Baylor Baseball Splits Doubleheader at No. 13 Texas Tech

[Calderone, Max]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – April 22, 2023

Baylor Baseball Splits Doubleheader at No. 13 Texas Tech
Bears bats get hot in 14-9 loss, Caley turns in fantastic start in 6-4 victory
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

LUBBOCK, Texas – Baylor baseball (15-25, 6-12) split a doubleheader with No. 13 Texas Tech (29-13, 8-7) on Saturday, dropping a 14-9 contest then salvaging the weekend series with a 6-4 victory at Rip Griffin Park in Lubbock.

The Bears pounded out 25 hits on the day, out-hitting the Red Raiders by one across both games combined with a dozen knocks in the first game and 13 in the nightcap.

Junior lefty Cam Caley turned in a fantastic start with a career-high 6.2 frames and six strikeouts, allowing just one earned run and walking none to help BU head home with a win.

Junior RHP/OF Cole Tremain drove in five runs in the two contests, while freshman INF Kolby Branch went 5-for-9 and scored twice to lead the charge offensively. Freshman OF Gavin Brzozowski and sophomore C Cortlan Castle each added a three-hit effort in today’s twin bill.

THE RUNDOWN
In game one, Tech jumped out to a fast 5-0 lead with a quintet of runs in the bottom of the first inning. A sacrifice fly by Kobe Andrade got the Bears on the board in the second, but the Red Raiders answered back in the bottom half with an RBI single to make it 6-1.

Baylor showed great signs of life with a five-spot of its own in the sixth, as Tremain doubled in a pair and scored on redshirt freshman INF Jack Johnson’s RBI double. Junior C Harrison Caley added a run-scoring single before freshman OF Caleb Bergman laid down a perfectly-executed safety squeeze bunt to tie the ballgame.

However, Tech responded quickly with four runs in the bottom half to go back ahead 10-6. Another run in the seventh and a trio in the eighth looked to put it out of reach at 14-6, but BU didn’t go down easily as Tremain drove in another two runs and a wild pitch allowed the game’s final tally at 14-9.

In the nightcap, Baylor struck first in the top of the third with back-to-back RBI extra-base hits. Tremain doubled in Brzozowski, then came around on sophomore 1B Casen Neumann’s triple off the center field wall, making it 2-0.

TTU cut it to a one-run game with an RBI single in the bottom half, then tied it in the fourth. BU rallied again in the top of the sixth as Castle led off with a double and later scored on a double play to retake a 3-2 lead.

Caley cruised through the Tech order three times, and nearly made it through seven frames complete, allowing three runs, only one of which was earned, on seven hits with six punchouts and no walks.

After a two-out double tied it in the bottom of the seventh for Texas Tech, Baylor broke things open in the top of the eighth with a two-out rally. Castle started it once again with a single, followed by a Bergman single and a Posey RBI knock to put BU in front at 4-3. Then, Branch doubled in the pair of Baylor baserunners on the first pitch he saw, extending the advantage to 6-3.

A run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth is all Tech would get, as sophomore RHP Gabe Craig came on to record the final four outs and earn his second save of the season.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor eclipsed double digits in hits in both games of today’s doubleheader, increasing its total to 18 double-digit hitting performances in 2023.
• The Bears recorded seven doubles between the two games.
• BU pitchers struck out nine in the nightcap, marking the 22nd time this season to eclipse that total.
• The game two victory marked the 11th time this season that the Bears tallied at least nine hits and struck out at least nine opposing batters in the same game.
• Baylor stole three bases in the game two victory, tying a season-high.
• In now 10 of BU’s 15 wins this season, the game has been tied in the seventh inning or later.
• 16 of the Bears 40 games have been decided by two runs or less.
• Baylor is now 14-6 this season when scoring six or more runs.
• Freshman INF Kolby Branch recorded two multi-hit games, extending his season total to a team-leading 17 such games.
• Branch also increased his on-base streak to nine games and collected his eighth multi-RBI game of the year.
• Branch hit a double in each of the two games, increasing his season total to a team-leading 16 doubles.
• Junior INF/OF Cole Posey collected his 12th multi-hit game of the year.
• Redshirt freshman OF Gavin Brzozowski totaled his sixth multi-hit game of the year.
• Sophomore C Cortlan Castle tied his career high with three hits, his sixth multi-hit performance of 2023.
• Junior RHP/OF Cole Tremain notched his fifth multi-hit effort of the season and drove in a career-high four runs in the first game, his fourth multi-RBI game of 2023.
• Freshman OF Caleb Bergman notched his third multi-hit outing of the season.
• Junior C Harrison Caley added his first multi-hit game of the year.
• Sophomore 1B Casen Neumann recorded his first multi-hit game of the season, which included an RBI triple, the first of his career.
• Junior RHP Grant Golomb earned his second win of the season.
• Sophomore RHP Gabe Craig collected his second save of the year in his ninth scoreless outing of the season.

STAT OF THE DAY
25 – A day after producing a season-low total in hits, the Bears pounded out two double-digit hitting performances for a total of 25 on the day, one more than Texas Tech’s 24.

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Mitch Thompson
On today’s doubleheader…
“Two pretty good ballgames. The first game was tied 6-6 and they kind of busted it open. We came back and started to make it a little interesting at the end. But I’m really proud of the guys for coming through and getting this third game. This is a tough place to win. The wind was a huge factor today and for us to get that W after being disappointed twice was a big deal.”

On Cam Caley’s outing…
“One of the things I’ve told the guys all year long is that we need everybody, we need all of them. It’s ‘together’ and we got it. Cam Caley was great today. Fantastic start. The decision to start him was made in about the eighth inning of game one and he responded. It really was a great outing. And Gabe Craig was huge there at the end.”

Junior LHP/OF Cam Caley
On his performance in game two…
“I felt pretty good today. Luckily today I had all my pitches working and I was locating really well. And I had the defense working behind me to help me out. It was huge knowing that we had a good chance at winning this game helped me pitch today.”

Sophomore C Cortlan Castle
On being in the middle of the action today…
“There was a few times today where I was leading off the inning and I was just trying to battle, pass the bat off to the next guy like Coach Thompson always preaches. We were able to get it done, the guys behind me drove me in so that was awesome to see. And Cam Caley, man his stuff today was electric and him going there continuously putting up zeros, lots of strikes and getting guys out really brought the momentum and helped us put some runs together."

WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor (15-25) returns home to face Tarleton (20-16) in a midweek contest on Tuesday, April 25, at 6:30 p.m. at Baylor Ballpark in Waco.

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 | Associate Director of Athletics Communications (BSB, FB, EQ)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 254-265-1639

[signature_4099535024]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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