Final Stats

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

FORT WORTH, Texas - Richard Cunningham sees some special things brewing with this Baylor baseball team.

Sunday afternoon, it looked like something special was brewing for the Bears.

"I thought we were looking at a little Texas Tech situation," said Cunningham, referring to Baylor's six-run rally to beat the then-No. 6 Red Raiders, 10-9, on April 9. "When Shea (Langeliers) comes to the play, you always know something special can happen."

It didn't happen this time, though.

Coming to the plate as the potential tying run with two out in the ninth, Langeliers was fanned by reliever Dalton Brown as the No. 6 TCU Horned Frogs (30-8, 11-4) held on for dear life for an 8-5 win before an overflow crowd of 5,227 at Lupton Stadium.

"We're one swing away from taking the series," said Baylor coach Steve Rodriguez, whose team fell to 24-16 overall and 6-9 in the Big 12 after splitting the first two games in the series. "I'm really excited about the fact that our guys continued to fight all the way through that last out. And being one swing away from taking a series from a pretty good team is something to be proud of. I like the way our guys are fighting and where we're going."

Baylor freshman starter Cody Bradford (4-3) struggled, giving up three runs on seven hits in the first three innings. The Horned Frogs scored a run in the first on Luken Baker's two-out RBI single, then tacked on two more in the third on back-to-back solo homers by Cam Warner and Evan Skoug.

"His off-speed stuff was up, and I didn't want him to have to just flounder out there just to see if he finds it when we had a bullpen that was fresh," Rodriguez said. "He left some breaking balls up that they hit and they got up in the wind and went out. They're a good hitting ball club and they took advantage of those mistakes."

Phillips did his job, retiring nine of the 10 batters he faced in the middle innings and keeping the Bears in the game.

TCU starter Bryan Howard (6-2) had a no-hitter through three, sitting down nine batters in a row after a leadoff walk by T.J. Raguse in the first. Cunningham broke it up with a leadoff single up the middle in the fourth, then came around to score on Matt Menard's two-out single to right-center field.

Menard moved up on a failed pickoff attempt and made it a one-run game when Aaron Dodson delivered a run-scoring single to right.

Baylor wasted an opportunity to tie it in the seventh. Dodson led off with a double down the right-field line and got to third on Davis Wendzel's sac bunt, but Steven McLean popped out in foul territory and Josh Bissonette had a lazy fly ball to right.

"It's just hard, because you had one of your best guys up there, Steven McLean, with regard to execution," Rodriguez said. "I know he was frustrated and he was upset, and obviously we're all upset. He's just trying to make contact up the middle and got a pitch elevated. Instead of just fouling it off, the wind pushed it back into play, and unfortunately it was an out. But, it's hard for me to be upset, because I know how upset he is."

A Baylor bullpen that's flirted with perfection couldn't keep the TCU bats silent this time. Freshman reliever Hayden Kettler gave up a home run to Austin Wade in the seventh, then the Horned Frogs struck for four more in the eighth, the big blow being a two-run double to left by 9-hole hitter Elliott Barzilli off Joe Heineman.

"It's frustrating, but at the same time that bullpen is what has allowed us to be where we are," Rodriguez said. "I can be frustrated for the moment, but I have to understand that because they've been so good it's allowed us to have the success we've had. They just have to learn from it, they have to understand it, they have to put themselves in that mindset again and be able to erase this and get back at it again Tuesday."

That 8-2 lead looked plenty safe, particularly with sophomore closer Durbin Feltman taking the hill in the ninth. But, after striking out Menard to open the frame, Feltman walked the next three pitchers to load the bases.

Pinch-hitter Tucker Johnson drew a walk off reliever Haylen Green, scoring Dodson, and then Cunningham drilled a double over Wade's head in right that cut the deficit to 8-5.

"The competitiveness, the effort, has never been in question all year," said Cunningham, who had two of the Bears' seven hits. "Even against a team like TCU, when you're down six going into the ninth inning, this team still says, `We're going to fight some more, till the last out.' This team is so close. It has what it takes."

The rally came up short, though, when Brown struck out Langeliers on three pitches to end the game.

Still, the Bears have proven that they can play with the best, winning seven games against ranked teams and taking two of three last weekend from Texas.

"There's just a feeling about it, and it's really exciting," Rodriguez said. "There's nothing that's said, there's nothing that's written down, no secret slogans. You can kind of feel it in the dugout that we have an opportunity every single game, the confidence these guys are carrying right now. The guys on the bench know that they have certain roles and they're going to come up big when they're called on. It's been really nice watching those guys come through for us down the stretch."

Baylor returns home to host Texas State at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday, but will play its next two Big 12 series on the road at Kansas (19-20, 8-7) and Oklahoma State (23-16, 6-9) in matchups that could be pivotal in seeding for the Big 12 Championship.

"We, obviously, know that going forward there's been a mindset change," Cunningham said. "This team is ready for the last three weeks of conference play, and I think some pretty special things are brewing."

Down 3-0 after three innings, Matt Menard and Aaron Dodson delivered two-out RBI singles in the fourth to make it a one-run game.

The score stayed that way until TCU added a run in the seventh and four in the eighth for an 8-2 edge.

However, BU did not go quietly. In the ninth, Dodson, Davis Wendzel, Steven McLean and Tucker Johnson all walked with one out to force in a run. Then with two outs, Richard Cunningham roped a two-run double to put the tying run at the plate in Shea Langeliers, who struck out to end the rally.

TCU starter Brian Howard (6-2) grabbed the win, allowing two runs on four hits and one walk with six strikeouts in 5.2 innings. BU starter Cody Bradford (4-3) took the loss, giving up three runs on seven hits with one strikeout in three innings. TCU reliever Dalton Brown earned a one-out save.

NOTES
*Baylor is 7-8 against ranked teams this season.

*Baylor is 5-7 this season and 8-11 under Steve Rodriguez against Baseball America ranked team and 202-299-1 all-time, including a 37-47 mark since 2011.

*Baylor is 2-5 this season (lost to No. 4 LSU, 2-1 at No. 6 Texas Tech, 2-1 at No. 6 TCU) and 92-152 all-time against Baseball America top 10 teams.

*Baylor is 8-7 away from Baylor Ballpark this season (6-6 on road, 2-1 in neutral sites).

*Baylor has won four of its nine three-game series this season.

*Senior first baseman Aaron Dodson has a career-high 10-game hitting streak as he posted his 10th multi-hit game

*Freshman third baseman Davis Wendzel has a season-high nine-game on-base streak.

*Junior infielder Steven McLean has a five-game on-base streak.

*Junior right fielder Kameron Esthay has a four-game hitting streak.

*Sophomore left fielder T.J. Raguse has a four-game on-base streak.

*Freshman catcher Shea Langeliers has a three-game hitting streak.

*Senior designated hitter Matt Menard has a three-game hitting streak.

*Sophomore center fielder Richard Cunningham has a three-game hitting streak as he notched his seventh multi-hit game and team-high-tying sixth multi-RBI game.

*Junior JUCO outfielder/infielder Tucker Johnson has a three-game on-base streak.

STAT OF THE GAME
3 -- The amount of scoreless innings BU reliever Alex Phillips provided to keep the Bears within striking distance in the fourth, fifth and sixth frames.

QUOTE OF THE GAME
"We were one swing away from taking this series. That's the exciting thing about this club is that we have the fight and the energy. We have to take advantage of some of the mistakes that we are given and don't make mistakes ourselves -- just make somebody beat us. I'm excited that we continued to fight all the way through the last out and like the direction we are going as a team." -- Head Coach Steve Rodriguez

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor hosts Texas State at Baylor Ballpark on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. CT.