Baylor Baseball Held in Check by Kansas, 3-2

[Calderone, Max]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – April 14, 2022

Baylor BSB Held in Check by Kansas, 3-2
Pineda homers, Rigney strikes out six as Bears fall in series opener
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (16-17, 2-8) was held in check by Kansas (14-18, 2-5) Friday night at Baylor Ballpark, dropping a 3-2 contest in the series opener.

The top third of the BU lineup combined for all seven of the team’s hits, including a Jack Pineda home run, and Will Rigney struck out six in a career high-tying six innings of work, but KU’s Daniel Hegarty was able to shut down the Bears’ offense in his complete game outing.

Baylor got the scoring going in the bottom of the first as hits from Tre Richardson and Kyle Nevin, plus a Jared McKenzie hit-by-pitch loaded the bases. Chase Wehsener drove home the game’s first run by reaching on a fielder’s choice to give Baylor the early 1-0 lead.

However, KU answered right back in the top of the second via a solo home run that knotted the score at 1-1, then added the next two tallies in the fifth to move ahead 3-1.

Pineda’s solo blast in the bottom of the fifth cut the deficit to 3-2, but that would be all on the scoreboard as Hegarty continued to escape further trouble.

Matt Voelker gave the Bears two scoreless innings of relief and picked up three strikeouts, then Adam Muirhead worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth to keep the Bears within a run. BU got the tying run to third base in the bottom of the ninth, but was unable to cash in.

NOTES
• Baylor still holds a 59-23 advantage in the all-time series with Kansas, including an 11-6 mark against the Jayhawks under seventh-year head coach Steve Rodriguez.
• Baylor’s pitching staff notched 10 strikeouts for the ninth time this season and second time in Big 12 play.
• With two extra-base hits on the night, BU has now recorded at least one XBH in each of its last 12 games.
• Tre Richardson extended his on-base streak to a career-high 24 games.
• Richardson collected his 10th multi-hit game of the year.
• Jared McKenzie extended his on-base streak to 20 games, also a career high.
• Jack Pineda extended his on-base streak to 16 games.
• Pineda hit his third home run of the season and tallied his team-leading 13th multi-hit effort of 2022.
• Kyle Nevin extended his on-base streaks to 13 games.
• Nevin tallied his ninth multi-hit game of the year, fourth three-hit performance of the season and second such game in a row.
• Will Rigney matched his career high with six innings pitched.
• Matt Voelker tied his season high with three strikeouts in relief.
• Adam Muirhead pitched his fifth scoreless outing of the season and second in a row.

STAT OF THE GAME
7 – Baylor’s first three hitters (Tre Richardson, Jack Pineda, Kyle Nevin) combined to record all seven of the team’s hits.

TOP QUOTES
Head coach Steve Rodriguez
On tonight’s game…
“I thought the top part of our order did a great job, having a plan, using the middle of the field, using the opposite side which we did a really good job of. The biggest thing was the execution. We had guys in scoring position and bases loaded with nobody out, but we had a strikeout and double play that saw some energy decrease from that point on. We just weren’t able to get the ball in the gap when we needed to. We need someone to step up, someone to take the leadership role. Our guys are tough, they are resilient, they battle through a lot of stuff and I will go to war with each one of these guys. But sometimes you need someone in the trenches who is going to force you to do some things.”

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor (16-17, 2-8) and Kansas (14-18, 2-5) meet again in Friday’s game two of the series with first pitch set for 5 p.m. CT at Baylor Ballpark.

For the latest news on the Baylor baseball team all season long, follow 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_416886323]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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