Baylor Loses Game Two of Doubleheader against Columbia, 11-4
WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (8-6) suffered a tough loss in game two of the Saturday doubleheader against Columbia (4-5). The Bears led 4-1 going into the fifth inning, making this loss even harder to swallow.
After his game-winning home run Wednesday night against Abilene Christian, Casen Neumann got his first career start at designated hitter. In his third career at-bat, Neumann singled into right field. The bases were loaded when Jack Pineda came to the plate, and Pineda delivered a huge 2RBI single up the middle to give the Bears the 2-0 lead in the second.
A welcome sight for Baylor came in the bottom of the third. With Neumann at first base after a walk, Jared McKenzie launched a 3-2 pitch off the left-center field wall and came around to score on an inside-the-park home run, 4-1 Baylor.
The way McKenzie played in the second game of the doubleheader may indicate he is beginning to turn a corner on his early-season struggles. At the very least this performance is a positive sign.
McKenzie has struggled in full counts this season and he tends to pull a lot of weak grounders to the right side, this at-bat alone defied both of those things. I’m working on a piece detailing McKenzie’s season so far and where he may go from here heading into conference play, so stay tuned for that.
In the top of the fifth, Columbia’s Tyler MacGregor hit a bases-clearing double to tie the game, completely shifting the momentum of the game.
Jake Jackson was not able to keep the great pitching going today for Baylor after Tyler Thomas’ start in the early game. Jackson needed to bounce back after a rough outing against Tennessee in which he gave up 8 ER in 2.2 IP and he did not.
To be blunt, Columbia is not Tennessee and today was a good opportunity for Jackson to pound the zone and get his confidence back up. Jackson struggled in key moments and ultimately that’s how Columbia took advantage. He ended the night with 5 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, and 5 Ks.
Baylor’s relief pitching struggled and let the game get out of reach for the Bears’ offense. Hambleton Oliver entered in the sixth to face the bottom of Columbia’s order, he gave up two hits and a run to give the Lions their first lead, 5-4. Grant Golomb gave up two runs in the seventh, and Cole Stasio gave up a single-turned-little-league-home-run when the ball got behind Kyle Nevin, 9-4 Columbia.
Final: Columbia 11 - Baylor 4
W: Saajan May (1-0) L: Hambleton Oliver (1-1)
POTG: Jared McKenzie 2-3, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB
WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor baseball finishes the series against Columbia at 3:00 P.M. Sunday at Baylor Ballpark.