By Michael Haag | Sports Writer
It was an unsuccessful road trip to Morgantown, W.Va. for Baylor baseball as they dropped the series finale to West Virginia University 7-5 on Sunday at Monongalia County Ballpark. It was a tough game for the Bears who were looking to salvage the series after a 6-7 loss on Friday and 4-8 defeat on Saturday.
Until this point, Baylor (16-15, 2-7 Big 12) had not lost a road Big 12 series in over a year (March 26-28, 2021 at Texas Christian University), but the Mountaineers (20-10, 5-1 Big 12) reset the count Sunday. The Bears had their chances in all three contests, but fell short and head back home empty-handed.
“We didn’t get started off real well falling behind 6-0, but I was really proud of how our guys stepped up and scored five runs in the fourth inning,” head coach Steve Rodriguez said. “Their pitcher was kind of effectively wild, but I thought our guys took some pretty good swings and just hit balls right at people. We had some chances later in the game, we just couldn’t get the hit.”
WVU pounced on the Bears early to the tune of a 6-0 lead through two innings. In a fitting way, Baylor rallied back with a five spot in the fourth to cut the Mountaineers’ lead to one.
The five runs came off several WVU mishaps and one key 2RBI-single from sophomore outfielder Alex Gonzales.
The comeback effort fell short after a Mountaineer solo shot over the fence ended up being the final tally to put the Bears away in sweeping fashion.
Before returning to Waco, Baylor takes a trip down I-35 to San Marcos for a midweek clash against No. 19 Texas State University, first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Bobcat Ballpark.
Rodriguez and the young squad will look to keep learning from their adversity in order to get some games back on upcoming conference foes.
“The biggest thing right now is we just have to make sure we continue to learn from some of the mistakes we’re making on the mound and at the plate,” Rodriguez said. “For the most part, when you’re young you need to continue to learn and that’s the biggest thing right now.”
