No. 25 Baylor MT Splits Doubleheader with No. 2 TCU, Cleveland State

[Pirtle, Colin]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – March 10, 2024

No. 25 Baylor MT Splits Doubleheader with No. 2 TCU, Cleveland State
Bears complete two-town doubleheader 90 miles apart
For more information contact: Colin Pirtle; 940-564-0351, colin_pirtle1 at baylor.edu<mailto:colin_pirtle1 at baylor.edu>


WACO, Texas – No. 25 Baylor men's tennis split its doubleheader, scheduled between Fort Worth and Waco on Sunday afternoon, falling to No. 2 TCU at TCU, 4-2, before defeating Cleveland State at the Hurd Tennis Center, 5-2.



The Bears (15-4) dropped the doubles point against the Horned Frogs (11-1) but found momentum late to force two third-set breakers to decide the victorious team, before dominating the Vikings (8-6) to close out the day.



THE RUNDOWN – MATCH ONE

Facing the No. 2 team in the nation on their home courts, Baylor opened the day by dropping the doubles point to TCU.



Moving from their usual spot at the second doubles court, Devin Badenhorst and Luc Koenig dropped a 6-1 match to second-ranked Sebastian Gorzny and Pedro Vives. Replicating One, Court Two ended in another 6-1 decision, as No. 40 Duncan Chan and Lui Maxted defeated Oskar Brostrom Poulsen and Christopher Frantzen.



Into singles, the Horned Frogs scored on two straight courts, as third-ranked Jack Pinnington beat No. 84 Zsombor Velcz, 6-1, 6-2, and No. 64 Maxted beat Bowden, 6-2, 6-2.



Starting the momentum swing for BU, No. 123 Badenhorst secured a big win over the No. 30 player in the nation, Gorzny, in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. No. 59 Tadeas Paroulek fought back in his singles match to beat No. 14 Pedro Vives, 3-6, 7-5, 6-1.



With Brostrom Poulsen and Marko Miladinovic each forcing third sets on their respective courts, the Bears’ comeback was thwarted by Chan, who won the third set breaker at Court Six, 7-4, to clinch the match for TCU.



MATCH TWO

Badenhorst and Velcz dominated their doubles match at Court One, beating Kade Mindry and Nico Jamison, 6-0, to get the ball rolling on the nightcap. Clinching the doubles point for BU, Justin Braverman and Arman Zamani took Lincoln Battle and Devin Boyer to a 6-2 decision at the third court.



Muza kicked off the scoring in singles play, defeating CSU’s Devin Boyer, 6-0, 6-1, at the fifth spot. Taking the next point, Koenig had a solid win over Kade Mindry, 6-2, 6-4, before No. 84 Velcz clinched the match with his 6-4, 6-2, victory at One.



Continuing play, Miladinovic had a bounce-back win over Boyer, 6-1, 6-3, before the final two matches forced 10-point super tiebreakers. Bowden fell to Mikael Erler after a dropped second set, 10-6, while Zamani fought back but fell to Nico Jamison in the tiebreaker, 10-4.



QUOTABLE

Head coach Michael Woodson

On the match at TCU…

“We started out pretty slow. I thought TCU did a really good job in the doubles point, and it was equally bad from us. From energy, to focus and preparation, we have had a lot of excuses for sure that we used, and then didn't come out and compete in the doubles. Not everybody, but they're too good to work your way back into a doubles point against. They took that pretty fast and it wasn't looking great for probably 30 minutes of the singes. Credit to our guys, though. I've never seen Teddy [Paroulek] compete like he did today. We didn't know if he was going to be able to play. He’s been battling the last few days, and he came out unbelievably hot from a competitive standpoint. Devin [Badenhorst] and Oskar [Brostrom Poulsen] you know, follow suit and next thing you know, we've got an opportunity. Marko [Miladinovic] was able to turn things around and we were able to extend some matches and gave ourselves a chance. We had opportunities to win the match and I thought our guys played aggressively in those situations, which is exactly what I would want. We weren't quite able to get over the finish line, but we learned a lot. That’s what we wanted to learn and it’s a great time to learn it.”



On turning around to face Cleveland State at home hours later…

“It’s a tall ask to have them drive back to Waco and play again. The team is definitely tired, mentally and emotionally, more than physically, but they handled their business out there. I thought they did a good job. Cleveland State is a very well-coached and competitive team. Their plan was to win out there and they knew we were going to be a little bit fatigued. They did a good job of pushing us but we did some nice work out there rebounding and being a little bit more competitive. All in all, it was a solid day. I think we moved the program forward and it’s time to get back to the practice courts to get ready for Wake Forest.”



UP NEXT

The Bears hit the road again to play Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT.



- BaylorBears.com -

_________________________________________
Colin Pirtle | Associate Director of Athletics Communications (T&F/XC, MTEN, FB)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 940-564-0351

[signature_2230589939]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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