Recap: Baylor Baseball wins series against Texas Longhorns

The Texas baseball team salvaged one win in its Big 12 regular-season series finale. The Longhorns hosted the Baylor Bears for three games and lost the first two games, 1-2 and 1-3, respectively. Texas pulled out a victory in the third game, winning 7-6.

Game one of the series played on Thursday night, and the Longhorns sent Morgan Cooper to the mound. Cooper pitched four scoreless innings before the Bears scored two unearned runs in the fifth. Texas got one run back in the bottom of the sixth when Jake McKenzie doubled, and Travis Jones hit a single to put runners on first and third. Tres Barrera earned the RBI when he hit a line drive at the third baseman that was not caught, earning a single. The Longhorns failed to score another run though and lost 1-2. The Bears’ starter Drew Tolson shut the Longhorns down, sitting down the first nine batters he faced. Tolson pitched eight innings and earned the win. Cooper took the loss, his fifth of the season, pitching six innings while allowing only nine hits and striking out four. The Bears outhit the Longhorns nine to six.

Texas sent Ty Culbreth to the mound on Friday, looking for its first win of the series. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the third when the Longhorns scored first. With two outs and Joe Baker on third base, Kacy Clemens hit a RBI single. The Longhorns loaded the bases with a Zane Gurwitz walk in the next at bat but failed to score anymore before the inning ended. Kyle Johnston replaced Culbreth after three innings and a 1-0 Texas lead. Johnston pitched three scoreless innings before Eric Dunbar replaced him in the seventh. Texas still led 1-0 when Johnston exited the game. With two outs in the seventh, the Bears scored all three of their runs – all charged to Dunbar, who couldn’t get out of the inning. Dunbar got the first batter of the inning to fly out before giving up a single. Then the following batter lined out. So with one on and two out, the Bears offense came alive hitting a single then a two-RBI double. Dunbar exited the game trailing 2-1 and gave the ball to Travis Duke, who faced one batter that hit a RBI single – run charged to Dunbar. Chase Shugart replaced Duke and got his first batter to strike out swinging. Texas came to bat in the seventh trailing 1-3 and failed to score a run the rest of the game. Shugart held the Bears scoreless for the rest of the game, but Texas lost 1-3. Dunbar took the loss, marking his third of the season. For the second straight game, the Bears outhit the Longhorns.

In the series finale, as well as the regular season finale, the Longhorns sent Connor Mayes to the mound. Texas wasted no time trying to score, putting up two in the first inning. Jones hit a sac fly to left field, scoring Tyler Rand for the first run of the game. The next batter, Barrera, grounded out but Gurwitz was able to score. The game remained 2-0 Texas until the third when Baylor got one run back – they also scored one more in the fourth. Going into the bottom of the fourth with the game tied at two, Michael Cantu led of with a single – his first of three hits – and the Longhorns eventually loaded the bases with one out. Rand hit a fielder’s choice RBI, scoring Cantu. Gurwitz, the next batter, followed with a RBI single, scoring Kody Clemens. Texas led 4-2 after four innings. Nolan Kingham replaced Mayes in the top of the fifth. Kingham pitched two scoreless innings before the Bears scored three in the top of the seventh. Texas entered the bottom half of the seventh down 4-5, and Gurwitz opened the inning with a single. An error on the next play and passed ball allowed Texas to have second and third with no outs. Barrera hit a sac fly, scoring Gurwitz. Kacy Clemens then struck out. So with Jones on third and two outs, Texas strung three singles together to score two more runs. Texas entered the eighth up 7-5. Kingham pitched to three more batters, getting one out, before Duke replaced him. With two on, Duke got his first batter to ground into a double play, ending the top of the eighth. Duke gave way to Shugart in the ninth. Shugart gave up a solo home run with one out in the ninth but did not let that rattle him as he earned his fifth save of the season. Texas held on to win 7-6. Kingham earned the victory with a final line of 3.1 innings pitched, three runs – one earned – and four strikeouts. Gurwitz finished the day 4-for-4 with one RBI and two runs scored. Cantu recorded a three hit day along with scoring two runs and one RBI.

Texas concluded its regular season with a 22-30 overall record and a 10-14 conference record. The Longhorns will play in the Big 12 tournament as the seventh-seed, which starts this Wednesday. Texas first opponent is the No. 2 seed Oklahoma State Cowboys, who swept the Longhorns in a three-game series earlier this season. The Longhorns’ contest against the Cowboys is the final game on Wednesday, which is set for 7:30pm CT.