By Foster Nicholas | Sports Editor
Building a 5-0 lead that vanished by the third inning, Baylor baseball failed to win their second Big 12 series of the season, dropping the rubber match against Texas Tech 9-8 Sunday afternoon at Rip Griffin Park in Lubbock.
After an offensive onslaught of 18 runs on Saturday, the Bears (22-13, 6-9 Big 12) didn’t miss a step. Redshirt senior right fielder Enzo Apodaca, who finished 2-for-5, singled and slammed a two-run homer in the first two innings. Senior shortstop Tyriq Kemp (3-for-5) added on with two RBI doubles in the first two innings as well. The duo built a 5-0 lead after the top of the second inning.
“Disappointed to not come out of there with a [win],” head coach Mitch Thompson said. “We had our opportunities. It’s a tough one to lose. We came out and got after it but couldn’t seem to add on.”
The Red Raiders (11-21, 7-8 Big 12) erased the lead quickly with five runs of their own by the end of the third. Redshirt sophomore second baseman Travis Sanders and sophomore catcher JJ Kennett pulled the Bears back in front 7-5 with RBIs in the fifth.
In his second start of the season, sophomore left-handed pitcher Mason Green lasted one inning, allowing three runs on three hits before being pulled in the second. Redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Lucas Davenport (2-1) earned the loss, allowing five runs on seven hits in three innings.
After Davenport allowed three runs before recording an out in the fifth, right-handers Grayson Murry, Will Glatch and Gabe Craig combined to allow one run across the final four innings.
The green and gold added one more run in the seventh inning but only recorded one hit in the final two innings and fell 9-8.
“[We] had a few at-bats that kind of got away from us a little bit, but the guys competed hard,” Thompson said. “It’s a tough ballgame today. It’s just one of those things. You’re not going to win them all. It’s frustrating, it hurts, we wanted to win it, but we just couldn’t hold them down enough.”
The Bears will be back in action against UT Arlington (13-19, 5-4 WAC) at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Clay Gould Ballpark in Arlington.
