Baylor baseball posted a 3-1 win in the first game of a doubleheader at Kansas on Sunday afternoon at Hoglund Ballpark. The Bears (27-16, 8-9) scored just enough as Montana Parsons and the bullpen stifled the Jayhawks (21-22, 8-9) for a series win.
BU got on the board in the third inning with Tucker Cascadden reaching on an error, T.J. Raguse hustling for a double and Richard Cunningham posting a sacrifice fly. Cunningham then scored Raguse in the fifth inning after a single with an RBI double.
In the sixth, Kameron Esthay extended the lead with an opposite field home run.
Kansas scored a run in the eighth but reliever Kyle Hill left two on and Troy Montemayor worked a clean ninth to finish the game.
BU starter Montana Parsons (4-2) earned the win, giving up no runs on two hits and two walks with eight strikeouts and retired 14 straight batters at one point. Montemayor picked up his 10th save with one strikeout in the ninth. KU starter Jackson Goddard (4-3) took the loss, allowing three runs on eight hits and one walk with four strikeouts in seven innings.
NOTES
*Baylor has won 27 or more games for the first time since 2013 (27-28) and 19th time in the last 22 seasons.
*Baylor’s 27-16 record through 43 games is its best since a 35-8 start in 2012.
*Baylor has 16 home runs in 16 games in April after posting 14 home runs in its first 26 games of the season.
*Baylor has hit 30 home runs for the second straight year, marking the first time doing so since the 2011 (34) and 2012 (46) seasons.
*Baylor is 10-7 away from Baylor Ballpark this season (8-6 on road, 2-1 in neutral sites).
*Baylor has won five of its 10 three-game series this season and two of its last three.
*Baylor junior RHP Troy Montemayor garnered his 10th (10-for-11) save of the season and 24th of his career. He converted his first eight career save attempts, and after blowing his ninth attempt, had converted 12 straight and now 15 of his last 16. He’s 24-for-26 in converting save attempts in his career and is now tied with Nick Cassavechia (24, 2005-08) for second all-time at Baylor.
*Baylor JUCO junior RHP Montana Parsons posted a career-high eight strikeouts and has now had at least five innings pitched with three earned runs or less and three or more strikeouts in nine of 11 starts this season.
*Junior right fielder Kameron Esthay hit his career-high sixth home run and 14th of his career as he posted his team-high 13th multi-hit game.
*Senior first baseman Aaron Dodson has a career-high 13-game hitting streak.
*Freshman third baseman Davis Wendzel has a season-high 12-game on-base streak.
*Sophomore left fielder T.J. Raguse has a seven-game on-base streak and three-game hitting streak as he notched his 10th multi-hit game.
*Freshman catcher Shea Langeliers has a six-game on-base streak.
*Sophomore center fielder Richard Cunningham has a six-game hitting streak as he posted his eighth multi-hit game and seventh multi-RBI game.
*Junior JUCO shortstop Tucker Cascadden has a five-game on-base streak.
STAT OF THE GAME
14 – The amount of consecutive batters that Montana Parsons retired for Baylor to let the offense get him a lead.
WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor finishes its series at Kansas with a 3:55 p.m. CT game on Sunday in the second of a doubleheader.
