Baylor baseball notched a 6-0 victory over Nevada on Monday evening at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears (4-0) jumped out with three first-inning runs and pitched well to keep the Wolfpack (1-3) bats at bay.
Steven McLean started the first inning rally with a leadoff single, and was moved over on a sacrifice bunt that was misplayed by the pitcher to allow both runners to reach. After a sac bunt by Shea Langeliers moved both runners up, Matt Menard popped up to first base but the ball was dropped to score a run. Kameron Esthay followed with an RBI infield single and Davis Wendzel ripped an RBI single through the left side for a 3-0 lead.
The Bears added to the lead in the sixth on an RBI triple from Esthay and RBI double by Tucker Cascadden. In the seventh, Langeliers’ sac fly made it a 6-0 edge.
BU starter Luke Boyd (1-0) earned the win, allowing no runs on three hits and three walks with two strikeouts in five innings. Joe Heineman and Drew Robertson finished the game in relief, respectively, as each pitched two innings, gave up just a hit and walk and fanned three. Nevada starter Cooper Powell (0-1) took the loss, surrendering five runs on five hits and two walks with one strikeout in five innings.
NOTES
*Baylor is 4-0 to start a season for the first time since 2012 (6-0).
*Baylor shut out an opponent for the first time since a 4-0 win vs. Wofford on April 6, 2016.
*Baylor and Nevada met for the first time ever in this series, and BU holds a 1-0 edge.
*Baylor is 4-0 at Baylor Ballpark this season and 405-182 all-time.
*Freshman RHP Luke Boyd made his first career start and earned his first career win.
*Kameron Esthay posted his second two-hit game of the season and first two-RBI game while hitting his third career triple. He has reached base safely in all four games.
*Steven McLean has a 14-game on-base streak dating back to last season and has a three-game hitting streak. He notched his first two-hit game of the season.
*Richard Cunningham’s career-high seven-game hitting streak dating back to last season ended.
*Josh Bissonette has a 13-game on-base dating back to last season.
*Matt Menard has reached base in all four games this season.
*Davis Wendzel has a three-game on-base streak.
STAT OF THE GAME
4 – Baylor had four hits and four RBI from its No. 5-7 batters in the order – Kameron Esthay, Davis Wendzel and Tucker Casadden.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
“Luke Boyd mostly pitched tonight like we know he has the ability to. He got himself into some tough jams early, but he was able to compete through it. I think there’s still some things he can work on, but what’s great is that he was able to get through five innings and be able to do some really good things. On offense, we took advantage of some early errors and we were able to manufacture some runs late. We got some big hits by Tucker Cascadden and Kameron Esthay and were just able to execute, and that was really the key for us.” – Head coach Steve Rodriguez
WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor hits the road for the first time with a 6 p.m. CT game at Texas State on Wednesday.
