Baylor Baseball Loses Final Midweek Contest at Texas State, 9-6

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Baylor baseball (25-23) dropped its final midweek matchup of the season with a 9-6 road loss to Texas State (27-21) on Tuesday night at Irvine-Rasmussen Ballpark.

Shortstop Travis Sanders (RJr.) and first baseman Tyce Armstrong (RSr.) both continued their hot streaks at the plate, as the duo combined for four hits, three of which were for extra bases. The Bears, however, punched out 12 times and were out-hit in the contest, 12-to-9, while going 4-for-16 (.250) with runners in scoring position.

Baylor made a late comeback attempt with three runs in the ninth, but with the bases juiced and the go-ahead run at the plate, third baseman Cole Lanclos (Fr.) and Sanders both struck out on three pitches.

“We had competitive at-bats, and we gave ourselves a shot and gave ourselves a chance,” head coach Mitch Thompson told the Baylor Sports and Media Network post-game.

He continued, “I’m glad to see that we did fight like that. I actually told the guys, after the Texas Tech game, when they came back and made it close to, I said, ‘When are we going to have one of those?’ Well, we just about did. So that’s a good thing to see.”

On the mound, the Bears used seven different arms, five of which have been sparingly used this season. Texas State totaled three home runs and scored in six of its eight frames, with Cayden Baker (RFr.) being the only Baylor pitcher to toss a clean inning.

“We’re trying to play for the conference, which is what we’ve got to play for,” Thompson said. “We’ve got some guys that didn’t need to pitch today, and we couldn’t pitch them out of the bullpen. We obviously can’t throw any of our three starters, and we’ve got some guys in the bullpen that we need fresh this weekend, so we had to go deeper than we usually do.”

Smithson Valley native Cade Hansen (Sr.) made his fifth start of the season for the Bears and came out of the first inning unscathed, courtesy of left fielder Dylan Perez (Sr.) robbing the Bobcats of a leadoff home run.

Hansen, however, wasn’t so lucky in the following innings as center fielder Bennett Fryman (Jr.) crushed a two-run shot in the second inning and right fielder Rashawn Galloway (Sr.) blistered a solo shot in the third inning. Across 2.2 frames, Hansen faced 11 batters and allowed five Bobcats to reach: three hits and two walks. His ERA sits at 12.27 on the season.

The Bears had multiple opportunities early with runners in scoring position, but couldn’t get a timely base knock. It wasn’t until the fifth inning that Baylor got on the board with a solo home run from Sanders — his fifth of the season.

Texas State extended its lead to 5-1 with runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings off righty relievers Luke DeVasher (Jr.) and Luke McLeod (Fr.).

Baylor finally started to piece together some base knocks in the top of the sixth as Perez led off the frame with a double — his fifth extra-base hit in four games — off the wall in center field.

After missing a week and a half with an injury, designated hitter Brytton Clements (RFr.) plated Perez with an RBI single up the middle. Clements finished the contest 2-for-4 and reached base in three of his five plate appearances.

Clements later came around to score on an RBI groundout from Lanclos, who has three RBIs since being inserted into the starting lineup last week.

Just as the momentum started to creep back into Baylor’s favor, the wheels fell off in the bottom of the seventh as reliever Jake Kolkhorst (RSr.) hit both batters before getting pulled in favor of Brayden Bergman (RFr.).

Bergman walked the first hitter he faced with four pitches, then let a run score on a wild pitch before surrendering a two-run double, giving Texas State an 8-3 lead.

To make matters worse, catcher JJ Kennett (Jr.), who’s dealt with many various injuries and had been playing at such a high level, had to exit the contest in the seventh inning after being hit in the eye-nose area when trying to catch a pop-up in foul territory.

“We’re a little worried about it,” Thompson said of Kennett’s injury. “It’s gonna be a tough one for him. It’s obviously a tough one for us. So let’s just keep him in our prayers. Until I know more, I can’t really tell you.”

The Bears had only one final rally in them, as the first two batters got aboard in the top of the ninth via free passes. Armstrong delivered an RBI double into right field, right fielder Brady Janusek (Fr.) scored on a wild pitch, and Perez blooped a run-scoring single into center field to close the gap on Texas State’s lead to 9-6.

With the go-ahead run at the plate and the bases loaded with one out, Lanclos and Sanders both went down swinging on three pitches.

Final: Texas State 9, Baylor 6

W: Titan Targac (2-4) L: Cade Hansen (0-4)

POTG: Tyce Armstrong (2-for-3, R, RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB)

What’s Next

The Bears (25-23, 11-13) will open their final home series of the season against UCF (27-17, 15-9) at 6:30 p.m. CT on Friday, May 8, at Baylor Ballpark. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.