Matt Hellman | Lariat Photo Editor
By Krista Pirtle
Sports Writer
No. 25 Baylor baseball kept its perfect record under the lights intact Wednesday at The Dell Diamond in Round Rock, defeating Texas State 5-1.
The second pitch of the game struck junior designated hitter Nathan Orf in the side. Junior third baseman Cal Towey followed with a walk.
Two batters later, senior catcher Josh Ludy hit a line drive that landed just to the fair side of the first base line.
After the fifth hole, junior center-fielder Logan Vick took a base on balls, Texas State’s Mitchell Pitts collected himself and struck out the remaining two outs.
After that, the Bears failed to hit the base pads for three straight innings until sophomore second baseman Lawton Langford led off the top of the fifth with a single to left field.
Freshman right-fielder Adam Toth followed Langford’s lead, knocking a double out to right, scoring Langford, who advanced to second on a balk.
Matt Hellman | Lariat Photo Editor
Toth was brought home by a Towey sac fly. After a walk and a strikeout to his name so far, junior first baseman Max Muncy blasted a triple to left center.
The Baylor bats seemed to cool off from that point, with Ludy leading the Bears going 2 for 3 at the plate with a pair of RBIs.
Other than the first and fifth innings, the Texas State defense limited the Bear bats to three up, three down.
The only scoreless inning with more than three batters at the plate was the seventh when senior Josh Ludy singled to right but was stranded on the bases.
On the evening, eight were stranded on base by the Bears, three each in the first and fifth.
Defensively, a combination of five arms only allowed a run for Texas State, allowing only four hits.
Senior right-handed pitcher Tyler Bremer started for the Bears and got the win.
“Tyler is going on two days rest after throwing three plus on Sunday,” head coach Steve Smith said. “Essentially this was a bullpen game from the start.”
The lone run for the Bobcats was scored in the bottom of the eighth, off a right-field double by Casey Kalenkosky.
To end the ball game, junior right-handed pitcher Miles Landry struck out the side.
“I think we’re pitching with a lot of confidence,” Smith said. “I see a confidence from the mound. It’s one thing to pitch first strikes, but it’s another thing to do it with purpose.”
While there were only eight strikeouts by the green and gold, the defense behind the mound was errorless on the evening.
The third inning ended with junior shortstop Jake Miller pulling in a hard hit grounder, tossing it to Langford at second who turned and fired to Muncy at first for the double play.
“It’s great. I know I can rely on my defense,” Bremer said. “Sometimes I go out there and try to do too much. I get a ground ball to Jake Miller to end the inning.”
