At one point Wednesday night against Baylor, BYU found itself just 10 outs away from advancing to the Big 12 baseball tournament quarterfinals.
There were two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, with the Cougars leading by two runs. The Bears didn’t have any runners on base. BYU reliever Ashton Johnson was dealing.
But by the time the Cougars recorded another out to end the frame, they had allowed Baylor to pull ahead for good. Across a four-out span in the sixth and seventh innings, the Bears produced seven unanswered runs.
Thus, BYU ultimately fell 13-9 to Baylor at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona, bringing its third Big 12 campaign to a close.
Defensive blunders proved costly to the Cougars, who committed four errors that turned into five runs.
Baylor’s two-out rally in the sixth began with an error, and after a subsequent single put runners at the corners, Bears slugger Brady Janusek pounded a fastball over the left center field wall for a go-ahead three-run homer.
Four more Baylor runs crossed the plate in the seventh inning — partially thanks to another BYU error, a wild pitch and hit by pitch — to bury the Cougars for good.
BYU had previously clawed back from an early deficit — posting a six-run third inning after trailing 5-0, then adding two runs in the fifth to lead 8-6 — but was unable to muster any late-inning magic to extend its season another day.
Starter Wayland Crane was jumped for five runs in less than two innings of work, following which Johnson logged 4 1/3 innings with six strikeouts while allowing two earned runs. However, the various errors led to another four unearned Baylor runs on Johnson’s watch.
Two errors came from shortstop Ryder Robinson, who did provide three hits with a home run at the plate. Every other Cougar reached base at least once, tallying 10 hits and six other baserunners in all for nine runs, but it wasn’t enough.
BYU finishes the season at an even 28-28 mark, matching last year’s overall win total but improving from 11-21 to 15-17 against Big 12 competition.