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No. 17 Baylor baseball bounces back in game two vs. Oklahoma

After dropping the series opener, Bears rebound with a 7-3 win over the Sooners
Credit: KCEN

WACO, Texas —  The No. 17-ranked Bears topped Oklahoma 7-3 Saturday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark thanks in part to trio of home runs and a stellar start by left-hander pitcher Paul Dickens. 

The southpaw Dickens threw 5.1 scoreless innings, recording nine strikeouts and scattering just two hits. It was his third start this season with at least nine punchouts.

Offensively, Baylor smacked three home runs, its ninth multi-home run game of the season and sixth game of 2019 with at least three homers. Five Bears tallied multi-hit games to power the 13-hit attack.

Baylor (23-10, 7-3 Big 12) wasted no time in getting to OU starter Nathan Wiles, scoring five runs on five hits in the first inning, including two home runs. Davis Wendzel blasted his fifth homer of the season, a two-run shot that scored Richard Cunningham, and Cole Haring destroyed the first pitch he saw for a three-run bomb that drove in Andy Thomas and Shea Langeliers. It was Haring’s seventh home run of the season, good for the team lead.

As Dickens continued to deal, the score remained 5-0 until the bottom of the fifth inning. That’s when Langeliers pushed the Bears’ lead to 6-0 with a solo shot to the opposite field. It was his third home run of the season and second in as many games. Baylor would add another run in the sixth as Wendzel doubled in Cunningham to increase the lead to 7-0.

The Sooners (25-11, 6-5 Big 12) got a couple of runs back in the top of the seventh as Cade Cavalli hit a solo home run off BU reliever Jacob Ashkinos, the first of three OU runs in the inning. A single and a pair of walks would chase Ashkinos from the mound and bring on Ryan Leckich in relief, who avoided the big inning by inducing a fielder’s choice groundout and a lineout.

Baylor closer Kyle Hill came on in the ninth for a save situation. He got an Oklahoma pinch-hitter to bounce into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play and picked up his fifth save of the year. Dickens earned the win and improved to 4-1 while OU’s Wiles fell to 5-2 with the loss.

The rubber game of the three-game set with the Sooners is scheduled for Sunday, April 14 at 3 p.m.

 

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