Sanders Sends Baylor Baseball Past HCU With Walk-Off Home Run

Tue Apr 1 23:13:21 CDT 2025

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – April 1, 2025

Sanders Sends Baylor Baseball Past HCU With Walk-Off Home Run
Bears win 3-2 thriller, remain undefeated in midweek contests
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

WACO, Texas – Redshirt sophomore infielder Travis Sanders sent Baylor baseball home with a 3-2 walk-off win over HCU Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark, crushing a 396-foot solo home run to win it in Waco.

The Bears remained undefeated in midweek ballgames this season with their first walk-off victory since April 14, 2023, against Texas and their first walk-off home run in the last four seasons.

Sanders had two hits while his defensive partner up the middle, senior infielder Tyriq Kemp, added a three-hit performance at the plate and scored a run.

After BU led 1-0 for the majority of the ballgame, HCU tied things in the eighth but redshirt sophomore infielder Jack Little delivered a go-ahead RBI single in the bottom half for the Bears to retake a 2-1 lead. The Huskies plated another tying run in the top of the ninth after being down to their last strike, but the Bears walked it off in the home half on the back of Sanders’ solo blast.

Senior right-handed pitcher Will Glatch secured the win, his third of the season, with two strikeouts in the final 1.1 innings. The Baylor pitching staff held its opponent to two or fewer runs for the third time this season, fanning a combined six batters and scattering eight hits in the victory.

THE RUNDOWN
Sixth-year senior southpaw starter Bryson Bales kept the Huskies’ offense quiet, pitching a scoreless first three frames and allowing just two hits before turning the ball over to senior righty Andrew Petrowski. Petrowski put up another zero in the fourth, thanks in part to a 6-4-3 double play by Kemp and Sanders.

Despite a pair of early doubles by Kemp and redshirt sophomore outfielder Gavin Brzozowski, his first of the season, BU didn’t get on the board until the bottom of the fourth as Kemp and Simmons reached on consecutive singles. After Kemp moved up to third on a fly out, he then scored on a safety squeeze sacrifice bunt by redshirt sophomore infielder Jack Little, putting the Bears ahead, 1-0.

Now pitching with a lead, the Baylor arms didn’t let up on the Huskies and threw up three straight zeros with Petrowski and sixth-year senior right-hander Patrick Hail, who entered in the sixth to punchout one in two hitless frames.

Senior right-hander Caleb Bunch came on in the eighth and got two outs before handing the ball over to Glatch with one Husky on base. After an infield single and an error moved two baserunners into scoring position, another infield single plated the tying run for HCU and evened the score at 1-1.

Baylor responded quickly though, as redshirt senior outfielder Enzo Apodaca collected a leadoff single and advanced to third on back-to-back wild pitches. Little delivered a big two-out RBI single for BU to retake a 2-1 lead through eight innings.

However, HCU wouldn’t go easily as its leadoff batter singled and was lifted for a pinch runner. After consecutive strikeouts by Glatch, a two-out, two-strike bloop double into left field allowed the Huskies to score the tying run once more and bring the Bears back up to the plate in the home half with the score tied at 2-2.

That’s when Sanders led off the bottom of the ninth and connected on a 2-2 pitch, launching it over the right-center wall for a walk-off solo home run, securing the 3-2 victory and keeping Baylor undefeated in midweek ballgames this season.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor remained undefeated (7-0) in midweek games in 2025 and improved to 23-10 in midweek ballgames under third-year head coach Mitch Thompson.
• BU improved to 9-2 al-time against HCU, including a 3-0 mark in the Thompson era.
• The Bears are undefeated (7-0) against fellow teams from Texas this season.
• Baylor has won 12-straight midweek games dating back to the 2024 season.
• Tuesday’s win marks the fastest BU has reached 20 wins in a season since 2019, when the Bears started the year 20-6, collecting win No. 20 on March 30 at Kansas.
• Baylor is now 13-2 this season when allowing two walks or fewer.
• Redshirt sophomore INF Travis Sanders’ walk-off home run marked the first by a Bear since Antonio Valdez hit one on May 19, 2022, vs. Oklahoma State.
• Sanders’ home run gave Baylor its first walk-off win since April 14, 2023, vs. Texas.
• Sanders extended his hitting streak to six games with his sixth multi-hit performance of the year, including his second-career home run.
• Redshirt senior OF Enzo Apodaca extended his on-base streak to 12 games.
• Senior INF Tyriq Kemp logged his 11th multi-hit game of the season with a double and two singles.
• Redshirt senior DH Hunter Simmons extended his on-base streak to 34 games, dating back to the 2023 season.
• Simmons’ on-base streak is the seventh-longest by a Bear in the Statcrew era (since 2003).
• Redshirt sophomore INF Jack Little contributed his seventh multi-RBI game of the year.
• Redshirt sophomore OF Gavin Brzozowski hit his first double of the season, the third of his career and his first since April 25, 2023.
• Sixth-year senior LHP Bryson Bales made his second scoreless appearance of the season, allowing just two hits and fanning two in three innings of work.
• Redshirt senior RHP Andrew Petrowski made his fifth scoreless appearance of the year with a season-high two innings of work, allowing just one hit and collecting one strikeout.
• Sixth-year senior RHP Patrick Hail made his seventh scoreless appearance of 2025 and matched a season best with two innings of relief.
• Senior RHP Will Glatch earned his third win of the season, fanning two batters in 1.1 innings on the mound.

STAT OF THE DAY
396 – Redshirt sophomore infielder Travis Sanders launched a 396-foot walk-off home run to secure the Bears’ 3-2 win over HCU, the second long ball of his career.

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Mitch Thompson
On tonight’s win after a quick turnaround from the weekend series at Arizona…
“It was a nail-biter [tonight], it was one where we didn’t play exceptionally well. We didn’t swing the bat exceptionally well, we didn’t play exceptionally well on defense. I thought we pitched the ball really well, and that’s how we ended up winning it. We did enough situationally to get it done, and it was fun to see Travis [Sanders] hit that one out and walk it off. It’s a tough turnaround [from Arizona], you’re coming off of a high from a big win on the road against a ranked opponent. And then we’ve got a big weekend coming up, too.”

Redshirt Sophomore INF Travis Sanders
On the walk-off home run…
“I faced [the opposing pitcher] in the seventh or the eighth, hit a single through the six hole, saw the stuff, saw his faster and a breaking ball, so I knew he wasn’t going to beat me in that at-bat. Coming into the ninth inning, in a big spot, to see two fastballs and get into my two-strike approach, I just let it get deep and put a good swing on it. Then, you know, the baseball gods came through, so it was a fun time.”

Sixth-Year Senior RHP Patrick Hail
On the confidence in the depth of the bullpen…
“We have a ton [of confidence]. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of. [Pitching coach Sean Snedeker] Sned and I always talk about how weird it is. It’s usually seven or eight guys throwing all of your innings, but we’re halfway through the season and we’re all in the same bucket with everybody throwing well. I think it has a lot to do with Sned and a lot to do with those guys in the ‘pen that are just working so hard and trusting everything that’s going on.”

WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor (20-8, 4-5) hosts Houston (15-12, 3-6) for a three-game series at Baylor Ballpark, beginning on Friday, April 4, at 6:30 p.m. at Baylor Ballpark.

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 | Director of Athletics Communications (Baseball, Football)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 254-265-1639

[signature_2667209041]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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