Baylor Falls 6–5 at Tarleton State After Late Texans Rally

STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Baylor baseball (6-6) dropped just its second midweek contest across the last two seasons with a narrow 6-5 loss to the Tarleton State Texans (7-5) on Tuesday night at the Tarleton Baseball Complex.

The Bears were out-hit by the Texans, 12-to-7, in the defeat, and despite drawing eight free passes, went 2-for-12 with runners on and 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position, while punching out 11 times. Shortstop Travis Sanders (RJr.) tallied his seventh multi-hit game of the season, and first baseman Tyce Amrstrong (RSr.) homered in the loss.

Baylor held a 5-3 lead late, but the Texans chipped away at the Bears’ bullpen, adding three runs across the final four frames, including the go-ahead RBI sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the eighth inning. Tarleton State was 8-for-19 with runners on and had four batters collect at least two base knocks in the contest.

“We’ve gotta come up with a big hit,” head coach Mitch Thompson told the Baylor Sports and Media Network post-game. “We had a couple of chances early to bust the game open, and we didn’t get the hits to do it. That’s a big part of it. I give them credit. I think they played really well tonight. They pitched the ball well tonight after that first inning.”

Thompson later added, “We’ve got to do a better job on the mound tonight. I think we gave some 0-2 hits tonight that ended up coming back around and scoring. We’ve got to make better pitches when we’re ahead like that, but our guys are competing. That was a good college baseball game; it’s a great environment over here.”

In the top of the first, Tarleton State’s starting pitcher, Kobe Minchey (RJr.), issued four straight free passes to give the Bears an early 1-0 lead. With the bases still juiced and no outs, Baylor was only able to muster across one more run in the frame

Following two shut-out innings from Tuesday’s starting pitcher, Cayden Baker (RFr.), DBU transfer righty Charlie Atkinson (Jr.) made his way onto the mound in the bottom of the third, and the Texans got the leadoff runner aboard on an error from second baseman Brytton Clements (RFr.).

A couple of at-bats later, left fielder Rayner Heinrich (So.) poked a two-run double into right field to tie the game, and later came around to score on a wild pitch. In Atkinson’s lone frame, he surrendered three hits and three runs, but only one of which was earned.

The Bears got back in front in the fourth inning when Bo Caraway (Fr.) grounded into an RBI fielder’s choice with the bases loaded, and Sanders followed that up with a line-drive RBI single. 

In the following inning, Armstrong launched a solo home run, his fifth of the year, 434 feet over the left wall, to extend Baylor’s lead to 5-2. From that point on, the Bears were shut down, totaling just one hit across the final four innings.

Meanwhile, on the mound, the Texans kept battling, adding a two-out run off of veteran reliever Grayson Murry (Sr.) in the bottom of the sixth. Murry has struggled to start the year, but had a bounce-back performance on Tuesday, allowing one run across three innings tossed.

Right-handed pitcher Luke DeVasher (Jr.) replaced Murry in the bottom of the seventh and surrendered back-to-back-to-back singles, tying the game at five apiece. With runners on the corners and one out, Tarleton perfectly executed a squeeze bunt to take the lead, 6-5.

The Bears had one final opportunity to get a run across, as center fielder Ty Johnson (5Sr.) drew a leadoff walk in the top of the eighth, but he was caught stealing, and Baylor went down in order in the ninth.

Final: Tarleton State 6, Baylor 5

W: Ethan Jaques (1-0) L: Luke DeVasher (0-1) S: Tai Phetluangsy (2)

POTG: Travis Sanders (2-for-4, R, RBI, 2B, HBP)

What’s Next

The Bears (6-6) will return to Waco for their final series of non-conference play against Air Force (3-8). The opener is set for 6:30 p.m. on Friday, March 6, at Baylor Ballpark. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.