By Nathan Keil | Sports Editor
After dropping the opener Friday night, Baylor took the final two games of its weekend series at West Virginia.
The Bears (32-19, 13-11) have now won four straight conference series, five overall and 19 of their last 22 games after taking Friday’s contest 4-1 and Saturday’s finale 6-2.
On Friday, it was sophomore Hayden Kettler (7-4) who got the win for Baylor. Kettler tossed five innings, allowing one run on six hits, two walks and three strikeouts.
The only run off Kettler came in the fourth inning, as junior catcher Ivan Gonzalez delivered an RBI single.
Junior Kyle Hill pitched the sixth and seventh, allowing on hit and two walks while striking out three.
Senior Drew Robertson pitched a perfect eighth with one strikeout setting up senior closer Troy Montemayor, who allowed one hit and struck out two to collect his 11th save of the season and tying Zane Carlson’s (2000-04) program record with 37 career saves.
Offensively, junior second baseman Josh Bissonette got Baylor on the board with an RBI single to center.
After West Virginia tied the game at one in the fourth, sophomore third baseman Davis Wendzel laced a two-run double off the wall in center field, putting Baylor in front 3-1.
The Bears added one more in the eighth after the Mountaineers made an errant throw on a pickoff throw, allowing Bissonette to score.
On Saturday, freshman Tyler Thomas got the start, allowing one run on two hits in three innings. Thomas struck out five, but walked five as well, giving way to senior Alex Philips (6-1), who allowed one run on four hits in four innings, striking out five in the process.
Robertson and Montemayor pitched the eighth and ninth innings for the second day in a row. Montemayor allowed a leadoff double, but got the next three hitters in order, including a strikeout to end the game.
Redshirt junior outfielder Richard Cunningham got Baylor going with an RBI single in the second inning, as the Bears grabbed a 1-0 lead.
Baylor then tacked on three more in the fourth on an RBI single from junior outfielder Cole Haring and a two-run double from junior outfielder T.J. Raguse.
West Virginia responded with two in bottom of the fourth, on a pair of singles and a Baylor miscue in the outfield.
Baylor added two more in the ninth, getting one on a sacrifice bunt and a single from Cunningham.
Baylor will be the fifth seed in next week’s Big 12 Tournament in Oklahoma City, Okla. The tournament will run May 23-27 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Bears will open against No. 4 Oklahoma at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning.
