Baylor Baseball's Struggles at the Plate Continue in 4–2 Loss to No. 25 Sun Devils
TEMPE, Arizona – Baylor baseball (22-20, 9-11) dropped its fifth straight game and lost its series to No. 25 Arizona State (30-14, 13-7) following a 4-2 defeat on Saturday night at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
The Sun Devils out-hit the Bears, 8-to-3, with two of Baylor’s hits being solo home runs from right fielder Brady Janusek (Fr.) and catcher JJ Kennett (Jr.). The Bears struck out 14 times, drew seven free passes and went 0-for-13 (.000) with runners on in the defeat.
Right-handed pitcher Zack Wallace (So.) did a commendable job against Arizona State’s powerful lineup, allowing four earned runs and eight hits across 5.2 innings, while striking out four Sun Devils and issuing just one free pass. Baylor’s bullpen — RJ Ruais (Jr.) and Grayson Murry (Sr.) — combined for 2.1 scoreless frames.
“Our pitching and defense kept us in the game,” head coach Mitch Thompson told the Baylor Sports and Media Network post-game. “If you’re going to hold these guys to four runs, that’s a pretty good effort.”
Thompson continued, “We’ve got to get more out of our offense. I’m disappointed we can’t get more out of our offense. Our guys are disappointed that they couldn’t do it tonight, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort. They competed, but we’re facing some really good arms.”
The Sun Devils struck in the bottom of the first, adding an early run on an RBI double from designated hitter Nuu Contrades (RJr.); Contrades later came around to score on a sacrifice fly and was the lone Arizona State player with a multi-hit performance.
Wallace settled in from that point forward, allowing just two runs over the next five innings, one of which was a solo home run from Contrades. The solo homer was the only Arizona State long ball of the contest after its six-homer barrage in the series opener.
“He was outstanding,” Thompson said of Wallace’s performance. “He pitched his tail off. That’s a really good lineup, and they love hitting in this place. Zack competed really hard. He gave us an opportunity, and I’m proud of his effort.”
To follow up their four-hit, 17-punch-out performance on Friday night, the Bears didn’t have much success on Saturday either, as they totaled just two hits through the first seven frames.
Baylor relievers, Ruais and Murry, kept the game within reach with 2.1 combined clean innings out of the bullpen, as the Bears trailed 4-2.
In the top of the eighth, Baylor was finally able to get some traffic on the basepaths, as two batters reached via walks and designated hitter Dylan Perez (Fr.) got aboard on a fielding error.
With the bases juiced and two outs, Kennett got a hold of a fastball, but Arizona State’s center fielder, Landon Hairston (So.), was able to track it down on the warning track — it was a few feet away from being Kennett’s second home run of the night and the go-ahead grand slam.
“JJ had a great at-bat,” Thompson said. “We had some great at-bats in the eighth inning. We got the runs on base, and JJ put a great swing on their guy. I thought it was going to get over his head, but the wind, all of a sudden, was blowing straight down instead of blowing at all.”
He added, “It’s one of those things where he couldn’t have hit it any better or harder. It just wasn’t meant to be. We didn’t do enough early in the game, but every guy that they’re running out there at us is really good. Their arms are phenomenal. This is the best group of arms that we’ve seen in conference play up to this point in time.”
The Bears looked poised to go down in order in the ninth inning, but John Youens (RSo.) picked up a pinch-hit, two-out single. With the tying run at the plate, shortstop Travis Sanders (RJr.) struck out to end the contest.
Final: No. 25 Arizona State 4, Baylor 2
W Colin Linder (4-2) L: Zack Wallace (3-4) S: Derek Schaefer (7)
POTG: RJ Ruais (1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, BB, K, 5 BF, 23 TP, 13 ST)
What’s Next
The Bears (22-20, 9-11) will finish their series against No. 25 Arizona State (30-14, 13-7) at 3 p.m. CT on Sunday, April 26, at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
