Baylor Baseball Falls 9-7 to TCU in Extras

[Calderone, Max]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – May 4, 2024

Baylor Baseball Falls 9-7 to TCU in Extras
Bears hit three home runs, Calder pitches career-high 6.2 innings in relief in loss
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball fell 9-7 to TCU in 11 innings Saturday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark in Waco.

Three BU home runs and a career-best 6.2-inning relief outing from sophomore lefty Ethan Calder wasn’t enough as the Bears (20-25, 9-14) couldn’t hold on to their early 6-1 lead against the Horned Frogs. The Frogs (28-16, 12-14) scored eight unanswered runs to steal the series-clinching victory in extra innings.

THE RUNDOWN
Baylor starter redshirt freshman right-hander Collin McKinney was sharp to start things off, striking out the first two batters before allowing a solo home run that opened the scoring in the top of the first. But, the Bears answered right away by getting the first three batters aboard to set up junior catcher Cortlan Castle’s two-run double and taking a 2-1 lead after the first frame.

In the second, senior infielder Daniel Altman crushed a leadoff home run to extend the BU advantage to 3-1. Then, redshirt junior outfielder Enzo Apodaca tripled in a run and later scored on junior outfielder Ty Johnson’s first-career blast, a two-run shot that made it 6-1. A TCU pitching change would quiet the rally, as reliever Kole Klecker struck out the side.

TCU plated one in the third on an RBI double and climbed within a run at 6-5 in the fourth thanks in part to a pair of home runs. As Klecker held the Bears’ silent, an RBI groundout in the top of the sixth knotted the scoreline for the visitors.

Calder put up three consecutive zeros in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings for the Bears, surpassing his career-high in innings pitched, though Baylor was unable to get anything going against TCU bullpen arm Zachary Cawyer.

After both sides went down in order in the 10th, TCU got its leadoff man on to start the 11th and advanced him to third after a two-base throwing error by BU. Three of the next four batters singled and a sacrifice fly made it 9-6, TCU.

In the bottom half, a solo home run by sophomore catcher Zach Mazoch was all for the Bears as they dropped their seventh-consecutive Big 12 contest.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Junior OF Enzo Apodaca notched his team-leading 15th multi-hit game of the season, going 3-for-6 with an RBI.
• Junior OF Ty Johnson went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and crushed his first-career home run.
• Johnson logged his 14th multi-hit game and fourth multi-RBI game of the year.
• Junior C Cortlan Castle recorded his third multi-RBI game of the season with a two-run double in the first inning.
• Senior INF Daniel Altman hit his second home run of the season.
• Sophomore C Zach Mazoch hit his second home run of the season.
• Sophomore LHP Ethan Calder threw a career-high 6.2 innings in relief.
• Senior LHP Kobe Andrade recorded his 12th scoreless outing of the season.

STAT OF THE DAY
3 – Today marked the fifth time this season that Baylor has hit at least three home runs in a game.

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Mitch Thompson
On today’s ballgame…
“The positives are that we did jump out to a lead. The negative is that we didn’t extend the lead. We’ve got to try and score one more than they do. We’ll show back up tomorrow and get after it again.”

On Ethan Calder’s performance out of the bullpen…
“He’s capable of going about there [6.2 innings]. I think he’s a great competitor. I think he gave us all he could and I love what we saw from him. Sure, in hindsight I’d love to have gotten him out one inning earlier, but that’s not the way it was. He’s a great competitor so I’ll go with him every day and twice on Sunday’s.”

WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor (20-25, 9-14) will try to salvage the series with TCU (28-16, 12-14) on Sunday, May 5, at Baylor Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 1 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_214251423]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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