Kemp Has Career Game as Baylor Evens Series against Utah with 4-3 Victory

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (24-14, 7-10) evened its series against Utah (16-18, 5-12) with a hard-fought 4-3 victory on Friday evening at Baylor Ballpark.

Shortstop Tyriq Kemp (Sr.) stole the show for the Bears, going 4-for-4 at the plate with two home runs, including the go-ahead long ball in the eighth inning; he was a double shy of the cycle and finished with a career-high four RBIs.

Left-handed pitcher Carson Bailey (Fr.) delivered his third-straight quality start for Baylor; he struck out four and allowed three earned runs across six innings on 91 pitches. Closer Gabe Craig (RSr.) shut the door and got the final four outs to earn his second win of the season.

“We were really good on the mound. We played really good defense. But the star of the game was that little shortstop that keeps getting better and keeps showing it,” head coach Mitch Thompson said post-game. “It’s been fun watching him play. Tyriq was awesome.”

In the first inning, the Bears doubled their run total from the series opener, courtesy of a two-run homer from Kemp, his third long ball of the season.

“In that first inning of the game, we show up and we’ve got 13-1 on our mind,” Thompson said. “You say you’re not paying any attention to it, but if it goes bad in that first inning, it’s hard not to immediately go back to that and start feeling bad thoughts. The first thing that happened was Carson went out there and had a really good first inning against their best hitters, and we followed that up with hit after hit after hit after hit.”

Kemp came through again in the second inning with an RBI triple to right-center field to score Will Pendergrass (RSr.). Kemp boasts a team-high 14-game hitting streak and is hitting .429 in conference play.

Pendergrass made his first start since Feb. 25 at first base, replacing Jack Little (RSo.), who has struggled mightily at the plate recently. Little is hitting .193 in conference play with 25 strikeouts and is 3-for-24 across his last seven Big 12 contests.

Pendergrass went 1-for-3 with a double and played excellent defense all evening.

“Will’s been sitting over here and been a good trooper all year,” Thompson said. “Finally, I gave him the start, and he came up and had a double and made some really nice plays on defense. He’s a veteran player who gets the game. I’m happy for him. He had a really nice day today.”

Utah didn’t record its first hit until the fourth inning, but the Utes made them count, collecting back-to-back singles before left fielder Drake Digiorno (Sr.) tied the game at three apiece with one swing of the bat for his second home run of the season.

Right-handed pitcher Caleb Bunch (Sr.) entered in relief of Bailey and tossed 1.2 scoreless innings with two strikeouts.

Across the middle inning, Baylor’s lineup was dominated by Utah’s starting pitcher, righty Merit Jones (Jr.). The Bears totaled just two baserunners across the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Jones closed the contest, allowing eight hits and three earned runs with six punchouts.

With Jones out of the contest, Utah went to right-handed pitcher Lucas Boesen (Jr.) out of the bullpen.

Facing a 3-1 count to lead off the bottom of the eighth, Kemp crushed a high fastball that went over the wall in right-center field, giving Baylor a 4-3 lead. Friday’s contest was Kemp’s first multi-homer game of his career.

“I’ve never had a game like that in my life,” Kemp said. “I’m happy it happened today, and I’m happy with the W … That [homer] was one of the coolest things to ever happen to me in my life.”

Final: Baylor 4, Utah 3

W: Gabe Craig (2-0) L: Lucas Boesen (3-2)

POTG: Tyriq Kemp (4-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 3B, 4 RBI)

WHAT’S NEXT

The Bears (24-14, 7-10) will conclude their series against Utah (16-18, 5-12) on Saturday, April 18, at 1 p.m. at Baylor Ballpark. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.