Baylor Baseball Walks-Off Central Michigan, 6-5, In Extras on Opening Day

[Calderone, Max]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Feb. 17, 2023

Baylor Baseball Walks-Off Central Michigan, 6-5, In Extras on Opening Day
Thompson collects first-career Division I win as head coach in Opening Day thriller
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (1-0) walked-off Central Michigan (0-1) Friday, 6-5, in 10 innings to win an Opening Day thriller at Baylor Ballpark in Waco.

Redshirt freshman Jack Johnson delivered the game-ending knock, driving in freshman Kolby Branch with a flared single to center field and giving head coach Mitch Thompson his first-career win as a Division I skipper. The hit was also the first of Johnson’s collegiate career.

Junior right-handed pitchers Hambleton Oliver and Cole Stasio combined to go five innings in relief, allowing just one run on one hit and striking out six. Stasio picked up his first-career win in the process.

THE RUNDOWN
The Chippewas struck first with two runs in the top of the third inning of Baylor starter Blake Helton, who went 3.1 innings on 75 pitches throw as the Opening Day starter. A pair of RBI singles opened the scoring before Helton struck out back-to-back batters to end the frame.

In the bottom of the fourth, Austin Stracener got the Bears on the board with an infield single that scored Kobe Andrade. But, CMU would score the game’s next two runs in the top of the fifth off a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch and walk.

However, BU responded in the bottom half with a pair of runs to come within one. Casen Neumann singled through the left side to drive in Gavin Brzozowski, then initiated a double steal with Cole Posey on third base to result in another run.

Trailing by a run in the bottom of the seventh, it was Posey who once again kickstarted a rally with a leadoff single, followed by walks to Andrade and Cortlan Castle to load the bases. That’s when Branch came through with his third hit of the night, driving in two runs, to give Baylor it’s first lead of the game at 5-4.

The Chippewas scratched one more across in the top of the eighth, but the Bears relievers were able to prevent any further damage.

In the bottom of the 10th, Branch worked a two-out walk to reach base, advanced to second on a balk, and moved up to third on a passed ball, setting up Johnson to deliver the game-winning hit.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Head coach Mitch Thompson earned his first-career victory as a Division I skipper.
• Baylor improved to 65-36 all-time in season openers, including wins in seven of the last 10 Opening Days.
• BU is now 77-26 all-time in home openers and has won nine of its last 12 first-games at Baylor Ballpark.
• The Bears won their third-straight game against Central Michigan all-time, though the two sides had not met since 1989 entering today.
• Baylor’s last win in extra innings on Opening Day was on Feb. 20, 2009, defeating Pacific by a final of 2-1 in 10 innings.
• BU had three walk-off wins in 2022, with the most recent coming on May 19 against Oklahoma State, the Bears’ last win of the 2022 season.
• Eight Bears made their Baylor debuts, including Kolby Branch, Gavin Brzozowski, John Ceccoli, Jack Johnson, Cole Posey, Hunter Simmons, Austin Stracener and Casey Sunseri.
• Branch, Brzozowski and Johnson each made their collegiate debuts and all collected their first-career hits.
• Branch led the team with a three-hit night, the only Bear with multiple hits.
• Branch also drove in two runs as the only Bear to tally a multi-RBI game.
• Johnson’s walk-off hit was also his first-career RBI.
• Ceccoli, Posey and Stracener each recorded their first hits as Baylor Bears.
• Posey stole home on a double steal, becoming the first Bear to do so since Hayden Ross on March 8, 2015, against Texas A&M.
• Stracener notched his first-career RBI.
• Cole Stasio pitched a career-high 2.1 innings, earned his first-career win, and struck out a personal-best four batters.

STAT OF THE GAME
1 – Head coach Mitch Thompson won the first game of his career as a Division I skipper; Jack Johnson collected his first-career hit and RBI.

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Mitch Thompson
On how the team responded after trailing 4-1…
"We did. We fought. We competed. Had to battle offensively and it wasn’t an easy day to hit. They’re running some good arms out there at us and got the wind blowing in. I like the way that we competed. We drew some big-time walks. Played the game. Errorless baseball in game one is a big deal. We’re going to have to clean up some things, obviously we can’t walk or hit ten guys and then win very often. And we can’t leave as many guys on base… we can’t leave eleven guys on base very often either. Lots of room to grow. Kolby Branch, first college game he’s ever played, had three hits and two RBI’s. Jack Johnson’s first college game he’s ever played, gets the game winner. Doesn’t get much better than that. Hambleton Oliver, big time out of the bullpen. Stasio, big time out of the bullpen. You’ve got to love those types of things."

Redshirt freshman infielder Jack Johnson
On what he felt like the team proved with an Opening Day win…
“I think we proved a lot. We proved our fight and I think we proved the energy that we’re going to show all year. We just proved that we can compete with everyone.”

Freshman infielder Kolby Branch
On if he felt like this was a statement win…
“Yeah, we’re proud to be out here. We’re proud to be with one another and it’s just a lot of fun to be out here. I don’t know, it’s good to play baseball again.”

WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor (1-0) and Central Michigan (0-1) are right back at it on Saturday, Feb. 18, for the second game of the series. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. at Baylor Ballpark.

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_951238992]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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