The Great Spring Break Baseball Recap

I know this is a tad late, but here is a brief recap of every game played during Spring Break!  (Briefly: I was flying down a mountain for four glorious days, and recorded my skiing almost every day.  I averaged about 40 miles a day, and hit at least 45.5 mph as a max.  Yeah. Sic 'em, skiing!)

Houston College Classic

Game 1: Baylor vs. Hawaii

In the interest of not having a 20,000 word piece, here's the official recap.  The Bears managed to get on the board when Esthay scampered home during a Ducoff fly out.  Other than the solitary run Esthay scored, there was very little done offensively.  There were (count 'em) two hits by the Bears during the entire game.  In fact, this offensive inability to produce hits consistency is a common theme with these seven games.

Pitching-wise, things looked pretty good.  Tolson pitched 6 innings, only allowing 2 runs.  Kirkland replaced him and allowed 2 hits, but left 4 on base during his time on the mound.

Final Line: Hawaii 2, Baylor 1

Game 2: Baylor vs. LSU

Again, offensive non-productivity was the huge player here.  Daniel Castano had a HUGE game pitching, but hitting was unable to capitalize.  That said, the hitting in this game was much better than in the previous game.  The Bears managed a total of 8 hits, but were unable to capitalize further and bring those hits around the bases for scores.  Still much improved over the previous game but the inconsistency is killer.

Daniel Castano's pitching was absolutely CLUTCH.  He pitched 8 innings, allowing only 1 run on 8 hits.  LSU is a really good team, and he kept their sluggers at bay.  Lewis took over, facing 3 batters and allowed 1 run on 2 hits.  Spicer closed out the ninth, allowing neither runs nor hits during his time on the mound.

Final Line: LSU 2, Baylor 0

Game 3: Baylor vs. Texas A&M

Do we see a theme here?  Baylor actually out-hit A&M by 5 and was still unable to grab a win.  The efficacy and consistency at bat is killing any scoring opportunities that present themselves.  Hayden Ross singled, then scored when he stole home.  Logan Brown also singled, scoring on an Esthay ground out.

The pitching staff, on the other hand, did a pretty good job.  Austin Stone had a rough first and fifth inning, allowing the three runs by A&M.  Lewis, his replacement, allowed no hits and no runs.  Kirkland allowed 1 hit and no runs during the ninth.

Final Line: Texas A&M 3, Baylor 2

The DBU Debacle

I don't even want to talk about this.

Here's the recap.

(Final Line: DBU 17, Baylor 3)

Next game.

Big 12 Opening Series at TCU

Game 1

The Bears kept TCU scoreless for 2 innings before Tolson allowed 3 runs: 2 in the bottom of the third, and one in the bottom of the sixth.  In 6.1 innings, Tolson allowed all of TCU's 10 hits.  Lewis and Kirkland replaced him, preventing further scoring on TCU's part.

Hitting-wise, this game was slightly better than the hitting game of late.   In the top of the seventh, Aaron Dodson homered, bringing the score to 3-1 TCU, where it stayed.  There were a total of 6 guys left on base during the duration of the game.  The inconsistency with hitting is absolutely killing this season.

Final Line: TCU 3, Baylor 1

Game 2

As if they heard the inconsistency was killing them, Baylor hitters started the game with a step in the right direction.  Brown scored on a Miller single, and Sheppard scored on a Ducoff single moments later.  These were the only runs the Bears scored all evening, though they scraped together a total of 5 hits for the evening.  This, however, was not enough to overcome the Horned Frog's hitting game.

Daniel Castano again took the mound and again pitched straight fire for 6.1 innings, only allowing the 3 runs scored by the Frogs late in his time on the mound, in the bottom of the sixth and seventh.  Lewis and Kirkland replaced him, neither allowing any hits nor runs.

Final Line: TCU 3, Baylor 2

Game 3

Welp.

Remember the TCU hitting game?  It really shined in this game.  Stone pitched 3 innings and allowed 9 runs, 6 of which came in the bottom of the third.  Montemayor replaced him, allowing one run and 4 hits in his 3 innings on the mound.  Hessemer relieved him, allowing no hits or runs in his 2 innings.

Hitting for the Bears, however, was slightly better than abysmal.  In the top of the fourth, Dodson scored on a Menard single.

Hey, we might have gotten whooped, but at least we didn't get skunked!

Final Line: TCU 10, Baylor 1.

Long Story Short....

We may have lost 10 (!!) games in a row, but, as Caddyshack states:

We're all right.  Barely, but we're all right.

--XOXO, KimboSmash