Wednesday, May 25
Arlington, Texas
12:30 PM
Baylor
26-27
2
vs
4
TCU
36-18
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Baylor
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
2
5
0
TCU
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
2
X
4
7
0
No. 8 Seed BSB Held in Check by No. 1 Seed TCU, 4-2
5/25/2022 4:56:00 PM | Baseball
Bears will face No. 4 seed Oklahoma State in 9 a.m. elimination game on Thursday
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
ARLINGTON, Texas – Blake Helton did exactly what Baylor baseball coach Steve Rodriguez needed him to do in Wednesday's opening-round game at the Big 12 Championship at Globe Life Field.
Not only did the junior right-hander get deep into the game, he held top-seeded and 18th-ranked TCU scoreless for the first five innings as the eighth-seeded Bears took a 2-0 lead.
But, the Horned Frogs (36-18) capitalized on some defensive lapses to score two in the sixth and then got the game-winning runs off reliever Grant Golomb (0-1) in the eighth to pull out a 4-2 win.
"When you can get on a team like TCU early, it's always a good start for you," said Baylor coach Steve Rodriguez, whose team dropped its fifth-straight at the Big 12 tournament in falling to 26-27 for the year. "But once again, they won the Big 12 Conference for a reason, they're a very good team.
"I think we had an opportunity to turn a double play and we don't, then we have a miscommunication out in the outfield. You take those two plays away, and it's a different ballgame. I think there were some opportunities that we gave them. And that's what good teams do, they take advantage of them."
With the loss, the Bears fall into the loser's bracket and will face fourth-seeded Oklahoma State (36-19) at 9 a.m. Thursday in an elimination game. The Cowboys lost to fifth-seeded Texas, 4-0, in the first game of the day.
Baylor got the start it needed with a run in the top of the first inning off TCU starter Brett Walker. Tre Richardson drove a double into the gap in left-center field and scored on a two-out triple by Kyle Nevin that looked like it had cleared the wall in center field.
Replay upheld the call on the field, with the ball actually bouncing off the wall, just below the yellow line that actually counts for a home run.
Richardson, who went 2-for-3 and scored both of Baylor's runs, said he "felt the same as I do any other day."
"Thankfully, the results went my way," he said. "It's just one of those things, same approach every single game. Trying to see the ball and barrel up as many baseballs as I can. A lot of it goes back to our coaching staff and just being able to execute certain things or take away certain things that we're doing wrong and just get back to the norm."
Helton had a shaky first inning, walking the bases loaded and throwing just six strikes out of his 20 pitches. But, he got out of the jam by striking out Kurtis Byrne and retiring David Bishop on a fly to right.
"I had a tough first inning, adjusted after that, got back in the strike zone," said Helton, who had a career-high seven strikeouts, allowing two runs on five hits and four walks in 6.1 innings.
Other than a leadoff walk in the second and a two-out double in the fourth by sophomore Cam Caley, Walker mowed down the Bears over the next four innings.
Richardson led off the sixth with a double into the corner in left, and Antonio Valdez came through with a sharp RBI single through the right side off reliever Caleb Bolden that stretched Baylor's lead to 2-0. With Nevin going from first to third on Valdez's hit, the Bears likely would have added another run on Cam Caley's fly to left, but it came after Valdez was thrown out trying to steal second.
"We knew, regardless of who they ran out there, runs were going to be at a premium," Richardson said. "Missing some of those opportunities we had, it doesn't feel good, but that's just the game of baseball."
While Helton admitted he made some mistake pitches in the sixth, he actually had a chance to come out of it unscathed when Byrne hit a potential double-play grounder that third baseman Esteban Cardoza-Oquendo couldn't handle.
On the very next play, Caley and centerfielder Jared McKenzie nearly collided on a ball in the left-center field gap by Bobby Goodloe that was ruled an RBI double. Bishop followed with a sacrifice fly to left that plated the tying run just before Goodloe was doubled up at second.
"I can't get too mad at the defense. I was making bad pitches, and they hit them," Helton said. "It would've been nice to get those plays, but I'd already been saved enough times. Tre had a great play (in the fifth) – missed a spot ,and it got crushed, and Tre saved me. So, they had been making plays for me all day. I can't always count on them to erase my mistakes."
Baylor threatened in the top half of the eighth, putting two runners on base with a walk and hit by pitch, but reliever Augie Mihlbauer (3-0) got Valdez on a grounder to short for the final out.
Golomb retired the last two batters in the seventh to work around a one-out double by Gray Rodgers off Helton, but he got into immediate trouble in the eighth with a leadoff walk by Tommy Sacco and Brayden Taylor's single to left-center.
After a double steal, Sacco scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch that bounced in front of the plate, and Goodloe added some insurance with an RBI single to left. The Bears brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth when Jacob Schoenvogel drew a two-out walk, but hard-throwing right-hander Garrett Wright struck out pinch-hitter Casen Neumann to end the game.
Weekend starters Kobe Andrade and Jake Jackson are both options for Thursday's elimination game against the Cowboys, but Rodriguez made it clear that "we're not saving anybody."
"We need to put everything out there tomorrow," he said. "If we have to throw 14 pitchers, we're going to throw 14 pitchers."
THE RUNDOWN
ARLINGTON, Texas – No. 8-seeded Baylor baseball (26-27) fell to top-seeded TCU (36-18) Wednesday afternoon at Globe Life Field in Arlington by a final of 4-2 in the first round of the 2022 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship.
The Bears will have to battle back through the loser's bracket to keep their season alive, first with a matchup against No. 4 Oklahoma State on Thursday at 9 a.m. CT.
Blake Helton turned in a career-high seven strikeouts on the mound for BU and the Bears jumped out to an early lead, but four unanswered runs sealed the deal for the Horned Frogs.
In the top of the first, Tre Richardson doubled and came around to score on Kyle Nevin's RBI triple, opening the ballgame with a 1-0 Baylor advantage. After a spotty bottom of the first but solid second inning, Helton retired nine in a row across the third, fourth and fifth frames to keep his side in front.
The Bears added a run in the top of the sixth thanks to Antonio Valdez's RBI knock through the right side that scored Richardson. However, in the home half the Frogs were able to breakthrough and get to Helton with a pair of runs to even the ledger.
As BU was unable to scratch any across against TCU's bullpen in the late stages, the Horned Frogs plated another two runs in the eighth off Grant Golomb to take the lead 4-2 and hold on to the opening round victory.
NOTES
• Baylor falls to 37-42 all-time at the Big 12 Championship and 4-4 as the No. 8 seed in the tournament.
• BU extended its streak to 32 games in a row with an extra-base hit and has collected at least two XBH in 20 of its last 22 games.
• The Bears added to the nation-leading total of 63 double plays with another two twin killings in the ballgame.
• Blake Helton collected a career-high seven strikeouts on the afternoon.
• Tre Richardson notched two doubles for the third time this season.
• Richardson picked up his 17th multi-hit game of the year.
• Adam Muirhead turned in his 11th scoreless relief outing of 2022.
STAT OF THE GAME
7 – Blake Helton fanned seven Horned Frogs for a career-best total.
TOP QUOTES
Head coach Steve Rodriguez
On today's game…
"I thought offensively we came out hot. We got some guys in scoring position, we just couldn't get that extra hit. It was great to see our guys just constantly competing. We had a couple defensive miscues that were frustrating, but our guys competed well all the way up to the final swing. That's all I can really ask of them."
On Blake Helton's start…
"He did exactly everything we asked him to do. He went out there and got us deep into the game, had a career-high in strikeouts. I was really excited about watching him go out there and compete for us. We needed that kind of a start today and we got it from him. Having him back out there gave us a refreshing feeling."
Sophomore INF Tre Richardson
On the feeling after the game…
"It's a little tough to only muster as much as we did, but TCU's a really good team. They won the conference in the regular season for a reason. We knew in a game like that runs were going to come at a premium. Missing a couple of opportunities that we had doesn't feel too good, but that's just the game of baseball."
Junior RHP Blake Helton
On allowing two runs in the sixth inning…
"I was making bad pitches and they hit them. It would have been nice to get those plays, but I'd already been saved a few times. Tre [Richardson] had a great play, I missed a spot and it got crushed but Tre saved me. They'd been making plays for me all day. I just started making mistakes in that last inning. I can't always count on them to erase my mistakes."
WHAT'S NEXT
No. 8 seed Baylor (26-27) faces No. 4 seed Oklahoma State (36-19) in an elimination game with first pitch set for 9 a.m. CT at Globe Life Field in Arlington.
For the latest news on the Baylor baseball team all season long, follow its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorBaseball.
Baylor Bear Insider
ARLINGTON, Texas – Blake Helton did exactly what Baylor baseball coach Steve Rodriguez needed him to do in Wednesday's opening-round game at the Big 12 Championship at Globe Life Field.
Not only did the junior right-hander get deep into the game, he held top-seeded and 18th-ranked TCU scoreless for the first five innings as the eighth-seeded Bears took a 2-0 lead.
But, the Horned Frogs (36-18) capitalized on some defensive lapses to score two in the sixth and then got the game-winning runs off reliever Grant Golomb (0-1) in the eighth to pull out a 4-2 win.
"When you can get on a team like TCU early, it's always a good start for you," said Baylor coach Steve Rodriguez, whose team dropped its fifth-straight at the Big 12 tournament in falling to 26-27 for the year. "But once again, they won the Big 12 Conference for a reason, they're a very good team.
"I think we had an opportunity to turn a double play and we don't, then we have a miscommunication out in the outfield. You take those two plays away, and it's a different ballgame. I think there were some opportunities that we gave them. And that's what good teams do, they take advantage of them."
With the loss, the Bears fall into the loser's bracket and will face fourth-seeded Oklahoma State (36-19) at 9 a.m. Thursday in an elimination game. The Cowboys lost to fifth-seeded Texas, 4-0, in the first game of the day.
Baylor got the start it needed with a run in the top of the first inning off TCU starter Brett Walker. Tre Richardson drove a double into the gap in left-center field and scored on a two-out triple by Kyle Nevin that looked like it had cleared the wall in center field.
Replay upheld the call on the field, with the ball actually bouncing off the wall, just below the yellow line that actually counts for a home run.
Richardson, who went 2-for-3 and scored both of Baylor's runs, said he "felt the same as I do any other day."
"Thankfully, the results went my way," he said. "It's just one of those things, same approach every single game. Trying to see the ball and barrel up as many baseballs as I can. A lot of it goes back to our coaching staff and just being able to execute certain things or take away certain things that we're doing wrong and just get back to the norm."
Helton had a shaky first inning, walking the bases loaded and throwing just six strikes out of his 20 pitches. But, he got out of the jam by striking out Kurtis Byrne and retiring David Bishop on a fly to right.
"I had a tough first inning, adjusted after that, got back in the strike zone," said Helton, who had a career-high seven strikeouts, allowing two runs on five hits and four walks in 6.1 innings.
Other than a leadoff walk in the second and a two-out double in the fourth by sophomore Cam Caley, Walker mowed down the Bears over the next four innings.
Richardson led off the sixth with a double into the corner in left, and Antonio Valdez came through with a sharp RBI single through the right side off reliever Caleb Bolden that stretched Baylor's lead to 2-0. With Nevin going from first to third on Valdez's hit, the Bears likely would have added another run on Cam Caley's fly to left, but it came after Valdez was thrown out trying to steal second.
"We knew, regardless of who they ran out there, runs were going to be at a premium," Richardson said. "Missing some of those opportunities we had, it doesn't feel good, but that's just the game of baseball."
While Helton admitted he made some mistake pitches in the sixth, he actually had a chance to come out of it unscathed when Byrne hit a potential double-play grounder that third baseman Esteban Cardoza-Oquendo couldn't handle.
On the very next play, Caley and centerfielder Jared McKenzie nearly collided on a ball in the left-center field gap by Bobby Goodloe that was ruled an RBI double. Bishop followed with a sacrifice fly to left that plated the tying run just before Goodloe was doubled up at second.
"I can't get too mad at the defense. I was making bad pitches, and they hit them," Helton said. "It would've been nice to get those plays, but I'd already been saved enough times. Tre had a great play (in the fifth) – missed a spot ,and it got crushed, and Tre saved me. So, they had been making plays for me all day. I can't always count on them to erase my mistakes."
Baylor threatened in the top half of the eighth, putting two runners on base with a walk and hit by pitch, but reliever Augie Mihlbauer (3-0) got Valdez on a grounder to short for the final out.
Golomb retired the last two batters in the seventh to work around a one-out double by Gray Rodgers off Helton, but he got into immediate trouble in the eighth with a leadoff walk by Tommy Sacco and Brayden Taylor's single to left-center.
After a double steal, Sacco scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch that bounced in front of the plate, and Goodloe added some insurance with an RBI single to left. The Bears brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth when Jacob Schoenvogel drew a two-out walk, but hard-throwing right-hander Garrett Wright struck out pinch-hitter Casen Neumann to end the game.
Weekend starters Kobe Andrade and Jake Jackson are both options for Thursday's elimination game against the Cowboys, but Rodriguez made it clear that "we're not saving anybody."
"We need to put everything out there tomorrow," he said. "If we have to throw 14 pitchers, we're going to throw 14 pitchers."
THE RUNDOWN
ARLINGTON, Texas – No. 8-seeded Baylor baseball (26-27) fell to top-seeded TCU (36-18) Wednesday afternoon at Globe Life Field in Arlington by a final of 4-2 in the first round of the 2022 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship.
The Bears will have to battle back through the loser's bracket to keep their season alive, first with a matchup against No. 4 Oklahoma State on Thursday at 9 a.m. CT.
Blake Helton turned in a career-high seven strikeouts on the mound for BU and the Bears jumped out to an early lead, but four unanswered runs sealed the deal for the Horned Frogs.
In the top of the first, Tre Richardson doubled and came around to score on Kyle Nevin's RBI triple, opening the ballgame with a 1-0 Baylor advantage. After a spotty bottom of the first but solid second inning, Helton retired nine in a row across the third, fourth and fifth frames to keep his side in front.
The Bears added a run in the top of the sixth thanks to Antonio Valdez's RBI knock through the right side that scored Richardson. However, in the home half the Frogs were able to breakthrough and get to Helton with a pair of runs to even the ledger.
As BU was unable to scratch any across against TCU's bullpen in the late stages, the Horned Frogs plated another two runs in the eighth off Grant Golomb to take the lead 4-2 and hold on to the opening round victory.
NOTES
• Baylor falls to 37-42 all-time at the Big 12 Championship and 4-4 as the No. 8 seed in the tournament.
• BU extended its streak to 32 games in a row with an extra-base hit and has collected at least two XBH in 20 of its last 22 games.
• The Bears added to the nation-leading total of 63 double plays with another two twin killings in the ballgame.
• Blake Helton collected a career-high seven strikeouts on the afternoon.
• Tre Richardson notched two doubles for the third time this season.
• Richardson picked up his 17th multi-hit game of the year.
• Adam Muirhead turned in his 11th scoreless relief outing of 2022.
STAT OF THE GAME
7 – Blake Helton fanned seven Horned Frogs for a career-best total.
TOP QUOTES
Head coach Steve Rodriguez
On today's game…
"I thought offensively we came out hot. We got some guys in scoring position, we just couldn't get that extra hit. It was great to see our guys just constantly competing. We had a couple defensive miscues that were frustrating, but our guys competed well all the way up to the final swing. That's all I can really ask of them."
On Blake Helton's start…
"He did exactly everything we asked him to do. He went out there and got us deep into the game, had a career-high in strikeouts. I was really excited about watching him go out there and compete for us. We needed that kind of a start today and we got it from him. Having him back out there gave us a refreshing feeling."
Sophomore INF Tre Richardson
On the feeling after the game…
"It's a little tough to only muster as much as we did, but TCU's a really good team. They won the conference in the regular season for a reason. We knew in a game like that runs were going to come at a premium. Missing a couple of opportunities that we had doesn't feel too good, but that's just the game of baseball."
Junior RHP Blake Helton
On allowing two runs in the sixth inning…
"I was making bad pitches and they hit them. It would have been nice to get those plays, but I'd already been saved a few times. Tre [Richardson] had a great play, I missed a spot and it got crushed but Tre saved me. They'd been making plays for me all day. I just started making mistakes in that last inning. I can't always count on them to erase my mistakes."
WHAT'S NEXT
No. 8 seed Baylor (26-27) faces No. 4 seed Oklahoma State (36-19) in an elimination game with first pitch set for 9 a.m. CT at Globe Life Field in Arlington.
For the latest news on the Baylor baseball team all season long, follow its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorBaseball.
-BaylorBears.com-
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Mihlbauer, Augie (3-0)
L: Golomb, Grant (0-1)
S: Wright, Garrett (3)
Batting:
2B: Richardson, Tre 2 ; Caley, Cam 1
3B: Nevin, Kyle 1
RBI: Nevin, Kyle 1 ; Valdez, Antonio 1
SH: Caley, Harrison 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Richardson, Tre 2
CS: Valdez, Antonio 1
HBP: Nevin, Kyle 1
Batting:
2B: Goodloe, Bobby 1 ; Rodgers, Gray 1
RBI: Byrne, Kurtis 1 ; Goodloe, Bobby 1 ; Bishop, David 1
SF: Bishop, David 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sacco, Tommy 2 ; Taylor, Brayden 1 ; Byrne, Kurtis 1
SB: Nunez, Elijah 1 ; Taylor, Brayden 2 ; Byrne, Kurtis 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
LHP/OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
1B
/ BaseballINF/OF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballBaylor Athletics: Chris Durbin Interview
Thursday, October 16
Baylor Baseball: Postgame vs. Oklahoma State | Big 12 Championship | May 21, 2025
Thursday, May 22
Baylor Baseball: Highlights vs. Oklahoma State | May 21, 2025
Thursday, May 22
Baylor Baseball: Highlights at UCF (Game 3) | May 17, 2025
Monday, May 19
