Big 12 Tourney, Day 1: Texas Upset, OU Gets 'W'

Staff and Wire Reports

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The 2009 Big 12 Baseball Championship opened Wednesday.

Kansas State v. Kansas

The tournament began with fourth-seeded Kansas State facing No. 5 Kansas followed by eighth-seeded Baylor facing top-seeded Texas at the Bricktown Ballpark.

The Wildcats were able to squeeze past the Jayhawks in a game that boasted 25 hits and nine runs.

The game remained scoreless until the top of the 5th inning. Kansas shortstop David Narodowski put his team on the board, 1-0, but the Wildcats responded in the bottom of the 6th inning when centerfielder Dane Yelovich hit a deep fly. The ball bounced over the left center, earning Yelovich a ground rule double. Teammate Adam Meunster followed up with a double and the Wildcats tied the game up at 1-1.

Kansas State answered Kansas 3-1 after a single, a wild pitch and a two-out single to right field by Jason King sent leftfielder Nick Marini home.

In the 7th inning, the Jayhawks responded with a three-run inning.

Kansas' Robby Price hit a double to left and catcher Buck Afenir hit home Price on a single, making the score 3-2 , Kansas State.

Bases were loaded when third baseman Tony Thompson hit a hard single to centerfield. James Stanfield also hit a single, sending two runners home and putting the Jayhawks back on top at 4-3.

The game tied up once again the following inning, 4-4, with Rob Vaughn hitting a single to left and sending Jurica home.

At the bottom of the 9th and down 5-4, Kansas tried to catch Kansas State but couldn't get past Wildcats pitcher James Allen.

The Kansas State Wildcats beat Kansas Jayhawks, 5-4.

Baylor v. Texas

In the following game, eighth-seeded Baylor upset top-seeded Texas, 14-9 after Dustin Dickerson and Shaver Hansen each hit a two-run double during an eight-run 6th inning.

Baylor entered the tournament having lost 10 straight conference games and trailed 7-3 entering the sixth, when they roughed up Texas relievers Austin Dicharry (6-2) and Austin Wood.

The Bears finished with 15 hits, with Ben Booker going 3-for-5 and Dan Evatt, Hansen, Dickerson and Raynor Campbell finishing with two hits each.

Brandon Belt went 4-for-6 with three RBIs for Texas (38-13-1), the Big 12's regular-season champion. Brandon Loy went 4-for-4 for the Longhorns, while Kevin Keyes also had three RBIs.

Reliever Craig Fritsch (3-5) struck out nine in 4 2/3 innings to record the pitching win for Baylor.

Missouri v. Texas A&M

Third-seeded Missouri beat Texas A&M 5-2 after Kyle Gibson struck out seven batters, and allowed only three hits in six scoreless innings.

Gibson raised his season strikeout total to 123, tied for fourth-highest in Missouri history. Greg Folgia had two RBIs for Missouri both on sacrifice flies, while Steve Gray hit a two-run homer for the Tigers, who have won 12 of their last 14 games.

Missouri's Kyle Mach extended his hitting streak to 16 games, while the Tigers' defense turned three double plays against Texas A&M (34-22).

Clayton Ehlert (5-1) took the pitching loss for the sixth-seeded Aggies, who have lost five of their last six games.

Texas A&M scored two runs on an error and a wild pitch in the ninth inning, but Nick Tepesch recorded the final two outs for the Tigers, picking up his first save.

University of Oklahoma v. Texas Tech

The Univesity of Oklahoma beat Texas Tech in Wednesday's final game of the day.

Ross Hubbard tied a career high with four RBIs and Andrew Doyle scattered four hits in eight innings as Oklahoma opened the Big 12 Conference tournament with a 5-2 win over Texas Tech.

Texas Tech (24-31) scored a pair of unearned runs in the top of the fourth inning. Batting eighth in the order for second-seeded Oklahoma (41-16), Hubbard answered with a two-run triple in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 2-2.

In the sixth, with the Sooners up 3-2, Hubbard came through with a two-run single off Texas Tech starter A.J. Ramos (5-5).

Doyle (8-4) didn't allow an earned run, walked one and struck out four. Ryan Duke pitched a perfect ninth inning to record his 15th save.

The Sooners recorded the 5-2 victory and is scheduled to play Texas A&M Friday at 7:30 p.m.

More on News9.com:

• Check the schedule and results to find the upcoming matchups.
• Find out where to park, where to eat and where the Bricktown Ballpark is located.