Baylor Takes Game Two of the Series against ETSU, 8-7

WACO, Texas –  Baylor baseball (15-11, 2-4) defeated ETSU (17-7) in a thrilling finish in game two of the series on Saturday. 

It was perfect baseball weather Saturday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears led the majority of the game, but ETSU kept fighting until the very end. 

Kobe Andrade was not as sharp early in the game as he has been the past two weekends, but he still did a solid job overall and gave the Bears a quality start. 

ETSU took advantage of Andrade not being able to pinpoint his pitches in the first inning. The first two batters Andrade faced hit singles. 

Then, with runners on the corners, ETSU’s Bryce Hodge hit a sacrifice fly into right-field foul territory. ETSU scored for an early 1-0 lead. Andrade did a good job settling down, and Tre Richardson made an excellent play to avoid further damage and get out of the inning.

ETSU’s starting pitcher, Colby Stuart, got Jack Pineda and Tre Richardson out relatively easy in the bottom of the first. Stuart towers on the mound at 6’8 and has a funky windup from the left side. But before any thoughts of a slow game could settle in, Kyle Nevin hit a ball that was dropped by the ETSU third-baseman. The inning was kept alive and the Bears took advantage.

Jared McKenzie checked his swing on a 3-2 pitch that could have gone either way and fortunately, he was given first base.

Baylor Athletics

Chase Wehsener then took advantage of the miscues by launching a 3-run shot over the left-field wall to give Baylor the early lead, 3-1. Good teams typically take advantage of the opposing team's mistakes, so I was encouraged to see Baylor make ETSU pay for extending the inning. 

The Bears were not intimated whatsoever by Stuart’s moxy on the mound. In the second inning, Jack Pineda hit a ball through the left side to score Alex Gonzales, 4-1 BU. Kyle Nevin followed that with a lined shot into center to score Pineda from second, 5-1. 

ETSU was able to take advantage of Andrade again in the third though. 

Andrade walked the lead-off man and Tommy Barth followed that with a home run that got over the left-field wall in a hurry. ETSU is a team known for crushing home runs, and this was their first home run so far in this series. 

Kobe Andrade settled down after the third and was in a great rhythm for his last few innings pitched. After the game, he attributed that mostly to finding his curveball. He ended the afternoon with 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, BB, and 3 K on 89 pitches. 

Fast forward to the bottom of the sixth inning, Baylor had the bases loaded with one out but was unable to show anything for it. That would come back to hurt the Bears. 

Jake Jackson entered to pitch the seventh inning. He got extremely unlucky when ETSU’s eight-hole hitter poked out his bat and the ball managed to slowly roll down the left-field line. It was a bit of fluke play. 

ETSU later lined a single up the middle to score the run, 5-4 BU. With runners on second and third and two outs, Bryce Hodge crushed a ball deep, but Alex Gonzales made a catch crashing into the wall to end the inning and preserve the lead. 

Baylor got some much-needed insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh. With no outs and the bases loaded, Baylor was able to pick up two runs after a fielder’s choice and an HBP, 7-4 BU. 

Cam Caley entered in the eighth and gave up three straight hits. The Buccaneers were now down just one run, 7-6. 

Chandler Freeman replaced Caley and inherited a runner on second with one out. Freeman allowed a hit and ETSU tied the game, 7-7. 

Three Saturdays in a row now, the Baylor bullpen has surrendered a lead. 

Baylor Athletics

Thankfully, Jared McKenzie came up clutch in the bottom of the eighth. Jack Pineda led off the inning with a walk. Kyle Nevin hit a ball off the end of the bat that took an awkward turn and the first baseman was unable to play it. With runners on the corners, McKenzie hit a sac-fly into center to score Pineda. 8-7 BU. 

Mason Marriott came in to pitch the ninth. It was a much-needed opportunity to regain his confidence after a few rough outings. Marriott gave up a leadoff double but settled down quickly getting two huge outs. 

With the tying runner on third and ETSU’s five-hole up to bat, Marriott struck him out looking to put an exclamation point on the end of the game. It was huge for Marriott’s confidence to go out there and pitch great. The Mason Marriott we saw today was the Mason Marriott we saw earlier in the season. 

While the Bears did not have their best performance today, they were able to pick up a win. That is what good teams do. They find a way.

I firmly believe this team is starting to turn a corner. 

Final: Baylor 8 - ETSU 7 

W: Mason Marriott (2-0) L: Nathaniel Tate (1-3) 

POTG: Kyle Nevin 3-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B

TOP QUOTES

Chase Wehsener on surviving the late ETSU comeback

“It’s always good to come out with a victory. We didn’t play our best today but those games where you can just grind out a win are what you need over a course of a season. Every single one of those counts.”

Coach Rodriguez on still getting a win despite not playing their best

“That’s what good teams find a way to do. I thought we hit some balls really well early on that just got caught. Pineda smashed a couple of balls in the infield. We hit a couple of balls deep to the outfield. But we didn’t find a way to benefit from those swings… Later on, we didn’t execute really well. In regards to the offense, we had the bases loaded a couple of times and didn’t score as many runs as we should have. That’s a testament to ETSU, they are a good program, they are a good team, and they have good pitching and they are going to do everything they can to stop us from doing that. Hats off to them.  ”

Kobe Andrade on throwing 89 pitches today in comparison to only throwing around 50 last week

“It felt great. I felt like I showed everybody what I can do and helped this team win. I feel like it's a great opportunity for me to extend my innings a little bit… I felt confident that I can go a little more and believe in myself. Believing in my stuff and helping this team win is the object of the game every day”

WHAT’S NEXT

Baylor baseball (15-11, 2-4) looks to complete the sweep against ETSU tomorrow at 1:00 P.M. at Baylor Ballpark.