Baylor Baseball Comes Up Just Short, 11-9, to No. 15 Oklahoma State in Extras

[Calderone, Max]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – March 24, 2023

Baylor Baseball Comes Up Just Short, 11-9, to No. 15 Oklahoma State in Extras
Bears jump out to 7-0 lead, force extras, strike out program-record 18 in a conference game
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

STILLWATER, Okla. – Baylor baseball (9-13, 2-2) battled No. 15 Oklahoma State (18-5, 2-2) to the brink on Friday night in Stillwater, Okla., but ultimately dropped an 11-9 game in 11 innings at O’Brate Stadium.

The Bears jumped out to a 7-0 lead after two and a half innings, but saw that lead evaporate at the hands of the Cowboys. However, BU would tie the ballgame at 9-9 in the sixth and send it to extras. Baylor got six scoreless innings from its bullpen before OSU’s Marcus Brown hit a walk-off, two-run homer in the bottom of the 11th.

THE RUNDOWN
Baylor wasted no time in opening the scoring, striking for a run in the top of the first as junior OF Hunter Simmons doubled in freshman INF Kolby Branch for the quick 1-0 lead. Then in the third, BU put up a six spot off five hits and a Cowboy error. Redshirt freshman OF Gavin Brzozowski singled in a run, junior INF/OF Cole Posey doubled in a pair, then freshman C Zach Mazoch crushed his second-career home run, a three-run shot, to put the Bears up 7-0.

However, the Pokes would answer with a three-run blast in the bottom of the third, then a six-spot of their own in the bottom of the fourth to go ahead 9-7. That’s when BU’s bullpen buckled down, as junior righty Adam Muirhead came on to start a streak of six scoreless innings by Baylor relievers.

The Bears got back in it in the top of the sixth, as Mazoch scored on freshman OF Caleb Bergman’s safety squeeze bunt. After an OSU throwing error allowed Bergman and sophomore C Cortlan Castle to advance 90 feet each, a sacrifice fly from Branch knotted the tally at 9-9.

Muirhead worked 2.1 innings of scoreless relief before handing it over to freshman southpaw Ethan Calder, who came up with two strikeouts to strand a baserunner in scoring position to end the seventh. Then, it was junior RHP Brett Garcia’s turn to strikeout a pair before turning it over to junior righty Hambleton Oliver, who punched out five in his two innings on the mound. Oliver inherited two runners in the ninth, but got an inning-ending strikeout to send the ballgame to extras.

After working a 1-2-3 frame in the 10th, and striking out two of the first three he faced in the 11th, Oliver was tagged with the loss after allowing the game-winning blast to the OSU shortstop.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor pitchers struck out a season-high 18 batters, surpassing double digits for the 17th time in 22 games this year.
• 18 strikeouts is a program record for a Big 12 game, and BU’s most in a single game since fanning 20 at Houston in 22 innings on Feb. 21, 1999.
• The 11-inning ballgame marked Baylor’s fourth extra-inning affair this season, its most in a single year since 2015.
• This is the eighth game that BU has played to be decided by two runs or less.
• This is Baylor’s first loss of the year when scoring six or more runs.
• The Bears eclipsed double digits in hits for the eighth time this season, and fourth in their last six ballgames.
• Freshman INF Kolby Branch extended his on-base streak to 22 games.
• Branch also collected his ninth multi-hit game of the year.
• Junior OF Hunter Simmons notched his seventh multi-hit game of the year.
• Redshirt freshman OF Gavin Brzozowski tallied his fourth multi-hit effort of 2023.
• Junior INF/OF Cole Posey extended his team-leading hitting streak to six games with his sixth multi-hit performance of the year, and fifth in his last six games.
• Posey also drove in two runs for his third multi-RBI game of the year.
• Freshman C Zach Mazoch crushed his second-career home run and recorded his third multi-hit and multi-RBI game.
• Freshman OF Caleb Bergman collected his first-career two-hit performance.
• Junior RHPs Brett Garcia and Adam Muirhead each worked their sixth scoreless outings of the season.
• Freshman LHP/OF Ethan Calder pitched his third scoreless appearance of the year.

STAT OF THE GAME
18 – The number of strikeouts by Baylor pitchers, a program record for Big 12 games.

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Mitch Thompson
On tonight’s game…
"Our guys really fought hard, competed really hard. We had a bunch of guys come out of the bullpen and throw up six straight zeros from the fifth inning on. I’m proud of the way they competed. I hate that we ended up losing the ballgame. We had opportunities. They ran their best arms at us out of the bullpen. It is what it is. They’re a really talented ballclub, but our guys fought really hard.”

WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor (9-13, 2-2) and No. 15 Oklahoma State (18-5, 2-2) return for a Saturday night tilt at O’Brate Stadium in Stillwater, Okla., with first pitch set for 6 p.m.

To stay up to date on all things Baylor baseball, follow the team on its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorBaseball.



-BaylorBears.com-


__________________________________

Max Calderone | Associate Director of Athletics Communications (BSB, FB, EQ)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 254-265-1639

[signature_4090248775]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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