By Foster Nicholas | Sports Writer
Coming off a winless weekend, Baylor baseball looked to get back in the win column against Rice University on Tuesday at Baylor Ballpark. The green and gold did exactly that by rallying at the plate and keeping the Owls off the scoreboard to win 6-0.
Head coach Mitch Thompson and the Bears (6-11) came out of the gates firing on all cylinders. Junior right-handed pitcher Will Rigney made his first start since April 22, 2022 against the University of Texas when he sustained his third season-ending injury of his career. Although Rigney only threw 2.0 innings, he shut down the top six batters in order and struck out five of the six he faced.
“Being here [in Waco] growing up and watching all the teams in the early 2000s, it’s special every time I get to come out here and play,” Rigney said. “I’m just really appreciative every time I get to.”
The Baylor bats were just as dominant in the first two innings. Freshman infielder Kolby Branch led off the bottom of the first with a triple to left field. Redshirt freshman outfielder Gavin Brzozowski followed up the big at-bat by slugging an RBI triple of his own off the right field wall.
Junior designated hitter Hunter Simmons worked a full count and then swatted an RBI single up the middle to extend Baylor’s lead to 2-0. After the single, sophomore first baseman John Ceccoli handled a fastball off the thigh and took his base. Another run would score in the inning after a sacrifice bunt and then a sacrifice fly that sent Simmons home.
“When you see your pitching staff just let it go up there and guys can’t even touch them, I mean, that just builds confidence from me. I just gotta swing the bat,’” Simmons said. “It’s as simple as that.”
With a 3-0 lead heading into the second, the Baylor bats weren’t done putting runs on the board. Junior infielder Cole Posey drove a double off the left field wall with one out to start the rally and brought leadoff hitter Branch back up to the plate. The middle infielder slapped an RBI single up the middle and Posey slickly slid into home to tally another run.
Brzozowski and Simmons hit back to back singles to bring Branch in to score and extend the Baylor lead to 5-0. By the end of the second inning the one, two and three hitters for the Bears already had multi-hit games.
“We played well. We swung the bats right out of the chute,” Thompson said. “We got some good pitches to hit and the guys squared them up and hit a lot of balls hard. It was fun to see.”
The Baylor scoring came to a halt after the second inning, but the arms resumed where Rigney left off. Junior right-handed pitcher Anderson Needham gave the green and gold two more scoreless frames while striking out two batters, walking one, and allowing only one hit. In the fifth, the Bears turned to junior right-handed pitcher Adam Muirhead who also delivered two scoreless innings out of the bullpen. Muirhead struck out three batters and only allowed a single and a walk through the two frames of work.
By the end of six innings, the green and gold still held on to a strong 5-0 lead and Baylor pitchers had already struck out 10 Owl (8-9) batters. Junior right-handed pitcher Brett Garcia took over in the seventh inning and the bullpen stayed strong. Garcia threw two more shutout innings and did not allow a baserunner while striking out an additional three batters.
After being shut down for five straight innings, the Bears got back to work in the bottom of the eighth, looking for insurance. Freshman catcher Zach Mazoch was hit by a pitch with one out and then was taken out for more speed at first base in the form of sophomore catcher Cortlan Castle.
After a ground out, Castle advanced to second and freshman left-handed pitched and outfielder Ethan Calder dug into the batter’s box from the left side. Calder roped a run-scoring single into left-center field for the first hit and RBI of his career.
Baylor led 6-0 going into the ninth and that’s how the game stayed. Thompson elected to go with sophomore right-handed pitcher Gabe Craig to close out the game. Craig shutdown all three batters he faced in order and tallied two strikeouts, extending the total on the night to 15.
“The guys on the mound were outstanding,” Thompson said. “I think Will Rigney probably gave us a little shot in the arm. Everybody was excited to see Will out there again. He gave us two good innings and then we followed that up with Needham, Garcia, Muirhead and then Craig. That was just an outstanding ballgame from our pitching staff. We’ll take that every day and twice on Sunday.”
The Bears only allowed two hits and three walks on the evening and Rigney (1-0) earned his first win since April 4, 2022.
The green and gold will be back at Baylor Ballpark this weekend for a three-game series against Kansas State University to mark the beginning of Big 12 play. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
