Four Big 12 baseball teams entered opening night of NCAA Regional action last night.
- The Oklahoma Sooners hoped to get in their first round match-up with the Appalachian State Mountaineers in the Charlottesville Regional, but were not able to play due inclement weather conditions. Instead, they will start play tonight at 6:00pm. The winner will face the winner of Virginia and Army who play at 1:00 this afternoon.
- One of the three other Big 12 teams in the tournament finds themselves surprisingly one loss away from the end of their season. The Waco Regional host Baylor Bears met up with the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles out of the Summit League last night in opening round action. The Bears took a 2-0 lead into the 6th inning, but gave up three runs as the Golden Eagles pulled ahead on a Baylor throwing error. Oral Roberts tacked on another run in the 8th and reliever Joe Spring held the Bears in the final two frames to cap off a 4-2 victory.
Baylor starter Kyle Turley went 5 and 1-3 innings in the outing, striking out five and giving up 3 runs. The Bears will face UT-Arlington in the Regional’s first elimination game at 3:00pm this afternoon, meanwhile Oral Roberts will advance to play Dallas Baptist who won 10-0 on Friday. Manhattan’s Kurt Giller, brother of K-State Third baseman Matt Giller did not appear in Friday’s contest for Oral Roberts.
- The other Big 12 team hosting a Regional this weekend, the Texas A&M Aggies started off the NCAA tournament on the right track defeating the Dayton Flyers 4-1 last night. The Aggie’s Ace Michael Wacha struck out nine batters, with just three walks, giving up zero runs while on the mound. The Flyers’ only run came in the top of the eighth on A.J. Ryan RBI single. A&M now faces the Ole Miss Rebels tonight at 7:30. The Rebels defeated incoming Big 12 member TCU 6-2 on Friday.
- Pac-12 champion Arizona showed all its power, using a seven-run third inning to cruise to a 15-3 NCAA Regional win over Big 12 champion Missouri on Friday night. The Wildcats (39-17) had 20 hits, including seven for extra bases in their first home regional appearance since 1992. All-America pitcher Kurt Heyer threw a complete game four-hitter, striking out seven.
Missouri (32-27) struck early, taking leads of 2-0 and 3-2. But starting pitcher Blake Holovach lasted only three innings, allowing 10 hits and six runs. Blake Brown led the Tigers at the plate going 2 for 2, with a double and a triple.
Missouri drops to the losers’ bracket and will face New Mexico State in an elimination game at 7pm, while Arizona advances to play Louisville tonight at 11pm.
