RAGE! Or, thoughts on a 5-4 Baylor loss.

A team does not deserve to win a game where there's an inning with a booted would-be GDIP and 2 HBP, one of them bringing in the walk-off run. Arkansas did not win this game, Baylor lost it.

• Logan Vick is not the CF that Baylor deserved today, but he is the one they need. He made a Sportcenter Top 10/WebGem worthy play today, grabbing what would have most likely been a double with 1 out in the bottom of the 5th to help Josh Turley throw a 1-2-3 inning. Vick also went 1-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and two walks.
• Josh Turley didn't have his best stuff today, but he pitched pretty well. Even though he allowed 3 runs on 5 hits, he didn't walk anyone and settled down in the 4th inning, striking out 4 over 7 innings pitched, including a 4-pitch fourth. According to the ballpark gun, he was around 73-86 mph in his 7 innings.
• Josh Ludy, though he would later have an unlucky drop on what could have been a foul-tip strike out, showed some great defense by turning a strike-em-out, throw-em-out play with Max Garner on the mound in the 8th. Offensively, he went 1-for-3 with a HBP.
• Baylor should have won this. They should have won it, even considering the 2 HBP at the end. There is simply no excuse (in my mind) for loading the bases with no outs and having nothing come of it. Even a single would have likely put them up 6-3 in the top of the 8th. Apparently, though, the Bears took a page from the big-league club just up I35's book and the next two hitters struck out and grounded into a double play, respectively.

• I cannot begin talking about the ninth inning without commenting on the blown call by home plate umpire Mark Ditsworth. The inning started off with a walk that should have been a strike-out. Ditsworth was noticeably inconsistent today, from my vantage point, and there were several instances of pitches that had been called strikes for Arkansas being called balls for Baylor. I'm sure there was some of this inconsistency in the other direction, too, but this is a Baylor site.
• That blown call seemed to be the beginning of trouble for Max Garner, who pitched a good 8th inning before allowing a single (putting men on first and second, after the walk) then hitting the batter to bring in the tying run after a SS error loaded the bases.
• I have to take back the love I gave to Baylor SS Jake Miller yesterday. He fumbled what should have been the game ending double play and ended up not even recording a single out from it. This error (his 22nd on the year) would prove fatal for the Bears.
• After a lights-out performance yesterday, Crayton Bare plunked the first batter he saw with the first pitch he threw to bring in the walk-off run. There's not really more that I can say than that.

I'm hoping that tomorrow brings back the Bears we're all used to seeing. Game time is 6:05 PM, and it will be televised on ESPN2. Baylor will regian home-field advantage.