<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)">
<!--[if !mso]><style>v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style><![endif]--><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:-webkit-standard;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#0563C1;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:windowtext;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<body lang="EN-US" link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style="word-wrap:break-word">
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:right">
<a name="_Hlk490052374"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS –
</span></b></a><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">March 2, 2022<br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Baylor BSB Shuts Out Rice, 9-0<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Six BU pitchers combine on two-hit shutout<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">For more information contact:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"> Max Calderone, 254-265-1639,
</span><a href="mailto:Max_Calderone@Baylor.edu"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Max_Calderone@Baylor.edu</span></a><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">
</span><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"> </span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><br>
<br>
</span><strong><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">THE RUNDOWN</span></strong><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><br>
<strong><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">HOUSTON –</span></strong></span></b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"> Baylor baseball (4-4) took care of business at Rice (2-6) Wednesday night, defeating
the Owls 9-0 at Reckling Park in Houston.<br>
<br>
Six BU pitchers combined to throw a two-hit shutout, including 7.1 innings of hitless baseball from five different relievers. A five-run fifth inning, thanks in part to two Rice errors and a two-run home run off the bat of Kyle Nevin, sparked the Bears offensively.<br>
<br>
BU first got on the board in the top of the second, as Chase Wehsener singled and later scored thanks to a Rice error following Antonio Valdez’s single.<br>
<br>
Freshman RHP Henry Cone gave the Bears 1.2 innings of work in his first-career start, then handed the ball to sophomore lefty Kobe Andrade (2-0) who went the next 2.1 before BU broke it open in the fifth.<br>
<br>
Two runs scored on two Rice errors to make it 3-0 ahead of Nevin’s two-run long ball. It was his first homer of the season and just the second on the year for Baylor. Alex Gonzales then doubled in Valdez to extend the lead to 6-0.<br>
<br>
Sophomore right-hander Chandler Freeman pitched a clean bottom of the fifth before sophomore LHP Cam Caley went the next two innings, striking out four.<br>
<br>
One more run came across for the Bears in the seventh as Valdez drove in Nevin with his second hit of the night and BU added two in the eighth via a handful of wild pitches.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">Sophomore righties Grant Golomb and Cole Stasio finished it off for Baylor, retiring the final six batters in order to put the lid on the victory.<i><br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">NOTES<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">• Baylor improves to 129-88-1 all-time against Rice and 1-1 against the Owls under seventh-year head coach Steve Rodriguez.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">• The Bears are now 45-15 in midweek games under Rodriguez, having won 9 of their last 10 such games.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">• BU is now 49-47 in road games during the Rodriguez era.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">• This is Baylor’s second nine-run win of the year.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">• This is BU’s first nine-inning shutout victory since April 1, 2021 against North Carolina A&T (6-0).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">• 9-0 is Baylor’s largest margin of victory in a shutout since March 14, 2021 vs. Xavier (10-0).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">• 13 hits are a season-high for the Bears.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">• Five BU relievers combined to throw 7.1 hitless innings.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">• Sophomore OF Kyle Nevin hit his first home run of the season and second of his career.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">• Sophomore OF Jared McKenzie has reached base safely in 14-straight games, dating back to last season.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">• Junior INF Jack Pineda has reached base safely in 11 consecutive games, dating back to 2021.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">• Pineda notched his third multi-hit game of the season, a team best, and first three-hit outing of the year.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">• Senior INF Esteban Cardoza-Oquendo has reached base safely in six consecutive games.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">• Sophomore C Harrison Caley has a five-game hitting streak.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">• Junior 1B Chase Wehsener has reached base safely in five-straight games.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">• Sophomore INF/OF Alex Gonzales and junior INF Antonio Valdez each collected their first multi-hit games of the year.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">• Sophomore LHP/OF Kobe Andrade picked up his second win of the season.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">• Freshman RHP Henry Cone made his first-career start and went 1.2 scoreless innings.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">• Freshman 1B Casen Neumann made his collegiate debut as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">STAT OF THE GAME<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">7.1 – Five Baylor pitchers combined to throw 7.1 hitless innings of relief in the two-hit shutout.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><br>
<strong><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;background:white">TOP QUOTES</span></strong></span><em><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;background:white;font-style:normal"><o:p></o:p></span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white;font-style:normal">Head coach Steve Rodriguez</span></b></em><i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><br>
On tonight’s approach offensively…</span></i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><br>
“The biggest thing was we just forced contact and put the ball in play. Our execution was pretty good tonight and we’ve kind of been harping on that the past couple weekends. When you get to two strikes, at that point you’re really just competing for the team
to put the ball in play and make good things happen, and we were able to do that tonight.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">On collecting a road victory…</span></i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><br>
“It’s huge. Any time you can go on the road and win is always a great thing. Being able to come down here, before we head into Minute Maid [for the Shriners Children’s College Classic] against some really good teams is always good, especially when we have an
opportunity to play really well.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><br>
<strong><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;background:white">WHAT'S NEXT</span></strong><br>
<span style="background:white">Baylor (4-4) remains in Houston for the Shriners Children’s College Classic at Minute Maid Park, with its first game of the tournament set for Friday at 11 a.m. CT against No. 23 UCLA (6-3).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">For the latest news on the Baylor baseball team all season long, follow its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorBaseball.</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><br>
<br>
</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;text-align:center;background:white">
<i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">-BaylorBears.com-</span></i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"-webkit-standard",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:black">__________________________________</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:6.5pt;color:black"> </span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:#154734">Max Calderone</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black"> | Associate Director of Athletics Communications (BSB, FB, EQ)</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black">Department of Athletics | Baylor University</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black">C: 254-265-1639</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:7.5pt;color:black"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://baylorbears.com/" title="http://baylorbears.com/"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="160" height="44" style="width:1.6666in;height:.4583in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01D82E89.A2B6DD00" alt="signature_1651176381"></span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>