Baylor Baseball Loses to Kansas in Series Opener, 3-2

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (16-17, 2-8) lost a close one to Kansas (14-18, 2-5) on Thursday night, 3-2.

It was a wonderful night on the Brazos to catch a ballgame. Despite it being a perfect 78 degrees at first pitch, the Bears played far from a perfect game and it ultimately cost them late. 

Will Rigney made his much anticipated (well at least to me) return to the rotation. 

Rigney has noted in recent weeks that pitching in the first inning can be a little bit of a challenge due to his shoulder pain. I was slightly on edge, especially after he missed last week, but my fears were quickly put to rest after his ten-pitch top of the first inning. 

Jack Mackenzie - SicEm365

Tre Richardson started the game in the leadoff spot for the first time this season and hit a single into right field to start the game. Kyle Nevin, batting third, singled up the middle. Then, Jared McKenzie followed with a great at-bat that eventually turned into a hit-by-pitch to load the bases. 

With one out and the bases loaded, Chase Wehsener swung at the first pitch he saw. It should have been a double play to end the inning. However, the Jayhawks’ third baseman tagged third base and threw home. The catcher made a costly error by not applying the tag on Richardson, who scored to give Baylor the 1-0 lead.

The Bears should have walked away with more runs in the inning though. I can’t quite explain it, but this team has a unique ability to repeatedly not take advantage of having the bases loaded. 

In the top of the second, Rigney gave up a solo shot to deep center to tie the game, 1-1. 

After three consecutive singles from the top of the batting order, the bases were loaded again, this time for McKenzie. After a long battle of an at-bat, McKenzie struck out. With the bases still loaded, Wehsener hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Again, this team is allergic to scoring more than one run with the bases loaded. Through four innings, Baylor had the bases loaded twice, and the Jayhawks only had two hits. Yet somehow, the game was tied. 

After his week off, Rigney started to show signs of fatigue in the fifth inning. He gave up three hits in the inning and Kansas capitalized by scoring two runs. KU had a 3-1 advantage after five. 

Rigney ended with 6 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, and 6 Ks on 94 pitches. It could have been better had Rigney not gotten some tough breaks in that fifth inning, but it was a quality start considering the circumstances. 

Baylor Athletics

In the fifth, Jack Pineda sent the first pitch he saw over the right-center field wall to cut the lead to 3-2 KU. It was Pineda’s third home run of the year. 

Baylor could not muster enough offense to challenge for the lead late. They repeatedly swung early in the count and did not make Daniell Hegarty, Kansas’ starting pitcher, work very hard. 

Hegarty entered the game with a 5.91 ERA in 32 innings pitched. He ended the night with 9 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 7 H, BB, and 2 Ks on 119 pitches. 

The Bears dropped to 2-8 in conference play and are tied for last with Kansas State in the Big 12 standings. It’s looking more and more likely the only way the Bears make a regional is with an impromptu run in the Big 12 Tournament. 

Final: Kansas 3 - Baylor 2 

W: Daniel Hegarty (4-3) L: Will Rigney (2-1) 

POTG: Jack Pineda 2-3, HR, RBI, HBP

TOP QUOTES

Coach Rodriguez on swinging at the first pitch

“I was always an aggressive hitter. I thought I was a pretty good hitter. The key is to get a pitch you like, but the key is don’t miss it. Everybody is like you need to take more pitches, then you are 0-2 and you are scrambling... If you get a good pitch, lay a good swing on it. Sometimes that works, sometimes it does not.”

Coach Rodriguez on the steps moving forward

“I will be honest. This is my feeling. We need someone to step up. We need someone to take a leadership role and start forcing guys to do their job. As a coach, I can yell and scream all I want, but sometimes it’s more of an internal thing. With them just kind of taking responsibility for what’s going on in the field. Our guys are tough, they are resilient, they battle through a lot of stuff, and I will go to war with each one of these guys. But sometimes you need somebody in the trenches who is going to force you to do some things.”

Will Rigney on the morale of the team

“We just need to come together. We just need to have the mindset to start winning games. We are really close. We seem to always lose these close games. We need to get in the mindset that it’s a win at all costs. The coaches are doing their part, but I just think we need to start executing better and we need to start winning. Plain and simple.”

WHAT’S NEXT

Baylor baseball (16-17, 2-8) continues their series against Kansas (14-18, 2-5) tomorrow night at 6:30 P.M at Baylor Ballpark.