WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (25-22, 11-13) couldn’t secure the sweep over Texas Tech (23-24, 7-17) as the rival Red Raiders salvaged their series with an 8-3 win in the finale on Sunday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark.
The Bears held a late two-run lead, but Texas Tech scored seven unanswered in the final two frames to earn the comeback victory. The Red Raiders out-hit Baylor, 16-to-7, and were 8-for-23 (.348) with runners on.
Left-handed pitcher Ethan Calder (Sr.) tossed seven quality innings of one-run baseball, but was brought back out for the eighth inning to face the heart of the Texas Tech batting order for the fourth time.
After issuing a leadoff single — the Red Raiders got the leadoff runner aboard in six of the game’s nine innings — Calder stayed in to face the lefty first baseman, Logan Hughes (Jr.), but surrendered a game-tying homer; Baylor’s bullpen eventually blew the game wide open.
“Ethan did throw the ball exceptionally well, and I left him out there too long,” head coach Mitch Thompson told the Baylor Sports and Media Network post-game. “I’m trying to milk every pitch out of him. He wanted to be out there, so I love that, but I’ve got to make better decisions about who we’re using, when and how. Sometimes I don’t make the right ones for sure, but our guys are out there fighting and competing.”
Thompson continued, “At the end of the day, we won the series, and I’m proud of that. I wish we could have gotten this third one, because I know it was within reach. We felt like it was within reach, but it wasn’t meant to be.”
In the defeat, first baseman Tyce Armstrong (RSr.) went 1-for-5 at the plate and hit his team-leading 21st long ball of the season, which tied Charley Carter’s (1998) single-season program record.
“It was great to see Tyce do that, and I’m glad he did it here at home to tie,” Thompson said. “I’m proud of Tyce. It was fun to see him do that.”
After scoring runs in 13 of yesterday’s 16 innings, the Bears were held scoreless through the first five frames and mustered just two base knocks against Texas Tech’s starting pitcher, Donovan Becerra (Jr.), who entered the contest with an 11.57 ERA and a .373 batting average against.
Meanwhile, Calder worked around trouble early and often as the Red Raiders had multiple base-runners on in three of the first four innings, highlighted by a home run robbery from right fielder Brady Janusek (Fr.).
The Bears finally chased Becerra out of the game in the bottom of the sixth, thanks to a solo shot from Armstrong, which tied the single-season program record for home runs (21).
Once Texas Tech got into its bullpen, Baylor was able to load the bases, and shortstop Travis Sanders (RJr.) delivered a two-out, two-strike, two-run single; Sanders finished the contest 1-for-4 with two RBIs.
After the Red Raiders tied the game at three apiece off Calder in the eighth inning, both teams managed to have two runners in scoring position with one out, but neither could make anything of it.
In the top of the ninth, righty Brayden Bergman (RFr.) surrendered back-to-back singles, and veteran Grayson Murry (Sr.) looked to get the Bears out of the jam, but he was shelled instead. Texas Tech scored five runs in the frame and took an 8-3 lead going into the bottom of the ninth.
