No. 18 Baseball Defeats Sam Houston State 9-6
WACO, Texas – Behind a six-run fifth inning, the No. 18 Bears defeated Sam Houston State 9-6 Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark for their third win in a row.
Baylor (25-10) tallied 15 hits in the victory, with five starters recording at least two hits. Four Bears drove in at least two runs, and eight of Baylor’s nine runs came across on an extra-base hit.
The Bearkats (22-12) got on the board first, scoring one run in the top of the first inning off BU starter Jacob Ashkinos. But the Bears answered quickly, plating runs in both the first and second innings to take a 2-1 lead.
From there, Ashkinos cruised through four innings, tying a career high for innings pitched. He allowed just the one run on six hits and struck out a pair.
In the fifth, Baylor put up a six-spot as Davis Wendzel crushed his sixth home run of the season, a two-run shot, and Cole Haring knocked in Shea Langeliers with an RBI single to put the Bears ahead 5-1. Then, after Josh Bissonette walked, Mack Mueller collected his second RBI double of the night and Chase Wehsener followed with a two-run double of his own to make it 8-1.
SHSU got one back in the top of the sixth, but were held in check by reliever Hayden Kettler who worked out of trouble. Kettler gave the Bears two innings out of the bullpen, allowing one run on four hits and striking out two batters.
After Haring cashed in with another RBI single in the bottom of the sixth, Baylor saw its lead get trimmed to 9-5 due to a couple of solo homers and an RBI double by the Bearkats. Freshman reliever Brooks Helmer was able to minimize the damage before handing the ball to Logan Freeman, who pitched two innings and allowed one run while striking out five to finish off the victory.
NOTES
*25 wins through 35 games is the quickest Baylor has reached the 25-win mark since 2012, when the Bears won 25 of their first 32 games.
*Baylor is on a three-game win streak. It’s the Bears’ fourth streak of at least three wins this season.
*This is the Bears’ 15th come-from-behind win in 2019.
*The Bears improve to 4-4 against SHSU under fourth-year head coach Steve Rodriguez.
*This is Baylor’s first home victory over the Bearkats under Coach Rodriguez, with the program’s last home win over SHSU coming on Feb. 28, 2012.
*Baylor is 6-2 in midweek games this season and 33-12 all-time in midweek contests under Coach Rodriguez.
*The Bears tallied double-digit hits for the 22nd time this season and sixth time in their last seven games.
*118 of Baylor’s 247 total runs in 2019 have come with two outs, including two of Baylor’s nine tonight.
*Baylor has hit 173 home runs in 202 games under Rodriguez, including 35 in 35 games this season. BU hit 54 homers in 2018, its most in a season under Rodriguez. The Bears are coming off back-to-back seasons with at least 50 home runs (51 in 2017, 54 in 2018) for the first time since 2009 (73) and 2010 (57).
*Davis Wendzel extended his on-base streak to 16 games and his hit streak to seven games.
*Cole Haring extended his on-base streak to nine games.
*Richard Cunningham has a seven-game hitting streak.
*Andy Thomas has a seven-game hit streak.
*Josh Bissonette has a five-game on-base streak.
*Shea Langeliers has a five-game hit streak.
*Langeliers has now thrown out 10 runners attempting to steal in 2019.
*Mack Mueller tied a career high with three hits.
*Five Bears recorded a multi-hit game, as Haring and Mueller both tallied three, while Wendzel, Langeliers and Thomas each picked up two.
*Four Bears recorded a multi-RBI game, as Wendzel drove home three and Haring, Mueller and Chase Wehsener each knocked in two.
*Jacob Ashkinos made his third start of the season and tied a career high with four innings pitched.
*Hayden Kettler made his seventh appearance of the season and second outing in relief.
*Brooks Helmer made his fifth appearance of the year and recorded two outs on three pitches.
*Logan Freeman made his second appearance of 2019 and struck out five in two scoreless innings.
STAT OF THE DAY
8 – Eight of the Bears’ nine runs came across on an extra-base hit.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
On the offensive mentality of this team…
“I think the big thing is we have a lot of guys that are pretty versatile in a lot of ways. It’s not like they just hit home runs, their swing has gotten so much better and they are much more consistent with their swing passes. Our guys have been pretty consistent with just working on hitting the ball hard and then at that point we let it go, and if it goes out great.”
- Baylor head coach Steve Rodriguez
On Freeman on the mound…
“Logan Freeman was absolutely awesome tonight; what a huge lift for our team and we really needed him tonight. We’re kind of struggling with arms just because so many guys have pitched this past weekend, the effect he has had and the ability he has had to help us and now for the stretch that we’re going to be on right now is really awesome.”
- Baylor head coach Steve Rodriguez
WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears hit the road for a three-game series at Texas Tech, beginning Thursday, April 18 with game one scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT in Lubbock.