Lights-Out Pitching Lifts Baylor Past BYU for Series Win, Beats Cougars 3-1 in Finale

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (18-13, 7-5) collected its second consecutive series win in conference play with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over BYU (14-16, 5-7) on Saturday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark.

Left-handed pitcher Ethan Calder (Sr.) started on the bump for the Bears and was phenomenal, striking out a season-high nine Cougars, while allowing just one earned run across six frames.

Relievers RJ Ruais (Jr.) and Caleb Bunch (5Sr.) combined to toss three perfect frames out of the bullpen, with Bunch earning his team-high fourth save of the season. For the first time this spring, the Bears didn’t issue a single pass, as BYU finished with six hits.

Baylor’s batting order mustered just four hits in the win and left 11 batters on base, but left fielder Ty Johnson (5Sr.) came through with a clutch two-run single in the fourth inning, and shortstop Travis Sanders (RJr.) drew a career-high four walks, extending his on-base streak to 34 games, dating back to last season.

“All three guys that went out there for us were fantastic; Calder went out there for six innings, punched out nine and didn’t walk anybody. He didn’t give them a thing, and they had to earn everything they got,” head coach Mitch Thompson told the Baylor Sports and Media Network post-game.

Thompson continued, “Really impressive back-to-back starts for Ethan. He’s coming into his own on Sundays, and it’s great to have that guy. RJ was great, and Bunch was fantastic. Six up, six down. That was awesome. It worked out to perfection.”

After a rough performance at the plate yesterday, the Bears looked to strike first on Saturday and were in a perfect position to do so when BYU’s starting pitcher, righty Cayson Bell (RSo.), issued three straight free passes, including beaming back-to-back batters.

With the bases juiced and one out, however, Baylor came away empty-handed with designated hitter John Youens (RSo.) and second baseman Pearson Riebock (So.) both striking out; the Bears finished the contest with seven punchouts and went 2-for-18 (.111) with runners on.

In the following frame, the bases were loaded once again, but this time, Johnson delivered with a go-ahead, two-run single into right field. Johnson finished the weekend 5-for-13 at the plate with four RBIs, and his batting average sits at .222 on the season.

“He’s coming along,” Thompson said of Johnson. “That was a big-time hit. We had a couple of opportunities, and we just couldn’t crack it across. He finally got us to open the door, and it was a good way to get it done.”

With runners still on the corners, right fielder Brady Janusek (Fr.) skied a shallow RBI sacrifice fly into right field, extending Baylor’s lead to 3-0; Janusek, the mid-season freshman All-American, is second on the team in total RBIs (31).

BYU struck back in the fifth inning, following a two-out single up the middle from left fielder Keoni Painter (RJr.) and an RBI double to left field from second baseman Patrick Graham (Sr.); five of the six hits Calder allowed came with two outs.

With Graham on second, right fielder Bryker Hurdsman (Sr.) lined a single up the middle, but center fielder Bo Caraway (Fr.) gunned down Graham at the plate. In his first career start in conference play, Caraway finished 1-for-4 and made a handful of good defensive plays.

“That’s a former high school shortstop playing center field; he’s going to be accurate and has plenty of arm strength,” Thompson said of Caraway. “He really showed up today, and I was really impressed by his at-bats. Watching him come up and attack that ball and throw with confidence was fun to watch.”

From that point on, neither team scored as BYU left-handed reliever Ashton Johnson (Sr.) shut the Bears out in the final four frames, allowing just three base knocks. Meanwhile, Calder, Ruais and Bunch didn’t allow a single Cougar to reach base during that span.

Final: Baylor 3, BYU 1

W: Ethan Calder (3-3) L: Ashton Johnson (2-3)

POTG: Ethan Calder (6 IP, 6 H, R, ER, 0 BB, 9 K, 22 BF, 92 TP, 60 ST)

What’s Next

The Bears (18-13) will travel to the Metroplex to face UT-Arlington (12-17) on Tuesday, April 7, at 6 p.m. at Clay Gould Ballpark. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.