Baylor Baseball Edged By Central Michigan, 4-3, in Series Finale

[Calderone, Max]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Feb. 19, 2023

Baylor Baseball Edged By Central Michigan, 4-3, in Series Finale
Ceccoli homers, Andrade triples, pitchers strike out 12 in the loss
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (1-2) fell in the series finale to Central Michigan (2-1), 4-3, Sunday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark in Waco.

Despite the pitching staff striking out 12 Chippewas, the Bears couldn’t overcome a 4-1 deficit at the plate, stranding the game-tying run at second base in the ninth inning.

Sophomore 1B John Ceccoli delivered BU’s first blast of the season, a two-run home run to pull the Bears within one, but sophomore INF Hunter Teplanszky was left in scoring position after collecting his second hit of the game in the ninth.

Sophomore RHP Mason Marriott set a career high with six strikeouts in his first-career weekend start, but was hit with the loss. Meanwhile, junior RHP Andrew Petrowski made his Baylor debut with five punchouts in four scoreless frames of relief.

THE RUNDOWN
The Bears got things started quickly in the bottom of the first, as freshman INF Kolby Branch singled to right on the fifth pitch of the game, advanced to second on a passed ball, then moved up to third on a wild pitch, and later scored on Kobe Andrade’s sacrifice fly.

However, CMU would respond with a four-spot in the top of the second and proceed to hold BU scoreless until the sixth inning. That’s when Andrade led off the frame with a triple off the right-field wall and Ceccoli followed with a two-run blast to pull the Bears within one.

Petrowski, who entered in the fifth, held the Chippewas in check through to the ninth inning, allowing just two hits, including a double, though the baserunner would eventually be caught stealing by Baylor freshman catcher Zach Mazoch at third.

Junior righty Cole Stasio came on to pitch a scoreless ninth and struck out one, his second scoreless outing of the season, to send the Bears to bat with a chance to win the game.

A one-out single by Teplanszky gave BU some life in the bottom of the ninth, and after a strikeout he advanced to second on a balk. Freshman OF Caleb Bergman would replace him as a pinch runner, however, CMU’s Nate Ross was able to induce a game-ending groundout to strand the potential tying run in scoring position.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor is now 6-3 all-time against Central Michigan.
• The Bears dropped the opening weekend series for just the sixth time in their last 16 seasons.
• BU’s pitchers struck out 38 batters, the most by a Baylor squad in a three-game series since at least 2003 (dating back to available stats).
• The is the first time since 2022’s opening weekend series vs. Maryland (Feb. 18-20) that the Bears have struck out double-digit batters in three straight games.
• Sophomore RHP Mason Marriott made his first-career weekend start and struck out a career-high six batters.
• Junior RHP Andrew Petrowski made his Baylor debut and struck out five across four scoreless innings.
• Junior INF/OF Daniel Altman and junior OF Hunter Simmons each made their first starts as Bears.
• Sophomore 1B John Ceccoli hit his first home run of the year and second of his career.
• Ceccoli also recorded his first multi-hit and multi-RBI game of the season with two.
• Sophomore INF Hunter Teplanszky had two hits for the second game in a row. He led the Bears with a .571 average on the weekend.
• Junior LHP/OF Kobe Andrade tripled for the first time in his career.
• Freshman OF Caleb Bergman made his collegiate debut as a pinch-runner in the ninth inning.

STAT OF THE GAME
2 – John Ceccoli hit his second-career home run, a two-run shot, for his second hit of the day.

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Mitch Thompson
On his team’s resiliency over the weekend…
"We’re going to be growing up every game, every inning we play. We’re learning as a coaching staff. We’re learning as players. We’re getting experience. We have guys out there who have never been out there before. They competed hard. I think it showed a lot of heart for our guys how we came back after yesterday’s ballgame. They showed the fire and the fight, especially after going down 4-1 today. For our pitchers to come out there and throw up seven straight scoreless innings and then to get back in the game and have some cracks at it, you just need the hit. Sometimes the game is not going to give it to you and I give Central Michigan credit. They didn’t give us anything. I like their ball club and I like the way that we competed as well.”

Sophomore 1B John Ceccoli
On some takeaways from the weekend…
“Just our fight. All three games we were down at first and we clawed back in it on Friday and Sunday. Showing that fight, who we are as a team [will pay off].”

Junior RHP Andrew Petrowski
On his debut…
“It was really fun, amazing, crowd was really good. It was a blast. Everything was working pretty good, fastball and slider were pretty good. I thought we looked really solid [this weekend] and I’m excited to see what we can do in the future.”

WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor (1-2) welcomes HCU (0-3) for a Tuesday night tilt at Baylor Ballpark on Feb. 21. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.


-BaylorBears.com-


__________________________________

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

[signature_116990298]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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