No. 2 seed Baylor baseball lost 17-3 to No. 1 seed and No. 16 ranked Houston in an elimination game in the Houston Regional at Schroeder Park on Saturday afternoon. The Bears (34-23) missed on scoring chances while the Cougars (41-20) did not to end Baylor’s season.
Houston jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a two-run, two-out home run in the top of the first inning. After BU left leadoff runners on in the first and second, UH added another run in the second for a 3-0 lead.
Baylor also left leadoff runners on in the third and fourth before being retired in order in the fifth. Then the Cougars opened the game up in the sixth with five runs for an 8-0 lead.
The Bears answered with three runs in the bottom of the sixth on a two-run home run by Matt Menard and RBI double by Davis Wendzel. However, UH countered with eight runs in the seventh and one in the eighth to thwart any comeback chances by the Bears.
UH starter John King (8-1) earned the win, giving up three runs on eight hits with no walks and five strikeouts in 5.2 innings. BU starter Alex Phillips (4-3) took the loss, allowing three runs on five hits with no walks and one strikeout in two innings.
NOTES
*Baylor is 43-41 all-time in NCAA postseason play, 36-28 in regionals and 4-11 in away regional games.
*Baylor made its 19th NCAA Regional appearance and first since 2012.
*Baylor was one of three Power Five schools in 2016-17 (Florida State, Kentucky) to earn a bowl game/NCAA postseason appearance in football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball and softball.
*Baylor is 90-69 all-time against Houston, 42-30 in Houston and 1-1 in NCAA postseason play – BU won 7-1 in the opening game of the 2001 Houston Regional. BU took two of three from UH this season on March 10-12 in Waco.
*Baylor was 7-9 against ranked teams in 2017. BU was 5-8 in 2017 and is 8-12 under Steve Rodriguez against Baseball America ranked teams and 202-300-1 all-time, including a 37-48 mark since 2011.
*Baylor was 14-12 away from Baylor Ballpark in 2017 (12-8 on road, 2-4 in neutral sites).
*Baylor hit 37 home runs in its last 30 games in 2017 after hitting 14 in its first 26 games.
*Baylor hit 51 home runs in 2017 in 57 games, which are 17 more than its season output of 34 in 53 games in 2016. BU had 40 or more homers for the first time since 2012 (46) and 50 or more for the first time since 2010 (57).
*Sophomore center fielder Richard Cunningham ended the season on a career-high 12-game hitting streak.
*Senior first baseman Aaron Dodson ended the season on a three-game hitting streak.
*Senior designated hitter Matt Menard ended the season on a three-game hitting streak as he hit his third home run of the year and ninth of his career.
*Junior right fielder Kameron Esthay ended the season on a three-game hitting streak.
*Freshman third baseman Davis Wendzel ended the season on a three--game on-base streak.
*Sophomore infielder Josh Bissonette ended his season on a three-game on-base streak.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
“I’m upset and frustrated with how this season ended, simply because I don’t think the best Baylor baseball team showed up these past couple weeks. But in the long-term outlook, I’m unbelievably proud of how our guys competed, got better, learned and became better baseball players this season. I can’t coach the experience that these young guys got and hopefully next year we can use it.” – Head Coach Steve Rodriguez
