Baseball Swept at Texas in 4-1 Loss

Sunday, April 8

Austin, Texas

1:30 PM

Baylor

14-16, 3-9

Texas

22-12, 9-3

Baylor

Texas

Baseball Swept at Texas in 4-1 Loss

4/8/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

April 8, 2018

Final Stats

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

Baylor baseball's six-game break from conference play can't get here fast enough.

Despite another outstanding effort from an overworked bullpen, the Bears (14-16, 3-9) dropped their seventh straight Big 12 game and lost Sunday's series finale to the Texas Longhorns, 4-1, before a crowd of 5,125 at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

"We played sloppy and we're not executing and doing the little things," said Davis Wendzel, who produced the Bears' only run of the game with a solo homer in the second inning. "It's really frustrating baseball right now. We're missing signs. When we do hit, it just doesn't go our way. We're not playing the game the right way."

After giving up an early 4-0 lead in losing the series opener, 9-5, Baylor got shut out, 2-0, in Saturday's series-clinching loss and then gave up three runs in the first inning of Sunday's game with sophomore lefty Ryan Kekich (2-2) making his first start.

"What people don't realize is you have an announced starter, and he didn't feel comfortable today with some things that were going on in his body, and so we have to make an adjustment right away," said coach Steve Rodriguez, whose team has also lost seven of its last eight overall, including road series at Oklahoma and Texas. "It kind of throws a monkey wrench into everything we have planned and what our pitchers have planned."

The Longhorns (22-12, 9-3) put Baylor in a deep hole early, when Zach Zubia blasted a two-run homer to left-center in the first after a leadoff walk by Tate Shaw and Kody Clemens' RBI single. That was more than enough run support for UT starter Blair Henley (5-3), who gave up one run on five hits and three walks with four strikeouts in seven innings.

"He came in and actually made some decent pitches that they hit," Rodriguez said of Lekich. "It's unfortunate, because we couldn't eliminate all the crooked numbers up there."

Wendzel cut into the deficit with his solo homer off Henley in the second inning. The Bears got two more runners on base with a single by Davion Downey and Josh Bissonette's two-out walk, threatening to answer the Longhorns' three-run outburst with a crooked number of their own, but Henley got out of the jam with a grounder by Tucker Cascadden.

"I thought (Henley) was good. I think they're all very similar. They're all righties who threw 90 to 92 or 93 and have a decent slider," Wendzel said. "He commanded his stuff and threw strikes. Hats off to him, but we should have hit him better than that."

Baylor's best chance came in the seventh, when Thomas led off with a walk and Wendzel was hit by a pitch. After a failed sac bunt, the runners moved up on a two-out wild pitch, but Bissonette struck out swinging with the tying runners in scoring position.

"There were some very young mistakes made today, and that's attributed to really just a lack of experience," Rodriguez said. "One of the things I always remind myself is these kids are doing everything they can. They're playing hard. There are some pretty talented kids out there. They're frustrated in some capacities, but at the same time it's exciting when you see them get it right."

After three different Baylor relievers strung together five straight scoreless innings, Texas tacked on a run in the eighth on a leadoff walk by David Hamilton and a double by DJ Petrinsky off Kyle Hill.

Before returning to conference play in two weeks with a home series against TCU (15-13, 4-5), the Bears will continue their road swing with a game Tuesday at Sam Houston State (23-8) and a series next weekend at Memphis (9-23). They start a home stand with midweek games against Texas Southern (11-18) on April 17 and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (11-13) the next day.

"There's a lot of baseball left," Rodriguez said. "There's a lot of teams we still have to play, and we just need to continue to get better."

THE RUNDOWN
AUSTIN -- Baylor baseball lost a 4-1 decision to Texas on Sunday afternoon at Disch-Falk Field. The Bears (14-16, 3-9) gave up three runs in the first and had chances to come back but the Longhorns (22-12, 9-3) completed the series sweep.

Trailing 3-0 after the first, Davis Wendzel answered for Baylor with a solo home run in the second. The Bears had a few chances with leadoff runners aboard but weren't able to take advantage.

BU's best chance came in the seventh. Andy Thomas led off with a walk and Davis Wendzel was hit by a pitch. A failed sacrifice bunt led to a force at third, though, and then a two-out wild pitch had both runners in scoring position to tie the game, but Josh Bissonette struck out swinging to end the threat.

Texas added a run in the eighth on a walk and double, and closed it out from there.

UT starter Blair Henley (5-3) earned the win, giving up a run on five hits and three walks with four strikeouts in seven innings. Josh Sawyer grabbed the save with two shutout innings. BU starter Ryan Leckich (2-2) took the loss, surrendering three runs on five hits and one walk with two strikeouts in two innings.

NOTES
*Baylor is 4-6 against Texas with two series wins in three tries under third-year head coach Steve Rodriguez.

*Baylor is 3-4 in three-game series this season (0-3 on road, 3-1 at home) and has a combined record of 8-11.

*Baylor has hit 107 home runs in 140 games under Rodriguez. BU hit 51 in 2017 for its most homers since 2010 (57). BU has 22 in 2018.

*Baylor is 2-8 on the road overall and 0-6 in Big 12 play this season.

*Ryan Leckich made his first career start.

*Davis Wendzel has reached base in a career-high 19 straight games as he hit his third home run of the season and 11th of his career.

*Cole Haring has an 11-game on-base streak.

*Davion Downey has reached base in five straight games.

*Richard Cunningham has a four-game on-base streak.

*Josh Bissonette has reached base in three straight games.

STAT OF THE GAME
7 -- The amount of innings of one-run relief the Baylor bullpen provided.

QUOTE OF THE GAME
"I thought our pitchers did a great job today against a tough offensive lineup in a tough situation. Our offensive had a chance to do some damage but unfortunately didn't get the hits we needed at the right time. It's frustrating for us as coaches and just as frustrating for the players right now but we are still in the rebuilding process. I have to remind myself of that. These kids are doing everything they can and playing hard." -- Baylor Head Coach Steve Rodriguez

WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears go to Sam Houston State on Tuesday for a 6:30 p.m. CT contest. For tickets to home games, visit: http://www.baylorbears.com/tickets/. For updates on the program follow @baylorbaseball on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

-BU-