Bats Remain Quiet, Baylor Drops Series to Rival TCU with 8-4 Saturday Loss

FORT WORTH, Texas – Baylor baseball (26-16, 8-12) dropped its series against rival TCU (31-12, 14-6) with an 8-4 loss on Saturday afternoon at Lupton Stadium, putting the Bears’ NCAA Tournament aspirations on life support going into the series finale on Sunday.

Baylor was out-hit by the Horned Frogs, 15-to-6, while the pitching staff combined to hand out eight free passes. The Bears were 3-for-13 with runners on, and TCU was 7-for-22 with runners on and 4-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

Baylor added three runs in the eighth inning, but it was too little, too late to threaten a serious comeback. Designated hitter Hunter Simmons (RSr.) went 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs in the defeat.

“Overall, we didn’t pitch well enough or swing it well enough to win,” head coach Mitch Thompson said post-game. “We have 10 games left in the conference and every one of them is big and every one of them counts. There’s no ifs, ands or buts about it. Tomorrow’s game is huge. It’s the most important game of the year for us, and we need to try and get a win here.”

In the second inning, TCU’s Chase Brunson (So.) reached second base on a leadoff error from Wesley Jordan (Sr.), who couldn’t squeeze a line drive to left field in his glove. Brunson later came around to score on an RBI sacrifice fly from shortstop Anthony Silva (Jr.) to give the Horned Frogs a quick 1-0 lead.

Jordan’s error was the lone miscue on the box score ,but there were a handful of plays, particularly early in Saturday’s contest, that Baylor’s defense should have made but didn’t.

“We sure didn’t play good outfield defense,” Thompson said. “You can’t keep giving guys extra opportunities, and when you do, then they usually run through the door and beat you up with it, and they did.”

Bailey worked around a bases-loaded jam in the third inning before TCU extended its lead on a solo shot from designated hitter Jack Arthur (Jr.) in the fourth. 

Later in the frame, the Horned Frogs added two more runs via a wild pitch and an RBI single from right fielder Sawyer Strosnider (Fr.). Strosnider, the likely Freshman of the Year in the Big 12, went 4-for-5 at the plate on Saturday and scored two runs.

Bailey didn’t receive much help from his defense in the defeat and didn’t make it out of the fourth inning after surrendering four runs, three earned runs, seven hits and four free passes on 78 pitches. The freshman southpaw's earned run average sits at 5.13 on the season.

Third baseman Pearson Riebock (Fr.) drew a leadoff walk in the fifth inning and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Outside of the wild pitch, TCU’s starting pitcher, Caedmon Parker (RJr.), dominated Baylor’s lineup, tying a season-long in innings pitched (6) and allowing just two hits while punching out four.

“Parker was pretty dialed in today,” Thompson said. “His stuff was good, and we didn’t take very many good swings on him. We didn’t hit nearly enough balls hard and have nearly enough good at-bats to scratch anything across. We had two hits for a long time — you’re not going to win with that few.”

The Horned Frogs put the game out of reach with a three-spot off veteran righty Caleb Bunch (Sr.) in the bottom of the fifth, extending TCU’s lead to 7-1. Left-handed pitcher Caleb Jameson (RSo.) tossed two scoreless frames in relief.

Enzo Apodaca (RSr.) and Travis Sanders (RSo.) recorded back-to-back singles to start the eighth, and Simmons plated both runs on an RBI double to the left-center field wall. Riebock scored Simmons on a single to center field, cutting TCU’s lead to 7-4.

Final: TCU 8, Baylor 4

W: Caedmon Parker (3-1) L: Carson Bailey (3-2) S: Louis Rodriguez (1)

WHAT’S NEXT

The Bears (26-16, 8-12) will conclude their series against TCU (31-12, 14-6) on Sunday, April 27, at 1 p.m. at Lupton Stadium. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.