Meltdown in Morgantown: Where Does Baylor Baseball Go From Here?

Two weeks ago, Baylor baseball was riding a hot streak, winning nine of its last 10 games and heading into a huge series at home against Kansas.

Three days later, the Jayhawks left Waco with a series win, halting the Bears' momentum and putting them in a jumbled mess toward the bottom of the Big 12 standings. Baylor then had another opportunity this past weekend to get back on track against the formidable No. 21 West Virginia Mountaineers.

While it wasn’t likely the Bears were going to walk into Morgantown and get a series win, it was critical for conference standings to at least secure one victory. But three at-bats into Friday’s contest, left fielder Wesley Jordan (Jr.) was hit by a pitch and removed from the game, presumably for a concussion; he didn’t return at any point during the three-game set.

Baylor Athletics

LF/DH Wesley Jordan (Jr.) exited Friday’s game after being hit by a pitch. He did not return at any point during the series.

With Baylor’s star slugger down, the air seemed to come out of the sails from the get-go, and right-handed pitcher Mason Marriott (Jr.) had his worst outing of the year on the mound, surrendering eight earned runs without being able to make it out of the second inning.

From that point forward, the Bears had good moments here and there but by and large, were dominated over the weekend and outscored 36-to-11 in the sweep.

Entering this spring, the ceiling of this team was going to be determined by the pitching staff and their ability to exceed expectations. For much of the season, most of them fared far better than anticipated and showed great promise for the future.

In the last two weeks, however, an all-too-familiar storyline from the last two disappointing seasons has become a major issue again – handing out free passes.

Against the Mountaineers, Baylor’s pitching staff combined to issue 21 walks and hit nine batters – a season-high in a three-game set. In Sunday’s 13-4 loss where the Bears led for half of the contest, six of West Virginia’s 13 runs reached base via a free pass.

During Baylor’s five-game losing streak in conference play, the pitching staff has surrendered 45 earned runs and 36 walks in 41 innings. The freshmen arms, in particular, have allowed 20 earned runs and 15 walks across 17.2 frames.

Baylor Athletics

Against West Virginia, Baylor’s pitching staff combined to issue 21 walks and hit nine batters – a season-high in a three-game set.

Pitching was always going to be a question mark this spring, so the ebbs and flows were not entirely unexpected. However, with the injuries sustained to key starting position players, more pressure has been added onto the pitching staff as the season has waned. And while there’s still real promise with some of the younger guys moving forward, the recent struggles on the mound make missing the conference tournament a legitimate concern heading into the final three weeks.

As for the Big 12 standings, Houston (6-15) and BYU (6-18) continue to separate themselves toward the bottom of the conference, and neither will likely earn a bid to Arlington. The final spot, however, appears to be a race between Baylor (9-12), TCU (10-14), and UCF (9-12), making this upcoming weekend’s series between the Bears and Horned Frogs massive for both teams.

For Baylor, missing the Big 12 Tournament in back-to-back years for the first time in program history would be a bad look and a major disappointment for head coach Mitch Thompson’s squad in his second season at the helm.

For TCU, it reached Omaha last year and was ranked as high as No. 3 this spring in the national polls. With as talented of a roster as they have, missing the NCAA Tournament would be a major bust for Kirk Saarloos’ team, and missing the Big 12 Tournament altogether would be embarrassing.

Going into this weekend, TCU is coming off a home series win over Kansas State (10-11), but the Horned Frogs are 3-9 on the road in conference play. Meanwhile, Baylor is riding a five-game Big 12 losing streak and is 5-4 at home with series wins over Texas Tech (12-12) and Cincinnati (11-10).

With a road trip against the league-leading No. 22 Oklahoma Sooners (15-6) on the horizon for the Bears, the series against TCU becomes all the more important. Whoever comes out on top this weekend will have a far easier path to earn one of the final spots in the Big 12 Tournament.

The Bears (19-23, 9-12) will play a midweek game against UT Arlington (18-26) at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Baylor Ballpark before hosting the Horned Frogs (26-16, 10-14) for a critical conference series.