Baylor Baseball Drops Third Straight in 7–5 Road Loss to Sam Houston

HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Baylor baseball (22-18) extended its losing streak to three games and split its season series against Sam Houston (18-23) following a 7-5 defeat on Tuesday night at Don Sanders Stadium.

Shortstop Travis Sanders (RJr.) went 3-for-5 in the loss with a double and two RBIs. The Bears were out-hit, 11-to-8, and tallied just two walks while punching out 10 times. Baylor went 4-for-14 (.268) with runners on, while Sam Houston had far more opportunities with traffic on the basepaths, going 6-for-23 (.261) and drawing six free passes.

“We’ve got to do a better job with two strikes when we’ve got a chance to put someone away; we gave up multiple 0-2, 1-2-type hits, and we’ve got to do a better job competing at the plate every inning,” head coach Mitch Thompson told the Baylor Sports and Media Network post-game. 

Thompson continued, “I love the competitiveness in the ninth inning, but there are a couple of innings that we gave it away. That can’t happen, and we’ve got to be better than that. Tonight is a disappointing night. Sam Houston played well. They pitched well. They didn’t give us many free bases. We had to do all the hitting ourselves, and we didn’t do enough.”

Right-handed pitcher Caldwell McFaddin (Fr.) made his first career start and, after allowing a leadoff home run, settled in and was excellent, not allowing another run across three frames. McFaddin’s ERA on the season sits at 4.05.

Despite not getting a runner aboard in the first two innings, the Bears got on the board in the top of the third, following an RBI single from Sanders and an RBI sacrifice fly from designated hitter Dylan Perez (Fr.).

Baylor extended its lead to 3-1 in the following frame on an RBI single up the middle from catcher JJ Kennett (Jr.) to capitalize on a leadoff double from first baseman Tyce Armstrong (RJr.); Armstrong went 6-for-12 in the series against TCU and has a five-game hitting streak.

After working around back-to-back singles in the bottom of the fourth, veteran righty Cade Hansen (Sr.) returned to the mound for the fifth and immediately loaded the bases.

Hansen entered the contest with a 12.15 ERA and .407 batting average against and exited after allowing three hits and two free passes.

One of Baylor’s go-to arms, Charlie Atkinson (Jr.), tried to mitigate the damage but allowed all three runs to score, as well as another on an error, giving the Bearkats back the lead, 5-3. Hansen has surrendered a run in 10 of his 11 appearances this season.

The Bears had a chance to regain the momentum in the following frame, as they loaded the bases, but only mustered across one run on a walk from left fielder Ty Johnson (5Sr.). Third baseman Robert De La Garza (Jr.) grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Baylor’s other go-to reliever, lefty RJ Ruais (Jr.), wasn’t as sharp either on Tuesday night, as he allowed three hits and a run, extending Sam Houston’s lead to 7-4.

Sanders clubbed an RBI double into right field in the ninth, cutting the lead to 7-5, but Perez struck out and stranded Sanders to close the contest.

Final: Sam Houston 7, Baylor 5

W: Mason Murphy (1-1) L: Cade Hansen (6-3) S: Zak Johnson (5)

POTG: Travis Sanders (3-for-5, 2 RBI, 2B, K)

What’s Next

The Bears (22-18, 9-9) will travel to Tempe to face No. 25 Arizona State (28-13, 11-7) in a conference series this weekend. The first game of the series is set for 8:30 p.m. CT on Friday, April 24, at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+.