Posey’s Big Night Leads Baylor Baseball Past UT Arlington, 5-3

Tue Apr 30 22:54:10 CDT 2024

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – April 30, 2024

Posey’s Big Night Leads Baylor Baseball Past UT Arlington, 5-3
Fifth-year senior INF goes 4-for-4 and comes up a double shy of the cycle
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

WACO, Texas – Fifth-year senior infielder Cole Posey had a career night at the plate in Baylor baseball’s 5-3 win over UT Arlington Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark in Waco, going 4-for-4 and finishing a double shy of the cycle.

The Georgetown native singled in the first inning, homered in the third and tripled in the fifth, but was throw out going for two in his final at-bat after singling and attempting to advance on a UTA error. After going 3-for-3 with a walk on Sunday at No. 21 West Virginia, Posey has now reached safely in each of his last eight plate appearances.

Redshirt freshman right-hander Tanner Duke picked up the first win of his career with 2.2 solid frames on the mound and redshirt junior righty Patrick Hail earned his first-career save after throwing a scoreless ninth inning.

Freshman RJ Ruais became the first Bear in five seasons to collect a hit and a strikeout in the same game, as he went 2-for-4 in his first start as the designated hitter and punched out a left-handed batter in his only action on the mound.

THE RUNDOWN
In the bottom of the first, Baylor (20-23, 9-12) jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead thanks to an RBI double from senior infielder Daniel Altman and a run-scoring single by junior infielder Hunter Teplanszky.

UTA (18-27, 12-9) scratched one across in the third, but Posey’s fifth blast of the year in the home half extended the BU lead back to two runs at 3-1.

In the top of the fourth, a sacrifice fly pulled the Mavericks one closer and the scoreline remained at 3-2 until the bottom of the sixth when junior infielder Tyriq Kemp drove in Teplanszky with a groundout.

An RBI single in the top of the seventh brought UTA back within a run, but yet again Baylor responded with an insurance tally as redshirt junior outfielder Enzo Apodaca scored on a Maverick error which followed Posey’s fourth hit of the night.

After redshirt junior right-hander Andrew Petrowski punched out back-to-back batters in the eighth, Ruais entered from the bullpen to face a left-handed hitter and promptly struck him out to end the inning. From there, it was all Hail in the ninth who surrendered a two-out walk but retired the side to seal the win for the Bears.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor improved to 91-35 all-time against UTA and has won each of the last four meetings against the Mavericks.
• BU is now 6-4 in midweek games this season and 15-10 under second-year head coach Mitch Thompson.
• The Bears are 11-11 this season against teams from the state of Texas and 21-23 in the Thompson era.
• Baylor reached the 20-win mark for the 52nd-straight season, dating back to 1971.
• Fifth-year senior INF Cole Posey extended his on-base streak to 14 games, going 4-for-4 at the plate and coming up a double shy of the cycle.
• This was Posey’s first-career four-hit game, his seventh multi-hit game of the year and second multi-extra-base hit game of the season.
• Posey has now reached safely in each of his last eight plate appearances, becoming the second Bear to do so this season (Enzo Apodaca, April 12-13 at BYU).
• Junior INF Hunter Teplanszky collected his team-leading 15th multi-hit game of the season and tied a season-high with three hits.
• Teplanszky also eclipsed 100 career hits after his RBI single in the first inning.
• Freshman LHP/OF RJ Ruais tallied his first-career hit and went 2-for-4 at the plate.
• Ruais also notched a strikeout on the mound, becoming the first Bear since Nick Loftin (March 17, 2019, vs. Cal Poly) to collect a hit and a strikeout in the same game.
• Senior RHP Jared Matheson recorded a season-high four strikeouts.
• Redshirt freshman RHP Tanner Duke earned his first-career win.
• Redshirt junior RHP Andrew Petrowski logged his third multi-strikeout outing of the season.
• Redshirt junior RHP Patrick Hail collected his first-career save.

STAT OF THE DAY
8 – Fifth-year senior INF Cole Posey has reached safely in each of his last eight plate appearances.

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Mitch Thompson
On the win…
“It was a chance to bounce back and get the taste of last weekend out of our mouths. We had a tough weekend, but today we came out and played hard. The whole travel trip was tough, so I was proud of the way the guys came and played today.”

On Cole Posey’s night at the plate…
“When he gets the triple, you say ‘Yeah, he’s going to hit for the cycle next inning.’ Those things don’t come around very often, still didn’t happen tonight but a good outing going 4-for-4. He had a good night and continued to swing the bat well.”

Senior Infielder Cole Posey
On his mindset in his last at-bat…
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about it [the cycle] a little bit. It’s one of those funny things in baseball, like when someone has a no-hitter and you don’t talk about it. I was getting all these funny looks from the guys in the dugout and everyone kind of knew what was going on. I was definitely thinking two out of the box."

On his performance at the plate lately…
“Baseball is one of those funny games where you just get a bit lucky sometimes. I’m feeling good up there right now. I feel really calm. Definitely at peace right now and I’m glad because I might only have 40 or 50 more at-bats ever, and then I’m done. Obviously I want to do good, but I just want to be calm and relaxed up there, give it my best shot and not stress about anything.”

Freshman Left-Handed Pitcher RJ Ruais
On collecting his first-career hit and a strikeout in the same game…
“I’ve been waiting on this hit all year, so it’s super exciting to get out there. And, I honestly wasn’t expecting to pitch for us but when Coach said ‘Can you go get the lefty for us?’ I was like, yeah, I’ll do it, I’m all over that.”

WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor (20-23, 9-12) hosts TCU (26-16, 10-14) in a critical Big 12 series, beginning on Friday, May 3, at 6:30 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_407884665]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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