Home > The Bear Blog > Archives > 2009 > May > 21 > Entry
Baylor-Kansas State baseball — Big 12 tournament
10:19 p.m. — After KSU’s Justin Bloxom pads the Wildcat lead with a no-doubt solo jack to right field in the top of the ninth, the Bears muster little resistance in the bottom of the inning, as Shaver Hansen and Aaron Miller both ground out to end it. K-State wins, 9-4, and will play Texas for the right to play in the tourney final Sunday.
10:05 p.m. — Baylor goes down in order in the eighth. It’s going to take a big rally for the Bears in the ninth if they want to extend their season past Saturday and reach the Big 12 tourney championship game. The Wildcats hold an 8-4 lead.
9:59 p.m. — Baylor gets out of the inning without further harm, as Nick Martini grounds to short for the third out. The Bears have some work to do, trailing 8-4 entering the bottom of the eighth. And they’ll do it against a new pitcher, K-State southpaw Thomas Rooke.
9:54 p.m. — Steve Smith’s night is also done, as he protested third base umpire Pat Speler’s call on a check swing from Adam Muenster. Smith and the players were livid with the call, and Smith continued to protest even after Muenster lofted a sacrifice fly to left to score KSU’s eighth run.
9:48 p.m. — Aaron Miller’s night on the mound is done. After striking out KSU’s Jordan Cruz to open the eighth, he walks Rob Vaughn and then hits Dane Yelovich in the ankle with a curveball. Shawn Tolleson comes in out of the pen. In case you’d like the rest of the changes, Don Lambert will come out of the game, while Miller will go back to right field. Ben Booker is in center, and Dan Evatt is in left.
9:41 p.m. — Marshall blows a 3-2 fastball by Lambert, and the Bears can’t get any closer. But they’re within striking distance again, trailing 7-4 after seven innings.
9:36 p.m. — It’s rally time for the Bears. After Hainsfurther and Dickerson open the seventh with consecutive singles, Raynor Campbell follows with a walk to load the bases for the meat of BU’s batting order. All of the runs end up coming in to score, on a couple of Morris wild pitches and an Aaron Miller groundout. Now K-State has turned to reliever Evan Marshall with two out and two on, and Don Lambert at the plate.
9:21 p.m. — K-State extends its lead to 7-1 when Jason King rips his fifth triple of the year through the infield and into the right-field corner, scoring teammates Nick Martini and Justin Bloxom. Incidentally, Bricktown is a great triples park, especially with its diagonal wall in right field. The Wildcats lead 7-1 after 6.5 innings, which is the same score they beat Baylor by with Morris in March.
9:08 p.m. — Baylor manages only a one-out single from Ben Booker in the sixth, as the Wildcats continue to cruise with a 5-1 lead.
9:01 p.m. — K-State strands one baserunner in the sixth, and Miller has thrown back-to-back scoreless innings for the Bears. Baylor trails 5-1 as they enter the home half of the sixth, with the stingy Morris still on the mound for the Wildcats.
8:53 p.m. — Dickerson singles, then steals second for Baylor, but the Bears can’t bring him around. The score remains 5-1 in favor of the Wildcats through five innings.
8:46 p.m. — Miller overcomes a four-pitch walk against KSU’s Jurica to start the inning, finishing with three straight outs. It’s still 5-1 K-State, as we head to the bottom of the fifth.
8:37 p.m. — Aaron Miller, who was originally slated to start, will take over on the mound to start the fifth inning. Miller’s ERA as a reliever is considerably better than it is as a starter, which is presumably one of the reasons Steve Smith didn’t start him tonight. Kempf gave up seven hits and four runs in four innings, striking out four and walking one.
8:36 p.m. — Morris escapes the fourth unscathed, getting some defensive help with a “Top Play” nominee from Yelovich, the centerfielder. He laid out to snare a would-be base hit from Don Lambert in shallow left-center. K-State holds a 5-1 edge through four complete.
8:28 p.m. — K-State pads its lead with a three-run outburst, including a pair of unearned runs. Rob Vaughn drove in one of the runs for K-State with a single to center, then Dane Yelovich dropped down a bunt that Kempf fielded, but threw away when he tried to throw out Jordan Cruz at third base, after Cruz got caught in a rundown. The error allowed two runs to come in, and it’s 5-1, Wildcats after 3.5 innings.
8:17 p.m. — The Bears get the leadoff batter aboard for the third straight inning, as Joey Hainsfurther laces an inside-out single to left. Two batters later, Shaver Hansen delivers an RBI single to center, and the Bears have trimmed K-State’s lead to 2-1 heading into the top of the fourth.
8:09 p.m. — KSU’s Carter Jurica, he of the impressive .364 batting average, hammers a single to left to lead off the third for the Wildcats. But Baylor erases him when Kempf induces a double-play grounder from Nick Martini. The score remains 2-0 Wildcats through 2.5 innings.
8:03 p.m. — The Bears waste a leadoff double from Dan Evatt, as the next three hitters go down in order against Morris. It’s still 2-0, K-State, through two full innings.
7:55 p.m. — Kempf puts together a strong inning, striking out the first two K-State hitters and then getting Adam Muenster to ground out for a 1-2-3 inning. Baylor will now try to cut into K-State’s lead, trailing 2-0.
7:49 p.m. — Dustin Dickerson, Baylor’s most reliable hitter, opens up with a sharp single to left field, extending his hitting streak to 12 games. Raynor Campbell follows by popping a bunt up, but then Shaver Hansen moves Dickerson over by working a walk off KSU ace A.J. Morris. But the Bears can’t put any runs on the board, as Aaron Miller grounds into an inning-ending double play. Score: 2-0, KSU, through one inning.
7:41 p.m. — Three of Kansas State’s first four hitters rip hits off BU starter Willie Kempf, including Justin Bloxom, who drives in two runs with a looping single to center field. That’s the fifth straight game that Baylor has allowed multiple first-inning runs to a Big 12 opponent. The Wildcats take a quick 2-0 lead.
7:19 p.m. — Greetings again, baseball fans. The grounds crew here at Bricktown Ballpark is putting the finishing touches on the field, and we’re only about 10 minutes away from some baseball. Incidentally, I did mis-state Baylor’s title game scenario in my game story in today’s paper (and here on the Web). I said Baylor could clinch a spot in the championship game with a victory over K-State. However, the Bears needed that, and a Texas win over Kansas today. For some reason, I failed to mention that.
Anyway, Texas did defeat Kansas, 9-5, so the Bears are indeed playing for a spot in Sunday’s tourney final. If Baylor wins this game coming up, it could do no worse than 2-1 in pool play, and the best that either K-State or Texas could do is 2-1. And Baylor would have beaten both those teams head-to-head. Kapiche?
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