Bears Open Series against Arizona State with Thrilling 7-4 Come-From-Behind Victory

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (29-16,10-12) opened its series with a thrilling 7-4 come-from-behind victory over Arizona State (30-17, 14-8) on Friday night at Baylor Ballpark, marking just the second time this season that the Bears have won the opener of a conference series.

In the win, left fielder Wesley Jordan (Sr.) came up clutch, going 2-for-3 with two doubles while collecting a team-high three RBIs. Left-handed pitcher Mason Green (So.) opened the contest with four scoreless frames on the mound, and closer Gabe Craig (RSr.) slammed the door shut with a six-out save, his eighth of the season.

Trailing 4-1, the Bears exploded for a six-run seventh inning, highlighted by run-scoring base knocks from Jordan and center fielder Ty Johnson (Sr.). Baylor also capitalized on three errors in the frame from Arizona State third baseman Nu’u Contrades (Jr.); all six runs came with two outs.

“We got behind, but our hitters stayed in it and did everything they could to chip away; they kept throwing punches and got us back in the lead,” Craig said post-game. “We’ve struggled on Fridays so far this season and have faced some really good arms. We did a good job putting everything together on a Friday, which is big, and we can carry that momentum throughout the rest of the weekend.”

Green started on the bump for the Bears and had his best outing of the season, tossing four scoreless innings without allowing a hit. Green retired the first nine batters he faced on just 23 pitches.

Johnson gave Green a boost in the third inning when he made a spectacular leaping grab at the center field warning track to rob designated hitter Brandon Compton (So.) of a solo home run.

“It was one of the best plays I’ve ever seen; I can’t believe he made that catch,” Craig said. “It was one of those things where TyJo came out of nowhere like Superman, and it was awesome. He’s a heck of an outfielder. He’s super good at what he does and plays the game really hard. It’s good to have that guy out there, especially when I’m on the mound — I know he’s going to make some plays.”

Jordan gave the Bears an early lead after delivering a two-out double down the left field line to score Tyriq Kemp (Sr.) in the bottom of the third. Kemp has reached base in a team-high 21 straight games after going 1-for-4 on Friday.

Outside of that, Baylor didn’t take advantage of other opportunities against Arizona State’s starting pitcher, lefty Ben Jacobs (Jr.), who’s the No. 4 MLB Draft prospect in the Big 12.

Jacobs punched out 10 batters, surrendered three hits and six walks, but had to exit after throwing 100 pitches across five innings.

“We were putting together good at-bats all game,” Johnson said. “That guy they had out there for the first five innings was really good. I feel like we got enough to get him out of the game early and get to some of their bullpen arms.”

In the sixth inning, Baylor saw its lead vanish after veteran lefty Bryson Bales (6Sr.) walked the leadoff batter and surrendered a two-run homer to center fielder Isaiah Jackson (Jr.), Jackson’s team-leading 11th long ball of the season.

Bales remained in the game and air-mailed a throw on a bunt attempt into right field, putting a runner on second base with no outs. Second baseman Kyler Walker (Jr.) then took the sixth-year southpaw deep, giving the Sun Devils a 4-1 lead.

Baylor relievers Grayson Murry (Jr.) and Stefan Stahl (Jr.) kept the game within striking distance for the batting order and combined for two scoreless innings.

“They’ve been awesome all year,” Craig said of Murry and Stahl. “Coming in and keeping them right where they were and giving our offense a chance to come back, I wouldn’t have been able to go out there and do what I did without the guys before me. I can’t give them enough credit.”

In the bottom of the seventh with Arizona State’s best bullpen arm, Lucas Kelly (Jr.), on the bump, catcher Cortlan Castle (Sr.) and right fielder Enzo Apodaca (RSr.) opened the frame with back-to-back singles.

Designated hitter Hunter Simmons (RSr.) appeared to hit a routine grounder to third base that would have ended the inning, but Contrades soared the throw into the first base dugout, cutting into the Sun Devils lead, 4-2, and keeping the inning alive.

On the following at-bat, Jordan tied the game when he crushed a two-run double off the left-center field wall mere inches from being a home run.

Kelly was replaced by left-handed pitcher Cole Carlton (So.), who surrendered a walk and an RBI single to Johnson. Carlton also received no help from his defense, with Contrades adding two more errors to his ledger and giving Baylor back the lead, 7-4.

The Sun Devils entered Friday’s contest, leading the conference in fielding percentage (.980), but recorded a season-high four errors in the opener.

“We took advantage of some of their mistakes and kept having good at-bats and kept the line moving,” Johnson said. “That was a fun inning, and I’m glad that we got that.”

With a three-run lead, head coach Mitch Thompson called upon Craig to record the six-out save. Craig retired the side in order in the eighth inning but ran into trouble in the ninth, issuing two free passes with the tying run at the plate before recording back-to-back strikeouts to secure the victory; Craig has a 39-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio this season.

 

Final: Baylor 7, Arizona State 4

W: Stefan Stahl (2-1) L: Lucas Kelly (3-2) S: Gabe Craig (8)

POTG: Mason Green (4 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 R, BB, K, 12 BF, 37 TP, 21 ST)

WHAT’S NEXT

The Bears (29-16,10-12) will continue their series versus Arizona State (30-17, 14-8) on Saturday, May 3, at 2 p.m. at Baylor Ballpark. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.