Baylor Baseball Splits Doubleheader, Takes Series Over No. 23 Duke

[Calderone, Max]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Feb. 27, 2022

Baylor BSB Splits Doubleheader, Takes Series Over No. 23 Duke
Bears explode for 12-3 win in game one, drop 4-2 decision in game two
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 (3-4) split its doubleheader with No. 23 Duke (4-3) on Sunday at Baylor Ballpark, clinching a series win over the ranked Blue Devils in the process.

The Bears’ offense exploded for a 12-3 win in game one of the twin bill, but later came up short in a 4-2 loss in the series finale.

In game one, BU got out to a 2-0 lead through the first four innings with an RBI double by Tre Richardson and a run-scoring bloop single off the bat of Esteban Cardoza-Oquendo.

Duke scratched across an unearned run in the top of the fifth, but the floodgates broke open for the Bears in the bottom of the sixth as they put up a seven-spot to go ahead 9-1. Six walks, three hits, a hit-by-pitch and a Duke error resulted in the crooked number, as Baylor sent 13 men to the plate. Cardoza-Oquendo added to his tally with a two-RBI single and Jack Pineda drove in two as well.

BU would add three more in the seventh inning as Pineda tripled in Cardoza-Oquendo and later scored on an RBI single from Jared McKenzie, his second RBI of the day. Tre Richardson crossed the plate on a fielder’s choice to put the final tally mark on the board for the Bears.

On the mound, Jake Jackson was masterful in seven innings of work, allowing just one unearned run and four hits. He walked three, but struck out four in collecting his first win of the season.

The Blue Devils would cash in with two runs off Kobe Andrade in the eighth, but Cole Stasio worked a scoreless ninth to seal the series-clinching victory for the Bears.

In game two, Baylor’s Will Rigney turned in a career-high four innings of work on the mound and added six strikeouts, also a career-high, in his first start of 2022. Both teams got on the scoresheet in the first inning, though the score would remain tied at 1 until the fourth.

After Andrade led off the frame with a walk, a Duke wild pitch advanced him to second and Cardoza-Oquendo later sacrificed him over to third. Another wild pitch allowed the sophomore to score and put BU ahead, 2-1.

DU answered with a run of its own in the top of the fifth to knot the score at 2-2 and put two more up in the eighth thanks to a solo home run and a run-scoring walk. The Bears were unable to get to DU’s Jimmy Loper, who pitched the final three innings and allowed just two hits with five punchouts.

NOTES
• Baylor is now 4-1 all-time against Duke, including a 2-1 mark against the Blue Devils under seventh-year head coach Steve Rodriguez.
• BU earned its first series win of the season.
• The Bears are 2-1 this season against ranked opponents.
• Baylor produced its largest win (+9) since May 9, 2021 (23-3 vs. Kansas State).
• Sophomore OF Jared McKenzie has now reached base in 13-straight games, dating back to last season.
• Junior INF Jack Pineda has now reached base in 10 consecutive games, dating back to 2021.
• Pineda, McKenzie and Esteban Cardoza-Oquendo each tallied multi-hit and multi-RBI games.
• Pineda’s and Cardoza-Oquendo’s three-RBI outputs are single-game highs for the Bears this year.
• Senior RHP Jake Jackson collected his first win of the season, and first as a Bear.
• Sophomore RHP Will Rigney notched career-highs with four innings pitched and six strikeouts.
• Sophomore INF Beau Wimpee made his season debut.

STAT OF THE GAME
13 – The Bears sent 13 batters to the plate in a seven-run sixth inning in game one of the doubleheader.

TOP QUOTES
Head coach Steve Rodriguez
On today’s starting pitching…
“I was really happy with what Jake Jackson did for us early on and having Will Rigney go out there and get a quality start for us is also great. Jake went out and did a great job for us, then Will going the innings that he did was quality. It was great to get him out there, be able to see what he can do and the effectiveness he had. I was really happy with both of them and how they gave us a chance to win both games.”

Senior RHP Jake Jackson
On his performance today and his first win as a Bear…
“It means a lot. Obviously, getting that first one under the belt, now it’s time to go on a roll and pick up as many wins as we can. It felt really good. The guys gave me a ton of run support, so hats off to them. They supported me, so I wanted to give it all I got and support them. I leave everything on my sleeve – you’re going to know if I make a bad pitch and you’re going to know if I make a good pitch to strike a guy out. I’m not afraid to pitch with emotion and come off the mound with my kind of swagger. In my mind, that helps get the team’s energy going and keep us on the right path.”

Sophomore OF Jared McKenzie
On winning the weekend series…
“I think coming off this weekend, we put the weekend that we had against Maryland behind us, took what happened and learned from it. And you look now, we still have a lot to work on, but to know that we can come out here and compete and be in ballgames and win a series against a ranked opponent is really neat.”

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor (4-3) heads to Houston for a Wednesday night contest on March 2 at Rice (2-5), with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. at Reckling Park.

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_1456853508]<http://baylorbears.com/>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/localmedia/attachments/20220228/a0f00809/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 11693 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/localmedia/attachments/20220228/a0f00809/attachment-0001.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: BU06 Box Score.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 42329 bytes
Desc: BU06 Box Score.pdf
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/localmedia/attachments/20220228/a0f00809/attachment-0003.pdf>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: BU07 Box Score.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 41549 bytes
Desc: BU07 Box Score.pdf
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/localmedia/attachments/20220228/a0f00809/attachment-0004.pdf>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 2022 BSB Season Stats.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 162876 bytes
Desc: 2022 BSB Season Stats.pdf
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/localmedia/attachments/20220228/a0f00809/attachment-0005.pdf>