Sunday, May 9
Waco, Texas
12 p.m.
Baylor
29-14, 9-9
23
vs
3
Kansas State
28-18, 7-11
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Kansas State
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
3
6
1
Baylor
2
1
1
2
17
0
X
23
17
0
BSB Shatters Records with 23-3 Victory Over K-State in Seven Innings
5/9/2021 5:44:00 PM | Baseball
The Bears set a new Big 12 record with 17 runs in a single inning in a conference game
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
After giving up a seven-run ninth inning in a 10-3 loss to Kansas State on Saturday, Baylor coach Steve Rodriguez' message to his team was to flush it.
Baylor (29-14, 9-9) did just that, plating six runs in the first four innings and batting around twice in scoring a school-record 17 runs in the fifth to blow out the Wildcats, 23-3, Sunday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark to win its fourth-straight conference series.
"It's a good way to win the series, especially after yesterday. Yesterday was demoralizing," said senior catcher Andy Thomas, who went 3-for-4 with two home runs and six RBI. "But, we came out and punched them in the mouth early with three and then four and then six (runs), and then the floodgates opened. It was a lot of fun."
Not so much for Kansas State (28-18, 7-11), which used five different pitchers in the fifth, giving up a Big 12-record 17 runs on nine hits, six walks, a hit batter and a passed ball on a third strike.
"I was just really impressed with the quality of at-bats our guys continued to take throughout the game," said Rodriguez, whose team has won 16 of its last 20 games in moving up to fourth in the Big 12 standings. "Just continue to take good swings, because if you let one at-bat go away and just from letting it go and not focusing, it kind of stumbles into other at-bats. I was just really happy with how they did it today."
K-State starter Kasey Ford (4-1), who came in with a 1.59 ERA in 13 previous appearances, gave up four runs on six hits and three walks and didn't make it out of the third inning.
The Bears jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a Jared McKenzie single, Tre Richardson's triple off the wall in center field and Antonio Valdez' sac fly. Jack Pineda and Esteban Cardoza-Oquendo delivered RBI hits in the second and third inning, respectively, and then Thomas crushed the first of his two-run homers in the fourth off reliever Caleb Littlejim.
"Kasey Ford is really good. He's a big guy and throws hard," Rodriguez said. "I'm just really happy with how our guys made their approach and continued to put the bat on the ball."
In the record-setting fifth, Baylor's first 17 batters reached base. After McKenzie and Richardson greeted reliever Dylan Philips with back-to-back doubles and then Thomas blasted his team-leading 10th home run of the season for a 14-0 lead.
Thomas said the Wildcats' defensive shift that moved the third baseman to the right side didn't upset him, "I just don't understand it."
"I'm not that heavy pull. I think saw that I was heavy pull, because they threw inside all weekend," Thomas said. "But, I'm definitely an all-fields (hitter). I saw it, and I was like, 'Hmm, that's interesting.' And they pitched to it, so I guess it worked . . . or maybe it didn't. I think if you throw the ball inside to me, yeah, you can shift me. I guess you could say it's a little motivating."
After three-straight walks loaded the gases, Cardoza-Oquendo kept the onslaught going with a two-run single off reliever Elijah Dale. The Bears' pass-the-bat philosophy continued with two-run hits by McKenzie and Thomas, who scored the final run of the inning on Davion Downey's RBI groundout to second.
"I would say probably the first eight to 10 runs, it was crazy energy, like it can't be stopped," Thomas said. "But then, you don't want to get too disrespectful. After the 14th or 15th (run), it got a big wild. You can't not like it when your team scores like that. It gets to the point where it's, who's going to be the first guy to get out? And then that guy gets made fun of. It was fun."
Blake Helton (4-2) had another quality start, throwing five shutout innings and allowing just three hits and one walk with three strikeouts. After some rough outings earlier in the season, the sophomore hurler has lowered his ERA to 2.93 with 10-consecutive scoreless innings over his last two starts.
"I was kind of rushing and speeding the game up before," Helton said. "Just to get me a little bit more rhythm in there, it's helped with my command a lot."
Thomas said the key has been Helton's fastball command.
"You throw your fastball where you want, you can throw your breaking ball in the dirt and they'll swing, they're pressing," Thomas said. "When you're down 0-2, the slider looks a lot more tempting than when it's 1-0. When he gets 0-1, 0-2 quickly, that helps any pitcher."
Four Baylor players had multi-hit games, led by McKenzie with a 4-for-5 day, two doubles and three RBI. Thomas and Cardoza-Oquendo had three hits apiece and Richardson went 2-for-5 with a double, a triple and three RBI.
The Bears will finish a six-game home stand with a non-conference matchup against Incarnate Word at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday before traveling to Stillwater, Okla., next weekend for a three-game series at Oklahoma State (27-15-1, 10-11).
WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball shattered records in its 23-3 blow-out victory over Kansas State in seven innings on Sunday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears (29-14, 9-9 Big 12) have now won four-straight Big 12 series after taking two-of-three from the Wildcats (28-18, 7-11 Big 12).
Baylor scored early and often after getting started in the home-half of the first when second-year freshman Tre Richardson smashed a triple off the center field wall to score second-year freshman Jared McKenzie. Later in the inning, sophomore Antonio Valdez used a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.
In the second, sophomore Jack Pineda sliced an RBI-single to extend the advantage to 3-0, while in the third inning it was junior Esteban Cardoza-Oquendo who singled through the right side to make it 4-0.
Fifth-year senior Andy Thomas continued his hot-hitting with a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth to push the lead to 6-0.
The flood gates opened up in the bottom of the fifth with the Bears setting a program record for runs scored in a single inning. Baylor put up 17 runs on 11 hits, as the prior record was 14 runs against Houston back on April 19, 1985. The previous record for runs scored for BU in a single inning against a Big 12 opponent was 12 (twice) against Texas Tech with the most recent coming in 2007.
Both fourth-year junior Davion Downey and second-year freshman Kyle Nevin had three at-bats in the fifth, while Thomas mashed his second two-run home run of the day and also used a two-RBI single for his fifth and sixth RBI of the day.
The Bears scored their first 13 runs in the inning without recording an out and after scoring 17 runs, led 23-0, which tied the most total runs scored by a BU team in a game against a conference opponent since March 29, 1998 vs. Iowa State.
Baylor starter Blake Helton (4-2) had another solid outing after throwing five scoreless innings, while giving up three hits, walking one and striking out three. K-State starter Kasey Ford (4-1) was tabbed with his first loss of the season.
NOTES
• Set a Big 12 record in runs scored in a single inning in a conference game after putting up 17 in the fifth.
• Largest margin of victory for Baylor against a Big 12 opponent in program history (Previous vs. Missouri 4/11/09)
• Largest margin of victory in any Big 12 game since Oklahoma defeated K-State 29-4 on March 22, 2009.
• Tied the most runs scored against a Big 12 opponent in program history (Scored 23 vs. Iowa State 3/29/1998).
• Scored a program-record 17 runs in the fifth inning (Previous, 14 vs. Houston 4/19/1985).
• Scored 13 runs in the fifth inning before recording an out.
• Most runs scored in a regular season game for Baylor since April 23, 2008 at Texas State (25-13).
• Largest margin of victory for Baylor over any opponent since defeating Texas Southern 22-1 on March 20, 2007.
• Second time this season Baylor has scored 20-plus runs in a game this season (March 6 vs. Memphis, 20-4).
• The Bears have won four-straight Big 12 series for the first time since 2018.
• After starting 1-5, the Bears are now 9-9 in Big 12 play.
• Baylor is 22-4 this season at Baylor Ballpark.
• BU has won 16 of its last 20 games.
• Baylor scored double-digit runs for the 13th time this season.
• Every starter in the Baylor lineup had a hit and scored a run.
• Thomas went 3-for-4 with two home runs, six RBI and three runs scored.
• Cardoza had a career day after finishing 3-for-4 with two runs and four RBI.
• McKenzie tied his career-high after going 4-for-5, with four runs scored, three RBI and two doubles.
• Richardson finished 2-for-5 with three runs, three RBI, a double and triple.
• Helton has not allowed an earned run in three-consecutive starts (14.0 IP).
• Thomas finished the series hitting .727 (8-for-11) with three home runs, nine RBI and six runs scored.
QUOTE FROM COACH ROD
"Right after the game today I said 'considering how yesterday ended being able to come out and score a couple runs early and continue that pressure and then being able to put up 17 runs in an inning is something I don't know that I have seen before.' But I'll tell you what, the relentlessness of the offense being able to come back after a frustrating day yesterday towards the end of the game shows the character of these guys."
WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears will be back in action with its final midweek game of the season against Incarnate Word on Tuesday, May 11 at 6:30 p.m. inside Baylor Ballpark.
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).
Baylor Bear Insider
After giving up a seven-run ninth inning in a 10-3 loss to Kansas State on Saturday, Baylor coach Steve Rodriguez' message to his team was to flush it.
Baylor (29-14, 9-9) did just that, plating six runs in the first four innings and batting around twice in scoring a school-record 17 runs in the fifth to blow out the Wildcats, 23-3, Sunday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark to win its fourth-straight conference series.
"It's a good way to win the series, especially after yesterday. Yesterday was demoralizing," said senior catcher Andy Thomas, who went 3-for-4 with two home runs and six RBI. "But, we came out and punched them in the mouth early with three and then four and then six (runs), and then the floodgates opened. It was a lot of fun."
Not so much for Kansas State (28-18, 7-11), which used five different pitchers in the fifth, giving up a Big 12-record 17 runs on nine hits, six walks, a hit batter and a passed ball on a third strike.
"I was just really impressed with the quality of at-bats our guys continued to take throughout the game," said Rodriguez, whose team has won 16 of its last 20 games in moving up to fourth in the Big 12 standings. "Just continue to take good swings, because if you let one at-bat go away and just from letting it go and not focusing, it kind of stumbles into other at-bats. I was just really happy with how they did it today."
K-State starter Kasey Ford (4-1), who came in with a 1.59 ERA in 13 previous appearances, gave up four runs on six hits and three walks and didn't make it out of the third inning.
The Bears jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a Jared McKenzie single, Tre Richardson's triple off the wall in center field and Antonio Valdez' sac fly. Jack Pineda and Esteban Cardoza-Oquendo delivered RBI hits in the second and third inning, respectively, and then Thomas crushed the first of his two-run homers in the fourth off reliever Caleb Littlejim.
"Kasey Ford is really good. He's a big guy and throws hard," Rodriguez said. "I'm just really happy with how our guys made their approach and continued to put the bat on the ball."
In the record-setting fifth, Baylor's first 17 batters reached base. After McKenzie and Richardson greeted reliever Dylan Philips with back-to-back doubles and then Thomas blasted his team-leading 10th home run of the season for a 14-0 lead.
Thomas said the Wildcats' defensive shift that moved the third baseman to the right side didn't upset him, "I just don't understand it."
"I'm not that heavy pull. I think saw that I was heavy pull, because they threw inside all weekend," Thomas said. "But, I'm definitely an all-fields (hitter). I saw it, and I was like, 'Hmm, that's interesting.' And they pitched to it, so I guess it worked . . . or maybe it didn't. I think if you throw the ball inside to me, yeah, you can shift me. I guess you could say it's a little motivating."
After three-straight walks loaded the gases, Cardoza-Oquendo kept the onslaught going with a two-run single off reliever Elijah Dale. The Bears' pass-the-bat philosophy continued with two-run hits by McKenzie and Thomas, who scored the final run of the inning on Davion Downey's RBI groundout to second.
"I would say probably the first eight to 10 runs, it was crazy energy, like it can't be stopped," Thomas said. "But then, you don't want to get too disrespectful. After the 14th or 15th (run), it got a big wild. You can't not like it when your team scores like that. It gets to the point where it's, who's going to be the first guy to get out? And then that guy gets made fun of. It was fun."
Blake Helton (4-2) had another quality start, throwing five shutout innings and allowing just three hits and one walk with three strikeouts. After some rough outings earlier in the season, the sophomore hurler has lowered his ERA to 2.93 with 10-consecutive scoreless innings over his last two starts.
"I was kind of rushing and speeding the game up before," Helton said. "Just to get me a little bit more rhythm in there, it's helped with my command a lot."
Thomas said the key has been Helton's fastball command.
"You throw your fastball where you want, you can throw your breaking ball in the dirt and they'll swing, they're pressing," Thomas said. "When you're down 0-2, the slider looks a lot more tempting than when it's 1-0. When he gets 0-1, 0-2 quickly, that helps any pitcher."
Four Baylor players had multi-hit games, led by McKenzie with a 4-for-5 day, two doubles and three RBI. Thomas and Cardoza-Oquendo had three hits apiece and Richardson went 2-for-5 with a double, a triple and three RBI.
The Bears will finish a six-game home stand with a non-conference matchup against Incarnate Word at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday before traveling to Stillwater, Okla., next weekend for a three-game series at Oklahoma State (27-15-1, 10-11).
WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball shattered records in its 23-3 blow-out victory over Kansas State in seven innings on Sunday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears (29-14, 9-9 Big 12) have now won four-straight Big 12 series after taking two-of-three from the Wildcats (28-18, 7-11 Big 12).
Baylor scored early and often after getting started in the home-half of the first when second-year freshman Tre Richardson smashed a triple off the center field wall to score second-year freshman Jared McKenzie. Later in the inning, sophomore Antonio Valdez used a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.
In the second, sophomore Jack Pineda sliced an RBI-single to extend the advantage to 3-0, while in the third inning it was junior Esteban Cardoza-Oquendo who singled through the right side to make it 4-0.
Fifth-year senior Andy Thomas continued his hot-hitting with a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth to push the lead to 6-0.
The flood gates opened up in the bottom of the fifth with the Bears setting a program record for runs scored in a single inning. Baylor put up 17 runs on 11 hits, as the prior record was 14 runs against Houston back on April 19, 1985. The previous record for runs scored for BU in a single inning against a Big 12 opponent was 12 (twice) against Texas Tech with the most recent coming in 2007.
Both fourth-year junior Davion Downey and second-year freshman Kyle Nevin had three at-bats in the fifth, while Thomas mashed his second two-run home run of the day and also used a two-RBI single for his fifth and sixth RBI of the day.
The Bears scored their first 13 runs in the inning without recording an out and after scoring 17 runs, led 23-0, which tied the most total runs scored by a BU team in a game against a conference opponent since March 29, 1998 vs. Iowa State.
Baylor starter Blake Helton (4-2) had another solid outing after throwing five scoreless innings, while giving up three hits, walking one and striking out three. K-State starter Kasey Ford (4-1) was tabbed with his first loss of the season.
NOTES
• Set a Big 12 record in runs scored in a single inning in a conference game after putting up 17 in the fifth.
• Largest margin of victory for Baylor against a Big 12 opponent in program history (Previous vs. Missouri 4/11/09)
• Largest margin of victory in any Big 12 game since Oklahoma defeated K-State 29-4 on March 22, 2009.
• Tied the most runs scored against a Big 12 opponent in program history (Scored 23 vs. Iowa State 3/29/1998).
• Scored a program-record 17 runs in the fifth inning (Previous, 14 vs. Houston 4/19/1985).
• Scored 13 runs in the fifth inning before recording an out.
• Most runs scored in a regular season game for Baylor since April 23, 2008 at Texas State (25-13).
• Largest margin of victory for Baylor over any opponent since defeating Texas Southern 22-1 on March 20, 2007.
• Second time this season Baylor has scored 20-plus runs in a game this season (March 6 vs. Memphis, 20-4).
• The Bears have won four-straight Big 12 series for the first time since 2018.
• After starting 1-5, the Bears are now 9-9 in Big 12 play.
• Baylor is 22-4 this season at Baylor Ballpark.
• BU has won 16 of its last 20 games.
• Baylor scored double-digit runs for the 13th time this season.
• Every starter in the Baylor lineup had a hit and scored a run.
• Thomas went 3-for-4 with two home runs, six RBI and three runs scored.
• Cardoza had a career day after finishing 3-for-4 with two runs and four RBI.
• McKenzie tied his career-high after going 4-for-5, with four runs scored, three RBI and two doubles.
• Richardson finished 2-for-5 with three runs, three RBI, a double and triple.
• Helton has not allowed an earned run in three-consecutive starts (14.0 IP).
• Thomas finished the series hitting .727 (8-for-11) with three home runs, nine RBI and six runs scored.
QUOTE FROM COACH ROD
"Right after the game today I said 'considering how yesterday ended being able to come out and score a couple runs early and continue that pressure and then being able to put up 17 runs in an inning is something I don't know that I have seen before.' But I'll tell you what, the relentlessness of the offense being able to come back after a frustrating day yesterday towards the end of the game shows the character of these guys."
WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears will be back in action with its final midweek game of the season against Incarnate Word on Tuesday, May 11 at 6:30 p.m. inside Baylor Ballpark.
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).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Helton, Blake (4-2)
L: Ford, Kasey (4-1)
Batting:
2B: Thompson, Cameron 1 ; Phillips, Dylan 1
HR: Hughes, Dom 1
RBI: Hughes, Dom 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Thompson, Cameron 1 ; Carinci, Daniel 1 ; Hughes, Dom 1
PO: Fowler, Kaden 1
Batting:
2B: McKenzie, Jared 2 ; Richardson, Tre 1
3B: Richardson, Tre 1
HR: Thomas, Andy 2
RBI: Pineda, Jack 2 ; McKenzie, Jared 3 ; Richardson, Tre 3 ; Thomas, Andy 6 ; Valdez, Antonio 1 ; Downey, Davion 1 ; Cardoza-Oquendo, Esteban 4 ; Gonzales, Alex 1
SF: Valdez, Antonio 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pineda, Jack 2 ; McKenzie, Jared 4 ; Richardson, Tre 3 ; Thomas, Andy 3 ; Valdez, Antonio 2 ; Downey, Davion 2 ; Nevin, Kyle 3 ; Cardoza-Oquendo, Esteban 2 ; Gonzales, Alex 1 ; Schoenvogel, Jacob 1
SB: Pineda, Jack 1 ; Gonzales, Alex 1
HBP: Schoenvogel, Jacob 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
4
H
4
RBI
3
AB
4
R
3
H
3
RBI
6
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
4
2b/3b
AB
5
R
3
H
2
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
INF/OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
INF
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