This is your Big 12 Recap for April 9th.
#6 Texas 3 Kansas 2
The No. 6 Texas Longhorns won the series opener against the Kansas Jayhawks in dramatic fashion with a walk-off sacrifice fly in the 11th inning for the 3-2 victory.
Jordan Weymouth hit a one-out, pinch-hit triple, and after Kevin Lusson was hit by a pitch, the Longhorns had runners on first and third. Tim Maitland, who replaced Connor Rowe in the outfield, then delivered a fly ball deep enough to rightfield to bring Weymouth home, and give Texas the win.
The Jayhawks got on the board first in the top of the third inning. Kansas opened the inning with back-to-back walks to Casey Lytle and Robby Price, before a sacrifice bunt by Brian Heere advanced both runners into scoring position. A deep fly out to center by Tony Thompson then plated Lytle and put the Jayhawks up 1–0.
Kansas (19-11-1, 3-3-1 Big 12) tacked on another run in the fourth as Brett Lisher led off the inning with a solo shot to leftfield, extending the Jayhawk lead to 2-0.
Texas (24-7, 8-2 Big 12) manufactured its first run of the game in the bottom of the seventh inning. Kevin Keyes reached first on an error by shortstop Brandon Macias, and a double by Russell Moldenhauer brought Keyes in to score, cutting the lead to 2–1.
The Longhorns evened the score in the do-or-die bottom of the ninth. Keyes hit a one-out single before being replaced by pinch runner Kyle Lusson. Moldenhauer then followed with a double to deep center, bringing Lusson home and sending the game to extra innings with the score tied 2-2. FULL STORY
#17 Oklahoma 6 Missouri 4
Zach Neal improved to 4-1 with a career-high eight innings and Ryan Duke recorded his Big 12-leading 10th save of the year as No. 12 Oklahoma topped Missouri, 6-4, in game one on Friday at L. Dale Mitchell Park.
The Sooners (24-6 overall, 4-4 Big 12) trailed 1-0 after the top of the first but after Jack Mayfield’s two-run single in the bottom half of the frame, OU never looked back.
The Tigers (17-12, 2-5) would tie the game at three runs apiece in the top of the seventh, but once again OU rallied in the home half of the inning with three runs. Cameron Seitzer (1-for-3) drove in two of those scores in the decisive frame off his team-leading eighth home run of the year. Max White, who finished with two hits in the leadoff spot, drove in the other run with a sacrifice fly.
"I think he felt redemption," said OU Head Coach Sunny Golloway on Seitzer’s two-out homer. "Cam understands that a lot is on his shoulders. He’s one of the veterans, even though he is young and he got hurt late in the year last year. He is still one of our veteran hitters and veteran hitters have to play big in big games. So they have to show up and they have to perform, and he did."
While Seitzer provided the only longball of the night, White’s sacrifice fly was one of five between the teams as the Tigers scored three of their four runs off fly ball outs. FULL STORY
Nebraska 5 #30 Kansas State 3
Michael Mariot pitched seven solid innings, while Adam Bailey belted two homers and drove in four runs, leading Nebraska to a 5-3 victory at No. 20 Kansas State Friday night
Mariot (3-4) was exceptional against the league’s top hitting squad, scattering five hits and striking out a season-high seven Wildcats to hand Kansas State (21-6, 4-3 Big 12) just their second home loss in 13 contests.
“Michael did a great job tonight,” Anderson said. “He pitched to win instead of just pitching. When he got in trouble, he pitched out of hit and kept them off balance all night. It starts and ends with pitching, and we got a great pitching performance all the way around tonight.”
Mariot, who had pitched into the seventh in each of his last six starts, worked around trouble most of the night and made big pitches when he had to. In the third after Nebraska took a 3-0 lead, KSU loaded the bases with one out, but Mariot struck out Nick Martini and Daniel Dellasega, the No. 3-4 hitters in the KSU lineup, to get out of the jam.
Mariot’s awareness was crucial in the sixth, as his heads-up play killed a Wildcat rally with Nebraska leading 4-2. With one out and a runner on first, Matt Giller reached on a fielder’s choice behind the bag at second. Chad Christensen’s throw was wide of the bag on the play, and Mike Kindel tried to advance to third on the play, but Mariot picked up the ball and fired to third to get Kindel for the second out.
“I saw Chad dive to make a great play and didn’t think he could get the double play, so I stayed near the bag,’ Mariot said. “ After he just missed (second baseman Bryan) Peters, I saw the ball laying there and the runner going toward third, and said there is no way the runner is going to get to third now. So I went after the ball and threw to third. I didn’t have a good grip on the ball, but made a good throw to get him.” FULL STORY
Texas A&M 4 Baylor 3
Texas A&M took the lead with a three-run in sixth and John Stilson struck out the side looking in the ninth as the 23rd-ranked Aggies defeated Baylor, 4-3, in the series opener Friday night before 4,591 fans at Olsen Field.
A&M (20-8-1, 6-3-1 Big 12) faced a 2-1 deficit entering the last of the sixth, and quickly picked up a pair of outs before beginning its rally. After Brandon Wood drew a five-pitch walk, Adam Smith hit a hard grounder to Baylor shortstop Landis Ware, whose throw to first skipped past first base and up against the camera well. Smith raced to second and beat the throw there, and Wood–who did not stop running–raced around third and across an unguarded home plate to tie the game at two. Brodie Greene then gave the Aggies the lead by blasting the first pitch from Shawn Tolleson high over the video board in left center field to make the score 4-2.
Stilson relieved starter Barret Loux in the seventh and tossed the final 2 2/3 innings. He allowed a Bear run in the eighth, but got a huge double play to get out of that jam and fanned the three batters in the ninth looking to end the game. The loss dropped the Bears to 17-11 and 3-5 in league action.
"That was a great Friday night game," A&M coach Rob Childress said. "Obviously the sixth inning was huge for us, and that was the difference in the game. We got just enough hits with runners in scoring position tonight and hopefully those will keep coming as we move through the series." FULL STORY
Oklahoma State 13 Texas Tech 3
Oklahoma State’s baseball team got a strong performance offensively and on the mound Friday night to knock off Texas Tech, 13-3, in the first of a three-game set at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
The win halted OSU’s two-game losing streak and moved the Cowboys to 18-10 overall and 3-4 in the Big 12. The Red Raiders fell to 15-8 and 4-6 with the loss.
Offensively, OSU pounded out 16 hits and had seven players tally at least two hits.
A week after working 7.1 scoreless innings and striking out 11 against Nebraska, junior Thomas Keeling scattered seven hits and two earned runs over seven innings to earn the victory and improve to 3-3 on the season. The reigning Big 12 Pitcher of the Week, Keeling worked out of trouble in four of the first five innings. The lefthander allowed a pair of runners in the first, second, fourth and fifth innings, but escaped without allowing a run.
The Cowboys manufactured the game’s first run in the bottom of the third. Second baseman Davis Duren followed a leadoff single by stealing second base. Shortstop Tom Belza then singled through the right side to bring home Duren.
OSU’s big inning came in the next frame, with the Cowboys tacking on seven runs. After leftfielder Nico Rosthenhausler and rightfielder Luis Uribe both singled through the left side, first baseman Dean Green loaded the bases with a bunt single. Centerfielder Dusty Harvard brought home OSU’s second run after getting hit with a pitch by Tech starter Louis Head. Duren singled back through the middle and Belza singled off Tech first baseman Barrett Barnes’ glove to drive home the Cowboys’ third and fourth runs, respectively. Designated hitter Dane Phillips made it 6-0 with another single to left. FULL STORY
