Friday Big 12 Baseball Six-Pack: Kansas State Upsets Texas Tech While West Virginia Rallies Late to Beat Baylor
Is there anything better than cold beer and baseball? It’s a combination that is hard to beat during the season. No matter what kind of beer you drink (or how many), let’s take a look at some of the best action on the Big 12 baseball diamond from Friday with a nice six pack. Due to some weather issues, three Big 12 teams didn’t play on Friday.
Best Game
#18 West Virginia at Baylor
What a way to start the weekend for West Virginia. They got out to an early lead after Dayne Leonard and Tevin Tucker brought in three runs in the first two innings. Baylor would answer back as John Ceccoli hit a sac-fly in the second inning before bringing in another in the fourth thanks to his RBI double. But Casey Sunseri was the guy who gave the Bears the lead thanks to his big two RBI double in the sixth inning. However, West Virginia had the last laugh as Evan Smith drove in a pair of runs with his big hit in the eighth inning.
That hit sealed the deal for West Virginia as they took game one with a 5-4 win over Baylor.
Best Win
Kansas State Over #14 Texas Tech
The Wildcats started off this series with a big win on Friday night over a top 15 Texas Tech team. I thought this game would be high scoring and instead we saw a great pitching battle between Mason Molina from Texas Tech and Owen Boerema from Kansas State. The first run of the game wasn’t scored until the fifth inning when Kevin Bazzell and Gavin Kash knocked in a pair of runs to put Texas Tech om top 2-0.
Kansas State quickly responded in the fifth inning as Roberto Pena brought in a run to cut the lead to one. But Pena’s night wasn’t over just yet because he hit a two-run blast in the seventh inning that gave his team the lead and the win.
This was a pretty big upset in the Big 12 and now Kansas State is just one win away from clinching the series. Their postseason hopes are on the line, so they really need to win this series at home.
Worst Loss
Oklahoma
After sweeping Texas last weekend, the Sooners put themselves right back in the Big 12 title picture. Now they face a struggling Kansas team in Lawrence, but you wouldn’t have known the struggles the Jayhawks have had lately because they were all over the Sooners from the get-go. Kansas jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead and never looked back as they had a five-run lead by the time the sixth inning was over. Oklahoma struggled on the mound and their offense went ice cold against Kansas pitcher Collin Baumgartner. Now the Sooners will have to win the next two games to take the series.
Friday MVP
Kansas State 1B Roberto Pena
Roberto had a big night as he was responsible for all three of his team’s scores against Texas Tech. He drove in run in the fifth inning before hitting a bit two-run home run in the seventh inning that gave his team the lead.
Pitcher of the Day
Kansas RHP Collin Baumgartner
There were a couple of great pitching performances on Friday, but I wanted to shine the Friday spotlight on Collin Baumgartner from Kansas. He pitched seven full innings and gave up just two runs against a good Oklahoma lineup. Collin also struck out nine batters during his time on the mound as he played a big part in his team’s victory.
Best Home Run
Kansas State 1B Roberto Pena
Roberto seems to be the star of Friday because this is the third time I have brought him up in this article. His two-run blast in the seventh inning was by far the best homer run in the Big 12 on Friday night. Unfortunately, there is no video of it.
Full Scoreboard
Kansas State: 3, #14 Texas Tech: 2
#18 West Virginia: 5, Baylor: 4
Kansas: 8, Oklahoma: 2
