Bears Fall in Regular Season Finale, Lose 11-7 to UCF

ORLANDO, Florida – Baylor baseball (33-21, 13-17) closed the regular season with an 11-7 loss to UCF (29-26, 9-21) in the series finale on Saturday afternoon at John Euliano Park.

Travis Sanders (RSo.), Pearson Riebock (Fr.), Wesley Jordan (Sr.) and Tyriq Kemp (Sr.) all hit home runs in the contest, with Kemp going 2-for-4 with two long balls; Kemp finished the regular season with a 30-game on-base streak and led the team in batting average (.364).

Baylor’s pitching staff, however, surrendered 17 hits, five for extra bases. UCF went 9-for-26 (.346) with runners on and 6-for-16 (.375) with runners in scoring position, compared to Baylor, which was 3-for-20 (.150) and 1-for-4 (.250), respectively.

The Bears got on the board in the top of the first inning when Riebock skied an RBI sacrifice fly to right field with the bases loaded, but in the following at-bat, designated hitter Hunter Simmons (RSr.) flew out to center field to end the frame.

The Knights took the lead with three runs across the first two innings, all of which were unearned after a throwing error from left-handed pitcher Caleb Jameson (RSo.) and a fielding error from first baseman Will Pendergrass (RSr.).

Baylor recaptured the lead, 4-3, in the third inning after three solo shots from Sanders, Kemp and Riebock. It was the first time this season the Bears had three home runs in the same inning.

Jameson was chased out of the contest after the Knights added two more runs in the fourth inning. Jameson finished the afternoon, allowing eight hits and five runs (two earned), while striking out three on 68 pitches.

With right-handed pitcher Cole Stasio (RSr.) on the mound, UCF exploded for a four-spot in the fifth inning, highlighted by a solo home run from Andrew Sundean (Sr.) and a two-run single from center fielder DeAmez Ross (Jr.); Ross finished the game 4-for-5 with three RBIs.

The Knights put the game away with two more runs in the sixth inning off left-handed pitcher Stefan Stahl (Jr.) to extend their lead to 11-4.

Kemp added a solo homer in the seventh, and Jordan crushed a two-run bomb in the ninth.

Final: UCF 11, Baylor 7

W: Wiley Hartley (6-1) L: Caleb Jameson (2-1) S: Dominic Castellano (2)

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

WHAT’S NEXT

The Bears (33-21, 13-17) will await their pairing for the Big 12 Tournament at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, starting next Wednesday, May 21.