No. 1 Buckeyes Topped by No. 10 Baylor 4-2

COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 1 Ohio State fell to No. 10 Baylor 4-2 Thursday night in Waco, Texas at the Hurd Tennis Center.

It was the first away loss of the season for the Buckeyes and it broke a 10-game win streak over Baylor.

Ohio State took the doubles point, but were unable to carry their momentum into singles, suffering losses on courts one, three, four and six.

The Buckeyes are now 12-2 on the season and will play Big Ten teams the rest of the regular season except for an away match at Texas A&M on March 18.

Ohio State starts Big Ten play Saturday at 11:30 a.m. against Penn State. The Buckeyes will travel to University Park, Pennsylvania to face the Nittany Lions at the Penn State Tennis Center.

Doubles

Doubles matches remained close with each court tied at 5-all.

Alexander Bernard and Alex Okonkwo were the first to break through for the Buckeyes, capturing a 7-5 win on court three.

On court one, Baylor came back from down 5-2 to force a 6-6 tiebreaker. After the Bears grabbed the first three points, Carpico and Filin battled back to clinch the doubles point for Ohio State in a tight 8-6 tiebreaker.

Aidan Kim and Bryce Nakashima were also in a tiebreaker, leading 5-4 before the doubles point was clinched.

Singles

Ohio State dropped the first two singles points after No. 23 ranked Connor Van Schalkwyck defeated Okonkwo in two sets on court three and No. 12 ranked Devin Badenhorst beat Kim in two sets on court one.

Filin was the earliest Buckeye to grab the first set in a 6-4 contest, he went on to close out the match with a 7-5 set two victory, knotting the score at 2-all.

Nakashima found himself down in the first set before clawing back to force a tiebreaker, Alexandru Chirita went on to sweep the tiebreaker and won the third set, putting Baylor up 3-2.

Despite losing the first set 6-3, Carpico dominated the second set 6-0 on court six. In the third set, the Bears clinched the victory over the Buckeyes with a 6-0 set three win.

On court two, Jack Anthrop led by a set and was ahead in the second tiebreaker before the match was clinched.

#10 Baylor 4, #1 Ohio State 2

Singles

1. #12 Devin Badenhorst (BAY) def. #6 Aidan Kim (OSU) 6-4, 6-2

2. #22 Jack Anthrop (OSU) vs. #53 Zsombor Velcz (BAY) 6-4, 6-6(3-2), unfinished

3. #23 Connor Van Schalkwyk (BAY) def. #29 Alex Okonkwo (OSU) 6-3, 6-1

4. #91 Ioan Alexandru Chirita (BAY) def. #124 Bryce Nakashima 7-6(0), 6-3

5. #93 Nikita Filin (OSU) def. Luc Koenig (BAY) 6-4, 7-5

6. Louis Bowden (BAY) def. Brandon Carpico (OSU) 6-3, 1-6, 6-0

Doubles

1. #1 Brandon Carpico/Nikita Filin (OSU) def. Alexandru Chirita/Zsombor Velcz (BAY) 7-6(6)

2. #18 Aidan Kim/Bryce Nakashima (OSU) vs. Connor Van Schalkwyk/Luc Koenig (BAY) 6-6(5-4), unfinished

3. #15 Alexander Bernard/Alex Okonkwo (OSU) def. Devin Badenhorst/Blake Anderson (BAY) 7-5

Match Notes:

Baylor 9-5; National ranking #10

Ohio State 12-2; National ranking #1

Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (3,1,5,4,6)

Click here to read article