By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider 
            Through the first seven innings of Friday's series opener at Baylor Ballpark, West Virginia's Jackson Wolf looked every bit as dominant as Texas' Ty Madden and TCU's Russell Smith, limiting Baylor's league-leading offense to just one run on three hits. 
            "I think we've seen the three best Friday guys," said Baylor fifth-year senior catcher Andy Thomas. 
            But like flipping the light switch on, the Bears (20-10, 2-5) sent nine batters to the plate in the eighth and scored five runs on five hits and a hit batter to pull out a 6-3 come-from-behind victory to run their winning streaks to seven in a row overall and five-straight against West Virginia (11-13, 3-4). 
            "When you're facing a guy like Jackson Wolf, and he's doing his thing as long as he did, rust me as a coach you're trying to be as creative as possible to try to create some chaos in his life out there," Baylor coach Steve Rodriguez said. "And then we did. I hope it does give a little bit of energy to our guys."
            The visiting Mountaineers struck first with a run off Baylor starter Tyler Thomas in the third on back-to-back one-out singles by Tyler Doanes and Mikey Kluska and made it 3-0 the next inning on Kevin Brophy's two-out homer at the scoreboard in left-center field. 
            Until the sixth, Baylor's only hit off Wolf (3-3) was an infield single by Thomas in the first inning. 
            "That guy's good," said Thomas, who was 2-for-4. "If you don't get on his first pitch that he throws in the inning for a strike, he's a big Friday night lefty for a reason. You get down in those two-strike counts, and it's a fight to the death."
            Wolf retired seven in a row going into the sixth before a hustling leadoff double to center by Jack Pineda. After Jared McKenzie reached on a bunt single, Tre Richardson broke up the shutout with a sacrifice fly to the warning track in right field. 
            "We hit balls hard all night, it was just a matter of them falling or not," second-year freshman Kyle Nevin said. "We know our bats will wake up at some point in the game."
            That turned out to be the bottom of the eighth inning, when Pineda once again led off the frame with a single through the left side. When McKenzie tried to move him over with a bunt to the right side, Wolf failed to cover, and all hands were safe. 
            With the bases loaded after Richardson was plunked by a pitch, Thomas delivered with a two-run single to right that tied it up at 3-3 and ended Wolf's night. 
            "The biggest thing is that we continued to put pressure on the defense and found a way to get some hits," Rodriguez said. "The hits were huge, and the execution was a really big deal tonight. That's what I was really happy about, that we were able to take advantage of a couple of their miscues, but at the same time keep putting pressure on their defense."
            While Wolf was done, the Bears weren't. Facing a drawn-in infield, Nevin shot an RBI single through the right side that plated Richardson with the go-ahead run, and then Davion Downey laced a two-run triple to the gap in left-center that made it 6-3. 
            "It was just get the job done, anyway, any how," Nevin said. "I had two guys out there, just find a way to get at least one across. I'll take it. It felt good."
            Senior closer Luke Boyd retired the side in order in the ninth to pick up his sixth save, with senior left-hander Ryan Leckich (2-0) getting the win with 1.1 innings of no-hit ball. 
            "He's unbelievable," Rodriguez said of Boyd, who lowered his ERA to 1.08. "That's what is really impressive. (He has) one of the best sliders in the country, and the command of the fastball and changeup. That's pretty impressive. Pretty impressive young man."
            Pineda, McKenzie and Thomas finished with two hits apiece, combining for six of the Bears' eight hits. 
            It was Baylor's second-straight comeback victory after rallying from a 6-1 deficit to beat UTA, 7-6, Tuesday night. 
            "Any time you come from behind, it's always a big thing, because you need to know you can do it," Rodriguez said. "You need to know you have what it takes. When you do that one time, that's all it takes. When you get a two-out RBI one time, your guys realize they have what it takes. So, hopefully, they're able to take those experiences and push them forward throughout the rest of the year."
            The Bears go for the series win in Saturday's 3 p.m. game, with sophomore Blake Helton (2-2, 3.49) matched against West Virginia lefty Adam Tulloch (0-2, 6.82). 


WACO, Texas – After being down 3-0 through the first four innings, Baylor baseball made its way back and completed the 6-3 come-from-behind victory on Friday night at the Baylor Ballpark. The Bears (20-10, 2-5 Big 12) trailed the Mountaineers (11-13, 3-4 Big 12) until the eighth inning where they scored five runs to secure the win.
 
After a slow start from both teams, the Mountaineers struck first with an RBI-single to go up 1-0 in the third. West Virginia extended its lead in the fourth with a two-run shot to make it 3-0.
 
Later in the sixth inning, newcomer Jack Pineda struck one up the middle and hustled to second for a double. In the next at-bat, second-year freshman Jared McKenzie used an infield single with a bunt to third base as second-year freshman Tre Richardson followed with a sacrifice fly, scoring Pineda and cutting the deficit to 3-1 after six.
 
The Bears exploded in the eighth after starting off with back-to-back singles from the one-two punch of Pineda and McKenzie. After Richardson was hit by a pitch to load the bases, fifth-year senior Andy Thomas came through with the two-RBI single to tie the game at 3-3. Later in the inning second-year freshman Kyle Nevin hit an RBI-base knock deep to right field scoring Richardson putting the Bears in the lead 4-3. Baylor continued to pour it on as fourth-year junior Davion Downey smacked his first triple of the season to the gap in left-center to push the advantage to 6-3.
 
The Bears brought in fifth-year senior Luke Boyd (6) to shut the door in the ninth and secure his sixth save of 2021. BU fifth-year senior reliever Ryan Leckich (2-0) earned his second-straight win, while WVU starter Jackson Wolf (3-3) was tabbed with the loss. Starting pitcher Tyler Thomas had a solid outing with 6.2 innings of work, allowing three runs and striking out five.
 
NOTES
• Baylor is now 18-2 at Baylor Ballpark.
• BU has won five-straight against WVU.
• Baylor extended its win streak to seven-consecutive games.
• The Bears earned their first Friday night Big 12 win of 2021.
• Baylor completed its second-straight comeback victory after Tuesday's come-from-behind win over UT Arlington.
• Pineda, McKenzie and Andy Thomas all finished with two hits apiece.
• Leckich earned his second-straight win in his 14^th appearance.
• Boyd earned his sixth save of the year.
 
QUOTE FROM COACH ROD
"We had some opportunities early and we just couldn't get the two-out hit and guys in scoring position. The biggest thing was to continue to put pressure on their defense, and we did that and we had a couple things where the pitcher didn't get over and they couldn't execute a couple things and we were able to get some hits and string some things together. That's what I told our guys out there, that's why we play nine innings. So, I don't care when we score, we just have to score them."
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The two sides will square off in the second game of the series on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Baylor Ballpark.
 
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