OKLAHOMA CITY – No. 5 Baylor baseball posted a 4-0 shutout over No. 4 Oklahoma on Wednesday morning at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark to open up the 2018 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship. The Bears (33-19) used great pitching from Cody Bradford and timely hitting to take down the Sooners (34-22).
In the top of the first, Baylor grabbed two runs thanks to some Oklahoma miscues. Nick Loftin led off the game reaching on an error and advanced to second on another error. Richard Cunningham immediately cashed the run in with an RBI single on the next play. After Cunningham stole second, Shea Langeliers hit a two-out RBI single for a 2-0 lead.
Bradford then locked in, allowing just three hits and two walks through seven innings with 11 strikeouts.
The Bears added to the lead with a run on a wild pitch in the eighth and a solo two-out home run by Cole Haring in the ninth.
Bradford (7-5) earned the win, allowing four hits and two walks with 11 strikeouts in 7.2 innings. Drew Robertson grabbed the save, giving up a walk in 1.1 innings. OU starter Jake Irvin (6-2) took the loss, surrendering two unearned runs on five hits and two walks with six strikeouts in five innings.
NOTES
*Baylor posted its first shutout at the Big 12 Championship since an 11-0 win in seven innings vs. Missouri on May 21, 2003. BU also had a Big 12 Championship shutout in a 2-0 win vs. Missouri on May 19, 1999. The Bears had two shutouts in the Southwestern Conference tournament (1-0 vs. Arkansas on May 12, 1978; 7-0 vs. Texas on May 22, 1977).
*Cody Bradford’s career-high 11 strikeouts were the most for a Baylor pitcher in the Big 12 Championship since Kendal Volz had 13 vs. Oklahoma on May 26, 2007 (tournament record).
*Bradford’s 11 strikeouts were the most since Josh Turley did same vs. Memphis on March 11, 2012.
*Bradford’s 11 strikeouts were the most in the Big 12 Championship since West Virginia’s Ross Vance had 12 in 2016.
*Bradford’s third game this season with 10 or more strikeouts are the most since Shawn Tolleson had three in 2010.
*Bradford increased his career-high win total to seven, giving Baylor two seven-game winners in the same season (Hayden Kettler, seven) for the first time since 2012 (Trent Blank, 11; Josh Turley, nine; Tyler Bremer, seven).
*Baylor has won 19 of its last 22 games.
*Baylor is 45-47 all-time at conference championships, 33-37 in the Big 12. BU owns a 29-31 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 35-39 in tournament format.
*Baylor won its first game at the Big 12 Championship since a 5-4 decision over Texas Tech on May 22, 2015.
*Baylor and Oklahoma are the only two teams to qualify for all 22 Big 12 Championships.
*Baylor is 6-13 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 29-38 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, 4-6 vs. Texas and 4-0 vs. Kansas.
*Baylor has won 30 or more (33) 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 14 shutouts under third-year head coach Steve Rodriguez (seven in 2018, six in 2017, one in 2016). BU’s seven shutouts this season are its most since doing the same in 1992.
*Baylor has scored 125 runs in its last 101 innings.
*Baylor has hit 131 home runs in 162 games under Rodriguez. BU hit 51 in 2017 for its most homers since 2012 (57) and has 47 in 2018.
*Richard Cunningham has a nine-game on-base streak and four-game hitting streak as he had his 17th multi-hit game (2).
*Shea Langeliers has a seven-game on-base streak.
*Freshman Davion Downey has a three-game on-base streak.
*Cole Haring totaled his 16th multi-hit game (career-high-tying three hits) and hit his seventh home run of the season.
*Drew Robertson earned his first save of the season and second of his career.
STAT OF THE GAME
44 – The amount of strikeouts Cody Bradford has in his last five starts, spanning 39.1 innings.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
“Having Cody [Bradford] out there as [Big 12] pitcher of the year, you’re always curious as to how he’s going to react in moments like today. He’s an unbelievably humble young man, his talent is going to take him much further than he actually realizes. He came out and didn’t realize he was pitcher of the year, he just went out and pitched the way he did all year.” – Baylor Head Coach Steve Rodriguez
WHAT’S NEXT
The Bears face the winner/loser of the No. 1 Texas vs. No. 8 Kansas game on Thursday at 9 a.m./4 p.m. CT. For updates on the program follow @baylorbaseball on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.
