By DJ Ramirez | Sports Editor
Baylor baseball’s senior righty Luke Boyd earns the Lariat Sports Athlete of the Weekend, recording three of his five saves this season during the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic at Minute Maid Park in Houston this past weekend.
The senior closer sealed Baylor’s wins over Missouri, No. 21 LSU and No. 13 Arkansas as the Bears swept their three SEC opponents. Boyd struck out two batters in each of his outings and only one hit across the last three games. The California native holds a 0.00 ERA through seven outings this season.
Boyd was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels in the 38th round of the 2019 MLB First Year Player Draft but opted to remain at Baylor for his senior season and to finish his degree in sports sponsorship and sales.
As a junior, Boyd made 24 appearances as one of Baylor’s most dependable set-up guys for the Bears and has been one of Baylor’s go-to relievers throughout his Baylor career. Head coach Steve Rodriguez said prior to the season that Boyd would take over the closer seamlessly after the departure of All-American Kyle Hill.
“He was a set-up guy who was there to get it to Kyle Hill, “ Rodriguez said. “And I’m not concerned with him taking over that role. I think he’ll do a very good job with it. He’s an older guy, he should be able to step into that role and do quite well.”
Boyd received a first place vote from each member of the Lariat Sports desk but missed out on an unanimous decision when he was given a second place vote in the Baylor Lariat’s Twitter poll.
The Bears hit the road this weekend with a three-game series in San Luis Obispo, Calif., against Cal Poly.
Honorable mentions:
Women’s Basketball Senior Forward Lauren Cox: The Big 12 Co-Player of the week scored 22 point against Kansas State and added 10 boards, three assists, two blocks and four steals.
Men’s Tennis Senior Constantin Frantzen: The 82nd-nationally ranked senior clinched Baylor’s winning against Illinois with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 singles victory on Saturday. Despite their first doubles loss of the spring, Frantzen and junior Sven Lah are still ranked in the top 15, dropping two spots to No. 11.
Softball freshman pitcher/infielder Aliyah Pritchett: The newcomer pitched 15.1 during the Wooo Pig Invitational in Arkansas tis weekend,, striking out 14 across three games. She also hit a home run against Florida State and totaled three RBI over the last two games.
