No. 12 Baseball Shows Off Power In 10-4 Victory Over DBU

THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – The No. 12 ranked Baylor baseball team flexed its muscles Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark, defeating DBU 10-4.

Davis Wendzel and Davion Downey combined to go 5-for-7 with four home runs and five runs scored to lead the offensive showcase for the Bears (8-0).

Junior LHP Paul Dickens made his first career start for Baylor and gave up two runs in the top of the first inning before settling in with clean innings in the second and third. He made use of consecutive 1-2-3 innings and struck out four.

Baylor knotted the score at 2-2 in the fourth inning thanks to an RBI single from Chase Wehsener and a sacrifice fly by Andy Thomas.

Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth, Downey kick-started the offense with a solo shot to right field. Kyle Harper scored Weshener with an RBI base hit later in the inning to give the Bears their first lead of the ballgame.

In the seventh, Wendzel hit his first of two homers on the night, a solo blast to left field that gave Baylor a 5-3 lead.

Richard Cunningham drove home two runs in the bottom of the eighth as part of a five-run inning. Wendzel and Downey hit back-to-back jacks to account for the remaining runs.

The bullpen combination of Jimmy Winston, Ryan Leckich, Luke Boyd, and Kyle Hill kept the DBU (5-3) bats quiet, allowing just two runs and scattering seven hits through six innings of work. 

Hill worked his fourth scoreless inning of the season, a three-up-three-down ninth, to seal the win.

NOTES

*The Bears have won their first eight games of the season for the third time in program history (1984, 2017).

*Baylor has scored double-digit runs in five of eight games this season, including the last four in a row for the first time since 2012 (April 14-18).

*The Bears pitching staff has punched out at least 11 batters in all eight games this season.

*Baylor has at least nine hits in all eight games this season.

*Baylor is 6-1 vs. DBU under fourth-year head coach Steve Rodriguez and has won each of the last five against the Patriots.

*Baylor is 1-0 in midweek games this season. The Bears are 28-10 in midweek matchups under Rodriguez, including a 19-9 mark at home.

*Davion Downey tallied his first-career two-home run game. He leads the team with three homers this season.

*Davis Wendzel recorded his second-career two-home run game (at TCU, April 22, 2017).

*The Bears have hit 11 home runs in 2019, moving the team’s total to 149 blasts in 175 games under Rodriguez.

*Junior JUCO transfer LHP Paul Dickens made his first career start as a Bear, going three innings and allowing two runs on two hits, striking out four.

*Jimmy Winston recorded his third scoreless appearance of the season.

*Ryan Leckich earned his second win of the season, tying him for the team lead (Hayden Kettler).

*Downey was plunked twice in the game. He’s been hit eight times this season, tying him for most HBP in the nation.

*Six Bears had at least two hits (Cunningham, Wendzel, Downey, Haring, Wehsener, Harper). Wendzel led the way with his third three-hit performance of the year. 

*Chase Wehsener picked up his team-leading 12th RBI of the season.

*Josh Bissonette extended his on-base streak to 15 games and has a five-game hitting streak.

*Downey has an 11-game on-base streak and team-leading 10-game hitting streak.

*Wendzel has hit safely in all eight games this season.

*Kyle Harper has a five-game hitting streak.

*Andy Thomas tallied his first RBI of the season with a sacrifice fly in the fourth.

*DBU challenged a play in the bottom of the sixth, the first ever challenge at Baylor Ballpark.

STAT OF THE DAY
4 – Combined total of home runs hit by Davis Wendzel and Davion Downey.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
On the four homeruns and being that type of day, while discussing the overall batting by the team…

“Actually, I don’t think it was that kind of day the way this fog and this kind of humidity kind of set in. The part that I really liked is that they were amazing at-bats. Davion [Downey], with that last home run, he first took a breaking ball that he kind of swung and missed at and then he got it again and he didn’t miss it. Davis [Wendzel] did a really good job on a pretty tough pitcher and he got that one out. I’m just really happy with what we have done, working on their swings with a lot of new technology and I think it’s paying off.”

- Baylor head coach Steve Rodriguez

WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears will travel to Houston to take part in the 2019 Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic with games against Texas A&M, Rice, and Texas State. Baylor will open the weekend against the Aggies Friday night at 7 p.m.