Baylor baseball pulled off a thrilling 6-3 win over No. 11 Texas A&M in the finale of the 2017 Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic on Sunday evening at Minute Maid Park. The Bears (11-1) used a walk-off grand slam by Tucker Cascadden to knock off the Aggies (9-3).
Trailing 3-0 after five innings, the Bears chipped into the deficit in the sixth. Richard Cunningham led off with a double. Following a Shea Langeliers single to put runners at the corners, Matt Menard hit into a 4-6-3 double play to bring in Cunningham.
The bullpens held tight until Baylor got to the Texas A&M pen in the bottom of the ninth. Langeliers and Menard hit singles to lead off the inning. Kameron Esthay singled in Langeliers to make it a 3-2 deficit and put the tying and go-ahead runs on base. After an Aaron Dodson sacrifice bunt, the Aggies intentionally walked pinch-hitter Hunter Seay to load the bases. On a 1-0 fastball, Tucker Cascadden turned on it and launched a monster ball off the Lexus sign in left field to win it.
BU closer Troy Montemayor (1-0) earned the win after giving up a hit with one strikeout in the ninth. Aggies reliever Corbin Martin (0-2) took the loss, allowing four runs on three hits and one walk with one strikeout in 0.2 innings.
NOTES
*Baylor’s 11-1 start through 12 games is its best since 2008 (11-1) and tied for second best 12-game start (13-0, 1984) in program history.
*Baylor is 2-1 this season and 5-5 under Steve Rodriguez against Baseball America ranked teams (Texas A&M ranked No. 25) and 199-293-1 all-time, including a 30-40 mark in neutral sites, and 34-41 mark since 2011.
*Baylor is 3-1 away from Baylor Ballpark this season (1-0 on road, 2-1 in neutral sites).
*Baylor trails the all-time series to Texas A&M 181-130-4 and is 7-7 in neutral site games, but BU has won four of the last five games in the series. The Bears’ last win over Texas A&M came on April 22, 2012 (7-5).
*Junior JUCO shortstop Tucker Cascadden had Baylor’s first walk-off hit since Steven McLean’s single vs. Incarnate Word on April 27, 2016, first walk-off home run since Cal Towey vs. Oklahoma on April 12, 2013 and first grand slam since Towey vs. Oklahoma on April 14, 2013.
*Cascadden hit his first home run as a Bear while posting a career-high four RBI, third multi-RBI game and second multi-hit game.
*Freshman LHP Cody Bradford set a career-high with eight strikeouts as he has tossed at least six innings, allowed three runs or less, had two walks or less and had two or more strikeouts in each of his first three starts.
*Sophomore centerfielder Richard Cunningham has an eight-game on-base streak and four-game hitting streak as now has nine extra base hits in his last seven games (seven doubles, two triples).
*Junior third baseman Steven McLean has a six-game hitting streak.
*Freshman catcher Shea Langeliers has a four-game hitting streak as he notched his team-high-tying fifth multi-hit game.
*Senior designated hitter Matt Menard had his third multi-hit game.
STAT OF THE GAME
6 – The amount of batters Baylor sent to the plate in the ninth inning and the amount of runs scored for the BU offense.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
“The competitive nature of these guys has been impressive all season. That Texas A&M team is really good. I hit ninth plenty of times in my career. People don’t realize that each spot in the lineup is big. That was a pretty impressive shot [Tucker Cascadden] hit. Coming down here with an unbelievable cast of teams and being able to take two of three is really something exciting for us.” – Head Coach Steve Rodriguez
WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor continues its swing away from Baylor Ballpark with a 6:30 p.m. CT game on Tuesday at Sam Houston State.
