ARLINGTON, Texas— The top-seeded TCU Horned Frogs (36-18) took a late lead in the eighth inning to defeat the eighth-seeded Baylor Bears (26-27) 4-2 in the second game of the 2022 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship at Globe Life Field. TCU improved to 6-3 in the opening round of the Championship.
The Horned Frogs started the rally in the sixth inning down 2-0 when Tommy Sacco and Kurtis Byrne got on base and Bobby Goodloe doubled to center, scoring Sacco. David Bishop followed with a sacrifice fly to get Byrne across the plate to tie the contest.
Baylor got an early lead in the first inning when Tre Richardson doubled to left-center field to get on base, later scoring when Kyle Nevin tripled to get the Bears across the plate. Antonio Valdez picked the scoring back up in the sixth inning with a single to the right side that scored Richardson from second.
The Frogs took the lead late in the eighth inning when Sacco reached on a walk and stole second. He advanced to third on Brayden Taylor’s single to left-center field. The pair then stole consecutive bases on a wild pitch to put TCU ahead 3-2. Byrne drove in the final run of the game, singling to left field and giving the Frogs the lead 4-2.
Brett Walker pitched 5.1 innings giving up four hits, two earned runs and tossing five strikeouts for the Horned Frogs. He was relieved by Caleb Bolden who threw two innings of work and allowed one hit, one walk and had two strikeouts. Augie Mihlbauer (W, 3-0) came in for .2 innings worth of work giving up no hits, no runs and one walk. Garrett Wright earned his third save of the season for TCU closing out the ninth inning with two strikeouts.
Blake Helton pitched 6.1 innings giving up five hits, two earned runs and four walks for Baylor. The junior had a career-high seven strikeouts before being relieved by Grant Golomb (L, 0-1) in the seventh inning, who allowed two earned runs on two hits in one inning of work.
TCU will face No. 5 seed Texas on Thursday, May 26 at 4 p.m. CT on ESPNU and Baylor will face No. 4 Oklahoma State at 9 a.m. CT on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ in the first elimination game of the 2022 Championship.
2022 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship Schedule
Wednesday, May 25
Game 1 – 9 a.m. – No. 5 Texas 4, No. 4 Oklahoma State 0,
Box Score /
Recap
Game 2 – 12:30 p.m. – No. 1 TCU 4, No. 8 Baylor 2
Box Score
Game 3 – 4 p.m. – No. 2 Texas Tech 5, No. 7 Kansas State 3
Game 4 – 7:30 p.m. – No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 6 West Virginia - Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Thursday, May 26
Game 5 – No. 4 Oklahoma State vs. No. 8 Baylor – 9 a.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Game 6 – No. 7 Kansas State vs. Game 4 Loser – 12:30 p.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Game 7 – No. 5 Texas vs. No. 1 TCU – 4 p.m. – ESPNU
Game 8 – No. 2 Texas Tech vs. Game 4 Winner – 7:30 p.m. – ESPNU
Friday, May 27
Game 9 – Game 7 Loser vs. Game 5 Winner – 3:15 p.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Game 10 – Game 8 Loser vs. Game 6 Winner – 7 p.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Saturday, May 28
Game 11 – Game 9 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner – 9 a.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Game 12 – Game 8 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner – 12:30 p.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Game 13 – Game 11 Loser vs. Game 11 Winner (if necessary) – 4 p.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Game 14 – Game 12 Loser vs. Game 12 Winner (if necessary) – 4 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Sunday, May 29
Game 15 – Championship Game – 5 p.m. – ESPNU