=?Windows-1252?Q?McKinney_Brilliant, _Jordan_Homers_Twice_in_Baylor_Baseba?= ll’s Fifth-Straight Win

[Calderone, Max]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – April 6, 2024

McKinney Brilliant, Jordan Homers Twice in Baylor Baseball’s Fifth-Straight Win
Bears cruise past Cardinals, 15-3, to clinch series
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

WACO, Texas – In another offensive outpouring, Baylor baseball cruised past Incarnate Word, 15-3, on Saturday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark in Waco, clinching the series and picking up its fifth win in a row.

BU (13-17) pounded out a season-high 18 hits with 10 different Bears recording at least one knock, including three players in junior outfielder Wesley Jordan, senior infielder Daniel Altman and junior infielder Hunter Teplanszky who tallied three-hit games. Jordan homered twice on the day, his fourth and fifth blasts of the season, leading the charge of Baylor’s four-homer attack.

Not to be outdone, redshirt freshman right-hander Collin McKinney was brilliant on the mound, tossing five innings and allowing just two runs (one earned) on two hits, two walks and striking out 10 for the second start in a row. McKinney’s back-to-back 10-strikeout starts are the first by a Bear since Kendal Volz did so in his last start of 2007 and first of 2008.

THE RUNDOWN
After a three-up, three-down top of the first, Baylor put three runs up right away on UIW (15-14) with Jordan’s two-run bomb and a solo shot by Teplanszky in the bottom of the first. The Bears wasted no time adding to their total, plating another three runs in the bottom of the second on a pair of singles by Jordan and Altman after McKinney fanned the side in the top half.

Neither side scored in the third, though the Cardinals would scratch two across in the fourth on an RBI fielder’s choice and an error. BU answered with five runs in the home half on seven hits, as Teplanszky, sophomore catcher Zach Mazoch, fifth-year senior infielder Cole Posey, junior catcher Cortlan Castle and redshirt junior outfielder Enzo Apodaca each tallied RBI singles.

McKinney finished his day with two more punchouts in a scoreless fifth, preceding Jordan’s second round-tripper of the afternoon which made it 12-2. Mazoch picked up another RBI on a fielder’s choice later in the inning, extending Baylor’s lead to 13-2.

Sophomore southpaw reliever Ethan Calder came on to pitch two scoreless frames and BU added tallies in each the bottom of the seventh and eighth, as redshirt sophomore infielder Jack Johnson crushed his first-career home run over the batter’s eye and a run-scoring wild pitch accounted for the final Baylor runs of the day.

Redshirt junior righty Gabe Craig and senior right-hander Jared Matheson each made their first appearances in nearly a month in seeing out the series-clinching victory.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor extended its win streak to five games, its longest under second-year head coach Mitch Thompson.
• This is the first time the Bears have won five in a row since doing so on March 27-April 2, 2022.
• BU has scored at least eight runs in each of its last five games, its longest such streak since scoring eight or more in seven-straight contests from April 24-May 11, 2018.
• Baylor improved to 7-0 all-time against Incarnate Word and surpassed its largest margin of victory over the Cardinals with this 12-run win.
• All nine starters reached base safely and 10 different Bears recorded a hit, marking the first time a Baylor team has done so since May 17, 2022, vs. Stephen F. Austin.
• Baylor hit a season-high four home runs on the day, its first time doing so since March 25, 2023, at Oklahoma State.
• BU tied its season high with 14 strikeouts as a pitching staff on Saturday, marking the 14th time this season and fourth game in a row in which the Bears have eclipsed double-digit punchouts.
• Redshirt freshman RHP Collin McKinney became the first Baylor pitcher to strikeout 10 or more batters in back-to-back starts since Kendal Volz did so in his last outing of 2007 (13 vs. Oklahoma, May 26, 2007) and his first start of 2008 (10 vs. Purdue, Feb. 22, 2008).
• The 10 strikeouts ties McKinney’s season and career high.
• Sophomore LHP Ethan Calder recorded his team-leading eighth scoreless outing of the year.
• Redshirt junior RHP Gabe Craig made his first appearance since Feb. 28 and pitched a scoreless inning, his third scoreless outing of 2024.
• Senior RHP Jared Matheson closed it out with a two-strikeout inning in his first appearance since March 9.
• Redshirt junior OF Enzo Apodaca extended his team-leading hitting streak to nine games.
• Junior OF Ty Johnson extended his hitting streak to five games after reaching base three times with a hit and two walks.
• Junior OF Wesley Jordan hit his fourth and fifth home runs of the season, the first multi-HR game of his career and second such effort by a Bear this season (Harrison Caley vs. SFA, March 12, 2024).
• Jordan tallied his seventh multi-hit game and fifth multi-RBI performance going 3-for-5 with four RBIs.
• Jordan also extended his team-best on-base streak to 22 games.
• Senior INF Daniel Altman extended his on-base streak to eight games with his eighth multi-hit and four multi-RBI game of the year, going 3-for-5 with two RBIs.
• Junior INF Hunter Teplanszky launched his third home run of the year, extending his on-base streak to 14 games and hitting streak to six games.
• Teplanszky delivered his team-best 11th multi-hit game of the year and sixth multi-RBI game of the season, going 3-for-3 with two RBIs.
• Sophomore C Zach Mazoch is riding a five-game hit streak after his fourth multi-hit effort of the season.
• Fifth-year senior INF Cole Posey collected his first multi-hit game of the year, going 2-for-5.
• Junior INF Tyriq Kemp extended his on-base streak to eight games with a walk in the eighth inning.
• Redshirt sophomore INF Jack Johnson hit his first-career home run, a 430-foot blast over the batter’s eye in center field.

STAT OF THE DAY
10 – Collin McKinney’s back-to-back 10-strikeout starts are the first by a Bear in 16 years.

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Mitch Thompson
On the fifth win in a row…
“It was fun to see Collin [McKinney] go out there and get after it from the first pitch of the game on, to have dominating stuff. Then, to see us put up three runs in the first and three again in the second, taking really good at-bats and hitting balls hard, the confidence builds. It just does. When you’re playing well, which we are, we’re getting good pitching performances, then good things happen.”

Redshirt Freshman Right-Handed Pitcher Collin McKinney
On his outing…
“It’s just going out there and doing what you love. It’s great that I had a good start last weekend. Carried that same energy into today and good things happened. Just sticking to the game plan, trusting my stuff and knowing that I can go out there and do what I did today.”

Junior Outfielder Wesley Jordan
On his hitting performance…
“I was a little excited seeing the wind blowing out. You always like to see that as a power guy. I try to make hard contact. I’m at my best whenever I’m making hard contact, so just trying to do that as much as I can.”

WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor (13-17) goes for the series sweep over Incarnate Word (15-14) on Sunday at 1 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 (Baseball, Football)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 254-265-1639

[signature_3875757773]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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