Baylor Baseball Blown Out by Texas Tech in Saturday Contest, 11-1

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (21-22, 4-13) dropped the second game of its series against No. 9 Texas Tech (31-15, 11-6) on Saturday, 11-1.

It was a beautiful afternoon to catch a baseball game on the Brazos. Before the game, the 2012 Baylor baseball team was honored for the 10-year anniversary of their incredible season in which they went 49-17 and hosted a super regional. The 2012 Bears were most famously known for their “feed the beaver” mantra and their 18-0 start in conference play. With many former players and Baylor greats in attendance, the 2022 Bears looked to rise to the occasion. 

Unfortunately, the game did not get off to a smooth start for the green and gold. The only remaining healthy Baylor starter, Kobe Andrade, was on the mound Saturday afternoon, and he struggled in the second inning, allowing five hits, one walk, and an HBP. The Red Raiders added five runs in the frame to give themselves the comfortable 5-0 early lead.

Jack Mackenzie - SicEm365

The 2012 Baylor Baseball Team

Jacob Schoenvogel got the nod in right field for his sixth start of the season on Saturday. In his first at-bat of the game, Schoevogel sent one over the right-field wall to give the Bears their first hit of the afternoon and put BU on the board, 5-1. It would go on to be the only Baylor run for the afternoon. 

The Red Raiders extended their lead even further in the seventh inning. Andrade picked up two quick outs to start the inning but began to show signs of fatigue when he eclipsed 100 pitches. He allowed a single to Jace Jung and walked Ty Coleman. Coach Rodriguez brought in Henry Cone from the bullpen to get the final out. Kurt Wilson took the first pitch Henry Cone threw deep over the left-field to put Tech up 8-1 and seal the deal. 

Andrade settled in nicely after his rough second inning. He shut down the Tech offense from the third inning through the sixth. He pitched better than the box score indicated and those two runs in the seventh were not entirely his fault. Andrade finished the afternoon with 6.2 IP, 7 R, 7 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, and 4 Ks on 104 pitches.

Moving forward, there will be a lot of pressure on Andrade to elevate his play and carry the weekend rotation. Especially considering the team will be without Tyler Thomas and Will Rigney the rest of the way.

Similar to yesterday, the offense provided little support for the pitching staff. The Bears only had seven hits on the afternoon and the nine-hole hitter, Jacob Schoevogel, accounted for two of those. Baylor left ten guys on base throughout the game as well. In each of the fifth, seventh, and eighth innings, the Bears had multiple runners on and were not able to make anything of it. 

Baylor Athletics

Schoenvogel rounds third celebrating his home run

Despite the Bears' poor record, there was still a chance that miraculously winning the next three conference series would potentially give them a ticket to an NCAA regional. But after losing today, the only way Baylor can make the post-season is by winning the Big 12 Tournament. The problem with that is the Bears have to get there first.

Since Iowa State does not field a baseball team, only the top eight schools in the Big 12 make the conference tournament. Baylor is the only Big 12 school to have never missed the tournament up to this point. But being one of the top eight teams in the conference is anything but certain. 

Final: Texas Tech 11 - Baylor 1

W: Brandon Birdsell (7-2) L: Kobe Andrade (3-3) 

POTG: Jacob Schoenvogel 2-4, HR, RBI, SB

TOP QUOTES

Jacob Schoevogel on the current state of the team

“Everyone has trust in everyone. We all want the guy to our left or to our right to succeed, just as much as we want ourselves to succeed. Sometimes it’s even more. Yea we’ve been through a rough patch or two, but we are all pushing for one another to win. There have been times where it hasn't gone our way and it is what it is, but we are still pushing for one another to succeed.”

Coach Rodriguez on playing Texas Tech

Jack Mackenzie - SicEm365

“They are older. I was looking at it this morning, we have 18-year-olds playing against 24-year-olds. They are older, they are more physical, they are seasoned, and they have been through this. They have older guys in their lineup and a couple of young guys, but the majority of their guys have been through it. It’s the same thing with the Texas lineup, they are an older group. The maturity part of that is a really big deal because you are continuing to learn and get better. But that’s the thing when you are facing lineups like that, you need to make sure your pitching is on point. You guys know we have a lot of injuries and illnesses we are dealing with. So the guys that we have going out there need to continue to get better and give our offense a chance to get going. ”

Coach Rodriguez on the offense today

“We got our guys in scoring position and we just couldn’t get the two-out hit. We just couldn’t hit with guys in scoring position when we needed to. We actually could have probably had 5 or 6 runs if we would have gotten those hits and we just didn’t.”

WHAT’S NEXT

Baylor baseball (21-22, 4-13) finishes their series against No. 9 Texas Tech (31-14, 11-6) tomorrow at Baylor Ballpark. The first pitch is scheduled for 1:00 P.M.