Strong Pitching Propels Baylor Baseball Past UT Arlington

[Calderone, Max]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – April 16, 2024

Strong Pitching Propels Baylor Baseball Past UT Arlington
Bears collect ninth win in last 10 contests with 3-1 victory over Mavericks
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

ARLINGTON, Texas – Six Baylor pitchers combined to hold UT Arlington to just one run on Tuesday evening at Clay Gould Ballpark, as the Bears claimed a 3-1 contest over the Mavericks in Arlington.

The victory marks BU’s ninth in its last 10 contests and gives the Bears their third win streak of at least four games in the Mitch Thompson era.

Senior right-handed starter Jared Matheson set the tone with 2.2 strong frames, striking out three and allowing just one hit. Freshman lefty RJ Ruais and redshirt freshman righty Tanner Duke combined to throw the next 2.1 innings scoreless before sophomore southpaw Ethan Calder came on to fan four in 1.2 frames. Redshirt junior righty Gabe Craig picked up three outs despite allowing a run on two hits, and senior left-hander Kobe Andrade finished it off with 1.1 clean innings to earn his second save of the season.

Redshirt junior infielder Tyriq Kemp stayed hot at the plate by matching his career high with three hits, while fifth-year senior infielder Cole Posey notched BU’s lone RBI on the night, scoring junior infielder Hunter Teplanszky with an eighth-inning single. Baylor scored its first two runs on two-out errors by the Mavericks in the second and fourth innings, and relied on its pitching to carry the load from there.

THE RUNDOWN
Matheson was sharp early, recording a strikeout in each of the first three innings before departing with two gone in the bottom of the third. The Bears had already gotten out to a 1-0 lead as a UTA fielding error allowed a run to score in the top of the second.

In the top of the fourth, sophomore outfielder Caleb Bergman’s hot shot right at the Mavericks’ first baseman was too much to handle and Kemp scampered around to score on the error, making it 2-0 in favor of the road team.

UTA didn’t have a baserunner advance past second base until the bottom of the fifth inning, but Duke escaped any potential damage on just eight pitches and only allowing one hit. Calder came on in the sixth and struck out four in a row before departing with two down in the seventh and BU still leading by a pair.

The Bears added some insurance in the top of the eighth in the form of Posey’s RBI knock, though the Mavs got it back with a run-scoring double in the home half.

Andrade entered to record the final four outs of the ballgame and struck out two in the ninth to slam the door, as Baylor picked up its ninth win in its last 10 tries.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor has now won nine of its last 10 games, its best stretch under second-year head coach Mitch Thompson.
• BU improved to 90-35 all-time against UT Arlington.
• The Bears are now 4-4 in midweek games this season and 9-11 against teams from Texas in 2024.
• Baylor did not walk a batter for the first time this season.
• BU struck out 10 batters for its 17th double-digit strikeout performance of the year, and the eighth time in its last 11 games.
• Redshirt junior OF Enzo Apodaca extended his hitting streak to 14 games.
• Junior OF Ty Johnson extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
• Fifth-year senior INF Cole Posey extended his hitting streak to six games and drove in a run for the sixth consecutive game.
• Junior INF Tyriq Kemp extended his on-base streak to 13 games.
• Kemp recorded his sixth multi-hit game of the year, going 3-for-4, tying a career high with three hits.
• Senior RHP Jared Matheson pitched his second scoreless outing of the year and picked up a season-high three strikeouts.
• Freshman LHP RJ Ruais made his fourth scoreless appearance of 2024.
• Redshirt freshman RHP Tanner Duke made his second scoreless appearance of the season.
• Sophomore LHP Ethan Calder recorded his 11th scoreless appearance of the year, and fifth in a row, improving his scoreless innings streak to 9.0.
• Calder matched his season-best with four strikeouts.
• Calder also picked up his fourth win of the season.
• Senior LHP Kobe Andrade collected his second save of the year with his 10th scoreless outing and seventh multi-strikeout appearance.

STAT OF THE DAY
9 – Baylor won its ninth game in its last 10 contests on Tuesday.

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Mitch Thompson
On the pitching performance…
“This ballgame was totally won by our pitchers. Our offense was stagnant, we didn’t have a whole lot of energy, we weren’t taking great at-bats and we didn’t run the bases real well. We’ve got to do better there, but our pitching staff picked us up big time and we made plays on defense. Every pitcher who went out there threw the ball pretty well.”

Senior Left-Handed Pitcher Kobe Andrade
On pitching in big moments…
“It’s really big. I’ve got confidence in my teammates behind me on defense and just try to go out there and do my job. It’s definitely been a role I’ve been in before and it’s the ‘Mamba Mentality’ I take out there. Just trusting my ability to go out and get the job done and count on my teammates to be right behind me.”

WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor (17-18, 8-7) hosts Kansas (19-14, 7-8) for an important Big 12 series at Baylor Ballpark in Waco, beginning on Friday, April 19, at 6:30 p.m.

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_3016307449]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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