Baylor Baseball Edged By No. 17 West Virginia, 5-4

[Calderone, Max]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – April 28, 2023

Baylor Baseball Edged By No. 17 West Virginia, 5-4
Bears surrender late lead and drop series opener
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (15-27, 6-13) dropped a narrow series opener to No. 17 West Virginia (31-11, 9-4) Friday night at Baylor Ballpark in Waco, 5-4.

The Bears took a 4-3 lead into the eighth inning, but surrendered a two-out, two-run double that put the Mountaineers ahead for good. Four of WVU’s five runs were unearned, as BU committed four errors on the night.

Freshman C Walker Polk and redshirt freshman INF Jack Johnson each had two hits, while sophomore 1B John Ceccoli and junior INF Casey Sunseri each drove in two runs in the loss.

THE RUNDOWN
West Virginia struck first in the top of the first frame, as a two-out muffed throw erased what would have been an inning-ending caught stealing and instead set up a two-run single that gave the Mountaineers an early advantage.

In the top of the second, a WVU safety squeeze bunt made it 3-0 before Baylor plated its first run in the bottom half via a Ceccoli sacrifice fly.

BU got one more back in the bottom of the fourth thanks to Ceccoli’s RBI double, bringing the Bears within one at 3-2.

Then in the sixth, Sunseri struck a two-out, two-strike double down the left-field line, scoring a pair of Bears and propelling Baylor to a 4-3 lead.

However, a BU fielding error in the top of the eighth extended a WVU rally that resulted in a go-ahead, two-run double as the Mountaineers reclaimed the lead for good at 5-4. Then, its bullpen worked three perfect innings and struck out five Bears to close things out in the series opener.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor falls to 14-15 all-time against West Virginia and 2-9 against ranked opponents this season.
• This is BU’s second loss of 2023 when leading after the sixth inning.
• This marks the 17th game this year that has been decided by two runs or less, and the 10th one-run ballgame the Bears have played in 2023.
• Freshman C Walker Polk extended his on-base streak to 11 games with his first multi-hit game of the season.
• Sophomore C Cortlan Castle extended his on-base streak to seven games and hitting streak to six games.
• Sophomore 1B John Ceccoli collected his fourth multi-RBI outing of the year.
• Junior INF Casey Sunseri notched his first-career extra-base hit and first multi-RBI game of his career.
• Redshirt freshman INF Jack Johnson logged his first multi-hit game of the season.
• Junior RHP Anderson Needham pitched his 12th scoreless outing of the year.
• Sophomore RHP Gabe Craig worked his 11th scoreless appearance of 2023.
• Freshman LHP/OF Ethan Calder worked his fourth scoreless outing of the season.

STAT OF THE DAY
4 – Baylor scored four runs and allowed four unearned runs in the loss.

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Mitch Thompson
On the lower part of the lineup coming through…
“We’ve been hit hard by the injury bug. We’ve got several guys out that are big-time guys for us. Jack Johnson comes in the game and gets two hits, scores two runs. And you’ve got to be proud of that. [John] Ceccoli came back out and drove in two runs. And then Casey Sunseri with his big hit. So, I think you’re talking about the 6, 7, 8 holes in the lineup tonight that drove in a lot of our runs. They gave us an opportunity and they gave us a chance and that’s good for them, man. That’s what we’re hoping from them.”

WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor (15-27, 6-13) returns for a chance to even the series with No. 17 West Virginia (31-11, 9-4) on Saturday, April 29, with a 2 p.m. first pitch at Baylor Ballpark in Waco.

To stay up to date on all things Baylor baseball, follow the team on its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorBaseball.



-BaylorBears.com-


__________________________________

Max Calderone | Associate Director of Athletics Communications (BSB, FB, EQ)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 254-265-1639

[signature_2549999394]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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