Big 12 Baseball Championship, Game 9: Texas Tech 8, Baylor 2

This game meant absolutely nothing in the larger scheme of things, as both teams were eliminated yesterday. But you have to play out the string, as it were, so here we are.

Baylor drew first blood, when a walk and a single in the second inning led to Steve DalPorto grounding into a potential double play. Tech only got the out at second, and Grayson Porter scored to give the Bears a 1-0 lead. Tech erased the lead in the bottom of the third when Devon Conley tripled down the line and came in to score on an error by right fielder Nathan Orf.

Orf redeemed himself in the fifth. After Logan Brown walked, stole second, and moved to third on a grounder to first, Orf singled to put the Bears back in front. It didn't last, though. In the bottom half of the inning Conley singled and swiped a base. Mason Randolph drew a walk, and Tim Proudfoot punched a ball between short and third to score Conley and tie the game. Two batters later, Bryant Burleson singled to drive in Randolph, and Tech had their first lead of the game.

They wouldn't relinquish it; indeed, Baylor was done thanks to four innings of scoreless relief from Jonny Drozd. While it was Drozd who held the nail, however, it was Proudfoot who hammered it into the Baylor coffin. Proudfoot put the Red Raiders up 5-2 with a two-run double in the sixth; he added a two-run RBI single in the eighth, and then scored himself on a Scott LeJeune pinch-hit single to make it 8-2 Tech. Baylor tried to rally in the ninth, but couldn't get anyone across, and that was that.

Baylor finishes the year 27-28; Tech 26-30.

Next up: K-State plays Oklahoma for the Pool One title.