Here is your Big 12 recap for Friday, March 12th
Kansas 11 #1 LSU 9
Senior Robby Price and junior Casey Lytle each had three hits and two doubles, while Brett Bochy pitched 2 1/3 innings of hitless relief as the Kansas Jayhawks knocked off previously unbeaten, and top-ranked Louisiana State, 11-9 Friday night in front of a packed house at Alex Box Stadium.
The Jayhawks improve to 10-3 overall, while LSU falls to 12-1 this season. The win was KU’s fourth-straight over the Tigers dating back to 2003, and the team’s fourth consecutive win over a No. 1-ranked team.
Kansas broke the game open in the second inning, sending 11 men to the plate and scoring six runs. Junior Jimmy Waters, senior Brett Lisher and sophomore James Stanfield started the inning with three consecutive hits to tie the score at one.
#6 Texas 2 Iowa 1 (10 innings)
AUSTIN, Texas – Tant Shepherd’s walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning helped the No. 3 Texas Longhorns post their third consecutive come-from-behind triumph in a 2-1 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes on Friday evening at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
With one out in the bottom of the 10th, Shepherd delivered a first pitch offering, from Iowa reliever Nick Brown, into the Longhorns’ bullpen down the rightfield line for the game-ender.
Jordan Etier offered up similar heroics two innings earlier to help send the game to extra innings. With Texas trailing 1-0 with one out in the bottom of the eighth, Etier also deposited the first pitch he saw into the Texas bullpen to knot the game at 1-1.
The Hawkeyes pounced on the Longhorns early with a run in the top of the first. With two outs, Ryan Durant singled through the right side of the infield, stole second base and scored when Dallas Burke cued a ball down the leftfield line for a double.
#8 TCU 8 Texas Tech 7
FORT WORTH, Texas – Freshman right fielder Jamodrick McGruder, who represented the tying run with two outs in the top of the ninth, was picked off third base by TCU catcher Byran Holaday and the seventh-ranked Horned Frogs escaped with an 8-7 win over Texas Tech on Friday night in front of 3,257 fans at Lupton Stadium.
The loss drops Texas Tech to 8-7 on the season and the Red Raiders have now faltered in two straight contests. TCU reaches the 10-win mark as they improve to 10-2.
Trailing by a single run in the top of the ninth, McGruder kept the Red Raiders alive as he drilled a triple off the wall in center field. The triple was his second of the game as he drove one to right in the seventh inning and ended up scoring a sacrifice fly by Joey Kenworthy that made it a one-run game at 8-7. This time, however, TCU catcher Bryan Holaday caught McGruder too far off the bag and the game ended with a pickoff at third base.
#19 Oklahoma 16 Mississippi State 5
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas. — The No. 15 Sooners won their ninth straight game and opened the Whataburger Collegiate Classic with an easy 16-5 victory over Mississippi State on Friday.
It was the first meeting between the two since the 1992 NCAA Regional in Starkeville and third overall, which OU leads 2-1.
The Sooners (14-1) received contributions up and down the order and chased MSU starter Nick Routt (0-1) after just 1 1/3 innings. OU scored in each of the first four frames including a game-high six in the first as Routt (eight runs, seven hits) and Mississippi State (9-4) surrendered runs early and often in its first game away from home in 2010. The Bulldogs’ five-game winning streak was snapped.
Oklahoma Recap
Mississippi State Recap
#29 Texas A&M 4 Washington State 3
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Kevin Gonzalez hit a go-ahead home run in the seventh and John Stilson struck out the final two batters of the game with the tying run at third as Texas A&M rallied for a 4-3 win over No. 25 Washington State Friday night before 2,796 fans at Olsen Field.
The win was the Aggies’ ninth in a row as they improved to 12-2 on the season. The Cougars, meanwhile, fell to 9-2, while striking out 18 times on the night–the most by an A&M staff since 2001.
"It was a great Friday night game and it was what both teams expected," A&M coach Rob Childress said. "Both starters did an outstanding job. Washington State has a very good club. We were the first one to crack, we made a mistake in the sixth inning and they took advantage of it. But we did what we have done all year long, answered right back."
Texas A&M Recap
Washington State Recap
Baylor 9 Illinois-Chicago 7
WACO, Texas – Landis Ware drove in the game-winning run with a RBI triple in the eighth inning, and Brooks Pinckard stranded the bases loaded in the ninth to earn his fifth save, as Baylor knocked off Illinois-Chicago, 9-7, Friday night at Baylor Ballpark.
Ware’s triple fell in when Illinois-Chicago (2-9) right fielder Ty Rubio lost the ball in the lights. It was the second time Baylor (9-6) benefitted from a UIC outfielder losing the ball. Joey Hainsfurther had a RBI triple in the third inning on a similar play, but the Flames had John Rosinski in right field that time.
The Flames got on the board in the first against Baylor starter Shawn Tolleson. Steve McGuiggan hit a leadoff triple and came home on Jason Ganek’s RBI groundout, but the Bears answered quickly.
Baylor Recap
Illinois-Chicago Recap
Kansas State 11 Kent State 8
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State blasted three home runs, including two in a five-run sixth inning, as the Wildcats defeated Kent State, 11-8, Friday evening at Tointon Family Stadium.
Trailing 4-3 in the sixth, K-State (10-2) torched Kent State pitching for six-straight hits to take a commanding lead. Mike Kindel hit a one-out solo home run – his second of the contest – to tie the game at four. Following a Blair DeBord single, Kent Urban followed Kindel’s lead as he pounded the first pitch he saw over the right-field wall to give the Cats a 6-4 advantage and knock Kent State starter Ryan Mace (0-1) out of the game.
Matt Giller greeted Golden Flash reliever Justin Gill with a double to right-center before he scored on a Jake Brown single. After Brown went to second on a wild pitch, Adam Muenster singled to left to make the score 8-4.
Kansas State Recap
Kent State Recap
Oklahoma State 5 Massachusetts 3
STILLWATER, Okla. – Tyler Lyons pitched a complete game, and Dean Green delivered a clutch home run to lift Oklahoma State to a 5-3 win over UMass Friday at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
With the win, OSU improved to 5-2, while the contest marked the season opener for the Minutemen.
Lyons picked up his first win of the season with a season-high eight-strikeout effort, and the senior southpaw held UMass scoreless over the final four innings. The win was the 20th of Lyons’ career, leaving him two shy of cracking the top 10 on OSU’s all-time list, and the effort also marked his seventh-career complete game.
Green was 2-for-4 with three RBIs to lead the Cowboys’ offense, while Mark Ginther collected three hits in four trips to the plate.
Oklahoma State Recap
Massachusetts Recap
Missouri 7 Xavier 6 (13 innings)
COLUMBIA, Mo.- – Mizzou junior Andrew Thigpen beat out a throw to the plate from Xavier rightfielder Neil Lindgren on a sacrifice fly by redshirt freshman Andreas Plackis in the bottom of the 13th inning to give Missouri a 7-6 victory over Xavier.
With the game tied at six since the top of the fifth inning, the Tigers loaded the bases in their half of the 13th with a walk by Thigpen, a single by freshman Eric Garcia and a walk by junior Jonah Schmidt. Plackis, at the plate as a pinch hitter, they flew out the right field and Thigpen beat the throw and score the game-winning run.
The game is the longest for Mizzou since a 14-inning win over Akron on Feb. 23, 2007. Friday’s game was already the Tigers’ third extra-inning game of a season that is just 11 games old. MU is 2-1 in those extra-inning contests.
Sophomore Jeff Emens entered the game in the ninth inning and pitched the remainder of the contest, striking out three in 4.1 innings pitched. He did not allow a run and gave up just two hits, earning the victory, the first of his career. The Mizzou bullpen turned in eight innings of scoreless work, allowing just four hits.
Nebraska vs. Houston Baptist (postponed to 3/13, weather)
Lincoln – Inclement weather has forced a change in Nebraska’s baseball series against Houston Baptist scheduled for this weekend at Hawks Field.
The three-game series, which was originally scheduled to begin Friday afternoon, will now begin with a doubleheader Saturday at 12:05 p.m. The series will conclude with Sunday’s originally scheduled 1:05 p.m. game.
Fans that had tickets to Friday’s originally scheduled game (Ticket #3 in season ticket packages) can use those tickets for General Admission seating for any remaining regular-season home game in 2010, depending on ticket availability.
Revised Nebraska vs. Houston Baptist Series Schedule
Saturday, March 13 Doubleheader beginning at 12:05 p.m.
Sunday, March 14 1:05 p.m.
