April 1, 2016 Final Stats
THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢' ¬" Baylor baseball fell 6-1 to Kansas in the series opener on Friday evening at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears (11-14, 1-3) and Jayhawks (10-13, 1-2) were locked in a pitcher's duel until KU opened things up in the sixth inning with four runs en route to victory.
Kansas started the scoring in the fifth inning as a leadoff double moved to third base on a balk by BU starter Daniel Castano. Rudy Karre followed with a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 KU lead.
The Jayhawks broke the game open in the sixth thanks to Karre striking again. After a walk, sac bunt and single, Marcus Wheeler's sac bunt attempt was fielded by Castano, who tossed home but too late to catch the runner. An out later, Karre hit a three-run homer to put the Jayhawks up 5-0.
KU added a run in the seventh on a pair of leadoff doubles before Baylor answered in the bottom half. Matt Menard led off by reaching on an error, moved to second base on a passed ball and scored on a single by Josh Bissonette. However, the Bears were unable to muster anymore runs the rest of the way.
KU starter Ben Krauth (2-4) earned the win, allowing one run (unearned) on six hits and one walk with 11 strikeouts in seven innings. Castano (2-4) took the loss, surrendering six runs on 10 hits and one walk with seven strikeouts in seven innings.
NOTES
*Baylor is 393-176 all-time at Baylor Ballpark and 8-10 under Steve Rodriguez.
*Baylor leads the all-time series vs. Kansas 48-18, 26-8 in Waco and had won two straight ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢' ¬" BU is 0-1 in the series under Rodriguez.
*Aaron Dodson's career-high 10-game on-base streak and career-high-tying four-game hitting streak both ended.
*Steven McLean has a career-high 11-game on-base streak and career-high five-game hitting streak.
*Josh Bissonette has a career-high 10-game on-base streak and career-high five-game hitting streak.
*Richard Cunningham has a nine-game on-base streak.
*Darryn Sheppard has a career-high eight-game hitting streak.
*Justin Arrington has a three-game hitting streak.
*Matt Menard has a three-game on-base streak.
*Daniel Castano has 38 strikeouts over 39.2 innings in his last six starts.
STAT OF THE GAME
24 ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢' ¬" The amount of combined strikeouts by each team in the game.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
"We're just trying to get [Austin Stone] back out there to get his arm going again. I thought his breaking ball was working really well but his fastball command is still coming around. There's a few mechanical things we're still trying to fix, but I just love having him out there because he's one of those guys who has done everything the right way. He's a great leader on the team because he's the only person who has actually pitched in the postseason on this team. I want our team to rally around a guy like that and hopefully eventually we can do that." ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢' ¬" Baylor Head Coach Steve Rodriguez
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor continues its series vs. Kansas and six-game home stand with a 3:05 p.m. CT game Saturday and 1:05 p.m. tilt Sunday, both airing on FOX Sports Plus. The pitching matchups feature BU RHP Drew Tolson (2-1, 5.00 ERA) vs. KU LHP Blake Weiman (1-1, 3.33 ERA) on Saturday while Sunday will have BU RHP Kyle Hill vs. KU RHP Jackson Goddard (2-1, 3.91 ERA).
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