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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: black;"><a name="_Hlk490052374" data-outlook-id="c257a9f7-1351-4b02-ad21-3ae1849ed35f" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><b>BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS –
</b></a><b>April 24, 2026<br>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; color: black;"><b>Baylor Baseball Drops Series Opener at No. 21 Arizona State<br>
</b></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;"><i>Bears fall 11-2 despite home runs from Sanders and Kennett <br>
</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: black;"><b>For more information contact:</b> Max Calderone, 254-265-1639,
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(149, 79, 114);"><a href="mailto:Max_Calderone@Baylor.edu" data-outlook-id="23bce5ca-3072-4e7e-a5db-0efdac8448df" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><u>Max_Calderone@Baylor.edu</u></a></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: black;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; color: black;"><b> </b></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: black;"><br>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;"><b>TEMPE, Ariz. –
</b>Baylor baseball dropped its series opener at No. 21 Arizona State, 11-2, Friday night at Phoenix Municipal Stadium in Tempe, Ariz. </span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;">Despite a three-hit night from redshirt junior infielder Travis Sanders, who also hit his fourth home run of the season, and a solo blast by junior catcher
JJ Kennett, the Bears (22-19, 9-10 Big 12) struggled to do much offensively against the Sun Devils (29-14, 12-7 Big 12). </span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;">Redshirt junior right-hander Lucas Davenport battled to give BU six innings of work on the mound and made his seventh-straight start with at least five
strikeouts. The Bears were within striking distance after six frames, trailing by just four runs, but ASU tagged the Baylor bullpen with a tally in the seventh and a four-run eighth to put the game out of reach.</span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;"><b>THE RUNDOWN</b></span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;">Sanders led off the ballgame with a single and put himself in scoring position with his 16<sup>th</sup> stolen base of the season. After an errant failed
pick off, Sanders stood 90 feet away with two outs in the opening frame, but was thrown out trying to steal home to end the top of the first.</span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;">In the bottom of the first, BU benefited from a strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out double play, but ASU responded with a solo home run, a two-out single, and
two-run shot to go ahead 3-0. Another solo blast started the bottom of the second with another Sun Devil tally, then the home side loaded the bases and plated one more on a 6-4-3 double play to make it 5-0 through the first three frames.</span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;">The Bears got on the board in the fourth as Sanders went deep, his fourth of the year, cutting it to 5-1. Then Kennett left the yard in the fifth, his first
homer of the season, to pull BU within three runs at 5-2. </span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;">However, ASU got one back in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI double to cushion its lead back to 6-2. After Davenport got through the sixth and
turned it over to the Baylor bullpen, junior reliever Charlie Atkinson was greeted with a solo shot, the Devils fourth of the night, that made it 7-2. Another solo blast extended the Arizona State lead to 8-2 in the eighth and ignited a four-run inning, putting
the game out of reach and sealing the series opener for the Sun Devils.</span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;"><b>HIGHLIGHTS</b></span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;">• Baylor has stolen 74 bases through 41 games, its most at this point in a season since at least 2003.</span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;">• BU’s 74 stolen bases on the year are its most in a single season since stealing 96 in 2012.</span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;">• Baylor turned two double plays on the night, moving its season total to 37 twin killings for the year, which ranks second in the Big 12.</span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;">• BU hit two home runs on the night, marking its ninth multi-HR game as a team this year.</span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;">• Redshirt junior INF Travis Sanders extended his hitting streak to seven games and has now reached in 37 of his 39 games played this season.</span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;">• Sanders hit his fourth home run of the season and 12<sup>th</sup> of his career.</span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;">• Sanders’ three-hit day was his seventh of the season and 17<sup>th</sup> multi-hit performance of the year.</span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;">• Redshirt senior 1B Tyce Armstrong extended his on-base streak to 13 games.</span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;">• Junior C JJ Kennett hit his first home run of 2026 and third of his career.</span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;">• Redshirt junior RHP Lucas Davenport made his seventh-straight start with at least five strikeouts, and eighth such start of the 2026 season.</span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;">• Senior RHP Grayson Murry made his 10<sup>th</sup> scoreless appearance of the season.</span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;"><b>STAT OF THE DAY</b></span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;">17 – Redshirt junior INF Travis Sanders logged his team-leading 17<sup>th</sup> multi-hit game of the season. His three hits marked his seventh three-hit
performance of the year, which also ties for the team lead.</span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;"><b>QUOTABLE</b></span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;"><b>Head Coach Mitch Thompson</b></span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;"><i>On Lucas Davenport’s performance…</i></span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;">“I’m very proud of Lucas’s compete, I’m very proud of his effort. He really saved us some bullpen. It was a first rough inning, the ball was just jumping
out of this joint. Some of those typically don’t go out, but they did tonight. I give them credit, they swung the bats well, but Lucas really did compete after that first inning to get us through six and to save the ‘pen. That’s going to help us the next couple
days.”</span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;"><b>WHAT’S NEXT</b></span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;">Baylor (22-19, 9-10 Big 12) looks to even the weekend series with No. 21 Arizona State (29-14, 12-7 Big 12) on Saturday, April 25. Game two of the three-game
set is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. CT from Phoenix Municipal Stadium.</span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;">To stay up to date on all things Baylor baseball, follow the team on its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorBaseball. </span></p>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;"><i><br>
-BaylorBears.com-</i></span></p>
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<b>__________________________________</b></div>
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<b> </b></div>
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<span style="color: rgb(21, 71, 52);"><b>Max Calderone</b></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black;"> | Director of Athletics Communications (Baseball, Football)</span></div>
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Department of Athletics | Baylor University</div>
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C: 254-265-1639</div>
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