Big 12 Baseball Championship: Day One Recap

The Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship got underway in Arlington on Tuesday with the first four games.

TCU's Brody Green at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship / Brian McLean - On Assignment Photo/KillerFrogs

Phillips Big 12 Baseball Championship - Tuesday's Games

1. Game One – No. 7 Kansas 2 – No. 6 Kansas State 1
2. Game Two – No. 9 TCU 5 – No. 4 West Virginia 2
3. Game Three – No. 8 UCF 6 – No. 5 Cincinnati 5 (11 innings)
4. Game Four – No. 10 Texas Tech 6 – No. 3 Texas 4

Postseason baseball is underway. The Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship in Arlington is underway with the top ten teams in the league facing off in a new format double-elimination tournament.

Tuesday’s first four games featured the No. 3 – No. 10 seeds with the two top seeds, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, getting first-round byes.

At the end of the day, all of the lower-seed teams got the wins, sending all four of the higher seeds immediately into the losers’ bracket. It was only the second time in the history of the tournament that this had happened. The last time was 2018.

Game One – No. 7 Kansas 2 – No. 6 Kansas State 1

It was another round of the Sunflower Showdown with No. 6 Kansas State (31-23) facing No. 7 Kansas (30-21). The Jayhawks got on the board first with a homer by Ben Hartl in the top of the 4th. The Wildcats responded in the bottom of the 5th with an RBI single by Kaelen Culpepper that sent Chuck Ingram across the plate. It was tied until the top of the 9th when Lenny Ashby tripled. Sam Hunt came in as a pinch runner and scored on a hit by Collier Cranford.

Kansas won its opening game of the Big 12 Championship for the second consecutive season while Kansas State lost its sixth straight opening game. K-State has not won an opening game at the Big 12 Championship since 2015.

Winning pitcher: - Tegan Cain (1-2); Losing pitcher – Tyson Neighbors (1-2); Save – Hunter Cranton (7).

Next up: Kansas gets a second-round bye and waits for the winner of No. 9 TCU/No. 1 Oklahoma. Kansas State beat West Virginia 8-3 in Wednesday's first game and will play the loser of TCU/OU on Thursday.

Game Two – No. 9 TCU 5 – No. 4 West Virginia 2

No. 9 TCU (32-19) and No. 4 West Virginia (33-21) just met last weekend down the highway for the regular season finale. West Virginia won that series 2-1. In Tuesday’s game, the Horned Frogs struck first thanks to a Brody Green triple. He would add a homer in the top of the 9th.

For a complete recap of this game, read our article here.

TCU won its opening game at the Big 12 Championship for the fourth straight year. West Virginia has not won a game at the Big 12 Championship since 2021. TCU also improved to 16-5 all time at Globe Life Field, the best record of any college team to play in the major league ballpark.

Winning pitcher – Caedmon Parker (3-1), Losing pitcher – Carson Estridge (1-2); Save – Braeden Sloan (1)

Next up: TCU plays No. 1 Oklahoma on Wednesday. West Virginia was eliminated from the tournament in Wednesday’s first game against Kansas State.

Game Three – No. 8 UCF 6 – No. 5 Cincinnati 5 (11 innings)

No. 8 UCF (34-18) had a 5-2 lead in the middle of the 9th inning against No. 5 Cincinnati (31-24). The Bearcats were down to their last strike until they were able to get a couple of hits and a delayed throw to by the UCF shortstop to first base, and suddenly it was a tie ballgame. UCF would win it in the 11th inning with a homer by Danny Neri, his third of the night. Neri set the new single game Big 12 Championship record with those three homers.

This game was the first Big 12 Championship game for both teams. It was the first Big 12 Championship game to go 11+ innings since 2022.

Winning pitcher – Spencer Bauer (2-1); Losing pitcher – Griffin Hugus (0-3); Save – Kyle Kramer (2).

Next up: UCF gets a second-round bye and will face the winner of Wednesday’s game between Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. Cincinnati will play Texas in the third game on Wednesday. The loser of that game will be eliminated. UCF

Game Four – No. 10 Texas Tech 6 – No. 3 Texas 4

It was a late start for the night cap game thanks to that 11 inning game between UCF and Cincinnati. No. 3 Texas (35-21) got on the board first with a 1st inning homerun by Jared Thomas. No. 10 Texas Tech (32-24) tied it in the top of the 2nd inning with a homer by Drew Woodcox. Texas would add three runs in the third inning. Tech would counter with a 3-RBI homer by Austin Green in the 4th. The game was tied until the 9th inning when Tech’s Cade McGee launched a two-run homer to left field.

Texas Tech improved to 3-5 against Texas in the Big 12 Championship. Texas moved to 9-14 in Big 12 Championship opening games.

Winning pitcher – Josh Sanders (5-1); Losing pitcher – Andre Duplantier II (2-1).

Next up: Texas Tech plays Oklahoma State in the fourth game on Wednesday. Texas will face Cincinnati on Wednesday in an elimination game.

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