By Foster Nicholas | Sports Editor
Rolling into Sunday afternoon with their first Big 12 series win under their belt, Baylor baseball stumbled, allowing 10 runs in the first inning and falling 11-6 in the series finale against No. 23 Arizona at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, Ariz.
Head coach Mitch Thompson picked up his fourth and fifth ranked wins with the Bears (19-8, 4-5 Big 12), swiping the Friday and Saturday contests, but buried in a 10-0 deficit after one inning wiped away the chance of earning a sweep.
“Getting behind 10-0 is tough sledding,” Thompson said. “They obviously came out swinging and took it to us. From that point on, the guys competed and battled hard.”
Freshman left-handed pitcher Carson Bailey was only able to pick up two outs against the first 10 Arizona batters, leaving the game in the first inning, allowing eight runs on five hits, two walks and a hit-by-pitch. Redshirt senior right-handed pitcher Cole Stasio relieved Bailey, allowing three runs on seven hits in 3 1/3 innings.
After the early struggles, the back end of the bullpen thrived. Redshirt sophomore left-handed pitcher Caleb Jameson dealt two scoreless innings, which was followed by a 1-2-3 seventh from redshirt senior righty Patrick Hail. Sophomore left-handed pitcher RJ Ruais shut down the first two batters he faced, but a walk and a hit forced Thompson to call on redshirt senior right-handed pitcher Andrew Petrowski to retire the final batter and prevent additional runs.
“Our bullpen gave us a shot to get back in the game, our offense tried to get back in the game, but you know we just couldn’t get the big hit at the right time,” Thompson said. “We had guys on base, we competed up and down the lineup. We had good at-bats and there was no quit in the guys.”
Sophomore catcher JJ Kennett (2-for-5, 3 RBI) put Baylor on the board in the second inning with an RBI groundout and added another in the fourth with a single. Trailing 11-2 heading into the fifth, the Bears showed signs of life.
Redshirt sophomore first baseman Jack Little (2-for-5) plated a run with a double, and senior shortstop Tyriq Kemp, who went 4-for-5, scored Little with a single. Situational hitting and a Wildcat error finished off a four-run fifth, trimming the deficit to five.
The bats went cold from there, going 3-for-20 with runners in scoring position. Freshman third baseman Pearson Riebock (2-for-5) and redshirt sophomore second baseman Travis Sanders (2-for-3, 3 R, 2 BB) were the only other Bears who reached base at least twice in the 11-6 loss to the Wildcats (20-7, 6-3 Big 12).
“We’re not happy about losing that ballgame, but we played a really good team that had their backs against the wall and came out and got after us,” Thompson said. “We give them credit, but we’ll go home with the series win and get going again on Tuesday.”
The Bears will be back in action against HCU (17-8, 10-2 SLC) at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Baylor Ballpark.
