Baylor Baseball Swept By TCU

[Calderone, Max]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – May 5, 2024

Baylor Baseball Swept By TCU
Bears out-hit Horned Frogs, but are unable to overcome early deficit in 10-6 loss
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

WACO, Texas – After allowing six runs in the top of the first, Baylor baseball was unable to overcome the early deficit and was defeated 10-6 by TCU on Sunday at Baylor Ballpark in Waco.

The Bears (20-26, 9-15) out-hit the Horned Frogs, 13-11, but left 11 men on base as TCU (29-16, 13-14) completed the weekend sweep.

Five Bears had multi-hit games, including redshirt junior outfielder Enzo Apodaca who blasted his sixth home run of the season. Sophomore catcher Zach Mazoch and junior catcher Cortlan Castle each doubled as part of their two-hit, two-RBI days, and senior infielder Daniel Altman matched his career best with three hits.

Six of BU’s seven pitchers recorded at least one strikeout on the afternoon, as redshirt freshman right-hander Tanner Duke worked a career-long 3.1 innings before senior righty Grant Golomb, freshman southpaw RJ Ruais and redshirt junior right-hander Gabe Craig combined to throw a hitless next 4.1 frames.

Although Baylor cut the TCU lead to three in the seventh inning, the Horned Frogs added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth before Preseason All-Big 12 closer Ben Abeldt picked up his third save of the weekend and sealed the series sweep for the visitors.

THE RUNDOWN
TCU jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first thanks to a trio of two-run home runs that chased BU starter Mason Green from the ballgame. The Bears plated one in the home half off senior infielder Daniel Altman’s RBI fielder’s choice, but the Horned Frogs got it right back with an RBI single in the top of the second.

In the fourth, TCU made it 8-1 with an RBI groundout before Apodaca’s solo shot in the bottom of the fifth brought the game back to a six-run difference.

Baylor’s biggest inning came in the bottom of the seventh, as a pair of one-out singles and a walk loaded the bases for Mazoch, who doubled in two. Castle followed that up with a run-scoring groundout that trimmed the deficit to 8-5.

After a quiet eighth, a two-out, two-run single gave TCU some insurance in the top of the ninth at 10-5. In its last at-bats, BU loaded the bases on three-straight singles, but an RBI fielder’s choice is all the Bears would get as Abeldt finished off the series finale.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor racked up 13 hits as a team, marking the 18th time this season that the Bears have eclipsed double digits in the hit column.
• Five Bears had multi-hit games in redshirt junior OF Enzo Apodaca, fifth-year senior INF Cole Posey, senior INF Daniel Altman, sophomore C Zach Mazoch and junior C Cortlan Castle.
• Six of BU’s seven pitchers on the day recorded at least one strikeout.
• Apodaca collected his team-leading 16th multi-hit performance after going 2-for-5 with a solo home run.
• Altman drove in his 29th run of the season and tied his career high with three hits, his 11th multi-hit effort of the year.
• Posey tallied his eighth multi-hit performance and third in his last five games.
• Castle notched his eighth multi-hit and fourth multi-RBI game of 2024.
• Mazoch recorded his sixth multi-hit and fifth multi-RBI game of the season.
• Redshirt freshman RHP Tanner Duke made his seventh relief appearance of the year and posted a season- and career-high 3.1 innings and matched a personal best with three strikeouts.
• Senior RHP Grant Golomb delivered his sixth scoreless outing of the season.
• Freshman LHP RJ Ruais threw two perfect innings of relief, marking his seventh scoreless appearance of the year and third consecutive.
• Redshirt junior RHP Gabe Craig pitched his ninth scoreless outing of the season and fifth consecutive.
• Senior LHP Kobe Andrade and redshirt junior RHP Drew Leach made their team-leading 20th appearances of the season.

STAT OF THE DAY
13 – Baylor out-hit the Frogs, 13-11, for its 18th double-digit hitting performance of the season.

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Mitch Thompson
On this weekend’s series…
“Our kids are trying hard. They’re working hard. And we had a bunch of guys perform well today. It’s how it works out. We’re in ballgames and we have opportunities to win games, the guys are competing hard. I thought Tanner [Duke] threw the ball well and he gave us a chance. I thought Grant Golomb had a good outing. RJ [Ruais] was fantastic in his two innings and Kobe Andrade threw the ball well. The bullpen gave us a chance to get back in the game and we tried to do that. We’ve just got to play a tick better here and there and we’ve got to go win games. That’s that at the end of the day.”

Redshirt Junior Outfielder Enzo Apodaca
On takeaways from this weekend…
“I think we honestly just need to learn how to put [a loss] behind us. We didn’t play as best as we wanted to this weekend and it wasn’t the outcome we expected, but we’re looking forward to finishing strong and being up in Dallas [at the Big 12 Championship]. We’ve just got to keep our heads looking forward, have a short memory and understand where we want to be at the end of the regular season. I think that will really bring us together and help us accomplish what we want to accomplish.”

WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor (20-26) hosts Tarleton (25-23) in its final home midweek contest of the 2024 campaign on Tuesday night, May 7, 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_3987205615]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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