Five Takeaways from Day One of the Big 12 Baseball Tournament
What an opening day it was up in Arlington for the Big 12 Conference Baseball Tournament. We saw a total of four Big 12 games on Wednesday and it was non-stop jam-packed action from morning until the late-night hours.
As we continue to make our way through the tourney, I have a few thoughts from the first full day of Big 12 baseball action. Here were the final scores from yesterday’s games.
#8 Kansas: 6, #1 Texas: 3
#7 Oklahoma: 9, #2 Oklahoma State: 5
#6 Texas Tech: 6, #3 West Virginia: 2
#4 TCU: 16, #5 Kansas State: 3
1. TCU Stays Hot
Going into the Wednesday, I talked about TCU being the Cinderella team of the tournament. They have been on a roll over the last few weeks as they have won eight out of their last nine games. The Horned Frogs continued their dominance on Wednesday morning against Kansas State. TCU scored a whopping ten runs in the first three innings as they jumped out to a big lead and never looked back.
As great as those first three innings were, the fourth inning was even better. In that inning, TCU put six more runs on the board as they run-ruled Kansas State right out of the building. This game was never close, and I would hate to play this TCU team right now because they have found new life over the last few weeks.
2. Did Kansas Pull Off the Upset of the Tournament?
It’s not often that you see an eight seed knock off the top seed of the tournament but that is exactly what happened on opening day. The Jayhawks faced the Longhorns in the opening round and many folks including me gave them no chance to win that game.
With Lucas Gordon on the mound for Texas, I thought the Longhorns would have won with ease. Instead, Kansas starting pitcher Collin Baumgartner outplayed Gordon. Collin pitched six full innings and allowed just one run. Then with the game tied at two in the seventh inning, Janson Reeder was the man who came up big for the Jayhawks as he hit a monster grand slam to give Kansas the lead.
From there, Thaniel Trumper closed things out to help the Jayhawks knock off the top seed.
3. Oklahoma’s Offense Shined Early
Anytime you can get a Bedlam matchup, it is always going to be fun. These two schools despise one another, and I absolutely love it. I know that I always talk about Oklahoma State’s offense being so good but on Wednesday, it was Oklahoma’s offense that stole the show.
Dakota Harris and Easton Carmichael got the Sooners on the board with three runs in the first inning.
Kendall Pettis added another run in the second inning before Oklahoma added three more runs in the third. While the offense cooled down a bit, they were able to add a pair of insurance runs in the seventh inning to put this game to bed. It was a big win for an Oklahoma team who is still trying to play their way into the postseason.
4. What Happened to West Virginia?
Before I start talking about West Virginia, I do want to give credit to Texas Tech. They played one heck of a game and Mason Molina was awesome on the mound. Of course, I can’t forget about Brandon Beckel either who closed the game.
With that said, what is going on with West Virginia right now? They looked emotionless out there on Wednesday night against Texas Tech. I know that getting swept by Texas last weekend stung but did that carry over into this tournament? If so, this team is in serious trouble heading into the postseason. A week ago, West Virginia was in a prime position to win the Big 12 outright and not only host a regional but become a top eight seed as well. Now here we are a week later, and this team is one more bad game away from playing somewhere outside of Morgantown next weekend.
5. Does Anyone Want to Host a Regional?
Going into the tournament, there were three Big 12 teams that had a legitimate chance at hosting a regional. Of course, those three teams were Texas, Oklahoma State, and West Virginia. If you would have told me that all three of them were going to lose on Wednesday, I would have said you are crazy. Texas takes on Kansas State on Thursday and that is a must win game for both teams. If Kansas State loses, then their postseason hopes are likely gone. And for Texas, they need to win that game and a couple more to host a regional in Austin.
The game to really focus on is the West Virginia/Oklahoma State game. The loser of that game gets eliminated from the tournament and will likely kiss their chances of hosting a regional goodbye.
Thursday’s Games
Elimination Game: #1 Texas vs #5 Kansas State (9:00 AM CT)
Elimination Game: #2 Oklahoma State vs #3 West Virginia (12:30 PM CT)
#4 TCU vs #8 Kansas (4:00 PM CT)
#6 Texas Tech vs #7 Oklahoma (7:30 PM CT)
