Box Score WACO, Texas – The West Virginia University baseball team fell to Baylor, 6-3, on Friday night at Baylor Ballpark in Waco, Texas.
 
In the opening game of a three-game, weekend series, the Mountaineers led by as many as three, before the Bears scored the final six runs of the contest. Baylor used a five-run eighth inning to earn the come-from-behind victory.
 
WVU finished with three runs on seven hits with an error, while BU tallied six runs on eight hits and no errors. Senior left-handed pitcher Jackson Wolf took the loss, evening his record to 3-3 on the year. Baylor's Ryan Leckish earned the win, while Luke Boyd grabbed the save.
 
Wolf allowed just one run on three hits in his first seven innings of work. However, the Bears' late rally spoiled the Gahanna, Ohio, native's quality start.
 
After the Mountaineers (11-13, 3-4 Big 12) went in order in the top of the first, Wolf was needed to get out of an early jam. Baylor (20-10, 2-5 Big 12) got two base runners aboard, before the Mountaineer ace tallied an inning-ending strikeout to halt the threat.
 
From there, Wolf cruised, retiring 12 of the next 13 hitters from the second to the fifth inning. Meanwhile, WVU gave the senior lefty a 1-0 lead in the third with freshman infielder Mikey Kluska's RBI single up the middle.
 
An inning later, fifth-year senior Kevin Brophy extended the lead with a two-out, two-run homer to left center to make it 3-0. The big fly was Brophy's team-leading sixth of the year.
 
After Wolf yielded his first run in the sixth and retired the side in the seventh, Baylor loaded the bases to begin the home half of the eighth with a pair of singles and a hit by pinch. Then, a two-run single to right tied the game at 3 and ended Wolf's night, before the Bears added three more in the frame to take the lead.
 
In all, BU sent nine batters to the plate and plated five runs on five hits in the frame. The Mountaineers went in order in the ninth.
 
Wolf's final line showed five runs allowed on six hits in 7.0 innings of action. He struck out seven and walked a pair on 106 pitches.
 
Senior infielder Tyler Doanes and Kluska each finished 2-for-4 at the plate in the loss, while Brophy recorded two RBI. On the mound, sophomore right-hander Jacob Watters and redshirt sophomore righty Noah Short combined to get the three outs in the Baylor eighth.
 
Friday marked the first time West Virginia and Baylor played since March 24, 2019, ending the Mountaineers' longest drought without playing any of its Big 12 opponents. BU now leads the all-time series, 13-10.
 
Next up, the two clubs meet in the middle game of the conference series on Saturday, with first pitch slated for 4 p.m. ET. Fans can catch all of the action on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.