Baylor's bats wake up in a 10-3 victory over Nebraska
WACO, Texas – The bats for No. 21 Baylor came alive in a big way on Sunday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark, blasting 10 runs on 18 hits to defeat visiting Nebraska, 10-3.
The Bears (10-4) salvaged the series behind big days at the plate from Andy Thomas, Mack Mueller, Josh Bissonette and Richard Cunningham who each had three hits on the day. Thomas blasted three RBI on a career-high three doubles on the day in his first multi-hit performance of the year, while Mueller also tallied career-high marks with three RBI on three hits.
Shea Langeliers returned to the lineup after a hamate bone fracture and went 2-for-5 as the designated hitter. Davion Downey also had a multi-hit performance after going hitless in the first two games of the series.
The Bears jumped on Nebraska (6-7) early, scoring two in the bottom of the second as Mueller brought home the first one on an RBI single through the left side and Thomas doubled home his first run of the day to make it 2-0 Bears.
Baylor starter Anderson Needham cruised through the first two frames but hit a rough patch in the third, walking home the first run of the day for the Huskers before giving way to reliever Jimmy Winston. Winston inherited bases loaded and no outs. Another walk brought in a second run to tie the game and the go-ahead run came in on an RBI single by Luke Roskam. Winston was able to settle in and minimize the damage and the Bears were only down 3-2 heading to the bottom half of the inning.
The Bears answered in the fourth as Thomas’ second double of the day brought home Mueller all the way from first to tie the game back at 3-3.
After Husker starter Connor Curry left the game with an arm injury in the fourth, the Bears were able to get to reliever Reece Eddins in his second inning of work. The Bears opened up the game as they plated five runs on five hits as the Bears batted around in the inning, taking an 8-3 lead into the sixth inning.
The Bears added two more in the bottom of the seventh inning to push the lead to 10-3.
After Winston settled down in the third inning, Baylor’s bullpen of Winston, Jacob Ashkinos, Ryan Leckich, Luke Boyd and Kyle Hill shut down the Huskers’ offense through the final six frames, holding their potent offense to just two hits and two walks with eight strikeouts.
Winston earned his first win of the season to improve to 1-0 on the year, while Husker reliever Eddins took the loss to fall to 0-2 on the year.
NOTES
*Leckich struck out the side in the seventh inning, his only inning of work. His three strikeouts tie his season high.
*Winston earned his first win of the year, not sits at 1-0 on the season.
*First win for Winston since earning one on May 9, 2018 vs. Prairie View A&M.
*Winston made his team-leading eighth appearance of the season.
*Eight of nine batters (1 through 8) in the starting lineup had a hit on the day.
*Six batters had multi-hit performances (Cunningham, Langeliers, Downey, Bissonette, Mueller, A. Thomas)
*Through the final four frames Bears pitchers faced 14 batters, just two over the minimum.
*Baylor’s bullpen no-hit the Huskers through the final 3.2 innings.
*Mueller collected a career-high three hits on the day and a career-high 3 RBI.
*Mueller’s 3-for-5 day is his second multi-hit outing of the series vs. Nebraska after he went 2-for-3 on Friday.
*In his first game back since suffering a hamate bone injury over opening weekend, Langeliers went 2-for-5 including a bunt single.
*The Bears had four players with three hits on the day for the first time this season.
*A. Thomas is the first Bears to have three doubles in a game since Richard Cunningham had three on Feb. 28, 2017 vs. UAPB.
*The Bears had six guys with multi-hit performances for the fifth time this season, first since. Feb. 26 vs. Dallas Baptist.
*Bears tie their season high hits total with 18. Also had 18 on Feb. 22 vs. Cornell.
*Eighth double-digit hit game of the season for the Bears and first since Feb. 26 vs. DBU (first in 5 games).
*Leckich made his seventh appearance of the season and second in as many days.
*Ashkinos made his third appearance of the year and second in the Nebraska series (first on Friday, March 8)
*Hill and Boyd each made their sixth appearance of the season.
STAT OF THE DAY
3 – Catcher Andy Thomas was 3-for-5 with 3 doubles. The 3 doubles are a new career high and the 3 hits tie his career-high mark for hits in a game.
QUOTES OF THE DAY
On the bats breaking out and the win…
“I tell you what, it was great to come out and play like we did today after scuffling a little bit in the first two games. We did a great job not letting the first couple games get dragged into this game. That’s one of the great things about our sport is you hopefully flush it away and come back the next day. I thought our guys did a good job with that. Our dugout was great and we had good energy and good personality in the dugout. I was really happy to watch our guys go out there and compete, regardless of what they did the day before.”
- Baylor head coach Steve Rodriguez
On the return of Shea Langeliers…
“Having Shea [Langeliers] back in there is a pleasant thing for everybody in regards to our offense and just the psyche of our team. When you start having All-Americans go down and you’re scrambling a little bit, it makes it great to see. Just having him in the lineup, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anybody come back from a hamate injury as quickly as he did. He’s been wanting to get back out there.”
- Baylor head coach Steve Rodriguez
WHAT'S NEXT
In the midst of a seven-game homestand, the Bears remain at home and will host Abilene Christian on Wednesday, March 13 at 6:35 p.m. CT.