By Ben Everett | Sports Writer
The Baylor baseball team defeated Texas State 10-2 Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark behind an early offensive outburst.
The Bears (25-16) have eclipsed last season’s win total with 12 regular season games left.
Freshman starting pitcher Hayden Kettler walked the first batter and allowed a hit to put two on base but recorded a strikeout to end the inning in the first.
The Bears wasted no time getting the offense rolling. Junior second baseman Steven McLean reached second on a hit and error by the pitcher, and sophomore outfielder T.J. Raguse pushed McLean to third with a single to right field.
Baylor got on the board first when freshman catcher Shea Langeliers launched a double to score McLean, and senior designated hitter Matt Menard converted a single to score Raguse, putting the Bears up 2-0 in the first inning.
A ground-out by junior outfielder Kameron Esthay resulted in a double play for Texas State but brought Langeliers home to put Baylor up 3-0.
After giving up a hit and walking a batter in the second, Kettler was replaced with freshman pitcher Ryan Leckich. Leckich proceeded to strike out the next batter to bring the Baylor bats back out.
The offensive onslaught continued in the second with senior first baseman Aaron Dodson dropping a double in deep left field. Sophomore outfielder Richard Cunningham followed with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch.
McLean walked to load the bases, but Dodson was called out at home after a bunt from Raguse. With the bases still loaded, Langeliers hit a single to left field to score Cunningham and McLean and make it a 5-0 game.
In the top of the third, Texas State’s Derek Scheible scored on a sac-fly from Jaylen Hubbard to put the Bobcats on the board, making it 5-1.
In the top of the fourth, senior Drew Robertson came to the mound to take the place of Leckich.
In the bottom of the fourth, Cunningham singled and McLean followed with another single that put Cunningham at third. Cunningham scored on a wild pitch to extend the Baylor lead to 6-1.
Robertson was relieved in the fifth with sophomore Kyle Hill taking the mound for the Bears.
Texas State’s Luke Sherley managed a run for the Bobcats after knocking in a double, stealing second and making it home on a wild pitch to make it a 6-2 game in the seventh inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, Esthay got on base with a double before advancing to third on a single from freshman third baseman Davis Wendzel. Esthay and Wendzel both scored on a long single from Dodson to extend the Baylor lead to 8-2.
Cunningham and McLean walked to load the bases and Dodson made it home on a sac-fly from Raguse to make it 9-2.
Back-to-back walks of Langeliers and Menard brought in another run for the Bears as they now led 10-2.
Junior Kyle Ott replaced Hill at the mound in the eighth and closed out the game as Baylor won 10-2.
The Bears hit the road to face Kansas in a weekend series starting at 6 p.m. Friday in Lawrence, Kan.
