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<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 4, 2022<br>
<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Thomas Masterful as Baylor BSB Tops No. 23 UCLA, 2-1<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Senior LHP goes 8.2 IP with career-high 10 K’s, Nevin homers in victory<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>
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</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’s (5-4) senior LHP Tyler Thomas turned in a gem Friday against
No. 23 UCLA (6-4), leading the Bears to a 2-1 victory in the opening game of the 2022 Shriners Children’s College Classic.<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">Thomas (2-1) went 8.2 innings and allowed just four hits and one run, a solo homer in the top of the ninth, and set a career-high with 10 strikeouts
in the win.<br>
<br>
Runs, and even hits, were at a premium as UCLA’s sophomore righty Jake Brooks (2-1) nearly matched Thomas pitch-for-pitch. However, he was tagged in the bottom of the fourth by Kyle Nevin’s two-run home run which opened the scoring and proved to be the difference
maker.<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">Thomas faced the minimum through seven innings for the Bears and had no troubles working around Cody Schrier’s second hit of the day in the eighth.
He came back out to start the ninth, picked up his 10<sup>th</sup> punchout of the day, but then gave up a solo home run to pinch-hitter Carson Yates which cut the lead to 2-1.<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">After a groundout and a double, Thomas exited and handed the ball off to freshman RHP Mason Marriott, who allowed two baserunners via a walk and
a hit-by-pitch. With the bases loaded and two outs, the rookie closer buckled down to force a groundout and pick up the first save of his career.<i><br>
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<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 5-7 all-time against UCLA and 2-3 against the Bruins 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 7-3 at the Shriners Children’s College Classic under Rodriguez, and have won five in a row at the tournament.<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 16-18 in neutral site contest in 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">• Senior LHP Tyler Thomas set a career-high with 10 strikeouts, taking a shutout into 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;background:white">• Sophomore OF Kyle Nevin blasted his second home run in as many games. He leads the team with 2 HR in 2022.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">• Nevin also collected his third multi-hit game 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">• Junior INF Jack Pineda has reached base safely in 12 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">• Freshman RHP Mason Marriott notched his first-career save.<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">10 – Tyler Thomas struck out a career-high 10 batters in 8.2 innings of work.
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<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 Tyler Thomas’ performance…</span></i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><br>
“When you come out and you’re able to shut down a team like UCLA, you have to give credit to Tyler [Thomas] for everything he did. Being able to move his fastball in and out, and being able to get his curveball in there when he needed to. He got some big strikeouts.
The greatest thing was watching him rear back on a couple pitches where he needed a little extra velocity and he was able to get it to blow it right by a guy.”</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 Kyle Nevin’s home run…</span></i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><br>
“The big thing is, he’s 6-5 and it was an elevated offspeed pitch which he got to. That’s something we’ve been trying to work on, is making sure he gets those pitches and doesn’t miss them. You’ve got to hand it to [Jake] Brooks from UCLA, he did a great job
of keeping guys off balance. Our guys had a tough time squaring him up, but I was really proud of Kyle [Nevin] getting that pitch elevated and doing something with it.”<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"><em><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white;font-style:normal">Senior LHP Tyler Thomas</span></b></em><i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><br>
On what was working for him today…</span></i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><br>
“Getting ahead of hitters early. Throwing that first pitch strike was crucial. Pounding the zone after that, too. [UCLA] likes to swing, they hit the ball hard, so I tried to offset that with some offspeed and throw the ball in, which worked for me today.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<strong><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;background:white">WHAT'S NEXT</span></strong><br>
<span style="background:white">Baylor (5-4) takes on No. 17 Tennessee (8-0) in its second game of the Shriners Children’s College Classic with first pitch tentatively set for 3:05 p.m. CT at Minute Maid Park on Saturday, March 5.<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>
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<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>
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<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>
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