Kent carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning of the Cowboys' opener against Baylor, striking out a career-high eight over six scoreless innings before giving up a pair of home runs in the seventh to send Baylor to a 3-1 victory.

The third-seeded Cowboys, ranked 18th and hoping for a solid NCAA regional tournament seeding, lost their fourth in a row and fall to 38-17 overall. OSU also dropped to 10-20 all-time in Big 12 Tournament play.

No. 6-seeded Baylor improves to 32-24. OSU swept the Bears in a three-game series in Stillwater during the regular season, scoring a total of 39 runs on 48 hits.

One of college baseball's most prolific offenses this season, however, was handcuffed this time as Kent and Baylor starter Jeff Mandel engaged in a scoreless duel through six innings.

Kent (4-2) was cruising before Matt Czimskey started the seventh inning with a solo home run to left field that put the Bears ahead 1-0.

Kent then allowed his only walk. Two batters later, Shaver Hansen hit his second home run of the season onto the left-field concourse to give Baylor a 3-0 cushion. Mandel (7-7) scattered five hits over six shutout innings with five strikeouts before the Cowboys finally got on the board with a pair of two-out hits in the seventh. Ryan Flavell's single scored Jordy Mercer from second base to make it 3-1.

Baylor closer Nick Cassavechia came on to finish the final 2 1/3 innings for his ninth save.

Oklahoma State's Matt Mangini doubled to lead off the bottom of the ninth, but the Cowboys then went 1-2-3 to end it.

OSU senior Ty Wright extended his hitting streak to 32 games with a second-inning single, but Mandel got the first of a pair of double-play ground balls to get out of trouble.

Pool 2 teams return to action on Friday. Missouri and Baylor play at 4:30 p.m., and Oklahoma State meets Oklahoma at 7:30.

The Cowboys swept the Sooners this season, but that history means little in any Bedlam game. OSU also swept OU in last year's regular-season series, but the Sooners beat the Cowboys 21-6 in the Big 12 Tournament.

Oklahoma State had won its last nine in a row away from home.

John E. Hoover 581-8384
john.hoover@tulsaworld.com