The Longhorns topped A&M on Sunday and secured the Big 12 title — and also the State Farm Lone Star Showdown Rivalry Series trophy — after beating Texas A&M 5-4 in Austin on Sunday. Patrick Meredith FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN
#8 Texas 5 #16 Texas A&M 4
AUSTIN, Texas — The No. 8 Texas Longhorns took advantage defensive lapses by the No. 14 Texas A&M Aggies in the first inning to score five runs and hung on for a 5-4 win in the rubber match of the State Farm Lone Star Showdown at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Sunday afternoon.
The UT victory coupled with a loss by Oklahoma in the Bedlam Series against Oklahoma State gave the Horns their fifth Big 12 regular-season title and the third in the last four years.
With the win, Texas earned the baseball point in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown and took a 9.5-7.5 lead in the all-sport rivalry. With just men’s and women’s outdoor track & field remaining, Texas is guaranteed at least a tie in this year’s Showdown. Since Texas A&M won the trophy in 2007-08, Texas would need a half-point to bring the hardware to the Forty Acres.
Texas scored all its runs in the home half of the first. With one out, Travis Tucker cued a double down the leftfield line and Brandon Belt was issued a walk. A fielder’s choice groundout by Russell Moldenhauer put runners on the corners. The play appeared to be a double play, but Aggies’ first baseman Luke Anders pulled his foot off the bag. The Longhorns broke the scoring seal when Cameron Rupp grounded to third base, but Caleb Shofner’s throw was errant allowing Travis Tucker to score. Brandon Loy drew a walk to saturate the bases with Horns. Kevin Keyes was hit by a pitch to push Moldenhauer across for the 2-0 lead. Tim Maitland singled through the right side to push two runs across, drive A&M starter Barret Loux from the game and inflate the cushion to 4-0. Another fielding error by Shofner on a grounder by Connor Rowe allowed Keyes to score the final run of the inning.
Oklahoma State 5 #17 Oklahoma 1
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma State kept its postseason chances alive with a 5-1 win over Oklahoma in the Bedlam Series finale Sunday at the AT&T Bricktown Ballpark.
With the win, OSU improved to 30-21 overall and 7-15 in Big 12 Conference play. In order to qualify for the Big 12 Championship later this month, the Cowboys must sweep their three-game series against Texas Tech in Lubbock this weekend, and Nebraska must win all three of its games against Baylor in Lincoln.
OSU rode the right arm of junior Tyler Blandford to victory Sunday against its in-state rival. The Owensboro, Ky. native worked 8.1 innings and allowed just one run on two hits while striking out a career-high 12 to improve to 7-3 on the season. Blandford threw166 pitches in the contest, 101 of them for strikes.
The Cowboys also got some clutch hitting as five different players collected RBIs, and Micheal Dabbs and Kevin David each delivered home runs.
Oklahoma State Recap
Oklahoma Recap
Missouri 13 #21 Kansas 12
COLUMBIA, Mo.- – With the score tied and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, Mizzou sophomore catcher Ryan Ampleman hit the first home run of his career to give the Tigers a 13-12 walk-off win over Kansas on Sunday at Taylor Stadium. That came after KU scored five runs in the top half of the ninth inning to tie the game at 12 all.
With the victory, Missouri concludes Big 12 play with a 16-11 record, matching its final record from a year ago. The Tigers won 10 of their final 12 conference games. They improve to 30-23 overall, marking the seventh-straight season in which the Tigers recorded at least 30 wins.
Mizzou had jumped out to a 6-1 lead after two innings on Sunday behind back-to-back three-run innings to start the game. The Tigers answered a two-run top of the fourth by the Jayhawks by posting a third three-run inning in the bottom of the fourth, which included a two-run triple from senior Ryan Lollis.
#21 Kansas State 9 Texas Tech 5
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Senior right-hander Todd Vogel threw a career-high eight innings while the Kansas State offense got back in sync as the 10th-ranked Wildcats salvaged the final game against Texas Tech with a 9-5 victory Sunday afternoon at Tointon Family Stadium.
With the victory, K-State improved to 38-13-1 overall and 13-9-1 in Big 12 play, tying the 2002 squad for the most conference wins in school history. Texas Tech dropped to 23-28 this season, including an 11-13 mark in conference action.
Vogel, whose career-long outing was 6.1 innings at Missouri last season, pitched into the ninth inning to run by his previous high. He allowed three runs on six hits with no walks and two strikeouts in a career-high 108 pitches.
“It was all about Todd Vogel today,” said head coach Brad Hill. “He really stepped up. He had outstanding stuff against the best-hitting team in the Big 12. They (Texas Tech) put it on us for a couple days and he just comes out and does what he does. He just had great composure. That’s what a senior does for you.”
Kansas State Recap
Texas Tech Recap
Cal State Bakersfield 8 Nebraska 7
LINCOLN, Neb. — Another solid offensive performance by the CSUB baseball team, along with some big plays in the final innings by the defense and closer Erik Draxton led the Roadrunners to an 8-7 win over Nebraska Sunday at Hawks Field. Bakersfield also won Saturday’s game, 10-8, thus claiming the 2-1 series victory over the Big 12 Huskers.
Bakersfield (11-32) was the first team to put a run on the board for the third consecutive game when freshman catcher Jeremy Rodriguez belted his first home run of the year, a solo shot over the right field fence in the top of the second.
The Roadrunners tacked on five runs in the fourth, using three hits and five walks in the inning. Richard Escalera led off with a single, advanced to second on a Rodriguez walk, advanced to third on a Martin Medina walk and scored when Stuart Smith grounded into a double play. Nebraska pitcher Sean Yost then walked Derek Geisinger and with runners on first and third, JJ Henry laid down a squeeze bunt single, sending Rodriguez home. Kyle Richardson then launched a three-run homer to right-center, his third home run of the series, to put Bakersfield ahead 6-0.
Cal-State Bakersfield Recap
Nebraska Recap
