May 21, 2010

BAYLOR 6, OKLAHOMA STATE 5 Box Score | Quotes | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 5 9 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 4 6 9 1 Pitching IP H R ER BB SO W - Pinckard (2-3) 1.1 2 1 1 1 2 L - Heaney (5-3) 0.2 3 2 0 0 2 Batting Leaders AB H RBI R BB HR BU - Vick 5 3 1 0 0 0 BU - Muncy 4 2 0 1 0 0 OSU - Uribe 5 2 2 1 0 1 Notes: Baylor and Oklahoma are the only two teams in the Big 12 to qualify for every Big 12 Conference tournament since the first one in 1997 ... Brooks Pinckard's walk-off single helped the Bears overcome a three-run deficit in the ninth for the first time since doing so against Texas A&M on April 29, 2007 ... Pinckard had the first walk-off hit by a Baylor player since Dustin Dickerson on April 11, 2009 ... It was the first time a Baylor pitcher has had the game-winning hit and picked up the win in a game since Jeff Mandel did so in game two of Baylor's 2005 Super Regional win against Clemson ... The Baylor pitching staff has held opponents to five runs or less in 11 consecutive games ... Baylor pitchers have allowed six runs or less in 16 straight Big 12 games and five runs or less in 14 of those 16 ... Pinckard's ninth-inning single extended his hitting streak to six games, but Cal Towey's streak came to an end at four straight ... Logan Verrett worked at least 7.0 innings for the sixth consecutive start, and he has worked into the seventh inning in 11 of 12 starts on the season ... Logan Vick has reached base safely (via hit or walk) in all 34 games at Baylor Ballpark this season ... Baylor is now 27-35 in the all-time series with Oklahoma State, including a 13-12 mark in games played in Waco and a 22-22 record during the Steve Smith era. BAYLOR BASEBALL CENTRAL • Baylor Athletics Experience • Baseball Media Almana

WACO, Texas - Brooks Pinckard knocked a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the ninth to cap a four-run rally as Baylor came from three runs down to knock off Oklahoma State in the series opener Friday night at Baylor Ballpark. With the win, the Bears clinched a spot in next week's Big 12 Baseball Championship.

Baylor (29-21, 10-13 Big 12) overcame its biggest ninth-inning deficit since April 29, 2007 to clinch its spot in the tournament, while Oklahoma State (29-23, 8-16 Big 12) was eliminated from tournament contention with the loss.

The Cowboys entered the bottom of the ninth with a three-run lead after adding an insurance run in the top half of the inning with Pinckard on the mound, but the Bears quickly scored two runs and had the potential tying and winning runs in scoring position with none out in the inning.

OSU reliever Andrew Heaney nearly escaped the jam after getting consecutive strikeouts to bring the Bears down to their last out, but Pinckard drilled a 1-1 pitch into center field, and Raynor Campbell beat the throw home by a half step to give Baylor its first walk-off win of the season.

Pinckard's hit also gave him the win, improving his record to 2-3 on the season by allowing one run in 1.1 innings of relief.

"I kind of fell into the win, but I will take it," Pinckard said. "It is definitely nice to get a win on the mound and have the game-winning hit. Coach (Smith) tells us to do whatever we can do to help the team get the win, and that is what we did tonight."

The game-winning single was redemption for Pinckard. In addition to giving up just his fifth earned run in 27.1 innings on the season, he entered the at-bat 0-for-4 and had been retired twice on popped up bunts.

The ninth-inning rally started with Cal Towey being hit by a pitch. Gregg Glime fell behind in the count at 0-2, but he worked a walk to bring the potential tying run to the plate. Max Muncy singled to load the bases, and Campbell drove in a run with a RBI single to cut OSU's lead to 5-3.

Pinch hitter Chris Slater hit a slow bouncer to second base, and all runners were safe when the throw to second was dropped as Campbell slid into the base. That brought the Bears within a run, and with OSU's infield playing back, a ground ball would have likely tied the game, but Heaney struck out each of the next two batters, setting up Pinckard's do-or-die at-bat.

Baylor starter Logan Verrett turned in his sixth consecutive outing of at least seven innings, but he did not factor in the decision after allowing three runs on four hits with five strikeouts and one walk in 7.0 innings.

Verrett allowed a double to lead off the game and then held OSU hitless until Luis Uribe broke a 1-1 tie with a solo homer leading off the seventh. Two batters later, Mark Ginther extended OSU's lead to 3-1 with a solo shot of his own.

Glime answered with a homer in the bottom half of the sixth to cut the Bears' deficit to 3-2, but OSU put up a run in the eighth and another in the ninth to extend its lead to 5-2. Tyler Lyons had retired six straight batters when he went back out to the mound to try to close out the win for the Cowboys, but he turned the ball over to Heaney after hitting Towey and walking Glime.

Logan Vick finished the game 3-for-5 with one RBI. When Vick got his third hit of the game in the sixth, the Cowboys were still stuck on one hit. Muncy added a pair of hits and scored the game-tying run in the ninth.

Davis Duren, Tom Belza and Luis Uribe had two hits apiece for Oklahoma State. Heaney took the loss by giving up a pair of unearned runs on three hits in 0.2 innings.

The series resumes at 3 p.m. Saturday, and Sunday's series finale is scheduled for 1 p.m. Five Baylor seniors will be honored prior to Saturday's game, including Andrew Cooley, Kenton Gedwed and Willie Kempf, who will each receive their diplomas after missing last Saturday's graduation ceremony while on the road at Texas Tech.