Baylor Baseball Drops Game Two at Duke

[Calderone, Max]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Feb. 25, 2023

Baylor Baseball Drops Game Two at Duke
Blue Devils clinch the series after scoring 18 unanswered runs
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

DURHAM, N.C. – Baylor baseball (2-4) dropped the second game of its series at Duke (4-2), 22-3, Saturday at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, N.C.

The Bears fell victim to a handful of crooked numbers as the Blue Devils pulled away with 18 unanswered runs from the fifth inning on. Baylor trailed by a run after four and a half frames before Duke’s offense exploded for the second-straight night.

BU’s Hunter Simmons tallied two hits for the first time this year, while Kolby Branch extended his hit streak to six games in the loss. Kobe Andrade also picked up another extra-base hit, his second triple of the year, and drove in a run.

THE RUNDOWN
For the second-straight day, Baylor got on the board first and pushed across a run in the game’s opening inning. Simmons reached on a two-out single, then scored on Andrade’s triple to the right-center gap to make it 1-0, BU.

The Bears led 2-0 after Simmons knocked in Branch with an RBI groundout in the top of the third, but Duke answered back with four runs in the bottom half to chase BU starter Cam Caley from the ballgame. Baylor scratched one more across in the top of the fifth after Branch doubled with one out and later scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-3, but that’s as close as it would get on the night.

Duke took advantage of 16 free passes – 10 walks and four hit by pitches – and racked up 15 hits to score five in the fifth, three in the sixth, one in the seventh, and nine in the eighth to clinch the series victory.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor still leads the all-time series, 4-3, over Duke.
• BU pitchers reached double digits in strikeouts for the fifth time in six games this season with 11 on the night.
• Junior OF Hunter Simmons tallied his first multi-hit game as a Bear.
• Junior LHP/OF Kobe Andrade collected his second triple of the season. Five of his six hits on the year have gone for extra bases.
• Freshman INF Kolby Branch extended his hit streak to six games.
• Junior INF Casey Sunseri notched his first-career hit with a single in the top of the ninth.
• Freshman OF Caleb Bergman got his first-career at-bat as a pinch hitter in the top of the ninth.

STAT OF THE GAME
6 – Freshman INF Kolby Branch hit safely in his sixth-career game as a Bear.

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Mitch Thompson
On tonight’s game…
"Obviously, tonight didn’t go our way. We didn’t play very well. [Duke] hurt us every chance that they could. They swung the bats really well. We didn’t throw enough strikes and we’re going to have to do a better job. This has been a very sobering weekend. It’s hard on the kids, it’s hard on me, it’s hard on everybody. We’re going to keep working to get it fixed.”

On the top of the batting order…
“I think those guys are competing. We’ve just got to get more of them like that, that are going to compete every at-bat. I like the at-bats that [Kolby] Branch has given us. I like the at-bats, for the most part, [Gavin] Brzozowski’s given us. Hunter Simmons is up there competing very hard. Harrison Caley is competing very hard in the lineup. And Kobe Andrade has done a nice job. All of those guys don’t have much experience and we just have to keep getting better. There’s only one way to go from here, and that’s where we’re going to start heading.”

WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor (2-4) and Duke (4-2) wrap up the three-game series on Sunday, Feb. 26, at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park with an 11 a.m. CT first pitch. The game will be streamed on ACCNX via ESPN+.

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_1739916144]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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