Baylor Baseball Shows Grit in Houston, But Lingering Offensive Woes Temper Early Optimism

Trailing 3-1 with two outs in the top of the eighth inning in the opener of the Bruce Bolt Classic against No. 25 Ole Miss, the Bears looked all but dead in the water, until left fielder Hunter Snow (RFr.) sent a towering long ball opposite field into the Crawford Boxes, giving Baylor a go-ahead 4-3 lead with one swing of the bat.

Following a couple of chaotic innings and some big hits from catcher JJ Kennett (Jr.) and first baseman Tyce Armstrong (RSr.), veteran reliever Caleb Bunch (5Sr.) tossed two scoreless frames to secure Baylor’s 6-5 extra-innings, gritty victory over the Rebels, arguably the biggest or most meaningful win of the Mitch Thompson Era to date.

“Proud of the guys because that’s a big-time win,” Thompson told the Baylor Sports and Media Network post-game. “A lot of fight. A lot of heart. They competed their tails off. We’d been fighting, fighting, fighting, and they’d been beating us all day long. We finally got some guys, and we made the right swing, and it was big-time. Hunter had four big RBIs. I’m proud of all of the guys.”

With an opportunity to upset another ranked team and a long-time foe on Saturday, the game got away from the Bears early, as the No. 3 Longhorns took advantage of three errors and led 5-0 after the third inning. Baylor’s bullpen did everything it could to keep the Bears in the game, throwing five consecutive zeros, but the offense could muster only two runs and four hits, against what Thompson claimed was the best Texas pitching staff he’d seen in over 30 years.

“Those are some fantastic arms,” Thompson said. “I’ve seen Texas play for a long time, for 30 years now, but I think that’s as good a Texas pitching staff as I’ve ever seen. They’ve got big-time arms. That’s a good club.”

Then, on Sunday, in what one could describe as a rubber match for the Bears, the game got away early again, as starting pitcher Cade Hansen (Sr.) was shelled, surrendering seven hits and seven runs to the pesky Roadrunner lineup. The Baylor bats started to come alive late, but it wasn’t enough as UTSA's big cushion was too much to overcome in the 11-6 defeat.

“We got behind and were chasing a big number; the guys didn’t quit, and we kept fighting,” Thompson said. “We gave up too many two-out runs when you’re a pitch away from getting out of an inning, and it didn’t happen. It didn’t happen today for us on the mound, and we didn’t get enough going offensively. We just got beat.”

Despite the 1-2 showing, I was relatively pleased with what Baylor was able to do in the Bruce Bolt Classic against some great competition, but I would have loved to see the defense not give away the game against No. 3 Texas and who knows what happens on Sunday if Hansen is able to escape the second inning instead of giving up a four-spot, all of which came with two outs.

As has been the case for much of Thompson’s tenure, I felt like there was an opportunity to do more damage in Houston, but the Bears still have a few too many moments where they can’t get out of their own way, whether that be a critical error, a mistake on the base-paths in a big moment or a crooked inning because a pitcher is left in too long.

With that being said, all of that goodwill built from the weekend dissipated on Tuesday night in Stephenville as the Bears dropped their second midweek game in two years by a score of 6-5 to Tarleton State, further proving that just when you think this program turns a corner or takes a step forward, it takes two steps back.

The Texans out-hit Baylor, 12-to-7, and the Bears continued their offensive struggles, punching out 11 times and going 2-for-12 with runners on and 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position, despite drawing eight free passes. Even amidst the offensive slugishness, Baylor held a 5-3 lead late, but the scrappy Tarleton State lineup added three runs across the final four frames, including a go-ahead RBI sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the eighth inning.

“We’ve gotta come up with a big hit,” Thompson said. “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.”

Despite the late loss on Tuesday, I continue to remain cautiously optimistic about the pitching staff overall, and I can’t speak highly enough of the job pitching coach Sean Snedeker has been able to do at Baylor in his two seasons. The Bears don’t have the high-end talent like Oregon State, Ole Miss and Texas do, but Snedeker has his players competing and pitching confidently.

It’s been great to see southpaw Stefan Stahl (Sr.) fill in seamlessly as the Friday starter over the last two weekends. Against two potent programs, Oregon State and Ole Miss, Stahl has tossed eight frames, allowing one run with 11 punchouts and two walks. Stahl’s been awesome — no doubt about it — and his emerging as a legitimate option on weekends really raises the ceiling for what this team can do in conference play.

I’m still confident in Ethan Calder (Sr.) on Saturdays — that start against the Longhorns felt somewhat fluky with all of the early errors. On Sunday, however, it’s pretty clear that Hansen probably shouldn’t be a weekend starter moving forward. But the key to who becomes the third starter comes down to the health of Lucas Davenport (RJr.) and Mason Green (Jr.).

As of March 2, Ole Miss, Texas and UTSA are hitting for a combined average of .327 with 133 extra-base hits. Baylor’s main bullpen arms — Caleb Bunch (2 IP), Charlie Atkinson (2.2 IP), Zack Wallace (3 IP), Luke DeVasher (1.2 IP), RJ Ruais (2 IP) and Brayden Bergman (1 IP) — did a great job throughout the Bruce Bolt Classic, allowing just nine hits and four earned runs across 12.1 frames.

The one bullpen arm that the Bears need to get back on track is veteran righty Grayson Murry (Sr.), who has a 5.63 ERA in seven appearances this spring. Last season, Murry was elite in the back end of the bullpen, alongside All-American closer Gabe Craig, finishing the year with a 2.19 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and .181 batting-average against across 24.2 innings. Tuesday night was a step in the right direction as Murry allowed one run across three frames, but he needs to regain his 2025 form here pretty soon, or closing out games could be an adventure as Big 12 play heats up.

Now let’s get to what I see as the team’s biggest issue right now: the lineup. This is where my concerns still linger. Maybe some opinions shifted after Tuesday’s loss to Tarleton State, but there’s been a lot of talk about how much improved this year’s team is compared to last season. In some respects, I agree. Offensively, though, the 2025 squad was clearly more talented overall.

Getting on base wasn’t the issue last season, as the Bears held a strong .389 on-base percentage. The problems arose once traffic started on the bases. Over the final two months, Baylor managed just a .216 average with runners on and repeatedly came up empty in pivotal moments. On top of that, the lineup didn’t have enough power to consistently capitalize on opponents’ mistakes.

This year’s group has more pop throughout the order than any team under Thompson, but many of the same offensive inconsistencies remain, even with an entirely new lineup, outside of returning starters Travis Sanders (RJr.) and Pearson Riebock (So.).

While it’s true that Baylor has faced some really quality pitching to start the year, I’d still contend the quality of at-bats leaves a lot to be desired. Baylor’s batting .259 as a team through 13 games, and it shrinks to .230 if you take away Sander’s smoking hot start; the Bears have also already amassed 137 strikeouts, which is the third-highest mark in the conference. 

Over the last eight games, the Bears are hitting .216 with runners on, but that average drops to .193 if you remove the 9-8 win over Stephen F. Austin. With runners in scoring position, Baylor’s hitting .194 as a team, but drops to .175 without the SFA victory. 

With such a young lineup, there’s no doubt that they were going to take their lumps early, but I’m not sure there’s been enough there to make me feel confident that this batting order will assuredly be much improved by April and May. There are just too many recurring issues in this lineup for my liking, and unless some of the underclassmen start to really figure it out in the coming weeks, it could be a long spring offensively.

Three weeks into the season, there’s still no definitive answer at third base, designated hitter or center field, largely because no one has separated themselves as an everyday, can’t-take-him-out-of-the-lineup type of player. In left field, Snow undoubtedly has a bright future ahead and could shape into a really good player if he sticks around, but even he’s hitting .206 with 18 punchouts.

Overall, I’m still struggling to get a true pulse on this team, even though we’re almost a month into this thing. Is this a borderline NCAA Tournament-caliber squad or a mid-to-bottom of the Big 12 team, somewhere in that 8-to-12 range? I lean toward the latter, but I honestly don’t know, and we probably won’t know until after a few conference series.

The pitching staff has the potential to be a top-half of the Big 12-caliber group, and if the Bears can figure out their Sunday starter, I’d feel really confident about those odds. 

The defense and ability to steal bags and create havoc on the base-paths are significant upgrades from last year. Snow and Brady Janusek (Fr.) in the corner outfield spots, as well as Armstrong at first base, are leagues better defensively than what the Bears had at those positions last year.

Offensively, though, I still have a ton of question marks. Hopefully, the upcoming four games against Air Force and Sam Houston State, before conference play kicks off, give the Bears an opportunity to pad their stats and build their confidence.

While RPI is volatile this early in the year, Baylor really benefited from the competition it faced in Round Rock and Houston and currently sits at No. 25 in the nation in RPI, with the seventh-toughest strength of schedule; I would think it’s safe to assume that’s the highest mark of the Thompson Era in both categories. 

With that being said, I had the Bears (6-6) realistically sitting at 10-6 with an ideal record of 12-4 going into Big 12 play, so record and metrics-wise, this team is technically on that track, but there’s been a lot left on the table, and I still need to see a lot more from Thompson’s squad to feel good about their NCAA Tournament chances.