Bats Stay Cold as Baylor Drop Finale, 5-1, in Round Rock to No. 20 Southern Miss

ROUND ROCK, Texas – Baylor baseball (4-3) finished the Round Rock Classic with a winless showing as it was defeated, 5-1, by No. 20 Southern Miss (6-1) in the final game of the weekend on Sunday afternoon at Dell Diamond.

Catcher Brayden Buchanan (RSo.) tallied two of Baylor’s three hits in the defeat. Right fielder Hunter Snow (RFr.) tied a program record with three hit-by-pitches in the contest.

The rest of Baylor’s batting order had a rough performance, going 0-for-19 with runners on and 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position, while totaling 12 punchouts, seven of which were down looking. The Bears drew 12 free passes as a team, but left 13 runners on base.

“Obviously, I’m disappointed we couldn’t get a win here this weekend,” head coach Mitch Thompson said post-game. “I’m disappointed with how today’s game went offensively. It was a struggle. We couldn’t get anything going. They gave us some opportunities with walks and hit by pitches.”

Baylor’s relievers, Charlie Atkinson (Jr.) and Mason Green (Jr.), kept the Bears in the game in the middle innings, combining for 3.2 scoreless frames and four strikeouts.

“I thought our pitching staff and bullpen did a nice job of keeping us in the game and giving us an opportunity to maybe make a comeback, but there in the ninth, they finally expanded it and pushed it a little too far,” Thompson said.

In the top of the second inning, Wisconsin-Whitewater transfer righty Cade Hansen’s (Sr.) shaky command made an unwelcome appearance, as he handed out three straight free passes to load the bases with no outs. The New Braunfels native did as much damage control as possible, limiting the Golden Eagles to two runs in the frame.

The Bears had a chance to respond and drew a combined seven free passes in the second and third innings — none of which came with two outs — but Baylor only mustered across one run on a Snow hit-by-pitch. The other four at-bats with the bases loaded included two strikeouts, a weak infield pop-up and a grounder to shortstop.

Hansen allowed another run in the fourth inning, but the Bears got out of the frame when center fielder Bo Caraway (Fr.) gunned down another potential Southern Miss run at the plate with a perfect throw to Buchanan, holding the Golden Eagles to a 3-1 lead; Hansen surrendered three runs, six hits and struck out three on 74 pitches (48 strikes).

Outside of those early opportunities, the Bears didn’t threaten Southern Miss’s lead the rest of the way, as the Golden Eagle bullpen — Thomas Crabtree (Jr.) and Kros Sivley (Sr.) — dominated Baylor’s lineup in the middle innings, combining for eight strikeouts, while only allowing three hits.

Right-handed pitcher Luke DeVasher (Jr.) walked back-to-back batters in the ninth inning, and the Golden Eagles broke the game open on a throwing error from Baylor first baseman Tyce Armstrong (RSr.) on a potential inning-ending double play. Another RBI single off Grayson Murry (Sr.) extended Southern Miss’s lead to 5-1.

Final: No. 20 Southern Miss 5, Baylor 1

W: Kros Sivley (1-0) L: Cade Hansen (0-1)

POTG: Brayden Buchanan (2-for-4)

What’s Next

The Bears (4-3) will return to Waco to face Stephen F. Austin (7-2) at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at Baylor Ballpark. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.