Baylor Bear Insider
Even against one of the best pitching staffs in the country, Baylor got a leadoff batter on base in eight of the nine innings in Friday’s series opener at Baylor Ballpark.
The problem is, the Bears haven’t been able to do enough with all of those opportunities.
No. 12 Texas (25-11, 7-3) jumped out to a 6-0 lead and survived a late rally to hold on for an 11-9 victory in front of a crowd of 2,612.
“The disappointing part of this game for me is that we were never really in the game,” the Baylor coach said Mitch Thompson, whose team fell to 12-22 overall and 4-9 in the conference. “It’s a shame because we had opportunities and we just didn’t take them at the start of the game. And we didn’t play very good defense either.”
Baylor had nine extra-base hits, including a pair of home runs Cole Trimainbut half of the Bears’ 12 total hits and all nine of their runs came in the final two innings.
“It was a disappointing loss for sure,” said Tremaine, who went 3-for-5 with three RBIs. “Especially early on, offensively, we had some opportunities early in the game to bring some guys in and score them. And defensively, obviously, we had a few mistakes. But it sure hurts.”
After a relatively clean first inning, Baylor got going Blake Helton (0-4) gave up two runs in the second on a leadoff single by Porter Brown and RBI doubles by Jack O’Dowd and Jared Thomas.
Helton “took the ball when he didn’t feel great and competed for us,” said Thompson, giving up four runs on eight hits and one walk with two strikeouts over 3.1 innings.
One of the bright spots for the Bears was junior relief Cam Cayleywho settled things by going 4 1/3 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on two hits and two walks with five strikeouts.
“Cam Cayley came in and pitched as well as he could, as well as he’s pitched all year for us,” Thompson said, “and kept us close enough that if we did something, we could get back in the game.”
Trailing by a run each in the third through fifth innings, the Longhorns extended their lead to 5-0 and then made it 6-0 in the eighth on a two-out RBI single by Garret Guillemete
Baylor stranded eight runners in the first seven innings and went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. But that changed in the bottom of the eighth inning when Hunter Simmons blasted a two-run bomb that easily cleared the left-field wall and Tremaine hit a solo shot two batters later to get the Bears back within three, 6-3.
“I’m encouraged that we didn’t give up, but you have to expect that, too,” Thompson said. “We will not give up and the game is never over until the game is over. So I don’t want to get too much out of patting ourselves on the back, “Oh, we came close.” Well, shit, we’re down by eight runs. We scored six, we were two down. So the positive is that we’re back.”
In what proved to be the deciding factor, Texas responded with five runs on four hits and an error in the top of the ninth off Baylor Anderson Needham.
Trailing 11-3, the Bears made things interesting in the bottom half of the ninth. After a few walks, Hunter Teplanski double down the left field line. And then, with two outs, pinch hit The Neumann case and John Ceccoli hit back-to-back doubles and Tremaine followed with a monster two-run shot over the hit wall in center field that made it 11-9.
“Up until my last at-bat, every at-bat I’ve had, I’ve gotten two hits,” said Tremaine, who hit his second and third home runs of the season. “So I was kind of in battle mode, just trying to hit the ball hard, put it in play. But this last shot, I was able to get into cash leverage. I had it down 2-0 and I was just sitting on a dead-red fastball and I swung it well.”
With Baylor just one baserunner away from tying the plate, Max Grubbs was retired Walker Polk grounder to third to end the game.
“I think any individual that shows up (Saturday) expecting to win is the biggest thing,” Tremaine said. “I think we figure we’re going to win this ballgame and we’re going to take it one at a time, winning every single one we can.”
Saturday’s game is scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. first leg, while Sunday’s series finale will begin at 1:00 p.m. All games this weekend are televised by Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
WACO, TX – Baylor baseball’s frantic late rally came up short Friday night at Baylor Ballpark as the Bears (12-22, 4-9) scored nine runs in the final two innings against No. 12 Texas (25-11, 7-3). but lost an 11-9 contest in Waco.
BU’s comeback bid fell just shy of leveling the deck in the bottom of the ninth after the Bears went scoreless through the first seven frames. Junior RHP/OF Cole Trimain hit a pair of home runs and a junior OF Hunter Simmons had his third hit of the season in the late rally.
Baylor had a leadoff baserunner in eight of nine innings, but couldn’t cash in the early parts of the game as UT slowly built its lead. Junior LHP/OF Cam Cayley kept the Bears in it with 4.1 solid innings of relief, but in the end the Longhorns were able to hold off BU’s late rally.
THE SHORT
Texas got on the board first with two runs in the top of the second, then added single runs in each of the next three frames to take a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth.
The Longhorns snuffed out any Baylor threats early as the Bears stranded a runner in scoring position in four of the first seven innings.
UT added what appeared to be an insurance run in the top of the eighth, but BU showed signs of life in the bottom half when Simmons blasted a 430-foot, two-run home run to get his team on the board. Two batters later, Tremaine got in on the action with a solo shot to cut the deficit to 6-3.
In the top of the ninth, Texas erupted for five runs on four hits and a Baylor error, opening an 11-3 lead as things looked all but certain.
But the Bears didn’t quit as the first two batters in the home half reached back-to-back walks, setting up a sophomore INF To Hunter Teplanski a two-run double that made it 11-5. With two outs, sophomore 1B The Neumann case hit an RBI double with a pinch hit off the wall, then scored on the sophomore 1B To John Ceccoli RBI double that made it 11-7. Tremain was up next and stayed hot with a huge two-run shot over the batter’s eye, cutting the lead to 11-9.
However, that’s where the comeback bid would end, as a groundout ended the ballgame and gave the Longhorns a series-opening win.
ACCENTS
• It is 12th game Baylor has played in 2023 that was decided by two runs or fewer.
• Each of BU’s last four losses have been decided by three runs or fewer.
• The Bears recorded 12 hits for their 16th double-digit scoring on the year, including their 12th in the last 18 games.
• Baylor matched its second-highest single-game home run total this year with three.
• BU tallied a season-high six doubles in tonight’s contest.
• Eight of Baylor’s nine starters had at least one hit and seven of them scored at least one run.
• Junior RHP/OF Cole Trimain hit two home runs, his first multi-HR game of the year and Bear’s second this season.
• Tremain also recorded his third multi-hit, multi-RBI game of the year.
• Sophomore INF Hunter Teplanski extended his on-base streak to 22 games and his hitting streak to 10 games with his 10th multi-hit and fourth multi-RBI game of the year.
• Junior OF Hunter Simmons hit his third home run of the season and second in as many games.
• Simmons collected his team-leading eighth multi-RBI game of the 2023 campaign.
• Junior INF/OF Cole Posey became the second Bear to reach 10 doubles on the season, behind only the freshman INF Colby branchwho scored his team-leading 14th double of the season.
• Freshman C Walker Polk reached base for the fifth straight game.
GAME STATISTICS
9 – The number of extra base hits and runs scored by the Bears in tonight’s game.
QUOTATION
Head coach Mitch Thompson
In tonight’s game…
“The disappointing part of this game for me is that we were never really in the game. And that’s a shame, because we had opportunities and we just didn’t take them at the beginning of the game. We just never did and we didn’t play very good defense either. I’m encouraged that we didn’t give up, but that’s also to be expected. We don’t give up. I don’t want to be too happy that we’re patting ourselves on the back, but the positive thing is that we’re back. Today is a game of missed opportunities and being two runs down doesn’t make me feel very good.”
Junior RHP/OF Cole Trimain
On his two home runs…
“Until my last putt, every putt I had, I got to two shots, so I was always in battle mode, just trying to hit the ball hard and put it in play. That last at-bat, I was able to get leveraged on 2-0 and I was just sitting there dead red fastball and I had a good swing.”
WHAT NEXT
Baylor (12-22, 4-9) looks to even the series against No. 12 Texas (25-11, 7-3) on Saturday, April 15, with a 2:00 p.m. start at Baylor Ballpark.
To keep up with all things Baylor baseball, follow the team on its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorBaseball.
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