BAYLOR BASEBALL: No. 22 Baylor Drops 8-6 Contest to No. 8 Texas

Sat Apr 6 22:53:50 CDT 2019

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – April 6, 2019

No. 22 BAYLOR DROPS 8-6 CONTEST TO NO. 8 TEXAS
Game three is set for 3:35 p.m. on Sunday.
For more information contact: Rachel Caton, 254-652-2061, Rachel_Caton at baylor.edu<mailto:Rachel_Caton at baylor.edu>

THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – The Bears dropped an 8-6 contest Saturday evening at Baylor Ballpark to No. 8 Texas. After Baylor took a 5-0 lead through five innings, the Longhorns scored eight unanswered runs and held Baylor quiet in the late innings.

Nine of the Bears’ 12 hits came from the trio of Davis Wendzel, Andy Thomas and Chase Wehsener, who went a combined 9-for-13 on the night.

Starter Paul Dickens turned in a solid performance, going 5.2 innings and allowing four runs on seven hits, racking up five strikeouts along the way. He has punched out at least four batters in all six of his starts this season.

The Bears (22-9, 6-2) jumped out to an early lead as Nick Loftin singled to lead off the bottom of the first and was chased home by a Richard Cunningham RBI triple. Wendzel followed with a run-scoring knock on the first pitch he saw and Baylor jumped ahead 2-0. After Shea Langeliers fouled out to the Texas right fielder, Wendzel scored on an errant throw and the Bears took a 3-0 lead to the second inning.

Dickens surrendered a one-out single in the top of the second, but then settled in to retire 11 Longhorns in a row. He put up zeros in the run column in each of the first five innings.

In the bottom of the fifth, Baylor added a pair of runs off back-to-back RBI doubles by Wendzel and Thomas, but Texas answered in the top of the sixth with a two-run home run by Austin Todd and a two-run single by Lance Ford to cut the Bears lead to 5-4.

Texas (21-13, 4-4) scored three in the seventh inning off reliever Jacob Ashkinos to take a 7-5 lead. Baylor never reclaimed the lead.

The Bears had two runners in scoring position in the eighth with Josh Bissonette at the plate, but BU couldn’t cash in as Bissonette struck out on a controversial call that resulted in head coach Steve Rodriguez’s first-career ejection during his tenure at Baylor.

Kyle Hill inherited two baserunners in the top of the ninth when he took over on the mound. He struck out the first two hitters he faced, but allowed an RBI double to Ford that extended the Longhorns’ lead to 8-5. The run was charged to Daniel Caruso who threw a hitless 1.1 innings, but walked two.

Baylor got one run back in the bottom half of the ninth after Chase Wehsener racked up his third hit of the game and later scored on a wild pitch. Texas reliever Kamron Fields got Wendzel to strikeout swinging to end the ballgame.

Ashkinos (0-2) took the loss while Longhorn starter Blair Henley (5-1) picked up the win. Fields earned his third save of the season.

The rubber game of the series is set for Sunday at 3:35 p.m. at Baylor Ballpark.

NOTES
*The Bears have won nine of their last 11 games.

*Since inserting Nick Loftin<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=49> in the leadoff spot on March 10, the Bears have scored 123 runs on 192 hits in their last 17 games. Loftin is 29-for-72 with 5 HR, 18 RBI and 20 runs scored during the stretch. The Bears are 13-4 in such games.

*111 of the Bears’ 221 total runs this season have scored with two outs.

*Richard Cunningham cracked the top ten on Baylor’s career triples leaderboard. He’s tied for ninth with 14.

*Nick Loftin extended his season-long on-base streak to 17 games and his team-leading hit streak to 12 games.

*Davis Wendzel extended his on-base streak to 11 games with his 14th multi-hit game of the season, and second in as many games.

*Wendzel also tallied his seventh multi-RBI game of the season, tying him for the team lead, as he drove in two.

*Chase Wehsener went 3-for-4, extending his hitting streak to eight games.

*Andy Thomas picked up his sixth multi-hit game of the year, going 3-for-4.

*Wendzel and Thomas hit back-to-back doubles in the fifth inning, remaining tied for the team lead at 12 doubles each.

*Kyle Hill made his 15th relief appearance of the season and 74th relief appearance of his career, tying him for sixth on Baylor’s career relief appearances leaderboard.

*Hill notched a season-high three strikeouts, his fifth multi-strikeout outing of the season.

*Paul Dickens has recorded at least four strikeouts in all six of his starts this season.

STAT OF THE DAY
3 – Three Baylor starters each recorded three hits. Davis Wendzel, Andy Thomas and Chase Wehsener combined to account for nine of Baylor’s 12 total hits.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
On the physicality and competitiveness of today’s game…

"It's two really good teams competing and they're going all out. They have guys slamming into walls and running into guys, while our guys are making plays up against the wall. If you want to watch great college baseball, this is it. They are getting great pitching and hitting, so if you are a fan of the game coming to watch this game, you must have been pretty excited for the past few days. That is exactly what we are all about and we are going to continue doing that."
- Baylor head coach Steve Rodriguez

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor and Texas will face off in a rubber game Sunday at 3:35 p.m. at Baylor Ballpark. For weather updates, visit baylorbears.com/weather

For tickets to home games, visit: https://baylorbears.com/sports/2018/9/11/tickets.aspx. For updates on the program follow @baylorbaseball on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

-baylorbears.com-

___________________________________
Rachel Caton | Associate Sports Information Director
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
O: 254-710-3784
C: 254-652-2061

[cid:image001.png at 01D3533B.25DEF160]<http://www.baylorbears.com/>

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