No. 8 Baylor 13, No. 9 Brigham Young 9 – The heat was blistering on Wednesday afternoon at Surprise Stadium. At 89 degrees at first pitch, mostly friends and family scattered throughout the ballpark— but the game between the BYU Cougars and the Baylor Bears took some attention away from the sun.
Baylor struck first and did it quickly. The Bears plated three runs in the opening inning before adding two more in the second, forcing BYU starter Wayland Crane out of the game after recording just five outs. All five runs charged to Crane were earned, and the left-hander struggled to locate, issuing four walks during his brief outing.
But Baylor starter Lucas Davenport ran into similar trouble. BYU chipped away at the deficit and eventually chased Davenport with one out in the third inning after the Cougars tagged him for six runs. In the third, Bryker Hurdsman lifted a go-ahead sacrifice fly, giving BYU its first lead of the afternoon after trailing by five.
As the middle innings unfolded, frustration boiled over from both dugouts regarding the strike zone of home plate umpire Scott Letendre.
BYU’s offense continued to respond. In the bottom of the fourth inning, shortstop Travis Sanders tied the game at six with a single that slipped just past the outstretched arm of Baylor first baseman Ezra McNaughton. The Cougars threatened for even more damage but stranded runners on first and third.
An inning later, BYU missed another opportunity to break the game open. Left fielder Crew McChesney came to the plate with the bases loaded in the fifth but struck out looking to end the threat. The Cougars still held an 8-6 lead after four and a half innings.
A defensive error opened the door for Baylor when shortstop Ryder Robinson watched a ground ball go under his legs in the sixth. Moments later, Brady Janusek crushed a three-run homer to the right of the Kansas City Royals logo beyond center field. Because of Robinson’s miscue, all three runs were unearned.
BYU entered the ninth inning down to its final three outs with Baylor reliever Caleb Bunch taking the mound.
The Bears held on from there, advancing and setting up a matchup against the No. 1-ranked Kansas Jayhawks baseball on Thursday afternoon.
Where to Watch – The first two days of the tournament will be broadcast on ESPN+. The quarterfinals on Thursday, May 21, will air live on ESPNU. The semifinals will be available on ESPN+, and you can watch Saturday’s championship game on ESPN2.
Big 12 Tournament Schedule
All Games at Surprise Stadium, Surprise, Ariz.
All Times Mountain Daylight Time
Tuesday, May 19
4:30 p.m. – BYU vs. Texas Tech – Game 1
8 p.m. – Utah vs. Kansas State – Game 2
Wednesday, May 20
4:30 p.m. – Baylor vs. Game 1 Winner – Game 3
8 p.m. – TCU vs. Game 2 Winner – Game 4
Thursday, May 21
9 a.m. – UCF vs. Oklahoma State – Game 5
12:30 p.m. – Kansas vs. Game 3 Winner – Game 6
4:30 p.m. – West Virginia vs. Game 4 Winner – Game 7
8 p.m. – Arizona State vs. Cincinnati – Game 8
Friday, May 22
4:30 p.m. – Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner
8 p.m. – Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner
Saturday, May 23
4:30 p.m. – Championship Game
