By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Earlier this season, if the Baylor Bears had given up two freaky runs the way they did in the eighth inning of Thursday's series opener against Oklahoma, they probably would have been "beating ourselves up" and let the game get away from them. 
            This time, they just shook it off and came right back at them. 
            After OU (25-26, 9-13) tied it up with a two-run single by Brandon Zaragosa that took a wicked sideways bounce, the Bears (31-16, 11-11) came right back with four runs in the bottom of the inning to rally for a critical 9-5 win at Baylor Ballpark.
            "Watching our guys come back and show the character they did . . . it showed a lot about who they are and the continued fight they're going to have throughout the baseball game," said Baylor coach Steve Rodriguez. 
            Kyle Nevin led off the inning with a single up the middle, and then Davion Downey hit a high fly ball to the wall in right-center that OU rightfielder Jace Bohrofen misplayed. Nevin, who had to hold up at second base, came all the way around to score the go-ahead run as Downey jogged into second with a double. 
            "When I saw the rightfielder running back, was like, 'No chance it's going (out)," Downey said. "I was literally five to 10 feet behind Nevin, just waiting. And then, it hit the wall and Nevin scored and I got to second. I didn't think Nevin was going to be able to go home on that. I should have gone to third, but at the same time, I didn't want to do something and he get held up at third."
            The Bears weren't done, though. After reliever Wyatt Olds (4-6) struck out Beau Wimpee, second baseman Conor McKenna booted a grounder up the middle by Jacob Shoenvogel that also took a crazy bounce. After a two-out single by Jared McKenzie, Baylor drew three-straight walks by Tre Richardson, Andy Thomas and Antonio Valdez to plate two more runs and give the Bears some cushion. 
            Fifth-year senior closer Luke Boyd (1-2), who had a blown save in the eighth, had a 1-2-3 ninth to pick up his first win of the season. 
            Making just his second start of the season after leading the Big 12 two years ago with 11 saves, Oklahoma's Jason Ruffcorn got into trouble right off the bat when he gave up back-to-back singles by McKenzie and Richardson and a three-run homer by Andy Thomas that easily cleared the wall in left-center field. 
            "Andy Thomas' home run got everything off on the right foot," Rodriguez said. "Our guys did a phenomenal job working at-bats and not swinging at stuff that we shouldn't swing at. It was pretty impressive what our guys did, especially when we made a couple mistakes."
            With freshman starter Cam Caley wiggling out of some early trouble, that 3-0 lead lasted until the fourth, when McKenna blasted a no-doubter solo home run to get the Sooners on the board. The very next inning, Peyton Graham tied it up with a two-run shot to center after Caley walked 9-hole hitter Kendall Pettis. 
            Ruffcorn got into a good groove after his first-inning issues, retiring six in a row at one point and stringing together five-straight zeroes. 
            That changed in the seventh, when McKenzie followed up a leadoff triple by Jack Pineda with a two-run homer to right that put the Bears back on top, 5-3. 
            "Jared McKenzie, just looking for a sac fly there, and he was able to lift the ball and get it out of here," Rodriguez said. "That gave everybody a big sigh of relief, and we were able to keep scoring runs after that."
            But, not before Oklahoma tied it up again in the top of the eighth. Jimmy Winston retired the first seven batters he faced before giving up back-to-back one-out singles by Jimmy Crooks and Tyler Hardman. 
            The Sooners loaded the bases when Nevin tried to get the lead runner at third instead of taking the out when Bohrofen hit a grounder to first off Boyd. Two batters later, Zaragosa's crazy-hop grounder got by a charging Richardson at second base and scored two runs to make it 5-5. 
            "I told our guys, they're experience plays," Rodriguez said. "I can try to coach it all day long, but until you go through it, it's hard. Just understanding that you've got your closer in, we've got a lot of faith in him, just go ahead and get it to two outs. (On the ball to Richardson), you've got to settle back and let the ball take one more hop. And it's hard to be able to do that in that moment, because your aggressiveness says, 'Go get it and get the out.'''
            By the end of that inning, those plays were all but forgotten. 
            Improving to 23-4 at Baylor Ballpark, the Bears spread the hits around through the lineup, but Pineda had a two-hit day and McKenzie went 3-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored. 
            Due to expected rain later in the day, Friday's game was moved up to a 3 p.m. start. The game will be live streamed on Big 12 Now by ESPN+, with Lincoln Rose and former Baylor pitcher Pat Combs calling the action. 
 

WACO, Texas – Baylor put up four runs in the eighth inning to come away with game one, 9-5, versus Oklahoma on Thursday night at Baylor Ballpark in Waco, Texas. The Bears (31-16, 11-11 Big 12) never trailed in the game against the Sooners (25-26, 9-13 Big 12). Game two of the series has been moved up to 3 p.m. on Friday.
 
For the fifth-consecutive game, Baylor scored in the first inning, after back-to-back hits from second-year freshmen Jared McKenzie and Tre Richardson, set up fifth-year senior Andy Thomas who smashed a three-run homer to put the Bears up 3-0.
 
The Sooners tied things up with a run in the fourth and two in the fifth. The Bears responded in the home-half of the seventh after sophomore Jack Pineda crushed a leadoff triple off the wall and McKenzie smacked his ninth home run of the season to put Baylor ahead, 5-3.
 
OU had an answer in the top half of the eighth with two runs of its own to make it 5-5. Once again, the Bears battled back, this time with a four-spot in the home-half of the eighth inning. Second-year freshman Kyle Nevin led things off with a single, while in the next at-bat, fourth-year junior Davion Downey ripped an RBI-double off the wall to give BU the 6-5 edge. Baylor added another run after reaching on an error. Two bases-loaded walks capped the inning as BU held the 9-5 advantage going into the ninth.
 
Fifth-year senior Luke Boyd (1-2) earned his first win of the season after hurling 1.2 innings and striking out two. Baylor true freshman starter Cam Caley threw five innings while allowing three runs on four hits and striking out four. OU reliever, Wyatt Olds (4-6) was tabbed with the loss.
 
NOTES
• The Bears are 23-4 at Baylor Ballpark this season.
• After starting Big 12 play 1-5, BU is now 11-11.
• BU evened the season series with OU, avenging the loss at the Round Rock Classic on Feb. 28.
• Baylor has scored in the first inning in each of the last five games. BU is outscoring opponents now 56-19 in the first frame.
• BU is outscoring opponents 41-17 in the eighth inning.
• BU 1-8 batters each finished the game with at least one hit.
• Thomas hit his 11^th home run of the season and 21^st of his career.
• Thomas has a team-leading 58 RBI of the season after finishing with four on the night.
• Thomas' 58 RBI are the most for a BU batter since 2012 where Josh Ludy had 71 on the season.
• McKenzie smacked his ninth home run of the year.
• McKenzie finished 3-for-5 with three runs and two RBI.
• Boyd earned his first win of the season.
 
QUOTE FROM COACH ROD
"Andy Thomas' home run got everything off on the right foot. We're going up against Jason Ruffcorn, All-American, converted closer to starter, just an unbelievable pitcher with all the accolades that he's received that are very warranted. I'll tell you what, our guys did a great job pushing him to get his pitch count elevated and next thing you know we get guys on base and put him in some tough innings. I think there was one or two innings where we didn't have guys on base and he really had to bear down. There were some aggressive innings where he actually had to work. But our guys did a phenomenal job working at bats and not swinging at stuff that we shouldn't swing at. It was pretty impressive what our guys did, especially when we made a couple mistakes.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears and Sooners will play game two tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Baylor Ballpark. The game was moved up due to incoming weather.
 
To stay up to date throughout the season on all things Baylor baseball, follow the team on Facebook (Baylor Baseball), Twitter (@BaylorBaseball) and Instagram (@BaylorBaseball).