What a day it was up in Sunrise, Arizona, for Day 4 of the Big 12 baseball tournament. After the Big 12 quarterfinals on Thursday, we saw a total of two Big 12 games on Friday as there was no shortage of drama late into the night. As we continue to make our way through the tourney, I have a few thoughts from the fourth day of Big 12 baseball action. Here are the final scores from Friday’s games, followed by the biggest takeaways.
#1 Kansas: 9; #5 Oklahoma State: 2
#2 West Virginia: 7; #3 Arizona State: 3
Kansas’ Late Surge Punches Their Ticket
Don’t let the final score of this game fool you, for the first six innings, this was just a two-run game with Kansas leading 3-1. But in the eighth inning, that’s where things started to turn quite a bit.
Oklahoma State put a run on the board at the top of that inning to pull within one. However, the Cowboys would need much more than that because the Jayhawks went on a scoring spree.
It started when Augusto Mungarrieta hit an RBI double, followed by Savion Flowers RBI single to make it 5-2. And with the bases loaded, star slugger Tyson LeBlanc cleared them all with his monster grand slam to put the game away. It just goes to show how dangerous this Kansas team can be offensively.
West Virginia’s Offense Showed Up
On Thursday against Kansas State, it was the pitching of the Mountaineers that guided them to a close win. The offense was just ok, but the pitching was outstanding. Well, on Friday night in Arizona, it was the exact opposite.
Going into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Mountaineers were down 3-1 against the Sun Devils. Armani Guzman knocked in a run before an error helped bring in two to give West Virginia their first lead since the first inning.
The eighth inning is where West Virginia really started to separate itself. Brodie Kresser and Tyrus Hall came up with a pair of big hits, and another throwing error helped bring in the third run of the inning.
That gave West Virginia a nice cushion, so pitcher Dawson Montesa could get an easy save. I know I have talked plenty about the arms of West Virginia, but what makes this team so good is how balanced they are. Not many teams have the arms and bats like the Mountaineers.
The Big Rematch
It’s not often things go as planned, which is why I picked fifth-seeded Oklahoma State to win this tournament. But I was wrong, and here we are with the two best teams in the conference all season long playing in the Big 12 championship game.
While Kansas did win the regular season title, keep in mind that West Virginia actually beat them in a series earlier this month by sweeping the Jayhawks. So it’s not like Kansas is head-and-shoulders better than West Virginia by any means.
I expect a great game, and both teams are more than deserving to win this tournament. While they are both a lock to make the postseason, neither is necessarily a lock to be a regional host, so this game is extremely important. Either way, congrats to both teams, and we are truly going to see the two best teams go to battle one more time this season.
