Baylor Baseball's Big Innings Bury UIW in 16-7 Rout

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (13-11) blew out Incarnate Word (13-12) with an offensive barrage, 16-7, in a midweek matchup on Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark.

Five different Bears recorded multiple hits — Pearson Riebock (So.), Brady Janusek (Fr.), Tyce Armstrong (RSr.), Brytton Clements (RFr.) and Cade Dodson (So.) — in the win and Janusek led the way, going 3-for-5 at the plate and scoring three runs, while tallying career highs in RBIs (4) and stolen bases (3)

The Bears totaled a season-high 16 runs, racked up 16 hits and drew 12 free passes in the victory. Baylor batted around in both the fifth and seventh innings and scored a total of 13 runs across those two frames. It was the first game with double-digit base knocks since March 15 against West Virginia.

“I give Coach Blair and the offensive guys credit; we took off and started running right off the bat,” head coach Mitch Thompson told the Baylor Sports and Media Network post-game. “We bunted the ball pretty well tonight with a couple of bunt hits. Those are things that we need to keep being able to do, and it needs to be part of our offense. If you can take advantage and move runners around, good things happen.”

Riebock led off the contest with a sharp single through the right side of the infield and was later plated on an RBI single up the middle from Janusek. Janusek proceeded to swipe two bags and scored on an RBI sacrifice fly from designated hitter Hunter Snow (RFr.); Snow finished the game 1-for-2 at the plate and drew a walk.

Incarnate Word responded in the third inning with a two-out, two-run homer from catcher Colin Cymbalista (Sr.) — his fifth of the season — to tie the game at two apiece.

After surrendering the two-run homer, Baylor’s starting pitcher, Cayden Baker (RFr.), bounced back and recorded three more outs. He tossed 3.2 innings and allowed four hits and two earned runs on 55 pitches. Baker’s earned run average sits at 7.53 on the year.

Armstrong gave the Bears back the lead in the bottom of the third, 3-2, with a towering solo shot over the left field for his team-high eighth long ball of the spring; Armstrong leads the team with 30 RBIs.

Baylor broke the game open with a six-spot in the bottom of the fifth, highlighted by RBI base knocks from Janusek and Armstrong. The Bears batted around in the frame and totaled six hits, which included singles from Riebock, center fielder Ty Johnson (5Sr.) and Clements.

Reliever Charlie Atkinson (Jr.) entered in place of Baker and tossed 1.1 scoreless innings to go along with two strikeouts. Cade Waibel (Jr.) made his first appearance out of the bullpen since March 1 against UTSA and struck out a batter, while surrendering a run in one inning of work.

The game got mildly interesting in the top of the sixth when right-handed pitcher Grayson Murry (Sr.) couldn’t record an out and put three batters aboard. A bases-loaded error on Armstrong scored a run for UIW, and two more runs came across on a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch.

With the lead trimmed to 9-6, the Bears took firm control with a seven-spot in the bottom of the frame, highlighted by a two-run laser up the middle from Janusek that was 108 miles per hour off the bat. Cash McDade (Fr.) also had a pinch-hit, two-run single in the inning.

Relievers RJ Ruais (Jr.) and Brayden Bergman (RFr.) combined for 1.2 scoreless frames. Cole Lanclos (Fr.) surrendered a late-run and Jake Kolkorst (RSr.) made his Baylor debut and recorded two outs.

Final: Baylor 16, Incarnate Word 7

W: Cayden Baker (2-1) L: Samuel Pitts (0-1)

POTG: Brady Janusek (3-for-5, 3 R, 4 RBI, 3 SB)

What’s Next

The Bears (13-11, 2-4) will travel for a three-game set against the Houston Cougars (12-11, 1-5). The first game of the series is set for 6:30 p.m. on Friday, March 27, at Schroeder Park. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.