The Cougars dropped their fifth game in a row with a 4-2 loss to Baylor, leaving them at 4-5 overall this season. | File photo/The Cougar
The No. 21 Cougars (4-4) took the field Friday night against the Baylor University Bears (5-3) hoping to end their four game losing streak, but fell short with a 4-2 loss.
Andrew Lantrip brought his 1-1 record and 2.38 ERA into the matchup looking to avenge a loss he took last Friday against Texas Tech University. His counterpart was the left-handed Daniel Costano of Baylor who was looking to improve upon his 1-1 record and lower his 5.06 ERA.
Lantrip played as advertised early when he struck out the side in the first inning. He added two more strikeouts in the second to give him five through the first two frames.
The Bears jumped to a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning when right fielder Richard Cunningham hit a pitch from Lantrip deep into the gap for a leadoff triple. A wild pitch allowed Cunningham to score, but stellar fielding by the Cougars helped to limit the inning’s damage to just one run.
After escaping a jam in the fifth inning, Lantrip surrendered a solo home run to Baylor catcher Matt Menard in the sixth inning to push the Bear advantage to 2-0.
Lantrip’s night would end after pitching seven strong innings and recording seven strikeouts. He allowed just two earned runs and five hits, but was unable to get any run support due to great pitching by Baylor.
“I thought Lantrip threw the ball well. He was good for the most part,” head coach Todd Whitting said. “There’s no margin for error when your offense isn’t doing anything.”
Baylor added a run in the eighth and another in the ninth inning to take a 4-0 lead heading to the bottom half of the ninth.
Needing a rally, Cougar designated hitter Connor Wong delivered a clutch two-run homer to deep left field to cut the lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the ninth. Wong’s second home run of the year was not enough as the Cougars could not plate anymore runs.
The Cougars have now lost five games in a row after winning their first four of the season.
“We’re scuffling right now. The game of baseball is extremely cruel and it is kicking us in the tail right now,” Whitting said. “You just gotta weather the storm, we have a good team and I know we will come out of it.”
The team returns to the field Saturday night for game two of the three game set against the Baylor Bears. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 at Schroeder Park.
