Baylor Baseball Edged Out by UTSA, 9-7

[Calderone, Max]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – March 26, 2024

Baylor Baseball Edged Out by UTSA, 9-7
Bears unable to overcome late comeback by Roadrunners
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (8-16) was edged out by UTSA (13-12) Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark in Waco, dropping a 9-7 contest at home.

Despite holding a 7-5 lead after four innings, the Bears couldn’t hold off the Roadrunners offensive attack, as UTSA scored four unanswered, including three runs in the seventh inning, to steal the midweek matchup.

Three Bears had multi-hit games in redshirt junior outfielder Enzo Apodaca, junior outfielder Wesley Jordan and junior catcher Cortlan Castle. Jordan led the way with three RBIs at the plate while Apodaca reached in four of his five plate appearances.

Senior left-hander Kobe Andrade and redshirt junior righty Drew Leach each made scoreless appearances out of the bullpen, but it came too late as Baylor struggled to find an offensive rhythm being held to just two hits over the final five frames.

THE RUNDOWN
UTSA got out to an early lead with four straight hits to start the ballgame, including an RBI double and a run-scoring single. Another RBI knock in the top of the second made it 3-0 in favor of the visitors.

BU responded with a five-spot in the home half of the second, as Castle and junior outfielder Ty Johnson picked up back-to-back RBI singles to bring it within one. Then, a walk to Apodaca with the bases loaded tied the ballgame and set up Jordan’s two-run single which gave the Bears a 5-3 advantage.

UTSA continued to be pesky at the plate, scoring runs in each of the next three innings, though Baylor added a pair in the fourth thanks to Jordan’s RBI double and a sacrifice fly from sophomore outfielder Caleb Bergman.

After a scoreless sixth, the Roadrunners retook the lead in the top of the seventh as a two-out, two-RBI double put them in front 8-7. An RBI single increased the lead to 9-7 and turned out to be the game’s final tally.

The Bears were unable to get to UTSA’s late-inning arms, as Apodaca’s eighth-inning double was BU’s only hit in the final two frames.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Redshirt junior OF Enzo Apodaca tallied his team-leading eighth multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and two walks.
• Junior OF Wesley Jordan recorded his fourth multi-hit game of the year and drove in a season-best three runs, going 2-for-5 with a double.
• Jordan also extended his team-best on-base streak to 16 games, a season high for the Bears in 2024.
• Senior INF Hunter Teplanszky reached base for the eighth-straight game.
• Sophomore OF Caleb Bergman made his first appearance since March 2 vs. Oral Roberts and produced his first double and RBI of the year.
• Freshman RHP Stephen Sepulveda has now recorded at least one strikeout in eight of his nine appearances.
• Eight of Sepulveda’s nine outings have been at least 1.1 innings, as he pitched 2.0 frames vs. the Roadrunners.
• Senior LHP Kobe Andrade recorded his third-straight scoreless outing and sixth of the season.
• Redshirt junior RHP Drew Leach pitched his seventh scoreless outing of the year.

STAT OF THE DAY
7 – Seven different Bears scored a run in tonight’s ballgame as all nine starters reached base safely.

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Mitch Thompson
On positive takeaways from the loss…
“We’re trying to compete, and there were some good things tonight, even when you come out with a loss. Caleb Bergman gave us competitive at-bats, made a big time play in left field. Cortlan Castle had a couple of hits at the bottom of the order. We’ve just got to piece them together a little better. We did have the one big inning, but we need to be able to scratch across a run here and there. That’s what’s frustrating.”

WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor (8-16, 3-6) welcomes Cincinnati (15-11, 3-3) to Baylor Ballpark for its first-ever meetings against the Bearcats, beginning on Thursday, March 28, at 6:30 p.m. at Baylor Ballpark in Waco.

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_3189859631]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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