Baylor Baseball Drops Series Opener to Houston, 7-4

[Calderone, Max]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – April 4, 2025

Baylor Baseball Drops Series Opener to Houston, 7-4
Bears squander late lead on rainy Friday night
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball dropped its weekend series opener to Houston, 7-4, Friday night at Baylor Ballpark in Waco.

BU took an early advantage with a three-spot in the second inning and added an insurance run in the seventh to go ahead 4-1, but squandered the lead in the eighth after allowing five unearned runs on two hits, two walks, an error and a hit by pitch.

The Bears were unable to get to UH closer Antoine Jean, who struck out five of the six batters he faced in two scoreless innings and lowered his ERA in conference play to 0.59.

Junior southpaw Ethan Calder started on the mound for the Bears and held the Cougars to just one run across five frames, scattering four hits and striking out four. Senior right-hander Will Glatch was hit with the loss after allowing four unearned runs on just one hit.

THE RUNDOWN
In a smooth start to BU’s first weekend series against an in-state rival, Calder was sharp early and collected four strikeouts in the first two innings. Senior infielder Tyriq Kemp got the offense going in the bottom of the second with a single and later scored on a sacrifice fly by sophomore catcher JJ Kennett. Redshirt senior outfielder Enzo Apodaca and senior outfielder Wesley Jordan followed that up with back-to-back RBI singles as BU took an early 3-0 lead.

Although a single and walk produced two Houston baserunners in the third, a diving catch by senior outfielder Ty Johnson prevented extra bases and allowed Calder to work out of a jam and put up another zero. Redshirt senior designated hitter Hunter Simmons was hit by a pitch in the home half of the frame and extended his on-base streak to 35 games, tying him for the sixth-longest such streak by a Bear in the Statcrew era (since 2003).

After a leadoff single, stolen base and a groundout, the Cougars got on the board in the top of the fifth with a run-scoring bunt for a hit, but that’s all they would get off of Calder as redshirt sophomore righty Lucas Davenport entered in the sixth. He’d go on to toss two scoreless innings for his second scoreless outing of the season.

In the bottom of the seventh, Baylor added an insurance run as freshman infielder Pearson Riebock delivered a two-out single to score Apodaca and give BU a 4-1 advantage.

However, the BU bullpen struggled in the eighth to the tune of two hits allowed, two walks and a hit by pitch, sandwiching a Bears error and allowed five runs to cross the plate for the Cougars, who took a 6-4 lead. UH added another in the ninth on a two-base sacrifice fly and claimed the series opener, 7-4, thanks to Jean’s five-punchout performance out of the bullpen.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor still leads the all-time series, 90-73, against Houston.
• Redshirt senior OF Enzo Apodaca extended his on-base streak to 13 games.
• Apodaca matched his career best with two solen bases.
• Redshirt senior DH Hunter Simmons extended his on-base streak to 35 games, dating back to the 2023 season.
• Simmons’ streak is tied for the sixth-longest on-base streak by a Bear in the Statcrew era (since 2003), matching Lawton Langford’s 2013 streak.
• Senior INF Tyriq Kemp extended his hitting streak to five games.
• Redshirt sophomore INF Travis Sanders has scored a run in six of his last seven games.
• Senior OF Ty Johnson extended his on-base streak to six games.
• Sophomore C JJ Kennett extended his on-base streak to six games.
• Kennett has driven in a run in each of his last six games.
• Junior LHP Ethan Calder made his fourth start this season with at least five innings pitched while allowing three earned runs or fewer (5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO).
• Redshirt sophomore RHP Lucas Davenport made his second scoreless appearance of the season.

STAT OF THE DAY
6 – Sophomore catcher JJ Kennett has driven in a run in each of his last six games.

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Mitch Thompson
On bouncing back after tonight’s loss…
“Absolutely [we’ll bounce back] – this one hurt. We felt like we were in good shape and had the game in pretty good hands. Then, all of a sudden we didn’t and now we’re punched. We’ve got to respond [tomorrow]. Houston stayed in the game, and they had an opportunity and they took advantage. We had opportunities to kind of open the game up a little bit more, and we missed several of them. And so, we have to play better, and it's a team win or a team loss. And that's, for sure, a team loss.”

WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor (20-9, 4-6) looks to bounce back against Houston (17-12, 4-6) in Saturday’s game two of the weekend series. First pitch is set for 2 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_1521325601]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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