New Rankings
The new College Baseball Nation Top 25 once again features two teams this week. The Oklahoma State Cowboys dropped four spots to No. 19 after they went 1-2 in Manhattan, Kansas this weekend. The Oklahoma Sooners return to the Top 25 for the first time since the week 5 rankings, checking it at No. 22. The West Virginia Mountaineers dropped out of the Top 25 after being swept in Lubbock over the weekend.
A Look Back at Week 7 in Big 12 Baseball
No. 19 Oklahoma State at Kansas State
Kansas State trailed 5-3 going to the bottom of the 12th inning on Friday night against Oklahoma State before scoring three runs to walk-off 6-5 winners.
Blake Dean, Cole Wisenbaker, and Tyson Neighbors combined to pitch 4 1/3 scoreless innings in relief for the Wildcats. Neighbors faced nine batters and struck out five of them. David Bishop delivered the game winner on a single to left field. Colin Brueggemann, who went 3-for-6 for the Cowboys with two runs scored.
Jackson Wentworth made his first start in just over a year on Saturday, having pitched out of the bullpen so far this season. Wentworth was brilliant for Kansas State and allowed just one run over 6 1/3 innings. JJ Slack relieved Wentworth and threw 2 2/3 innings allowing one run. Kansas State catcher Raphael Pelletier finished 3-for-4 with a double and two home runs and drove in three runs. The 7-2 victory meant Kansas State came away from the game as series winners.
The Cowboys avoided the sweep by taking Sunday’s finale 6-4. Lane Forsythe was 3-for-3 and accounted for 3 of the Cowboys 7 hits in the game. Brueggemann and Jaxson Crull both homered for Oklahoma State. Kansas State center fielder Brendan Jones was 3-for-5 with one RBI in the loss.
No. 22 Oklahoma at BYU
Braden Davis threw 6 1/3 innings and struck out 11 BYU batters for Oklahoma in Thursday’s opening game in Provo. Easton Carmichael and Michael Snyder each went 3-for-5 and Anthony Mackenzie drove in two runs for the Sooners. BYU catcher Collin Reuter hit a three-run blast to center field in the bottom of the ninth inning, but it was not enough as the Sooners won 10-8.
The Sooners then claimed the series on Friday night 12-6, scoring all the runs they needed in a seven run fourth inning, Carmichael capped the scoring for Oklahoma with a two-run blast. Kyson Witherspoon was good on the mound over five innings, and he improved to 4-2 this season with the win.
In Saturday's series finale, Bryce Madron hit a double and two home runs to drive in seven runs for the Sooners, while Mackenzie and Snyder each had one RBI. Oklahoma used six pitchers in the road finale, no one pitched more than two innings, and the Sooners won 10-7 to grab the road sweep.
Houston at Cincinnati
Houston starter Cade Citelli threw five scoreless frames before handing the final four innings off to the Cougars bullpen leading 4-0. Cincinnati then scored six runs over two innings, highlighted by a two-run home run to left-center field by slugger Tommy O'Connor. The Bearcats took game one of the weekend, 6-4.
After trailing 4-0 for the second day in a row, Cincinnati rallied to win the game 5-4 and win the series in the process. Five Bearcats hitters each drove in a run as they pieced together an offense that scored in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. Carson Marsh had a nice outing for the Bearcats in relief, throwing three scoreless frames to close out the victory.
Cincinnati jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a Christian Mitchelle home run in the bottom of the first inning on Sunday. Houston catcher Jonathan French came off the bench to pinch-hit in the sixth inning and hit the first pitch he saw for a two RBI go-ahead single. French hit the second pitch he saw over the left field wall in the eighth inning. In his final at-bat in the ninth inning, French (3-for-3) singled home an insurance run and Houston won 8-5 to avoid a sweep.
Kansas at Baylor
Baylor dominated on Friday night and the 14-5 final score indicates a game that was closer than it actually was. Bears catcher Cortlan Castle led the Baylor offense with three hits and four RBI. Enzo Apodaca added two hits and drove in two runs. Right-hander Mason Marriott threw 5 1/3 innings and struck out six while allowing four hits on his way to a win.
Saturday's middle game was suspended in the eighth inning with Kansas leading 8-4. Prior to the suspension, Jake English hit a second inning grand slam for Kansas, his 12th home run of the season and Michael Brooks added a two-run blast in the fourth inning, his seventh home run of the season. Dominic Voegele (5-2) pitched six strong innings and struck out six Bears batters. Voegele officially earned the win on Sunday afternoon when Kansas closed out the 8-4 victory.
Ben Hartl hit a grand slam in the final game of the series and that was all the offense the Jayhawks needed, but they scored eight more times anyway to run-rule the Bears 12-2 in eight innings and claim the road series. Kansas used a trio of the pitchers in the game, while Baylor went to six different pitchers looking for answers.
West Virginia at Texas Tech
Texas Tech made a statement in Lubbock on Friday night with a 15-2 drubbing of West Virginia. Ryan Free pitched six innings for the Red Raiders and allowed just two runs. Offensively, Austin Green went 3-for-4 with a grand slam and five RBI.
Saturday's middle game was scrubbed early in the day and made part of a Sunday doubleheader.
Texas Tech won Sunday's first game 6-4 to claim the series. Gavin Kash went 4-for-5 with three doubles and three RBI. Cade McGee, Damian Bravo and Dylan Maxcey all went 2-for-4 for Texas Tech. Mac Heuer tossed five innings allowing two runs to earn his fourth victory of the season.
The Red Raiders took the finale 3-1 late Sunday afternoon. Not to be outdone by Heuer on the day, Kyle Robinson pitched seven innings allowing just one run to also earn his fourth win of the season. Kevin Bazzell and Garet Boehm were both 2-for-3 and Bazell’s 8th inning home run was a nice insurance run late. Hayden Cooper pitched a terrific six innings out of the Mountaineers bullpen allowing just one run in the loss.
TCU at Texas
TCU pitching was the story of Friday night. Payton Tolle (4-3) pitched seven shutout innings allowing just four hits and striking out seven Texas batters. Luke Boyers drove in two runs for the Horned Frogs and that was plenty of offense for Tolle and two relievers, Hunter Hodges and Ben Abeldt, who combined to limit the Longhorns to five hits in the 5-0 shutout in Austin. TCU’s pitching trio did not allow a Texas base runner to reach third base.
Ace Whitehead put the Longhorns on his back and led them to a 7-0 win on Saturday to even the series. Whitehead allowed just three TCU hits over six scoreless frames. Casey Borba provided a good chunk of the Texas offense with three hits and three RBI in the victory.
Borba continued to lead the Longhorns on Sunday and his two RBI double in the second inning accounted for all of the runs Texas would score in the game and erased a 1-0 deficit. Lebarron Johnson Jr. pitched the best he has in a few weeks allowing just one run over 6 1/3 innings. Boehm relieved Johnson with one out in the seventh inning and he proceeded to close out the game, throwing 2 2/3 scoreless innings in a 2-1 series-clinching victory for Texas. TCU stranded eight runners on base in the loss and did not score after the second inning.
UCF did not play a Big 12 opponent this weekend.
Weekly Awards
Big 12 Players of the Week
Player: Bryce Madron, Oklahoma, OF & Austin Green, Texas Tech, IF/OF
Pitcher: Jackson Wentworth, Kansas State, RHP
Newcomer: Cade McGee, Texas Tech, IF
Quoted
“I’m really proud of these guys. We got punched in the mouth on Friday night and again, the theme of what we’ve gone through this year of coming to an intersection just about every weekend in this sport and in the Big 12 it’s an opportunity to do something positive and it’s also an opportunity to stumble.“ - Kansas head coach Dan Fitzgerald on his team coming back after a 14-5 loss on Friday to take the series on the road.
“The culture’s good right now. Everyone’s working together, everyone’s pulling the same rope. Team chemistry is through the roof right now so we’re having fun with it.” - Baylor Bears pitcher Mason Marriott on the recent success of the team.
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