x
Breaking News
More () »

No. 5 Baylor Baseball Powers Past No. 8 Kansas at Big 12 Championship

Bears win first two games at Big 12 Championship for first time since 2010

OKLAHOMA CITY – No. 5 Baylor baseball took down No. 8 Kansas 10-5 on Thursday evening at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark to stay in the winner’s bracket. The Bears (34-19) used a six-run third inning and fantastic start by Hayden Kettler to defeat the Jayhawks (27-29).

Like Wednesday morning vs. Oklahoma, BU grabbed a first-inning lead. Nick Loftin walked, Richard Cunningham singled, and after a productive out by Davis Wendzel moved both runners up, Andy Thomas hit a two-run single.

Kansas responded with a run in the second, but the Bears scored two more in the bottom of the second. Loftin was hit by a pitch, Cunningham doubled and an errant throw in from the outfielder scored Loftin. Shea Langeliers then scored Cunningham on a two-out single.

Then came a huge third inning for Baylor as Josh Bissonette, Loftin and Langeliers each hit two-run home runs.

KU rallied for four runs in the eighth but didn’t have enough to pull off a comeback.

Kettler (8-4) earned the win, giving up a run on three hits with no walks and five strikeouts in seven innings. KU starter Ryan Zeferjahn (8-5) took the loss, allowing six runs (five earned) on five hits and four walks with two strikeouts in two innings.

NOTES

*Baylor has won 20 of its last 23 games.

*Baylor hit three home runs in an inning (third inning) for the first time since April 5, 2009 at Kansas (seventh inning).

*Baylor had its first three-homer game in the Big 12 Championship since May 20, 2015 vs. TCU.

*Baylor is 46-47 all-time at conference championships, 34-37 in the Big 12. BU owns a 30-31 mark in Oklahoma City. The Bears are 18-12 in opening games (13-8 in Big 12), 3-6 in title games (0-6 in Big 12), 8-16 in elimination games (8-12 in Big 12) and 36-39 in tournament format.

*Baylor has won two games in the Big 12 Championship for the first time since 2015.

*Baylor has won its first two games in the Big 12 Championship for the first time since 2010 (BU advanced to the title game).

*Baylor and Oklahoma are the only two teams to qualify for all 22 Big 12 Championships.

*Baylor is 7-13 as a No. 5 seed in the Big 12 Championship and made it to the title game in 2003 as a No. 5 seed. Overall, No. 5 seeds are 30-38 in the event and have won it all in 1999 (Nebraska), 2007 (Texas A&M), 2008 (Texas) and 2015 (Texas).

*Baylor is 4-3 vs. Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship and 5-0 vs. Kansas.

*Baylor has won 30 or more (34) games in a season for the second straight year (34 in 2017), giving the program back-to-back 30-win seasons for the first time since 2011 (31) and 2012 (49).

*Baylor has scored 135 runs in its last 109 innings.

*Baylor has hit 134 home runs in 163 games under Rodriguez. BU hit 51 in 2017 for its most homers since 2010 (57) and has 50 in 2018. The Bears have hit 50 or more homers in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2009 (73) and 2010 (57).

*Baylor has 37 multi-home run games under Rodriguez (nine 2016, 14 in 2017, 14 in 2018).

*Hayden Kettler increased his career-high win total to eight, which are the most for a Baylor pitcher since Trent Blank had 11 in 2012. He tied a career high with seven innings pitched and retired the last 16 batters faced vs. KU.

*Richard Cunningham has a 10-game on-base streak and five-game hitting streak as he had his 18th multi-hit game (3).

*Shea Langeliers has an eight-game on-base streak as he hit his career-high-tying 10th home run of the season and 20th of his career. Langeliers has back-to-back 10-homer seasons for the first time for Baylor since Aaron Miller in 2008 (12) and 2009 (12). He also had his 11th multi-hit game (2) and team-high 13th multi-RBI game (3).

*Freshman Davion Downey has a four-game on-base streak and three-game hitting streak.

*Cole Haring has a three-game on-base streak.

*Andy Thomas has a three-game on-base streak and had his 10th multi-RBI game (2).

*Freshman Nick Loftin hit his sixth home run while posting his 19th multi-hit game (3) and eighth multi-RBI game (2).

*Josh Bissonette increased his career high home run total to seven on the season and has 10 in his career. He notched his seventh multi-RBI game (2).

STAT OF THE GAME

3 – The amount of two-run home runs Baylor hit in the third inning.

QUOTE OF THE GAME

“I thought it was a great game for us. We were able to continue to have quality at-bats. Hayden [Kettler] got better as the game went on, and that’s huge. That’s hard to do in an environment like this.” – Baylor Head Coach Steve Rodriguez

WHAT’S NEXT

The Bears have a day off before facing the winner of an elimination game between No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 8 Kansas on Saturday at 9 a.m. CT. For updates on the program follow @baylorbaseball on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

Before You Leave, Check This Out