May 11, 2016 Final Stats
THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas -- Baylor baseball lost a 12-7 game to McNeese State on Wednesday evening at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears (20-25) held a 2-0 lead until the Cowboys (24-21) dropped nine runs in the third inning, leaving BU fighting from behind the rest of the game and unable to complete the comeback.
Steven McLean's two-run triple started the scoring in the second inning. But the lead quickly disappeared in the top of the third as McNeese State scored nine runs on seven hits, two HBPs, an error and walk. The lone multi-run play in the inning was a two-out, two-run single by Joe Provenzano.
The Bears responded with two more runs in the bottom of the third as Kameron Esthay had an RBI double and Justin Arrington an RBI single, making it a 9-4 deficit.
After a solo home run by MSU's Shane Selman in the fourth, Darryn Sheppard launched a two-run homer in the fifth. Richard Cunningham also had an RBI single in the fifth to cut the Cowboys' lead to 10-7.
Unfortunately, it was as close as the Bears could get as two double plays spoiled scoring chances and MSU added two more runs in the seventh.
McNeese State reliever Bryan King (5-3) earned the win, allowing no runs on a hit and walk in one inning. BU starter Kyle Hill (1-4) took the loss, giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits and one walk with four strikeouts in two innings.
NOTES
*Baylor is 0-1 on its current four-game home stand.
*Baylor is 6-5 in midweek games in 2016.
*Baylor is 399-181 all-time at Baylor Ballpark and 14-15 under Steve Rodriguez.
*Baylor already has 28 home runs in 45 games in 2016, which are 11 more than the team had in 55 games in 2015 -- BU has 20 or more home runs for the first time since blasting 46 in 2012.
*Kameron Esthay has a 10-game hitting streak as he posted his team-high-tying 15th multi-hit game of the season.
*Matt Menard has a nine-game on-base streak.
*Steven McLean has a three-game hitting streak as he notched his 14th multi-hit and fourth multi-RBI game of the season.
*Justin Arrington has a three-game hitting streak.
*Richard Cunningham has a three-game hitting streak as he had his 11th multi-hit game of the season.
*Darryn Sheppard hit his career-high seventh home run of the season and 13th career of his career as he had his team-high-tying 15th multi-hit and team-high 11th multi-RBI game of the season.
*West Tunnell had his second multi-hit game of the season.
STAT OF THE GAME
2.1 -- The amount of scoreless innings of relief provided by Baylor pitchers Joe Heineman (1.1) and Kyle Ott (1.0).
QUOTE OF THE GAME
"We knew as soon as they scored nine that we had a lot of baseball left. I said to our guys, `don't focus on nine, let's go out and get one or two, and then we will come back and get one or two more.' Next thing you know, it's a ballgame. We had unbelievable opportunities. Two times we had runners on first and third and we hit into double plays. That was pretty frustrating because those were great opportunities to cut the lead, even if it was just by one run, and we weren't able to do it. We talked about as a team just being more mentally prepared in the box. The last thing was we hadn't played in 10 days, except for what little we did last night, so hopefully this was a good wake up call for our guys to get everyone back in shape." -- Head Coach Steve Rodriguez
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor begins a three-game weekend series against TCU at Baylor Ballpark, starting with a 6:35 p.m. CT game on Friday on FOX Sports Plus.
-BU-
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
Steve Rodriguez kept staring at the light, just hoping it wasn't an oncoming train.
Sending 14 batters to the plate in the third inning, the visiting McNeese State Cowboys exploded for nine runs on seven hits, two hit batters, one walk and an error and handed the Baylor Bears a 12-7 loss Wednesday night at Baylor Ballpark.
"To their credit, they just kept putting the ball in play, finding holes - little cheap shots here and there," said Rodriguez, whose team fell to 20-25 with its first game following an 11-day break for finals. "We couldn't stop the bleeding. It was frustrating from a lot different aspects. Hopefully, it's a learning experience on how to compete out there and never let that happen again."
Instead of a flood, the Cowboys' third inning was more like a slow trickle that you can't figure out how to stop.
Two of the first three hits were infield singles, leading to their first run of the game. When Nick Lewis replaced freshman starter Kyle Hill (1-4), second baseman Justin Arrington had a throwing error on Joe Provenzano's grounder, loading the bases with nobody out.
After Austin Nelson drove in the tying run with a single through the left side, Lewis walked Matt Gallier, hit Shane Selman and gave up another infield hit as McNeese (24-21) took a 5-2 lead . Gallier was gunned down at home on a grounder to third for the first out, but the Cowboys plated four more runs on a bloop single, another hit by pitch and Provenzano's two-RBI single to right.
By the time Kody Hessemer came out of the pen to get Nelson on a fly to right for the final out, the damage was done. The Cowboys had a 9-2 lead.
"We knew we had a lot of baseball left," Rodriguez said. "I said, `Let's not focus on nine. Let's get one or two. Then, we'll come back and get one or two, and next thing you know it's a ball game.' We had unbelievable opportunities. Two times, we had first and third and hit into double plays. That was pretty frustrating, because those are great opportunities to really cut the lead, even if it's one run. Just cut the lead."
The Bears did that in the bottom of the third, scoring a pair of runs on a Kameron Esthay double and Justin Arrington's single to center. But that rally was cut short when Darryn Sheppard was thrown out at third trying to advance on Arrington's hit.
Inning-ending double plays in the fourth, fifth and sixth also helped the Cowboys maintain the lead. After a solo homer by Selman in the fourth, Sheppard blasted a two-run shot in the fifth and Richard Cunningham cut it to 10-7 with an RBI single up the middle.
But with the tying run at the plate, Steven McLean hit into a 4-6-3 double play.
McNeese added a couple insurance runs in the seventh on two-out RBI singles by Connor Crane and Provenzano, who combined for six RBI and five of the Cowboys' 17 hits.
Baylor actually struck first, plating two runs in the second inning on a two-out triple by McLean that hit off the left-field wall. McLean, Esthay, Sheppard, West Tunnell and Cunningham had two hits apiece to pace a 12-hit attack.
In their final home series, the Bears will host 10th-ranked TCU (33-12, 11-7) with games at 6:35 p.m. Friday, 3:05 p.m. Saturday and 1:05 p.m. Sunday. "Fixer Upper" stars Chip and Joanna Gaines will throw out first pitches before Friday's game.
