Baylor Baseball Extends Win Streak to Four with 13–5 Victory Over Sam Houston

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (10-6) extended its winning streak to four games with a 13-5 midweek victory over Sam Houston (8-8) on Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark.

The Bears scored in seven of the contest’s nine innings and tallied their second-most hits of the season with 15 and matched their season high with six extra-base hits, finishing 6-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

Right fielder Brady Janusek (Fr.), first baseman Tyce Armstrong (RSr.) and designated hitter Hunter Snow (RFr.) all crushed towering solo shots in the win; Janusek and Armstrong combined to go 5-for-9 at the plate with five RBIs.

“Offensively, we swung the bats up and down the lineup,” head coach Mitch Thompson told the Baylor Sports and Media Network post-game. “It was fun to see. There were a lot of guys who got into the game late, too. We had multiple guys with multiple hits. We shared the wealth all around and had a really good day offensively.”

Six different Baylor arms — Cayden Baker (RFr.), Luke McLeod (Fr.), Caldwell McFaddin (Fr.), Luke DeVasher (Jr.), Charlie Atkinson (Jr.) and Cole Lanclos (Fr.) —combined to allow just two earned runs across seven frames and punched out 11 Bearkats without issuing a walk.

“It was a great all-around effort,” Thompson said. “I loved the fact that we played defense. I loved the fact that we didn’t make an error. I love the fact that we got 15, 16 position players in. I love the fact that we threw seven different arms. For the most part, every guy had really good outings.”

In the top of the first, Sam Houston left fielder Caleb Cotton (RJr.) led off the game with a sharp single to shortstop and later came around to score on an RBI ground out.

The Bears tied the game up at one apiece in the bottom of the frame as Janusek launched a missile 456-feet directly over the batter’s eye in center field. Janusek’s fourth home run of the season had an exit velocity of 107 miles per hour off the bat.

Baylor’s starting pitcher, Baker, settled in nicely and tossed a scoreless second inning. McLeod entered in place of Baker and delivered two shutout frames and collected two strikeouts.

Second baseman Robert De La Garza (Jr.) led off the bottom of the second with an infield single; he finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate and scored two runs in his third start of the season, while also drawing a walk.

Shortstop Travis Sanders (RJr.) has reached base in every single game this spring and gave the Bears a 2-1 lead with a two-out, RBI single up the middle to score De La Garza.

The Bears hung a crooked number in the third inning following a 463-foot solo home run from Armstrong, as well as an RBI single from third baseman Brytton Clements (RFr.), who has a team-high six-game hitting streak. Snow hit a pinch-hit solo shot in the following frame to extend Baylor’s lead to 6-1.

After a weather delay cut his start short on Saturday, right-handed pitcher Cade Hansen (Sr.) recorded just three outs before being chased out of the game in the sixth inning on Tuesday. He surrendered three hits, three earned runs and a walk; Hansen’s ERA sits at 10.67.

With Baylor’s lead trimmed to 6-4, the Bears benefitted from some chaos in the sixth inning as Sam Houston’s second baseman, Blake Brown (Jr.), made both a fielding error and a throwing error on the same play, which scored two runs. In the following at-bat, Janusek scored on a wild pitch, giving the Bears a 9-4 lead.

Baylor relievers McFaddin, DeVasher and Atkinson tossed three consecutive zeros and four punchouts. Sam Houston plated a run in the ninth off Lanclos, but he struck out two.

The Bears added four insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, following a leadoff double from pinch-hitter Caleb Bergman (Sr.) and RBI base knocks from Janusek, Armstrong and Clements.

Final: Baylor 13, Sam Houston 5

W: Cayden Baker (1-0) L: Jakob Holzer (0-2)

POTG: Brady Janusek (2-for-5, 3 R, 3 RBI, HR, 2B, BB, 2 K)

What’s Next

The Bears (10-6) will open conference play this weekend in Waco against the West Virginia Mountaineers (11-3). The first pitch on Friday night is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Baylor Ballpark. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.