Baylor Baseball Handles Lamar, 11-5, For First Win of 2024

[Calderone, Max]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Feb. 20, 2024

Baylor Baseball Handles Lamar, 11-5, For First Win of 2024
Three long balls from Apodaca, Simmons and Teplanszky power Bears past Cardinals
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (1-3) made use of three home runs to handle Lamar (2-2) Tuesday night, 11-5, at Baylor Ballpark in Waco.

Senior outfielder Hunter Simmons mashed a grand slam in the bottom of the first, then redshirt junior outfielder Enzo Apodaca and junior infielder Hunter Teplanszky hit back-to-back blasts in the third to lead the charge offensively. The top four spots in the BU lineup combined for nine of the team’s 11 hits and drove in nine of the Bears’ runs.

Redshirt junior righty Drew Leach got the win, the first of his career, after throwing 2.2 innings of scoreless relief and adding three punchouts. The Bears fanned 13 opposing batters, their second-highest output of the year and fourth-consecutive game with double-digit strikeouts.

THE RUNDOWN
Baylor wasted no time getting started offensively, as three-straight singles from Apodaca, Teplanszky and junior outfielder Ty Johnson loaded the bases for Simmons. That’s when Simmons crushed his first homer of the year, a grand slam, to put the Bears ahead 4-0. That gave redshirt freshman right-hander Tanner Duke a nice cushion to pitch behind, as he went 2.1 innings and allowed just one run in his collegiate debut and first-career start.

BU then put up a three-spot in the bottom of the second as an Apodaca single was sandwiched by a pair of hit-by-pitches to junior catcher Cortlan Castle and Teplanszky. Johnson and junior outfielder Wesley Jordan each reached on RBI fielder’s choices in the inning, and fifth-year senior infielder Mason Greer collected an RBI after walking with the bases loaded.

Lamar got on the board with a solo home run in the top of the third, but the Bears quickly answered with another three runs in the home half thanks to back-to-back blasts by Apodaca and Teplanszky.

The Cardinals inched closer with an RBI single in the fourth to make it 10-2, but were then quieted by Leach who faced the minimum in 2.2 innings of work, punching out three and walking just one in a hitless outing. LU added three runs after Leach’s departure on back-to-back homers of their own and an RBI double in the seventh to cut the BU lead to 10-5.

Baylor responded in the bottom half with a run-scoring knock off the bat of Apodaca, his fourth hit of the ballgame, to make it 11-5. From there, freshman righty Stephen Sepulveda and redshirt junior right-hander Gabe Craig shut the door, combining to strike out five of the seven batters they faced in the final 2.1 innings.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor improved to 47-33-1 all-time against Lamar.
• The Bears are now 1-0 against fellow teams from Texas in 2024.
• BU is 1-0 in midweek games in 2024.
• This is the fourth-consecutive game and 24th time in the Thompson era that Baylor has eclipsed double digits in strikeouts, as six Bears combined to fan 13 Cardinals.
• This is first time since Feb. 21, 2021, vs. UTRGV that Baylor scored three or more runs in three consecutive innings.
• Baylor hit three home runs and two in the same inning for the first time since May 3, 2023, vs. Texas A&M-CC.
• Redshirt junior OF Enzo Apodaca tied his career high with four hits and drove in three runs, a team-high so far for 2024.
• Junior INF Hunter Teplanszky extended his team-leading on-base streak to 10 games, dating back to last season.
• Apodaca and Teplanszky hit back-to-back homers in the third inning, BU’s first back-to-back homers since April 6, 2023.
• Senior OF Hunter Simmons also extended his on-base streak to seven games, dating back to 2023.
• Simmons hit his first home run of 2024 and fifth of his career, a grand slam, in the first inning.
• The grand slam marked Baylor’s first in a home opener since Paul Witt hit one against UT Arlington on Feb. 15, 2005.
• Of Simmons’ six hits this season, four have gone for extra bases including two doubles, a triple and a home run.
• Redshirt junior Drew Leach earned his first-career win after pitching 2.2 scoreless innings of relief.
• Redshirt junior RHP Gabe Craig matched his career best with three strikeouts as he fanned the side in the ninth inning.
• Freshman RHP Stephen Sepulveda recorded the first scoreless outing of his career.

STAT OF THE DAY
3 – Baylor hit three home runs and scored at least three runs in each of the first three innings in the win against Lamar.

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Mitch Thompson
On what positives he saw on the mound tonight…
“I was really impressed with Drew Leach. It was good to get Tanner Duke out there for the start, though I wish we could have left him out there a little longer. But I was really impressed with Drew Leach, I mean two and two-thirds, 27 pitches, I’ll take that 100 times out of 100. He attacked, got his outs quick and made it happen. I thought Sepulveda and Craig were good at the end, and that’s what we need.”

On what Enzo Apodaca brings to the team…
“He’s a guy who’s got experience, and that’s something we’ve missed over the last year for sure. He has played a lot of college baseball, had a lot of at-bats, played well in the Cape Cod league this summer against the best in the country, so he’s got a lot of confidence in who he is. He knows who he is and he executes who he is. Baylor fans ought to get excited about him. He’s going to give us professional at-bats over and over at the top of the lineup. I think he’s a tough out. It’ll be fun to watch him this season.”

Redshirt Junior OF Enzo Apodaca
On his approach at the plate tonight…
“I think just simplifying everything. Coming back from playing some of the top teams in the country, coming back home excited, just trying to do the same thing we’ve been doing. We’ve been jumping out of the gate hot and we did that tonight and it worked out for us.”

WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor (1-3) hosts No. 22 Indiana (3-1) for a three-game series at Baylor Ballpark, beginning on Friday, Feb. 23, 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_718980266]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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