Baylor Loses Game Two of the West Virginia Series, 8-4

MORGANTOWN, West Virginia – Baylor baseball (16-14, 2-6) lost game two of its three-game series to West Virginia (19-10, 4-1) on Saturday afternoon. 

West Virginia led the majority of the game, but the Bears had early hopes.

Jack Pineda led off the game in style with a double down the right-field line. With Tre Richardson at the plate, a ball appeared to get away from the West Virginia catcher and Pineda made a dash for third. The catcher made a great throw and had Pineda out by a few steps, but Pineda was able to make another incredible acrobatic slide to avoid the tag and steal third base. 

Baylor Athletics

McKenzie was the majority of Baylor’s offense today

Similar to yesterday, Jared McKenzie came through with an RBI single into right field to give Baylor the early 1-0 lead. 

However, Kobe Andrade allowed three straight singles to start off the game. West Virginia capitalized by scoring two runs in the bottom of the first to take the lead, 2-1.

The score would remain this way for the majority of the game. 

Over the course of the middle innings, Jared McKenzie and Ian Groves both hit balls to the warning track that looked like sure home runs off the bat, but they were tracked down by the West Virginia outfielders. 

Any time the Bears tried to get some momentum, the Mountaineers followed with incredible defense. 

Even in the top of the sixth, West Virginia’s third baseman made a diving stop for a double play. Jared McKenzie followed that with a solo shot over the right-field wall to tie the game. It should have been a 2 run or even 3 run homer, but unfortunately, it only tied the game. 

Kobe Andrade settled down from the second through the fifth. He retired 15 straight batters at one point. But in the sixth, West Virginia responded to the McKenzie home run with a 2RBI double in the gap to take the lead, 4-2. Andrade finished with 5.1 IP, 6 H, 5 R, and 5 ER on 73 total pitches. 

Baylor Athletics

Brett Garcia on the mound at WVU

Brett Garcia entered in relief of Andrade, and after pitching 3.2 perfect innings against DBU, the hope was that he would stay solid. However, he struggled today allowing 3 earned runs in 1.1 innings pitched.

Ben Hampton was great for West Virginia today. He ended with 7.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, BB, and 5 Ks on 96 total pitches. 

Baylor picked up two more runs in the ninth. But Nolan Rodriguez lined out to third with the bases loaded to end the game. 

West Virginia clinched the series with today’s win, and the Bears are running out of time in the season to get things figured out.

Final: West Virginia 8 - Baylor 4

W: Ben Hampton (5-2) L: Kobe Andrade (2-1) 

POTG: Jared McKenzie 3-4, HR, 3 RBI

WHAT’S NEXT

Baylor baseball (16-14, 2-6) finishes their series against West Virginia (19-10, 4-1) tomorrow at 12:00 P.M. at Mongolia County Ballpark