Baylor Baseball Drops Series to No. 22 West Virginia, Falls 8-0 in Finale

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (11-8, 1-2) dropped its series to No. 22 West Virginia (13-4, 2-1) with an 8-0 defeat in the finale on Sunday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark.

Left-handed pitcher Ethan Calder (Sr.) tossed a gem, throwing six innings of one-run baseball, before the Mountaineers broke the game open with a four-spot in the seventh inning when Calder put two runners aboard and reliever RJ Ruais (Jr.) couldn’t get the Bears out of a jam.

Meanwhile, West Virginia’s starting pitcher, Maxx Yehl (Jr.), completely shut down Baylor’s offense, surrendering just three base knocks across a career-long eight frames. The Bears punched out 15 times in the defeat — the sixth time this season with double-digit strikeouts — and were 1-for-7 with runners on and 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

“As soon as Ethan came out of the game, that’s when the wheels fell off,” head coach Mitch Thompson said post-game. “Ethan was matching their guy, and their guy was really good. I give him a lot of credit. I think his stuff is good, but I was disappointed we couldn’t make adjustments on him and be better. He appeared to get stronger and made us look worse offensively as the game went on.”

In the bottom of the third, the Bears were threatening following back-to-back singles from center fielder Ty Johnson (5Sr.) and shortstop Travis Sanders (RJr.), but were unable to make anything of it after a three-pitch strikeout from left fielder Pearson Riebock (So.).

“We just didn’t make solid contact; we probably had four balls that were hit on the screws all day,” Thompson said. “That’s disappointing. I want to take ownership from our standpoint that our hitters have got to be better than that. I think that they are, but they weren’t today for sure. When you look at the last two days, it’s gonna be tough to win when you get three hits.”

Entering Sunday, Baylor’s pitching staff had totaled just three 1, 2, 3 innings through the first two games of the series, but Calder tied that total with three perfect frames to open the contest.

The second time through the order, West Virginia started to have more success against Calder, but he escaped trouble thanks to some great defensive plays.

Second baseman Robert De La Garza (Jr.) led off the bottom of the fifth with a single up the middle and later advanced to third base following a sacrifice bunt and a weak ground out to the right side of the infield; De La Garza finished the game 1-for-3 at the plate.

With a runner on third base and two outs, Sanders battled back from an 0-2 count and appeared to draw a walk, but the home plate umpire said Sanders swung on a pitch in the dirt that didn’t even appear close to him going around.

“It was a big call, and I thought it wasn’t even close,” Thompson said. “Their dugout yelled at the umpire a couple of times, and then he made that decision. It’s a zero-zero game at that point in time, we’re going to have runners on first and third.”

He continued, “I don’t know how it could have changed the game. It depends on if the next guy can get a hit or not, but it keeps the inning going and makes everybody think about it. Calls are calls. We’re going to have to deal with them, and it doesn’t mean I have to agree with them. It was a big call at a time when the game was in doubt.”

The Mountaineers broke the scoreless streak in the top of the sixth with a solo shot from left fielder Matthew Graveline (Sr.), his fourth home run of the season.

In the top of the seventh, Calder surrendered a leadoff single to catcher Gavin Kelly (So.) and intentionally walked the cleanup batter, designated hitter Sean Smith (Sr.), before being pulled in favor of Ruais.

With runners on first and second and one out, Ruais walked the first batter he faced on five pitches to load the bases and then allowed an RBI sacrifice fly to CF and a two-run bloop double. Another Mountaineer run scored later in the inning on a passed ball, extending West Virginia’s lead to 5-0.

Although he had surrendered just one run heading into the seventh inning, Calder’s final line showed three earned runs allowed; he struck out three batters on 77 pitches.

The Mountaineers added three insurance runs in the top of the ninth off right-handed pitcher Luke DeVasher (Jr.).

Final: No. 22 West Virginia 8, Baylor 0

W: Maxx Yehl (3-0) L: Ethan Calder (1-2)

POTG: Ethan Calder (6.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, BB, 3 K, 22 BF, 77 TP, 54 ST)

What’s Next

The Bears (11-8, 1-2) will finish their eight-game homestand in a midweek matchup against Kansas State (15-4, 2-0) in a non-conference game at 6:30 on Tuesday, March 17, at Baylor Ballpark. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.