WACO, TX — The Bears were unable to finish off a series sweep Sunday as they fell to Kansas State 10-3 at Baylor Ballpark on Senior Day.
Baylor (32-13, 14-6 Big 12) had runners on base in eight of the nine innings, but the Bears were unable to cash in with timely hits, leaving 12 runners stranded in the game.
Kansas State (23-26, 7-11 Big 12) opened the scoring in the top of the second with a solo home run off the bat of Chris Ceballos, and an RBI single that made it 2-0.
Baylor starter Jacob Ashkinos couldn’t escape the third inning as K-State plated five more runs on five hits and took a 7-0 lead.
The Bears scored two runs in the fourth thanks to a two-run single by Nick Loftin that cut into the deficit, but the Wildcats were continuously able to work out of jams and avoid further damage.
In the seventh, the Wildcats pushed across three runs on a bases-clearing double that increased their lead to 10-2.
Baylor got one back in the bottom of the ninth as Shea Langeliers crushed a 432-foot solo blast, but that was all on a day in which the Bears celebrated the careers of six seniors.
Seniors Richard Cunningham, Cole Haring, Josh Bissonette, Cole Weaver and TJ Raguse went a combined 4-for-14 at the plate with three walks. Senior closer Kyle Hill did not pitch.
The Bears will be off for nine days until Tuesday, May 14 when they return to Baylor Ballpark for a midweek contest against UT Arlington. Baylor will play its final Big 12 conference series May 16-18 at Oklahoma State.
NOTES
*The Bears have tallied double-digit hits in 28 games this season.
*147 of Baylor's 324 total runs in 2019 have come with two outs, including two of three today.
*The Bears have hit 183 home runs in 212 games under fourth-year head coach Steve Rodriguez, including 45 homers in 45 games this season.
*Richard Cunningham extended his hit streak to 17 games.
*Cunningham played his 200th career game, second most on the team behind Josh Bissonette (209).
*Shea Langeliers extended his hit streak to 15 games with his sixth home run of the season.
*Davion Downey has a six-game on-base streak.
*Cole Weaver has a six-game on-base streak.
*Nick Loftin has a five-game hit streak.
*Josh Bissonette has a five-game hit streak.
*Cole Haring has a five-game hit streak.
*Tyler Thomas made his 11th appearance of the season and threw 3.1 scoreless innings with three strikeouts.
*Hayden Kettler made his ninth appearance of the season, fourth in relief, and collected two scoreless innings with one punchout.
STAT OF THE DAY
432 – Shea Langeliers crushed his sixth home run of the season, a mammoth blast that traveled 432 feet.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
On today’s game vs. K-State…
" “I just think their guys did a good job keeping our hitters off balance. I was really happy with what our guys did. We swung the bat well. I think we only struck out a couple of times, we hit the ball hard. Unfortunately, we ended a couple of double plays which hurt things, and we couldn’t execute. We had guys on second and third and bases loaded, but unfortunately, that’s just baseball. It’s not like a lack of effort or a lack of desire, it’s unfortunately, just the way that it is We just couldn’t get the big hit today like we have been in the past.”
- Baylor head coach Steve Rodriguez
WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears will be off for nine days during finals week but will return to Baylor Ballpark on Tuesday, May 14 to play UT Arlington at 6:35 p.m.
