Baylor Baseball Falls to Oklahoma in Friday Contest, 6-3
WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (11-20, 3-8) fell to Oklahoma (17-15, 3-5), 6-3, in an ugly contest Friday night at Baylor Ballpark.
After an offensive outpouring in last night’s victory, the Bears only racked up four hits in Friday’s loss.
The difference in the game, however, was Baylor’s pitching staff issuing a season-high 14 walks. Four of OU’s six runs came via walks with the bases loaded.
“Disappointing ballgame all the way around,” coach Mitch Thompson said after the loss.
“We’re not going to win many games when we get four hits. We’re not going to win many games when we walk them 14 times … To even be in the ballgame says something. It gives us a little bit of hope.”
Sophomore Mason Marriott started the game on the mound for BU. After a rough go at Kansas last weekend, where he allowed five runs in three innings, Marriott bounced back against Oklahoma and threw four scoreless frames before running into trouble in the fifth inning.
With runners on second and third and two outs in the fifth, Marriott threw what appeared to be strike three, but the home plate umpire ruled it ball four to load the bases. Marriott walked in a run the following at-bat to give OU the 1-0 lead before getting pulled in favor of junior lefty Cam Caley.
“I think that for us to point the finger at anybody else but ourselves would be a mistake. I think we’ve got to do a better job of throwing strikes where [the umpire] has to call strikes,” Thompson said.
Caley entered into the bases-loaded jam and immediately got Oklahoma’s Braden Carmichael to line out for the third and final out of the inning.
Marriott finished the evening with a loss but had his second-best start since conference play began. The sophomore pitched 4.2 innings and allowed an earned run, four hits and five walks on 98 pitches while striking out four.
In the sixth, Caley walked four batters and walked in two runs to extend OU’s lead to 3-0.
Baylor got on the board in the bottom of the frame on an RBI sacrifice fly from freshman shortstop Kolby Branch.
But the game got out of reach for the Bears when junior Cole Stasio surrendered a three-spot in the seventh to the Sooners.
Junior infielder Cole Posey extended his hitting streak to 15 games with an RBI single in the ninth to cut the Oklahoma lead to 6-3.
Final: Oklahoma 6 - Baylor 3
W: James Hitt (2-0) L: Mason Marriott (1-5)
WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor baseball (11-20, 3-8) will look to clinch the series against Oklahoma (17-15, 3-5) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Baylor Ballpark. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.