Baylor Drops Tournament Opener to TCU in Disappointing Fashion, 4-2

ARLINGTON, Texas – The No. 8 seed Baylor Bears (26-27) dropped the Big 12 tournament opener to the No. 1 seeded TCU Horned Frogs (36-18) in disappointing fashion on Wednesday afternoon, 4-2.

Baylor led the majority of the game but saw a 2-0 lead slip away in the bottom of the sixth inning due to some spotty defense. TCU put the game away by scoring two more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.

The game got started on a good note. The Bears picked up two quick extra-base hits in the first inning to put them on the board. Tre Richardson shot a double deep into the left-centerfield gap, and Kyle Nevin brought him home with an RBI triple off the wall in right-center.

Baylor Athletics

Blake Helton was on the mound for today, and he struggled to find his rhythm early, walking three people in the bottom of the first. But with two outs and the bases loaded, David Bishop popped out to right field to end the inning and avoid any damage. 

From the second through the fifth inning, Helton was fantastic. 

Baylor picked up another run in the fifth inning on an RBI single from Antonio Valdez. Richardson led off the inning with his second double of the day. Jared McKenzie then followed with an ugly strikeout, and the momentum was starting to leave the Baylor dugout. 

But the Horned Frogs starter, Brett Walker, was pulled after he nailed Nevin with a pitch to put runners on first and second with only an out. TCU brought in reliever, Caleb Bolden, to face Valdez, who then delivered a huge RBI single to put the Bears up 2-0 going into the bottom of the sixth.

Later in the inning, a questionable hit and run decision kept the green and gold from being able to put another run on the board and continue the rally.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Helton began to run into some trouble. Tommy Sacco led off the inning with a single into centerfield. The Horned Frogs' cleanup hitter then hit a shot to third base that Esteban Cardoza-Oquendo was unable to corral and it put runners on first and second with one out. 

Baylor Athletics

Bobby Goodloe followed by popping up what appeared to be a makeable play in left-center, but McKenzie and Cam Caley nearly collided to give TCU their first run of the day on an RBI double. Another run came across via a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 2 apiece. It was an unfortunate turn of events for an otherwise incredible outing from Blake Helton. The defense flat-out failed him in that sixth inning. 

Helton went out for the seventh inning and allowed a single and then was pulled in favor of the sophomore RHP, Grant Golomb. Helton finished with 6.1 IP and allowed 2 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, and 7 Ks on 90 total pitches. 

TCU scored the go-ahead run off of a Golomb wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning. The Horned Frogs picked up another run later in the inning, and the Baylor offense could not muster up anything of note to make things interesting in the ninth.

This game was not a matter of TCU being a much superior team and dismantling the eighth-seeded Bears. It was more so a matter of this Baylor team finding ways to beat themselves, which has been a recurring theme all season, and today was a microcosm of that.

Final: TCU 4 - Baylor 2

W: Augie Mihlbauer (3-0) L: Grant Golomb (0-1) S: Garrett Wright (3)

POTG: Tre Richardson 2-3, 2 R, 2 2B, BB

TOP QUOTES

Coach Rodriguez on Blake Helton’s performance 

“He did exactly everything that we asked him to do. He went out there and got us deep into the game. A career-high in strikeouts. Really excited about just watching him get out there and compete for us. We needed that kind of start today, and we got it. Having him back out here gave our offense a refreshing feeling. Like Blake is going to hold them down if we get some stuff going. We got some stuff going early in regards to getting guys on base and a couple of runs. Then it was just a matter of trying to hold on at the end.”

Tre Richardson on the disappointing loss

“When your starting pitcher gives an outing like that, it’s a little tough to muster as many as we did. Like Rod said, TCU is a really good team, and they won the conference for a reason. We knew, in a game like that, runs were going to come at a premium, and missing the opportunities that we had doesn’t feel really good. But that’s just the game of baseball.”

Blake Helton on the defensive miscues in the sixth inning

“I can’t get too mad at the defense. I was making bad pitches, and they hit them. It would have been nice to get those plays, but I had already been saved enough times today. Tre had a great play today. I missed a spot, and it got crushed, but Tre saved me. They had been making plays for me all day and I just started making mistakes in that last inning. I can’t always count on them to erase my mistakes.”

WHAT’S NEXT

Baylor baseball (26-27) will face elimination tomorrow against the No. 4 seed, Oklahoma State Cowboys (36-19). The first pitch will be at 9:00 A.M.