By Foster Nicholas | Sports Editor
Racking up seven 1-2-3 innings between six pitchers, Baylor baseball earned its eighth consecutive midweek win dating back to last season, taking down Tarleton State 7-2 Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark.
The Bears (9-3) totaled 11 strikeouts on the mound, and five batters reached base at least twice. Head coach Mitch Thompson knew it was going to be a bullpen day from the start, and his five relievers not only met expectations — they exceeded them.
“To see 6 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball from the bullpen and give up two hits, punch out eight, not walk anybody, that’s really good,” Thompson said. “That’ll win everywhere you go, so great job by the bullpen today.”
With wind gusts of up to 46 mph blowing from center field to the right-field foul pole, freshman left-handed pitcher Carson Bailey trotted onto the field for his third start of the season. Bailey and the Bears quickly battled the conditions as Tarleton (4-9) played small ball, using a walk, an infield single and a bloop single to score two runs in the bottom of the first.
“Carson came in and threw the ball well, the ball was jumping out of his hand but, man, it’s a tough time to pitch to when the gust is maybe 30 or 40 miles an hour,” Thompson said. “He battled through, and we had plans to get him out early anyhow, so we did.”
After Bailey forced a leadoff popout in the third inning, Thompson made the move to the bullpen, calling on redshirt senior right-handed pitcher Andrew Petrowski. Bailey allowed his first earned runs of the season, striking out three batters in 2 1/3 innings pitched. Petrowski (1-1) built off Bailey’s outing and earned the win, retiring all four batters he faced and picking up two strikeouts.
“The wind was huge; it was a huge factor,” Thompson said. “You’ve got to pitch to one side of the field and if you make a mistake on the other side of the field, it can leave. I mean, fly balls — wow. You should have seen some of those things during [batting practice]. It was going to be a zoo.”
The Baylor bats came alive in the bottom of the third inning, loading the bases with two singles and a hit-by-pitch to start the frame. Senior left fielder Wesley Jordan put the Bears on the board with a sac fly to deep left field. Senior center fielder Ty Johnson (2-for-4) added on after a pitching change, lacing a two-out, two-run single down the right-field line to put the green and gold on top 3-2.
Redshirt senior right fielder Enzo Apodaca, who went 2-for-3 with two runs and two walks, started a fifth-inning rally with a leadoff single. Two batters later, redshirt senior designated hitter Hunter Simmons whipped a double down the left-field line. As Simmons raced to second base, the throw from the outfield beat him to the bag, but a crafty slide to evade the tag allowed him to reach safely.
A five-minute review of Simmons’ slide confirmed the call, and freshman second baseman Pearson Riebock, who was robbed of his first career home run over the weekend, stepped up to the plate. Riebock flew out to the warning track in his second-inning at-bat but didn’t miss the next fastball he saw, clubbing a two-run double off the left-field fence — mere feet from his first home run again.
“As long as I’m hitting balls hard, I can’t complain too much about it,” Riebock said. “It’s a part of the game. The game’s gonna reward me eventually, and that’s how it is sometimes.”
Senior third baseman Hunter Teplanszky drove in Riebock later in the inning, dribbling a single between short and third. With a 6-2 lead, Baylor’s bullpen locked down the Tarleton order. Teplanszky was one of three hitters with two hits for the Bears, going 2-for-4.
Junior left-handed pitcher Stefan Stahl, redshirt-senior right-handed pitcher Patrick Hail and freshman right-handed pitcher Camden Clewett combined for 4 1/3 scoreless innings with four strikeouts and only two hits. Clewett picked up his first two collegiate punchouts, setting down the only four batters he faced.
“Coach Sned (Sean Snedeker) had a great plan out there, allowed me to go out there and be myself,” Clewett said. “As a team, from the beginning of the fall in August all the way to now, we’ve grinded … We’ve just been doing what we do — throw strikes and go get guys.”
Loading the bases on three straight strikeouts to open the sixth inning, Jordan plopped an RBI single into shallow left field to extend Baylor’s lead to 7-2 with no outs. But the threat was halted there as Simmons and Riebock struck out looking, and Johnson popped out.
The green and gold wouldn’t score again, and junior right-handed pitcher Grayson Murry retired the side in order in the ninth inning, picking up a pair of strikeouts to the door of Tarleton, 7-2.
“They get it — if they throw strikes, they got a shot,” Thompson said. “Throwing strikes, controlling that running game, getting after people, 1-2-3 innings, it makes a coach smile. I can tell you that.”
The Bears will be back in action for game one of a three-game series against Loyola Marymount University (7-5) at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Baylor Ballpark.
