Sun Devils Even Series as Baylor Bats No-Show in 4-1 Loss to Arizona State

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (29-17, 10-13) had its series evened up against Arizona State (31-17, 15-8) after falling, 4-1, in a pitcher’s duel on Saturday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark.

In the defeat, the Bears’ bats no-showed and tied a season-low in hits (4) while going 1-for-11 with runners on and 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position. Baylor’s batting order had just one base knock across the final six innings.

Left-handed pitcher Carson Bailey (Fr.) delivered a great outing for the Bears, allowing just two earned runs across six frames while punching out six batters on 95 total pitches; it was Bailey’s fourth quality start of conference play.

“We weren’t able to get a whole lot of offense going today. You’ve got to give their guys credit — they threw the ball well,” head coach Mitch Thompson said post-game. “We weren’t able to hit many balls hard, get many good swings or put much pressure on them. It was a tough day for our hitters from that standpoint.”

Arizona State’s starting pitcher, Jake Martinez (Sr.), had been playing with fire in the first two innings but it wasn’t until the third that the Bears were able to make him pay when third baseman Pearson Riebock (Fr.) poked an RBI single into right field, giving Baylor a 1-0 lead.

The Sun Devils responded in the following frame, putting the first two batters aboard. Bailey temporarily bounced back, recording back-to-back strikeouts before surrendering a two-out, two-run single to catcher Josiah Cromwick (Sr.).

Neither starting pitcher allowed another run across the rest of their outings, with Bailey tossing six frames while Martinez’s afternoon was finished after five. The Bears picked up just three base hits against Martinez.

“You have to be really pleased with an outing where he goes out and gives us six innings and only gives up two runs,” Thompson said of Bailey’s performance. “That’s a really quality outing. He threw the ball well, and we were right there.”

Baylor’s batting order, meanwhile, did nothing across the middle innings and didn’t record a single hit from the fourth through the seventh inning.

The Sun Devils added two insurance runs off of veteran righty Caleb Bunch (Sr.) to extend their lead to 4-1. Cromwick came through again in the eighth inning, this time with an RBI double into the left field corner; he finished with a game-high three RBIs.

“I would have liked to have kept the deficit 2-1 and had a little easier time coming back,” Thompson said. “When they expanded it to 3-1 and 4-1, you have to give them credit for continuing to play and making it more difficult.”

Baylor had one final chance in the eighth to make things interesting after a leadoff single from right fielder Enzo Apodaca (RSr.), but he was left stranded at first base. Despite getting the leadoff batter aboard four times on Saturday, the Bears had just one run to show for it.

Right-handed pitcher Jaden Alba (So.) recorded a 12-out save, his first of the season, for the Sun Devils and struck out five without allowing a run. He entered Saturday’s contest with a 6.75 earned run average, and opposing batters were hitting .345 against him.

Final: Arizona State 4, Baylor 1

W: Jack Martinez (6-2) L: Carson Bailey (3-3) S: Jaden Alba (1)

POTG: Carson Bailey (6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, HBP, 25 BF, 95 TP, 57 ST)

WHAT’S NEXT

The Bears (29-17, 10-13) will finish their series versus Arizona State (31-17, 15-8) on Sunday, May 4, at 1 p.m. at Baylor Ballpark. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.