Bears Stumble Over the Weekend, Drop Series to Kansas State
Baylor entered the series against Kansas State with a chance to in all likelihood secure the seventh spot in the Big 12 standings. However, after a strong game one, the Bears stumbled on Saturday and Sunday to drop the final two games of the series and likely locking up their spot as the eighth seed in the Big 12 tournament next week.
Game 1: Baylor 4 Kansas State 2
Starting on Friday for the Bears was starting pitcher Jake Jackson, and he delivered a dominant performance in game one of this series. Jackson was feeling it early, putting up five straight scoreless innings to start, completely shutting down the Kansas State lineup. Jackson would end up allowing one run over seven masterful innings on six hits. From there the Baylor bullpen would come in and do its job as well, pitching two innings of one-run baseball in the eighth and ninth innings.
Offensively for the Bears, there was not a lot of offense going for either team. The Bears would strike first though, taking an early 1-0 lead in the third inning on a Tre Richardson RBI single. They would go on to produce a three-run fifth inning to seal the game, with a Jared McKenzie making it a 4-1 game, which would be all the runs Baylor pitching would need to secure the victory in game one of the series.
Game 2: Baylor 5 Kansas State 7
Where game one was a dominant start for the Bears starting pitcher, game two would not be the case. Kobe Andrade would only last 1 1/3 innings before being pulled, surrendering five early runs to put Baylor in a 5-0 deficit after just two innings, capped off by a two-run single from Jeff Heinrich in the second inning.
The Bears offense would not go down without a fight though, as they would stage a comeback in the middle innings of this game. A Jared McKenzie two-run home run in the fourth inning made it a 5-2 game, followed by a Tre Richardson three-run home run in the fifth inning that made it a 5-5 game. That would be the only offense Baylor could muster though as Kansas State would retake the lead for good on a two-run Justin Mitchell single in the seventh, leading Baylor to drop the second game of the series.
Game 3: Baylor 5 Kansas State 7
Where game three saw Kansas State jump out to an early 5-0 lead, game three would be the complete opposite. Another two-run home run off the bat of Jared McKenzie in the first gave Baylor an early 2-0 lead. The Wildcats would get one run back in the first themselves, but it was all Baylor early in this game as an RBI single from Jack Pineda in the fifth inning made it a 5-1 ballgame after five innings.
The Bears appeared to be cruising to an easy 5-1 game three victory and a series win, however that would all fall apart in the eighth inning. Taking a 5-1 lead into the eighth inning would disappear, as the Baylor bullpen imploded at the worst possible time. They would surrender six unanswered runs to see Kansas State take the late lead, capped off by a Cash Rugely two-run home run that would give the Wildcats their final 7-5 lead and secure the series loss for Baylor in disappointing fashion.
What's next for Baylor?
Baylor has four games left in their regular season, a midweek game against Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday before welcoming Oklahoma State to Waco for their final conference series of the season.
You can find Connor Zimmerlee on Twitter @Connorjz98
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