Baylor baseball garnered a 4-0 win over Texas State on Wednesday evening at Bobcat Ballpark. The Bears (5-0) used four pitchers for a combined shutout against the Bobcats (2-3).
After BU starter Alex Phillips successfully navigated through Bobcats scoring situation in the bottom of the first, the Bears gave him a run in the second inning. Kameron Esthay led off with a double off the right-center wall and Aaron Dodson followed with a single off the pitcher to put runners on the corners. Tucker Cascadden plated Esthay with a sacrifice fly.
In the third, Baylor made it a 3-0 lead. Steven McLean and Shea Langeliers led off with singles to put runners on the corners again. After a wild pitch scored McLean, Matt Menard singled home Langeliers.
Langeliers then extended the lead to 4-0 with a massive leadoff home run in the seventh.
Phillips (1-0) earned the win, tossing two scoreless innings while allowing two hits and one walk with three strikeouts. Kyle Hill pitched the next four innings, giving up five hits and a walk with five strikeouts. Joe Heineman covered the seventh inning and gave up just one hit. Kyle Ott finished the final two frames, surrendering one hit and two walks with six strikeouts. Texas State starter Cam Baird (0-1) took the loss, allowing three runs on seven hits and one walk with two strikeouts.
NOTES
*Baylor posted back-to-back shutouts for first time since Feb. 26-28, 2003 (9-0 win at UTSA, 4-0 win at UC Irvine).
*Baylor’s pitchers racked up 14 strikeouts for the first time since March 11, 2011 vs. Louisiana Tech.
*Baylor is 5-0 to start a season for the first time since 2012 (6-0).
*Baylor has won five straight games for the first time since doing the same from Feb. 26-March 4, 2016.
*Baylor is 50-24 all-time vs. Texas State and 13-7 in San Marcos, and snapped a five-game losing streak in the series.
*Baylor is 1-0 on the road this season.
*Baylor newcomer starting pitchers have four straight wins (Montana Parsons, Cody Bradford, Luke Boyd and Alex Phillips).
*Junior JUCO transfer RHP Alex Phillips made his Baylor debut and first start since May 26, 2015 after recovering from Tommy John surgery and earned the win.
*Freshman Shea Langeliers hit his second home run of the season as he posted a season-high four hits for his third multi-hit game of the season.
*Kameron Esthay posted his third two-hit game of the season, has reached base safely in all five games and has a hit in three straight.
*Steven McLean has a 15-game on-base streak dating back to last season and a four-game hitting streak. He notched his second two-hit game of the season.
*Josh Bissonette’s 13-game on-base dating back to last season ended.
*Matt Menard has reached base in all five games this season.
*Aaron Dodson has a four-game on-base streak.
*T.J. Raguse notched his second two-hit game of the season.
*Kyle Ott tied a career high with 2.0 innings of relief and set a career high with six strikeouts.
STAT OF THE GAME
14 – The amount of years between Baylor having back-to-back shutouts and the amount of strikeouts BU’s pitchers had in the game.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
“The bullpen did a great job today. Kyle Hill, Joe Heineman and Kyle Ott – the bridge guys sometimes get forgotten but it was really good to see our guys go out there and compete.” – Head coach Steve Rodriguez
WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor returns home for a weekend three-game series vs. South Alabama, starting Friday at 6:35 p.m. CT.
