Baylor Suffers Crushing Walk-Off Loss to Oklahoma, 9-5

Norman, OKLA. – Baylor baseball (11-11, 1-4) lost a heartbreaker on Saturday afternoon against Oklahoma (14-7, 2-0).

Early on, Oklahoma starter David Sandlin had no issues throwing the ball over the heart of the plate but Baylor was not able to capitalize early. The Bears only recorded two hits the first time through the lineup.

That changed in the fourth inning when Kyle Nevin turned a hanging offspeed pitch into a towering shot over the left-field wall to give Baylor the 1-0 lead. It was Nevin’s team-leading fourth home run of the season. I noted in the series preview that I expected Nevin to have a bounceback weekend against Oklahoma’s left-handed starters, he played great today going 3-5 with two extra-base hits. 

Baylor Athletics

Kobe Andrade was excellent in his first Saturday start in a Baylor uniform. Oklahoma’s announcer noted that Andrade did not throw a strike in warmups, but he immediately put that to rest by throwing a seven-pitch first inning. 

Oklahoma picked up their first hit in the fourth inning on a Diego Muniz double, but Andrade was able to pick up a strikeout and a pop-fly to escape the inning. 

The Bears were able to get another run on the board in the fifth when Alex Gonzales lined a ball up the middle to score Esteban Oquendo-Cardoza from second, 2-0 BU. 

Another scare came in the fifth inning when Alex Gonzales, expecting to run into the wall, could not come up with the ball on the warning track. It was a difficult play regardless and was ruled a double. With a runner on second and one out, Max McGwire lined out to Tre Richardson who then stepped on second for the double play to end the inning. Andrade left the mound pumped up full of emotion. 

Andrade did a fantastic job escaping jams today with timely double plays and solid situational pitching. Andrade finished his day with 5.0 IP, 2 H, BB, and K. 

Baylor picked up another run in the sixth when a wild pitch scored Kyle Nevin from third, 3-0 BU. 

The smooth sailing ended in the bottom of the sixth when Mason Marriott entered to pitch. He gave up a leadoff hit, hit the second batter he faced with a pitch and then walked Blake Robertson. Diego Muniz blooped a single into right to put OU on the board, 3-1 Baylor. Marriott bounced back and threw a good high and tight slider to strike out Crooks and then got a huge double play to end the inning. 

Amidst all the struggles of the team so far this season, Richardson and Pineda have been fantastic up the middle defensively and continue to get timely double plays when they matter most. The Bears turned four double plays today.

Baylor Athletics

Kyle Nevin continued his great afternoon with a leadoff double down the left-field line to start the eighth inning. Chase Wehsener then followed with a single into right. Esteban Cardoza-Oquendo lined a ball down the right-field line to score Nevin and Wehsener and everyone thought that was enough to put the game out of reach for the Sooners, 5-1 BU.  

But the Sooners came roaring back when Mason Marriott walked the bases loaded in the eighth. Marriott left the game with 5 BB, HBP, and 2 Ks. Matt Voelker entered to replace Marriott and gave up a game-tying grand slam to Tanner Tredaway, 5-5 after the eighth. 

In the bottom of the ninth, Matt Voelker allowed back-to-back singles to start the inning. OU attempted to lay down a bunt but Voelker dropped the ball to load the bases. Hambleton Oliver entered the game with no outs and the bases loaded to face Peyton Graham, Graham launched the first pitch he saw over the left-field wall, ending the game on a walk-off grand slam. 

An absolute heartbreak for the Bears. Two consecutive Saturday meltdowns are extremely demoralizing for this team to say the least. 

Today was a balanced attack from everyone on the offense. But the bullpen could not hold up their end of the bargain, ultimately soiling a great effort from Andrade and the offense. 

Final: Oklahoma 9 - Baylor 5

W: Ben Abram (1-0) L: Hambleton Oliver (1-2) 

POTG: Kyle Nevin 3-5, 2B, HR, RBI

WHAT’S NEXT

Baylor baseball finishes the series against Oklahoma (14-7, 2-0) tomorrow at 2:00 P.M. at L. Dale Mitchell Baseball Park.