Kansas University baseball pitching coach Steve Abney almost got as much exercise as the Baylor runners circling the bases Sunday.
Eight KU pitchers were used in Baylor’s 11-5 Big 12 Conference victory at Hoglund Ballpark. Four of them left without recording an out. None of them was successful, each giving up hits or runs during short stints on the mound.
In a game that lasted three hours and 21 minutes, Abney was seen too many times trudging toward the mound, grabbing the baseball and calling for yet another pitcher to enter the game.
“If we don’t get (the starter) to the seventh inning, we’re in trouble,” KU head coach Ritch Price said. “We didn’t have any alternative but to go the bullpen, and they definitely beat our bullpen up.”
The starter, senior Kevin Wheeler, lasted 52¼3 innings, giving up five runs on eight hits. Until the sixth inning, where he gave up four runs, Wheeler was effective, getting out of jams and stranding five runners in the first two innings.
But the Baylor bats, the best in the Big 12, persisted, pounding out 15 hits and scoring 11 runs in the last five innings. The fact that the Bears faced eight different pitchers in that stretch didn’t seem to matter.
“They’re as good as their numbers are,” Price said. “Offensively, they’re solid (Nos.) 1 through 9. The guys at the tail end of their lineup really hurt us.”
No kidding. Baylor third baseman Paul Witt, the No. 9 hitter, went 2-for-3 with three RBIs. The eight-hitter, shortstop Trey Webb, was 3-for-4.
The Kansas pitchers, all eight of them, never got a break in the order. Every Baylor batter seemed to pound the ball Sunday.
Kansas, statistically the second-best offensive club in the conference, was significantly outdone, despite drilling eight hits and the game’s only home run, a two-run shot by Travis Metcalf in the eighth.
With Sunday’s defeat, Kansas lost the three-game series and fell to 32-18 overall, including 7-11 in Big 12 play. Baylor improved to 30-17 and 11-10.
“They’re the best hitting club in the Big 12,” said junior Ryan Baty, who had a two-run single in the seventh. “We’re the second-best hitting club in the Big 12, but you wouldn’t know that by this weekend.”
The Jayhawks have no time to mourn, though. Wichita State visits Hoglund Ballpark Tuesday night, followed by a three-game series with No. 11 Texas starting Friday. KU looks to avoid a late-season stumble to solidify its first-ever appearance in the Big 12 tournament. The top eight teams in the conference qualify, and KU currently is seventh in the standings.
“This is a stretch of the games that’s about as tough as anybody in the country is playing,” Price said. “We’ll see if we can’t get back on track on Tuesday.”
Baylor 000 014 141 — 11 15 1
Kansas 000 100 220 — 5 8 2
WP–Abe Woody (5-0). LP– Kevin Wheeler (5-3). SV– Zane Carlson (6).
HR–Kansas: Travis Metcalf (10).
KU highlights: Metcalf 1-for-3, 2 RBIs; Ryan Baty 1-for-4, 2 RBIs; Casey Spanish 1-for-4, 3B, RBI.