WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball earned a 5-2 win over Kansas on Sunday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark to claim the series. The Bears (13-14, 3-3) received a second straight strong pitching effort from a starter – this time Kyle Hill – to take down the Jayhawks (10-15, 1-4).
Trailing 1-0 after a sloppy first inning, Baylor bounced back in the second to take the lead for good. Darryn Sheppard led off with a single, and after an Aaron Dodson walk and Matt Menard HBP, T.J. Raguse hit a two-run single for a 2-1 lead.
BU added to the lead in the sixth as Menard led off with a double. Following a productive out by Raguse to put Menard at third, a wild pitch gave the Bears a 3-1 edge. Josh Bissonette then walked, and after a pitching change and sacrifice bunt, Steven McLean hit a two-out RBI single for a 4-1 advantage.
Kansas’ lone run came in the eighth on a solo homer by Devin Foyle, but the Bears countered in the bottom of the inning with a two-out RBI single by Kameron Esthay that scored Justin Arrington after a leadoff double.
Hill (1-1) earned the win, giving up one run (unearned) on six hits and three walks with four strikeouts in seven innings. Troy Montemayor picked up his sixth save with a scoreless ninth. KU starter Jackson Goddard (2-2) took the loss, allowing four runs on four hits and five walks with two strikeouts in 5.1 innings.
NOTES
*Baylor won its third three-game series of the season in six series played so far in 2016.
*Baylor has won five of its last seven games.
*Baylor is 395-176 all-time at Baylor Ballpark and 10-10 under Steve Rodriguez.
*Baylor leads the all-time series vs. Kansas 50-18 and 28-8 in Waco – BU is 2-1 in the series under Rodriguez.
*Steven McLean has a career-high 13-game on-base streak and career-high seven-game hitting streak.
*Josh Bissonette has a career-high 12-game on-base streak.
*Richard Cunningham has an 11-game on-base streak.
*Darryn Sheppard has a career-high 10-game on-base streak as he notched his team-high eighth multi-hit game of the season.
*Matt Menard has a five-game on-base streak as he had his fourth multi-hit game of the season.
*Kameron Esthay has a three-game hitting streak.
*Justin Arrington has a four-game hitting streak.
*T.J. Raguse has a career-high eight-game hitting streak as he posted his fourth multi-RBI game of the season.
*Kyle Hill picked up his first collegiate win as he tossed a career-high seven innings.
*Troy Montemayor gathered his sixth save of the season and of his career in as many attempts.
STAT OF THE GAME
0 – The amount of earned runs Kyle Hill gave up in his first Big 12 start in seven innings.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
“One of the biggest things, and every baseball person will tell you, is if you can get a strong pitching performance out of your starter then it just eliminates a lot of the pressure off of your offense knowing you have the opportunity to take some better at-bats and some quality at-bats. You don’t have to rush into it. [Kyle Hill] just did a great job for us.” – Baylor Head Coach Steve Rodriguez
WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor continues its six-game home stand with a 6:35 p.m. CT vs. Wofford on Tuesday.
