By Jeffrey Cohen | Sports Writer
Baylor was up 6-4 after trailing for two innings. Then Texas State’s pitching staff started to fall apart in the bottom of the sixth.
Baylor brought in four runs on five wild pitches to extend its lead to five. Senior outfielder Caleb Bergman added at fifth run with an RBI double off the center-field wall. The Bears ultimately run-ruled the Bobcats 14-4 to improve to 4-0 on the season.
“You gotta give it to the guys for being aggressive, playing hard,” head coach Mitch Thompson said. “Playing the way the game’s supposed to be played, it was fun to watch that tonight.”
Sloppy pitching was the theme for the Bobcats (3-1), as they premiered 10 pitchers who allowed 12 walks in Baylor’s win Tuesday night.
“I was really proud of our response tonight,” Mitch Thompson said. “They punched hard, and they bloodied our nose pretty good, but our guys showed right back up.”
The Bears got on the board in the first inning for the third straight game. A pair of singles and a walk from sophomore infielder Pearson Riebock loaded the bases for redshirt sophomore designated hitter John Youens (1-for-2, 2 RBI). He laced a ball into deep right-center field to bring in the first two runs.
“Everyone in front of me was getting on base,” Youens said. “I just came to the plate with a lot of confidence, and I was able to get a good swing off.”
Redshirt senior first baseman Tyce Armstrong (3-for-6, RBI) drove in his 14th run of the season in the second to give Baylor a 3-0 lead.
The Bobcats answered right away. Back-to-back towering home runs capped off a four-run top of the third to knock junior right-handed pitcher Cade Waibel out of the game.
The freshman outfield duo of Brady Janusek and Bo Caraway (3-for-5, 2 RBI) lifted the Bears back in front. Janusek showed off his speed with an RBI double while Caraway drove in two runs to give his team a 6-4 lead.
“The biggest thing in that situation is that you can’t take too big of a swing and try to hit a home run,” Caraway said. “I just tried to keep a middle approach and just do a single job.”
Baylor brought across 11 runs in the last four frames to complete the 14-4 rout of Texas State.
The Bears called on seven pitchers to hold the Bobcats’ lineup down. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Zack Wallace and junior right-hander Charlie Atkinson went the longest with two innings each.
Baylor will return to action Friday to take on No. 7 Oregon State to open the Round Rock Classic. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Dell Diamond.
