No. 2 Baseball’s Season Ends In Loss To No. 1 UCLA
6/2/2019 6:06:00 PM | Baseball
LOS ANGELES, Calif.– Much like Baylor's bats came to life in a 24-6 thrashing of Omaha the day before, top-ranked UCLA's offense broke out of a slumber with four homers and eight extra-base hits in sending the Bears home with an 11-6 loss Sunday afternoon at the Los Angeles Regional.
Finishing a win shy of the region final for the second straight year, Baylor (35-19) got a pair of early home runs from Cole Haring in taking 3-2 and 4-3 leads. But, the Bruins (49-9) broke it open with eight runs in the middle three innings and then turned double plays in each of the last three frames to stay alive.
"We were trading blows with them for the first few innings, had a hard time kind of getting ahead of hitters, and they were taking advantage of that" Baylor coach Steve Rodriguez said. "And as you can see by their pitching staff, there's a reason why they have one of the best ERAs and most strikeouts in the country."
After hitting just .238 and scoring a combined seven runs in splitting their first two games at the tournament, the Bruins rocked starter Tyler Thomas (1-2) and a trio of relievers for 11 runs on 11 hits through the first seven innings. UCLA advances to face third-seeded Loyola Marymount in an 8 p.m. CDT game Sunday, needing to win two to advance to the Super Regional round.
Thomas walked two and hit another batter in three-plus innings, giving up six runs on four hits and exiting the game three batters into the fourth.
"I thought Tyler was a good matchup for them," Rodriguez said. "We were just going to try to get him through hopefully three, four or five (innings), and then kind of go to the bullpen. UCLA is really good. They're good hitters. And when you put good hitters in offensive counts, they have a tendency to do some damage with it. You have to tip your hat to UCLA, (because) they didn't miss those opportunities."
It started in the bottom of the first inning, when Jake Pries made him pay for a two-out walk by depositing a 1-2 breaking ball over the wall in left field for a quick 2-0 lead.
After UCLA starter Jesse Bergin had a 1-2-3 first inning, the Bears took their first lead just three batters into the second. Haring, hitless in five trips to the plate in Saturday's win over Omaha, followed back-to-back doubles by Andy Thomas and Davis Wendzel with a two-run shot off the netting in dead center field.
"At the end of the day, we wish we could do more for the team. We wish we could do other things to win," said Haring, who finished his senior season with a .325 batting average and team-best 12 home runs. "Our ultimate goal today was to win. We all had it in our minds this morning that we were going to win two today, win tomorrow, host a Super and then go to the World Series. We fell short, but UCLA's a good team. We really battled. That's all you can do."
UCLA tied it up in the third on the first of two triples by Garrett Mitchell and Ryan Kreidler. Haring's second homer of the day went just inside the left-field foul pole to give Baylor the lead back at 4-3, but the Bruins plated three each in the fourth and fifth and two more in the sixth to make reliever Felix Rubi (2-0) the winner.
Baylor got the leadoff runner on base in each of the last five innings, with Chase Wehsener scoring on a wild pitch in the fifth and driving in a run with a two-out single to right-center in the sixth. But, in each of the last three innings, UCLA shut down any potential rallies by turning double plays on grounders to the middle of the infield.
Sophomore right-hander Luke Boyd, following Thomas, Jacob Ashkinos and Ryan Leckich to the mound, sat down the last six batters he faced after walking the leadoff batter in the seventh.
Haring and Cunningham, playing their final game for the Bears, had two-hit days to produce half of Baylor's eight hits. A day after going 5-for-6 with an NCAA postseason-record 11 RBI, Baylor catcher Shea Langeliers went 0-for-4 and was on-deck when Cunningham popped up to second base for the final out of the game.
"I'm really proud of our guys dealing with a lot of the adversity that we dealt with this year," Rodriguez, who will lose six seniors and likely two other draft-eligible players from this year's team. "Watching these guys step up when you lose your starting rotation . . . I am unbelievably proud of the effort these guys put in on a daily basis, just knowing that they maybe weren't at 100 percent. And they didn't care. They went out there and gave everything they had."
Of a senior class that also included All-American closer Kyle Hill, starting second baseman Josh Bissonette and leftfielder Cole Weaver, who was commissioned as a 2ndLieutenant in the U.S. Army last month, Rodriguez said:
"I obviously inherited Richie (Cunningham), who you're all going to be working for him in your career. So, you better be really nice to him. When you have these seniors, and you see the type of attitude and the type of approach, and what's great for me as a coach is the type of men they are. . . Just watching how they've grown since I got here, that's what makes me really proud."
The Major League Baseball amateur player draft starts Monday, with both Langeliers and Wendzel projected to be taken in the first five rounds.
THE RUNDOWN
LOS ANGELES – No. 2 Baylor baseball's season came to an end with an 11-6 loss to the No. 1 overall seeded UCLA Bruins in the Los Angeles Regional Sunday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
The Bears were unable to keep up with UCLA's strong offensive output, as the Bruins hit four home runs and outmuscled Baylor just one day after the Bears set a program record with 24 runs in a postseason game.
Baylor (35-19) had runners on base in each of the last six innings, but bounced into double plays in each of the last three to squander any hopes of a comeback.
UCLA (49-9) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first thanks to a two-run homer off Baylor starter Tyler Thomas. But the Bears answered in the top of the second as Andy Thomas and Davis Wendzel hit back-to-back doubles before Cole Haring blasted a two-run shot to put Baylor ahead 3-2.
The Bruins knotted things at 3-3 with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third, but once again, the Bears responded and it was Haring again doing the damage, this time a solo homer to pull Baylor back in front 4-3.
The Bears fell behind in the bottom of the fourth as UCLA scored three runs to take the lead back 6-4, but climbed back with a run in the top of the fifth, as Chase Wehsener scored on a passed ball with Shea Langeliers at the plate, cutting the deficit to 6-5.
UCLA extended its lead in the bottom half with a pair of home runs, one a two-run shot and the other a solo, pushing the tally to 9-5. In the top of the sixth, Baylor scratched across a run with an RBI single by Wehsener to stay in it 9-6, but that was all the Bears would get.
Another Bruins' two-run homer came in the bottom of the sixth to make it 11-6 and that proved to be the nail in the coffin, as Baylor couldn't muster up a late-inning comeback to put the pressure on the nation's No. 1 team.
The Bears' season ends after another successful run to the postseason and the highest winning percentage in the Steve Rodriguez era.
NOTES
*Baylor made its third-straight NCAA Regional appearance for the first time since a stretch of four-consecutive appearances between 2009-12. This was the 21st regional selection in program history.
*Baylor is 45-45 all-time in the NCAA Championship, 38-32 in regionals and 4-13 in away regional games.
*Baylor is now 9-19 all-time against the No. 1 ranked team in the nation.
*This was Baylor's first game against a No. 1 ranked opponent under fourth-year head coach Steve Rodriguez.
*Baylor has won at least 35 games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2006-2007 campaigns (37, 35).
*Baylor tallied its 14th multi-home run game of 2019.
*Cole Haring has homered in 10 of Baylor's 14 multi-home run games this year.
*The Bears have hit 195 homers in 221 games under fourth-year head coach Steve Rodriguez, including 57 in 54 games in 2019. 57 homers tie for the most in a single season under Rodriguez and BU's most since hitting 57 in 2010. The Bears have hit at least 50 home runs in three straight seasons.
*174 of Baylor's 385 runs in 2019 scored with two outs, including one of six today.
*Haring hit his team-leading 11th and 12th home runs of the season and 18th and 19th of his Baylor career. It's Haring's third multi-home run game of his career and second of the 2019 season.
*Haring recorded his 18th multi-hit and 13th multi-RBI game of the season.
*Richard Cunningham tallied his 21st multi-hit game of 2019. He finished the year hitting safely in 25 of his last 26 games.
*Andy Thomas hit his 22nd double of the season, moving him into a tie for 8th place on Baylor's leaderboard for doubles in a single season.
*Tyler Thomas made his 14th appearance and seventh start of the season, his first start since May 14 vs. UTA.
*Jacob Ashkinos made his 20th appearance of the year.
*Ryan Leckich made his team-leading 29th appearance of the season.
*Luke Boyd made his 24th appearance of the season.
STAT OF THE DAY
.648 – Baylor finished the season with a 35-19 record for a .648 win percentage, the highest in the Steve Rodriguez era.
QUOTES OF THE DAY
On what the seniors have meant to the program…
"I came in and I brought Josh Bissonette with me, he was my only recruit. Obviously, I inherited Richie [Cunningham] who you're all going to be working for at one point. When you have these seniors and you see the type of attitude and approach, what's great for me is the type of men they are. I know that they're not going to do anything foolish, that they're going to represent this University that has given them so much. On the field is one thing, that's the easiest part of my job, but making sure these guys will be great humans, great men, great fathers and great husbands, that for me is a really big deal. Just watching how they've grown since I got here, that's what makes me really proud."
- Baylor head coach Steve Rodriguez
-baylorbears.com-
Finishing a win shy of the region final for the second straight year, Baylor (35-19) got a pair of early home runs from Cole Haring in taking 3-2 and 4-3 leads. But, the Bruins (49-9) broke it open with eight runs in the middle three innings and then turned double plays in each of the last three frames to stay alive.
"We were trading blows with them for the first few innings, had a hard time kind of getting ahead of hitters, and they were taking advantage of that" Baylor coach Steve Rodriguez said. "And as you can see by their pitching staff, there's a reason why they have one of the best ERAs and most strikeouts in the country."
After hitting just .238 and scoring a combined seven runs in splitting their first two games at the tournament, the Bruins rocked starter Tyler Thomas (1-2) and a trio of relievers for 11 runs on 11 hits through the first seven innings. UCLA advances to face third-seeded Loyola Marymount in an 8 p.m. CDT game Sunday, needing to win two to advance to the Super Regional round.
Thomas walked two and hit another batter in three-plus innings, giving up six runs on four hits and exiting the game three batters into the fourth.
"I thought Tyler was a good matchup for them," Rodriguez said. "We were just going to try to get him through hopefully three, four or five (innings), and then kind of go to the bullpen. UCLA is really good. They're good hitters. And when you put good hitters in offensive counts, they have a tendency to do some damage with it. You have to tip your hat to UCLA, (because) they didn't miss those opportunities."
It started in the bottom of the first inning, when Jake Pries made him pay for a two-out walk by depositing a 1-2 breaking ball over the wall in left field for a quick 2-0 lead.
After UCLA starter Jesse Bergin had a 1-2-3 first inning, the Bears took their first lead just three batters into the second. Haring, hitless in five trips to the plate in Saturday's win over Omaha, followed back-to-back doubles by Andy Thomas and Davis Wendzel with a two-run shot off the netting in dead center field.
"At the end of the day, we wish we could do more for the team. We wish we could do other things to win," said Haring, who finished his senior season with a .325 batting average and team-best 12 home runs. "Our ultimate goal today was to win. We all had it in our minds this morning that we were going to win two today, win tomorrow, host a Super and then go to the World Series. We fell short, but UCLA's a good team. We really battled. That's all you can do."
UCLA tied it up in the third on the first of two triples by Garrett Mitchell and Ryan Kreidler. Haring's second homer of the day went just inside the left-field foul pole to give Baylor the lead back at 4-3, but the Bruins plated three each in the fourth and fifth and two more in the sixth to make reliever Felix Rubi (2-0) the winner.
Baylor got the leadoff runner on base in each of the last five innings, with Chase Wehsener scoring on a wild pitch in the fifth and driving in a run with a two-out single to right-center in the sixth. But, in each of the last three innings, UCLA shut down any potential rallies by turning double plays on grounders to the middle of the infield.
Sophomore right-hander Luke Boyd, following Thomas, Jacob Ashkinos and Ryan Leckich to the mound, sat down the last six batters he faced after walking the leadoff batter in the seventh.
Haring and Cunningham, playing their final game for the Bears, had two-hit days to produce half of Baylor's eight hits. A day after going 5-for-6 with an NCAA postseason-record 11 RBI, Baylor catcher Shea Langeliers went 0-for-4 and was on-deck when Cunningham popped up to second base for the final out of the game.
"I'm really proud of our guys dealing with a lot of the adversity that we dealt with this year," Rodriguez, who will lose six seniors and likely two other draft-eligible players from this year's team. "Watching these guys step up when you lose your starting rotation . . . I am unbelievably proud of the effort these guys put in on a daily basis, just knowing that they maybe weren't at 100 percent. And they didn't care. They went out there and gave everything they had."
Of a senior class that also included All-American closer Kyle Hill, starting second baseman Josh Bissonette and leftfielder Cole Weaver, who was commissioned as a 2ndLieutenant in the U.S. Army last month, Rodriguez said:
"I obviously inherited Richie (Cunningham), who you're all going to be working for him in your career. So, you better be really nice to him. When you have these seniors, and you see the type of attitude and the type of approach, and what's great for me as a coach is the type of men they are. . . Just watching how they've grown since I got here, that's what makes me really proud."
The Major League Baseball amateur player draft starts Monday, with both Langeliers and Wendzel projected to be taken in the first five rounds.
THE RUNDOWN
LOS ANGELES – No. 2 Baylor baseball's season came to an end with an 11-6 loss to the No. 1 overall seeded UCLA Bruins in the Los Angeles Regional Sunday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
The Bears were unable to keep up with UCLA's strong offensive output, as the Bruins hit four home runs and outmuscled Baylor just one day after the Bears set a program record with 24 runs in a postseason game.
Baylor (35-19) had runners on base in each of the last six innings, but bounced into double plays in each of the last three to squander any hopes of a comeback.
UCLA (49-9) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first thanks to a two-run homer off Baylor starter Tyler Thomas. But the Bears answered in the top of the second as Andy Thomas and Davis Wendzel hit back-to-back doubles before Cole Haring blasted a two-run shot to put Baylor ahead 3-2.
The Bruins knotted things at 3-3 with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third, but once again, the Bears responded and it was Haring again doing the damage, this time a solo homer to pull Baylor back in front 4-3.
The Bears fell behind in the bottom of the fourth as UCLA scored three runs to take the lead back 6-4, but climbed back with a run in the top of the fifth, as Chase Wehsener scored on a passed ball with Shea Langeliers at the plate, cutting the deficit to 6-5.
UCLA extended its lead in the bottom half with a pair of home runs, one a two-run shot and the other a solo, pushing the tally to 9-5. In the top of the sixth, Baylor scratched across a run with an RBI single by Wehsener to stay in it 9-6, but that was all the Bears would get.
Another Bruins' two-run homer came in the bottom of the sixth to make it 11-6 and that proved to be the nail in the coffin, as Baylor couldn't muster up a late-inning comeback to put the pressure on the nation's No. 1 team.
The Bears' season ends after another successful run to the postseason and the highest winning percentage in the Steve Rodriguez era.
NOTES
*Baylor made its third-straight NCAA Regional appearance for the first time since a stretch of four-consecutive appearances between 2009-12. This was the 21st regional selection in program history.
*Baylor is 45-45 all-time in the NCAA Championship, 38-32 in regionals and 4-13 in away regional games.
*Baylor is now 9-19 all-time against the No. 1 ranked team in the nation.
*This was Baylor's first game against a No. 1 ranked opponent under fourth-year head coach Steve Rodriguez.
*Baylor has won at least 35 games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2006-2007 campaigns (37, 35).
*Baylor tallied its 14th multi-home run game of 2019.
*Cole Haring has homered in 10 of Baylor's 14 multi-home run games this year.
*The Bears have hit 195 homers in 221 games under fourth-year head coach Steve Rodriguez, including 57 in 54 games in 2019. 57 homers tie for the most in a single season under Rodriguez and BU's most since hitting 57 in 2010. The Bears have hit at least 50 home runs in three straight seasons.
*174 of Baylor's 385 runs in 2019 scored with two outs, including one of six today.
*Haring hit his team-leading 11th and 12th home runs of the season and 18th and 19th of his Baylor career. It's Haring's third multi-home run game of his career and second of the 2019 season.
*Haring recorded his 18th multi-hit and 13th multi-RBI game of the season.
*Richard Cunningham tallied his 21st multi-hit game of 2019. He finished the year hitting safely in 25 of his last 26 games.
*Andy Thomas hit his 22nd double of the season, moving him into a tie for 8th place on Baylor's leaderboard for doubles in a single season.
*Tyler Thomas made his 14th appearance and seventh start of the season, his first start since May 14 vs. UTA.
*Jacob Ashkinos made his 20th appearance of the year.
*Ryan Leckich made his team-leading 29th appearance of the season.
*Luke Boyd made his 24th appearance of the season.
STAT OF THE DAY
.648 – Baylor finished the season with a 35-19 record for a .648 win percentage, the highest in the Steve Rodriguez era.
QUOTES OF THE DAY
On what the seniors have meant to the program…
"I came in and I brought Josh Bissonette with me, he was my only recruit. Obviously, I inherited Richie [Cunningham] who you're all going to be working for at one point. When you have these seniors and you see the type of attitude and approach, what's great for me is the type of men they are. I know that they're not going to do anything foolish, that they're going to represent this University that has given them so much. On the field is one thing, that's the easiest part of my job, but making sure these guys will be great humans, great men, great fathers and great husbands, that for me is a really big deal. Just watching how they've grown since I got here, that's what makes me really proud."
- Baylor head coach Steve Rodriguez
-baylorbears.com-
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