Tickets - Bracket - Session 2 Recap
OKLAHOMA CITY - The 2019 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship opens on Wednesday with four contests in the double-elimination format.
In the first session, No. 4-seed West Virginia collected a 12-8 win over No. 5-seed Kansas and top-seeded Texas Tech collected a 7-4 win over No. 8 K-State in game two.
In the second session, No. 2 Baylor collected an 8-2 win over No. 7 Oklahoma. No. 3 Oklahoma State faces No. 6 TCU in the nightcap.
Recaps and updates will be provided throughout the day.
Game 1: No. 4 West Virginia 12, No. 5 Kansas 8
Box Score - Quotes - Notes - Book - Highlights - Photos - Postgame Press Conference - Randy Mazey Interview
The 2019 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship began with a bang as No. 4-seed West Virginia and No. 5-seed Kansas combined for 28 hits and 20 runs, with the Mountaineers coming out on top 12-8 in the tournament’s opening game.
The Mountaineers (35-18) were able to hold off a Jayhawk comeback, as all nine West Virginia starters recorded at least one hit. Sophomore Paul McIntosh went 3-for-4 with four RBI and junior Brandon White also drove in four runs to lead the charge offensively.
West Virginia jumped out to a 9-1 lead after three innings, getting big contributions from McIntosh and junior Marques Inman. McIntosh tripled in two runs as part of a five-run first inning in which WVU sent 10 batters to the plate. Inman doubled in a pair in the second, one of his two doubles on the day.
The Jayhawks (31-25) mounted a comeback with a pair of runs in the fourth before sending nine men to the plate in the fifth, cashing in for four runs to cut the lead to 9-7. Sophomore Tom Lichty came through with a two-run pinch-hit single to cap off the rally.
The two sides traded runs in the middle innings as West Virginia pushed one across in the bottom of the sixth and Kansas answered with a run in the top of the seventh. The Mountaineers added some insurance in the bottom of the seventh, as White laid down a squeeze bunt that scored two runs and extended the WVU advantage to 12-8.
West Virginia’s Gabe Kurtzhals (2-0) earned his second win of the season, throwing a scoreless inning of relief. Kansas starter Nathan Barry (5-1) was tagged with his first loss of the year.
The Mountaineers will advance to face the winner of No. 1 Texas Tech and No. 8 K-State on Thursday at 4 p.m. CT. Kansas will take on the loser of the Red Raiders-Wildcats matchup in an elimination game Thursday at 9 a.m. CT.
Game 2: No. 1 Texas Tech 7, No. 8 K-State 4
Box Score - Quotes - Notes - Book - Highlights - Photos - Postgame Press Conference - Tim Tadlock Interview
No. 1 Texas Tech took an early lead and added insurance late to stave off No. 8 Kansas State’s comeback bid, winning game two of the 2019 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship 7-4.
The Red Raiders (37-15) scored in each of the first three innings behind RBI hits by junior Big 12 Co-Player of the Year Josh Jung, sophomore Gabe Holt, senior Cameron Warren and sophomore Parker Kelly to go ahead 5-1. Jung and Warren were a combined 6-for-8 with four runs and two RBI on the afternoon.
Kansas State (25-32) got on the board in the top of the second inning with a solo shot by sophomore Zach Kokoska and continued to climb back into the ballgame with a pair of runs in the fifth that came off the bat of junior Cameron Thompson, trimming the Red Raiders’ lead to 5-3.
Wildcats reliever Eric Torres turned in his longest outing of the year, going 3.1 scoreless with five strikeouts to keep Kansas State within striking distance. K-State pushed across another run in the top of the seventh as Thompson collected another RBI, this time on a groundout, that made it 5-4.
In the bottom of the seventh, Texas Tech padded its lead with two insurance runs that provided a 7-4 cushion. Red Raiders’ relievers John McMillon and Taylor Floyd took it from there, keeping the Wildcats scoreless after loading the bases in the ninth.
Texas Tech starter Micah Dallas (5-0) earned the win to remain undefeated in 2019. Kansas State starter Jordan Wicks (6-3), who was recently named Big 12 Freshman of the Year, took the loss. Floyd closed things out and picked up his third save of the season for the Red Raiders.
Texas Tech will move on to face No. 4 West Virginia Thursday at 4 p.m., while Kansas State will battle No. 5 Kansas in an elimination game Thursday at 9 a.m.