Baylor Baseball Unable to Sweep Texas in 7-6 Loss

AUSTIN – Baylor baseball dropped a 7-6 decision at Texas on Saturday afternoon at Disch-Falk Field, coming just short of a series sweep.  The Bears (24-27, 10-14) took the lead with a three-run seventh but the Longhorns (22-30, 10-14) countered with three in the bottom half to hold on.

Trailing 2-0 after the first inning, Baylor started chipping away at the lead in the third.  Justin Arrington singled with one out and Josh Bissonette reached on an error to set up a Matt Menard RBI ground out.

In the fourth, BU tied the game on a two-out solo home run by West Tunnell.  However, UT reclaimed the lead with a two-run bottom half.

Just like Friday night, the Bears rallied in the seventh inning for three runs and a lead.  Tunnell started it by reaching on an error and Ben Carl followed with a double to set up Richard Cunningham, who ripped a two-run single up the middle and advanced to second on the throw home.  An out later, Bissonette reached on an error to let Cunningham score and give Baylor a 5-4 lead.

Unfortunately, the Bears weren’t able to hang on as Texas plated three runs on four hits and an error for a 7-5 lead.

BU made it interesting in the ninth as Cunningham launched a solo homer and Bissonette singled with two outs, but the Bears did not do any more damage.

UT reliever Nolan Kingham (2-3) earned the win, allowing three runs (one earned) on four hits with four strikeouts in 3.1 innings.  Chase Shugart picked up his fifth save, giving up a run on two hits with two strikeouts in the ninth. BU reliever Drew Robertson (0-1) took the loss, surrendering two unearned runs on one hit in 1.1 innings.

Baylor heads to Oklahoma City for next week’s Big 12 Championship as the No. 6 seed and will face No. 3 seed TCU on Wednesday at 4 p.m. CT