Baylor swept a doubleheader from Texas Tech tonight in Lubbock (5-1 and 10-3), with your trusty blogger attending and photographing the action (you may click on the pictures to enlarge them). The Bears nearly got a no-hitter in the opener -- more on that later.

Bear catcher Clare Hosack (number 15 in green) and her teammates were on the bases early and often in Game 1.

An illegal-pitch call, which Tech Coach Shanon Hays (red shirt) went out to discuss with an umpire, prolonged a Baylor rally...

...but some good Red Raider defense, here retiring a Baylor player between third and home in a rundown, mitigated the damage.

Bear starter Whitney Canion dominated the Red Raiders in Game 1, striking out 11 Texas Tech batters.

With the scoreboard in the background displaying Texas Tech's lack of hits after six innings, Canion ran out to pitch the final inning with a no-hitter only three outs away.

But it was not to be, as Tech's Mikey Kenney led off the bottom of the seventh by blasting a 2-2 pitch over the left-field fence. I call this kind of shot a "Gwen Stefani Homer," as there was "No Doubt."

Tech, here trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth, would tie the game 3-3 later in this half-inning. However, Baylor scored the final seven runs of the game. With the sweep, the Bears are now 30-6 overall, 4-2 in the Big 12. Ranked No. 17 nationally in both major polls coming into the doubleheader, Baylor seems on track to make the NCAA tournament. 

Texas Tech, which compiled a 35-1 record in non-conference play against a schedule that was, shall we say, not so heavy on highly ranked teams, now stands at 1-5 in the Big 12, with all six games having been played at home. The Red Raiders are going to have to start winning some conference games to salvage an NCAA tournament berth.