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<a name="_Hlk490052374"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black">BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS –
</span></b></a><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black">Feb. 25, 2023<br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;color:black">Baylor Baseball Drops Game Two at Duke<br>
</span></b><i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black">Blue Devils clinch the series after scoring 18 unanswered runs
<br>
</span></i><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black">For more information contact:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black"> Max Calderone, 254-265-1639,
</span><a href="mailto:Max_Calderone@Baylor.edu"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Max_Calderone@Baylor.edu</span></a><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black">
</span><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;color:black"> </span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black"><br>
<br>
</span><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">DURHAM, N.C. –</span></b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt"> Baylor baseball (2-4) dropped the second game of its series at Duke (4-2), 22-3,
Saturday at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, N.C.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">The Bears fell victim to a handful of crooked numbers as the Blue Devils pulled away with 18 unanswered runs from the fifth inning on. Baylor trailed by a run after four and
a half frames before Duke’s offense exploded for the second-straight night.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">BU’s Hunter Simmons tallied two hits for the first time this year, while Kolby Branch extended his hit streak to six games in the loss. Kobe Andrade also picked up another
extra-base hit, his second triple of the year, and drove in a run.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">THE RUNDOWN<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">For the second-straight day, Baylor got on the board first and pushed across a run in the game’s opening inning. Simmons reached on a two-out single, then scored on Andrade’s
triple to the right-center gap to make it 1-0, BU.<br>
<br>
The Bears led 2-0 after Simmons knocked in Branch with an RBI groundout in the top of the third, but Duke answered back with four runs in the bottom half to chase BU starter Cam Caley from the ballgame. Baylor scratched one more across in the top of the fifth
after Branch doubled with one out and later scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-3, but that’s as close as it would get on the night.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">Duke took advantage of 16 free passes – 10 walks and four hit by pitches – and racked up 15 hits to score five in the fifth, three in the sixth, one in the seventh, and nine
in the eighth to clinch the series victory.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">HIGHLIGHTS</span></b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">• Baylor still leads the all-time series, 4-3, over Duke.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">• BU pitchers reached double digits in strikeouts for the fifth time in six games this season with 11 on the night.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">• Junior OF Hunter Simmons tallied his first multi-hit game as a Bear.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">• Junior LHP/OF Kobe Andrade collected his second triple of the season. Five of his six hits on the year have gone for extra bases.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">• Freshman INF Kolby Branch extended his hit streak to six games.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">• Junior INF Casey Sunseri notched his first-career hit with a single in the top of the ninth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">• Freshman OF Caleb Bergman got his first-career at-bat as a pinch hitter in the top of the ninth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">STAT OF THE GAME<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">6 – Freshman INF Kolby Branch hit safely in his sixth-career game as a Bear.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">QUOTABLE<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">Head Coach Mitch Thompson<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">On tonight’s game…<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;background:white">"Obviously, tonight didn’t go our way. We didn’t play very well. [Duke] hurt us every chance that they could. They swung the bats really well. We didn’t throw enough strikes and
we’re going to have to do a better job. This has been a very sobering weekend. It’s hard on the kids, it’s hard on me, it’s hard on everybody. We’re going to keep working to get it fixed.”
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;background:white">On the top of the batting order…<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;background:white">“I think those guys are competing. We’ve just got to get more of them like that, that are going to compete every at-bat. I like the at-bats that [Kolby] Branch has given us. I
like the at-bats, for the most part, [Gavin] Brzozowski’s given us. Hunter Simmons is up there competing very hard. Harrison Caley is competing very hard in the lineup. And Kobe Andrade has done a nice job. All of those guys don’t have much experience and
we just have to keep getting better. There’s only one way to go from here, and that’s where we’re going to start heading.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">WHAT’S NEXT<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">Baylor (2-4) and Duke (4-2) wrap up the three-game series on Sunday, Feb. 26, at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park with an 11 a.m. CT first pitch. The game will be streamed on
ACCNX via ESPN+.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">To stay up to date on all things Baylor baseball, follow the team on its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorBaseball.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;text-align:center;background:white">
<i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt"><br>
-BaylorBears.com-</span></i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;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>
<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@01D94965.12302550" alt="signature_1739916144"></span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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