Baylor baseball battled hard for an 8-7 win over Oklahoma State on Sunday afternoon at Reynolds Stadium. The Bears (32-17, 11-10) bounced back from two deficits and scored three runs in the eighth to complete a series sweep of the Cowboys (24-24, 6-14).
Richard Cunningham got Baylor started with a solo home run in the first inning for a 1-0 lead, but it only lasted a short time as the Cowboys answered with two runs in the bottom half.
BU regained the lead in the fourth inning, though. Shea Langeliers and Kameron Esthay singled with one out. Then with two outs, Aaron Dodson roped an RBI single and Davis Wendzel hit a pop up that was dropped at second base to score a run.
An inning later, Langeliers added to the lead with a laser two-run homer. However, Oklahoma State scored two runs in the fifth and three in the sixth for a 7-5 lead.
In the eighth inning, the Bears put together several quality at-bats to recapture the lead and didn’t let go of it. Matt Menard and Dodson led off with singles. Josh Bissonette and Tucker Cascadden followed with one-out RBI singles. Then back-to-back walks by Levi Gilcrease and Cunningham pushed in the game-winning run.
BU reliever Drew Robertson (2-0) earned the win, giving up just a walk with one strikeout in 1.2 innings. Troy Montemayor allowed a hit and walk with one strikeout in 1.2 innings to get the save. OSU reliever Carson Teel (4-4) took the loss, surrendering three runs on five hits and one walk with two strikeouts in 2.1 innings.
NOTES
*Baylor has won 13 of its last 18 games, eight of its last nine and five straight after going through a stretch of losing eight of 10 games from March 24-April 8.
*Baylor posted its first road sweep of the season and first since April 13-15, 2012 at Kansas State.
*Baylor has won 32 or more games for the first time since 2012 (49-17) and 15th time in the last 22 seasons.
*Baylor has hit 24 home runs in its last 22 games after hitting 14 homers in its first 26 games of the season.
*Baylor has 38 home runs this season through 49 games, which are four more than its season output of 34 in 53 games in 2016.
*Baylor’s 32-17 record through 49 games is its best since a 39-10 start in 2012.
*Baylor went 6-3 on its nine-game road swing in Big 12 Conference play.
*Baylor trails the all-time series to Oklahoma State 45-40, 20-17 in Stillwater and had lost four in a row in the series. BU’s last series win in Stillwater came on May 13-15, 2011. BU earned its first ever sweep at Stillwater in program history.
*Baylor is 13-8 away from Baylor Ballpark this season (11-7 on road, 2-1 in neutral sites).
*Baylor has won six of its 11 three-game series in 2017 and three of its last four.
*Baylor has won back-to-back Big 12 road series for the first time since 2012 on April 5-7 at Missouri and April 13-15 at Kansas State.
*Senior first baseman Aaron Dodson has a career-high 19-game on-base streak and five-game hitting streak as he posted his 13th multi-hit game.
*Freshman catcher Shea Langeliers has a 12-game on-base streak and seven-game hitting streak as he notched his 15th multi-hit game, team-high-tying 10th multi-RBI game and hit his eighth home run.
*Junior left fielder Kameron Esthay has a seven-game on-base streak.
*Senior designated hitter Matt Menard has a five-game hitting streak as he registered his team-high 16th multi-hit game.
*Sophomore center fielder Richard Cunningham has a four-game hitting streak as he notched his 11th multi-hit game, team-high-tying 10th multi-RBI game and hit his fourth home run of the season and ninth of his career.
*Junior preseason All-American/NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List member RHP closer Troy Montemayor has 12 saves in 2017. He converted his first eight career save attempts last season, and after blowing a save in his ninth attempt, had converted 12 straight and now 17 of his last 18. He’s 26-for-28 in converting save attempts in his career. He ranks second on Baylor’s career saves list (26), tied for fifth on the single-season list (12) and is the second BU player to have two 10-save seasons ever (Zane Carlson 2000 (15), 2003 (11)).
*Montemayor has a career high 10-appearance scoreless streak -- he's allowed four hits (one in last eight outings and 8,1 innings) and three walks with 10 strikeouts in 10.1 innings during the streak. He worked a season-high 1.2 innings in the game for his second straight multi-inning save.
*Senior RHP Drew Robertson posted his second career win, both coming this season.
STAT OF THE GAME
3.1 – The amount of scoreless innings of relief by Baylor relievers Drew Robertson and Troy Montemayor to finish the game.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
“We did all of the little things to win this game. I’m just really proud of our guys for the way they played from the first pitch until the last pitch. As a coach, watching these guys play like this, you just stay out of the way a little bit. You still coach and do the things you need to do to help get better, but you just let them play. They are playing free and confident and feeling good. I like being able to step back and let them play.” – Head Coach Steve Rodriguez
WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor heads to San Antonio to face UTSA on Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT.
