Bring On The Cats - All Posts

Big 12 Baseball Championship, Game 4: TCU 8, Oklahoma State 4

2013-05-24T05:47:07Z

It lasted three and a half hours, and that's only because two whole innings blew by in the middle of the game with only one runner reaching base. TCU left 12 runners on base, and their only extra base hit was a harmless double in the first inning; Oklahoma State stranded seven. And heading into the ninth, it looked for all the world like the Cowboys were set to face Kansas tomorrow with a chance to clinch a spot in the championship game already in hand.

Funny how things happen.

TCU stranded two men in the top of the first. Oklahoma State did likewise in the bottom. TCU, apparently enthralled with the idea, did it again in the second. In the bottom of the second, the Cowboys loaded the bases with two out... and finally someone produced when Donnie Walton singled to left to plate two runners. Tanner Krietemeier followed with a double into the gap in left-center which cleared the sacks.

The Frogs got one back in the top of the third when Jantzen Witte singled, moved to third on a pickoff which sailed into right field, and then scored on an Derek Odell sacrifice fly. That made it OSU 4, TCU 1, LOB 8.

And then a miracle happened: Preston Morrison retired the Cowboys in order.

After that, the LOB party got back into full swing. Morrison was finally chased with two outs in the fourth; Jason Hursh departed after the fifth, replaced by Jon Perrin for the top of the sixth. Perrin didn't last an inning. TCU got runners on first and second with two outs for Boomer White, who ripped a single up the middle to score Kyle Bacak, which resulted in Josh Holliday summoning Vince Wheeland from the pen to get out of the inning.

The bullpens settled for a couple of innings, Walton's leadoff single for the Cowboys in the seventh marking the only baserunner in either the seventh or eighth innings. But in the ninth, the Frogs cobbled together a major threat. White singled with one out, moving to third when Witte followed with a shot down the right field line. Paul Hendrix drew a walk to load the bases, leading Holliday to call for closer Brendan McCurry.

Odell blooped a single into shallow center, and White and Witte raced around to score, tying the ballgame. After a wild pitch, Kevin Cron was walked intentionally, and then disaster struck. Keaton Jones was hit by a pitch, forcing in the go-ahead run. After McCurry sat Bacak down swinging on a 2-2 pitch, Brett Johnson laced a single to drive in two, then Cody Jones hit a grounder to deep short which the Cowboys couldn't make a play on, scoring yet another run. By the time McCurry got White to ground out to second, TCU had scored six times, taking an 8-4 lead.

Trevor Seidenberger, who came in with two out in the fourth to replace Morrison, obliterated the Cowboys in the ninth, and the Frogs had pulled off a miracle win. Seidenberger slung 5.1 innings, striking out nine Cowboys and only giving up a hit. Star of the game material right there.

With that, day one is in the books. Oklahoma, Kansas State, Kansas, and TCU are 1-0; Baylor, Texas Tech, West Virginia, and Oklahoma State are 0-1. Tomorrow, the winners all get to play teams which lost tonight, so we could effectively be down to a four-team tournament come Sunday.

We'll see you in the morning.

Big 12 Baseball Championship, Game 3: Kansas 7, West Virginia 2

2013-05-24T01:34:28Z

Thomas Taylor retired 18 in a row at one point, and a pair of two-run innings gave Thomas all he needed to lead sixth-seeded Kansas past the third-seeded Mountaineers in Pool Two play, ending the Jayhawks' six-game losing streak.

The Jayhawks got on the board early. Justin Protacio doubled to left, and Kevin Kuntz laid down a perfect bunt to move Protacio over -- and happened to beat the throw to first himself. Michael Suiter laid down another bunt, and West Virginia starter Dan Dierdorff threw the ball away allowing Protacio to score. After getting the next two batters out, Dierdorff allowed a single to Dakota Smith, which scored Kuntz, before escaping the inning.

West Virginia got one back in the second when with runners on the corners Michael Constantini smacked a double down the left field line, but with men on second and third and only one out, the Mountaineers couldn't capitalize any further. Indeed, Constantini would be West Virginia's last baserunner until the eighth inning.

Dierdorff retired eight in a row himself during the middle innings, but in the seventh the Jayhawks doubled their tally. Ka'iana Eldredge singled, then was moved to second by a Tucker Tharp sacrifice. Protacio singled, moving Eldredge to third, and then Kuntz laid down a brilliant suicide squeeze. There was no chance at the plate, and Kuntz was retired at first. Suiter followed with an RBI single before Dierdorff sat Alex DeLeon down to end his own afternoon.

Connor McKay and Eldredge scored on a Tharp double in the eighth to really put the game out of reach. The Mountaineers rallied with one down in the bottom of the frame, chasing Taylor after he hit Boyd with a pitch and walked Brady Wilson on five pitches, which just meant it was time for Ritch Price to call on closer Jordan Piche', the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. Jacob Rice immediately singled to plate Boyd, and Ryan Tuntland singled to load the bases for the Big 12's leading home run hitter Ryan McBroom -- the tying run. McBroom worked a 3-0 count before taking strike one... then lined out to Protacio at second, who flipped to Kuntz and doubled off Rice to end the threat.

Kansas added another run in the ninth, and it should have been two. Kuntz led off with a double and Suiter reached on an error. DeLeon moved the runners with a groundout to first; Jordan Dreiling laid down a bunt and the pitcher came home to retire Kuntz -- but he actually got under the tag per the replay. The next pitch, however, was wild, and Suiter scored to make it 7-2.

The Jayhawk win really gives Oklahoma State the inside track on Pool Two at this point, though of course they'll have to handle TCU in the nightcap tonight or Pool Two may descend into utter chaos. Tomorrow, KU gets their shot at the Cowboys at 7:30pm CT; the Mountaineers get TCU at 4pm.

Big 12 Baseball Championship, Game 2: K-State 4, Texas Tech 3

2013-05-23T23:03:27Z

K-State had a major task ahead of them today. Although the Cats had easily swept Texas Tech earlier in the season, they didn't have to face Red Raiders ace Trey Masek, 5-1 with a 1.52 ERA in only 10 starts after returning from a pre-season injury. They'd handled Jonathan Gray in Manhattan last week; could they do it again?

Blake McFadden started for K-State, and was mostly effective in his job of keeping the game in reach. The BatCats gave him a boost by striking first, with Jared King manfacturing a run on a walk, a stolen base, a move to third on an Austin Fisher groundout, and finally scoring when Jon Davis grounded out to second.

Tech took the lead in the fourth when Jake Barrios singled followed by an Eric Gutierrez line shot off the left-field fair pole, but K-State immediately answered, scoring three runs in the bottom of the frame -- none of which were driven in by a hit. Tanner Witt led off with a double off the wall, and was unable to score when Shane Conlon followed with a single. Jared King drove Witt in with a sacrifice fly to tie the game. Kyle Speer -- pinch-hitting for Austin Fisher, who left the game with what are suspected to be back issues -- doubled into deep right, but Conlon was holding up because the ball could have been caught, and was only able to move to third. Again, a sac fly produced a run when Davis knocked in Conlon while Lance Miles (who'd come in to run for Speer) was able to move to third. Mitch Meyer then drew a walk, and ball four got past the catcher; Miles scored. Blair DeBord singled, moving Meyer to third, but R.J. Santigate flew out to end the threat. Still, the Cats had touched up Texas Tech's ace for a two-run cushion.

The Raiders got one back in the sixth. With one out, Gutierrez got plunked (his second time of the day) and, a pitching change and two hitters later, scored on a double to left by Jarrard Poteete. That was all Tech could muster, however. Jake Matthys came on in the eighth and retired all six batters he faced, four by strikeout, to close out the win for the Wildcats.

Masek pitched well against the Big 12's most potent offense, but where the usual tactic of just pounding the hell out of the ball failed the Wildcats today, one inning of overtime at the run manufacturing plant made up for that. It was a game Kansas State could not afford to lose, and they didn't; most importantly, once again the Wildcats showed that they have the offense to beat anyone, which will be relevant as they head into regionals.

Also important: today was win number forty.

Tomorrow, K-State meets Baylor at 12:30pm CT; Tech faces Oklahoma at 9am. Next up today: #3 West Virginia vs #6 Kansas.

Big 12 Championship, Game One: Oklahoma 2, Baylor 0

2013-05-23T19:46:32Z

Jonathan Gray's day got off to a rocky start, as he opened the game allowing a lead-off walk and throwing six straight pitches out of the strike zone.

Nothing to worry about. Gray settled down after that, and while he wasn't at his sharpest he did manage to silence the Bear bats on the way to a complete-game 2-0 victory.

After Gray escaped the top of the first unscathed, Craig Aikin led off with a single and scored immediately afterward on a Jack Mayfield double.

The Sooners added another tally in the fourth when a string of singles by Max White, Matt Oberste, and Hector Lorenzana resulted in a second run. After that, it was all arms as Gray and his Baylor counterpart, Dillon Newman, mowed through the opposition.

Tomorrow, the Sooners face Texas Tech at 9am; Baylor will meet the Wildcats at 12:30 CT. Next up today, K-State and the Red Raiders face one another at about 3:15 CT.

Baylor-OU Trapped in Rain Delay

2013-05-23T14:40:43Z

Lightning strikes and thunderstorms have forced a delay in the already postponed opening of the Phillips Big 12 Baseball Championship. There was a lightning strike at the stadium at 9:30 CT, meaning it will be at least 10 before the game gets underway no matter what -- but a look at Oklahoma City radar sort of makes even that idea laughable.

via radblast-aws.wunderground.com

Should the weather continue to be an issue, the entire tournament may be at risk at this point with yesterday's postponement; it's going to be very difficult to get things completed in time for a final Sunday, which is sort of a requirement thanks to the NCAA tournament selection deadline.

Update, 10:30 CT: "I don't think the heavy stuff's gonna come down for awhile yet." Per radar, the heaviest portion of that small storm cell is just now moving into downtown Oklahoma City. This storm is moving very slowly; it's taken an hour and a half just to cross half of Oklahoma County. This delay is going to be long, and at this point I would be surprised if OU/Baylor get underway before 12:30 -- the scheduled start time for the KSU/Texas Tech game. Even if the rain stops in an hour, the field is a mess. (The infield is tarped and fine, but the warning track resembles an overflowing ditch right now.)

There's not a lot of wiggle room here. The options are to play late, late into the night, or to push games back such that one of the teams in the championship game is forced to play a double-header on Sunday. Now, admittedly, if this results in K-State finishing pool play on Saturday while the other pool winner has to play on Sunday morning before facing K-State, it could be viewed as only fair given the lead K-State had on the rest of the conference in the regular season. Still, it's a mess.

Update, 11:30 CT: The rain's finally passed, and they're removing the tarp from the field. Baylor/OU will get underway at 12:30 CT, which will have the effect of pushing everyone else into the next slot (although they may make an effort to start KSU/Tech at 3:30 and WVU/KU at 6:30 so that OSU/TCU starts at 9:30pm rather than 11pm).

Gonna be a long day, kids.

Open Game Thread: Big 12 Baseball Championship, Day One

2013-05-23T13:00:13Z

Who: #4 Oklahoma vs #5 Baylor; #1 K-State vs. #8 Texas Tech; #3 West Virginia vs #6 Kansas; #2 Oklahoma State vs #7 Texas Christian

What: Big 12 Baseball Championship

When: May 23, 2013 | 9:00 a.m./12:30 p.m/4:00 p.m/7:00 p.m. CDT

Where: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark (13,066)

Media: (K-State game) 1350 KMAN/K-State Sports Network | (all games) Fox College Sports Central

Get ready for 12-plus hours of Hot Sprots Actionals, everyone. The delay is over, and eight Big 12 teams will actually hope to provide some tension relief for the embattled citizens of central Oklahoma.

Remember that games after the opener may be delayed if weather or extra innings get in the way, so the K-State game may start later than 12:30. KEEP CALM AND WABASH. As for radio coverage, if you are in or close to Oklahoma, the OU and OSU games may -- MAY -- be on one of the Sports Animal stations. They aren't showing the game as being on radio, but I can tell you this doesn't actually mean it's not. The WVU/Jayhawk game will probably be on some station downriver, I'm sure.

Time to get this thing done. No reason to let anyone else win this title, right?

K-State Slate: 5.23.13

2013-05-23T11:48:00Z

Moore, OK

Crimson and Cream, the SBnation OU site, has info on how you can help the folks in Moore, OK.

Bat Cats provide a little bit of assistance. Quite a few of the teams in OKC for sports have been helping out.

Baseball

Game time 12:30 p.m. CDT today. A view from the other side. Info on the games.

Cats looking at winning the Big XII tournament and hosting a regional.

Cats want the good pitching to continue.

Basketball

Lady Cats offer a player from Milwaukee a chance to play in the Little Apple.

Football

Texas 2nd most talented team in the country.

Finney named to the Rimington Watch List.

Tennis

Petra Niedermayerova makes the round of 32 in the NCAA championship.

K-State Slate: 5.22.13

2013-05-22T11:55:21Z

Moore, OK

Crimson and Cream has the details on how you can help.

Baseball

I'm a fan of WVU baseball, they've got the right attitude.

In the changed Big XII tournament K-State plays at 12:30 Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Winner of the pool plays for the championship on Sunday. Go Cats!

Congratulations to all the Bat Cats who won a Big XII award.

Remember to read Mr. Morse's preview of the tournament.

Track

Cats ready to compete in Austin at the NCAA preliminaries.