in the lineup had at least one hit on the day.

Starter Paul Dickens was outstanding on the day, tossing six scoreless innings before giving up a solo home run to Oklahoma’s Conor McKenna in the top of the seventh inning. That solo shot would be the only run he would give up, scattering six hits while striking out six and only walking two en route to his fifth victory of the year.

The Bears wasted no time getting on the board, as Langeliers launched the two-run shot in the bottom of the first inning. That 2-0 lead held until Thomas doubled the lead with his two-run homer in the fourth.

With a 4-0 lead, the Bears added three more in the bottom of the sixth inning on two hits to break the game open, 7-0 Bears.

After the leadoff home run in the seventh by McKenna made it 7-1 Bears, Ryan Leckich entered and put up a zero for the Bears, allowing them to answer with a solo shot by Haring in the bottom of the seventh.

The Sooners (33-22) added one more in the top of the eighth inning, before Boyd came in to end the eighth and threw a flawless ninth to close things out.

Sooner starter Cade Cavalli took the loss to fall to 5-3 on the year.

The Bears will now face the winner of the TCU vs. Oklahoma State game at 7:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, May 23.

NOTES
*Baylor is 49-47 all-time at conference championships, 37-37 in the Big 12. BU owns a 33-31 mark in Oklahoma City. The Bears are 19-12 in opening games (14-8 in Big 12).
*Baylor and Oklahoma are the only two teams to qualify for all 23 Big 12 Championships.
*Baylor has won 34 or more games in a season for the third-straight year (36 in 2018), (34 in 2017), giving the program back-to-back-to-back 34-win seasons for the first time since 2005 (46), 2006 (37) and 2007 (35).

*156 of Baylor's 350 total runs in 2019 have come with two outs.

*Richard Cunningham extended his hit streak to 21 games, a career high.

*Shea Langeliers’ 2-run homer in the first inning was his 7th of the year.

*Andy Thomas’ 2-run home run in the fourth inning is his 3rd of the year.

*Cole Haring’s solo home run is his team-leading 10th bomb of the year.

*Nick Loftin has an eight-game hit streak.

*Cole Haring has an eight-game hit streak, a season high.

*Starter Paul Dickens completed his fourth quality start of the 2019 season, tossing 6.0 scoreless innings with 2 walks and 6 strikeouts.

*Ryan Leckich made his team-leading 27th appearance of the year.

*Luke Boyd made his 22nd appearance of the year.

STAT OF THE DAY
3 – The. Bears launched three home runs on the day, tying their three-home run performance on May 24, 2018 vs. Kansas, the most in a Big 12 Championships game under Coach Steve Rodriguez.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
On tonight’s game…

"He has just done a really good job for us this year. He battled through a couple of really tough innings with the weather, it’s a little humid and hot and he fought through a couple long innings. He got himself in a little bit of trouble, but then he bounced right back and got out of it, so I am really happy with his performance that he has done for us this year and excited for the next couple of weeks for him.”
- Baylor head coach Steve Rodriguez

On the hitting performance of the middle of the order in Langeliers and Thomas…

"It’s really nice when the middle of the order is able to turnaround fastballs. Just a phenomenal job by their pitcher, Cavalli, going out there, four-pitch mix, he kept our guys off balance and we were fortunate enough to get ahold of a couple of fastballs and that was the difference for us today.
- Baylor head coach Steve Rodriguez

WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears move into the winner’s bracket of the double elimination tournament and will face the winner of the Oklahoma State vs. TCU game at 7:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, May 23 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

For tickets to home games, visit: https://baylorbears.com/sports/2018/9/11/tickets.aspx. For updates on the program follow @baylorbaseball on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

-baylorbears.com-


__________________________________

Rachel Caton | Associate Sports Information Director
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
O: 254-710-3784 | C: 254-652-2061

[cid:image001.png at 01D5070F.1E7C3CA0]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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