Big 12 Baseball: Texas, TCU, and West Virginia Complete Sweeps While Oklahoma State Takes Series
We are in the final weekend of conference play as all eight Big 12 teams are back in action on the diamond this weekend. There are several big-time matchups around the conference and here is what happened in the Big 12 on Saturday.
Notable Games
#5 Texas Tech: 10
Oklahoma: 2
For a bit, I thought Oklahoma was going to run away with yet another victory after a fast start. It turned out that the two runs that Oklahoma scored in the first inning would be their only runs for the entire game. Texas Tech starting pitcher Chase Hampton regrouped after the first three outs and then was able to really limit the Sooners offense. While Hampton was doing his thing on the mound, the Texas Tech bats came alive early on as well with key hits from Kelly Parker, Hudson White, and Ty Coleman. The Red Raiders would end up pulling away from the Sooners as Jace Jung, Parker Kelly, and Kurt Wilson hit homers later on in the ballgame. This was a crucial game because Oklahoma had Big 12 title hopes on the line and Texas Tech had to avoid getting swept.
#8 Oklahoma State: 9
Baylor: 5
Baylor started out hot right off the bat as they jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning. But then it was all Oklahoma State from there. A bases loaded walk got the Cowboys first run across. Then Cowboys started catching fire in the seventh inning and then had a huge eighth inning scoring three runs to push away from Baylor. The Bears would score some runs in the eighth inning as well but due to some harsh weather coming to Waco, the game was called in the eighth inning. With the win, Oklahoma State takes the series.
West Virginia: 5
Kansas State: 1
I had my doubts about this West Virginia team and all they did this weekend was crush Kansas State. After scoring 30 runs in their first two games, West Virginia was still able to finish off the series on a strong note despite scoring just five runs in game three. Austin David had a big RBI triple to give West Virginia the lead in the third inning and then J.J. Wetherholt added another run to make it a 3-1 game. Grant Hussey would add some insurance runs with his two-run blast as West Virginia completed the sweep over Kansas State.
#22 Texas: 11
Kansas: 6
I knew this was going to be an easy series for the Longhorns coming in and they took care of business in all three games. Shockingly, Kansas had a 5-0 lead going into the bottom of the fifth inning. Thatโs when Texas woke up as Mitchell Daly hit a solo shot and then Ivan Melendez drove in a run. The seventh inning is where Texas ended up taking the lead as Murphy Stehly drove in a run before Skylar Messingerโs big grand slam. From there Eric Kennedy, Austin Todd and Murphy Stehly took over as all three hit a home run to push Texas past Kansas.
Other Games
#24 TCU: 9
Santa Clara: 1
TCU finished off their final regular season series with a clean sweep over Santa Clara. In the process, the Horned Frogs managed to win the Big 12 on Friday and will now have the number one seed going into the Big 12 baseball tournament coming up later this week.
