WACO, Texas – Baylor defeated BYU 12-5 Thursday in game one of a three-game Big 12 baseball series at Magnolia Field at Baylor Ballpark.
Baylor (17-12, 6-4) scored 12 runs on 13 hits while stranding 12 runners. BYU (13-15, 4-6) plated five runs on eight hits while leaving nine on base.
Highlights
Ridge Erickson: 2-2, 3RBI, 3R, HR, 2B, BB
Ezra McNaughton: 3-4, RBI, 2B, BB
Matt Hansen: 2-3, R, BB
Summary
Baylor jumped out to an early lead, scoring two runs on a single and a home run in the bottom of the first inning for a 2-0 advantage.
After a scoreless second inning, BYU cut the lead in half in the top of the third on a solo home run by Ridge Erickson. The Bears answered in the bottom half of the inning on a triple and another home run for a 4-1 lead.
Baylor pushed its lead to 7-1 in the fourth, taking advantage of three walks and three hits to post three runs. BYU responded with two runs in the fifth inning to close the gap to 7-3. Matt Hansen singled to left and scored one out later on a double down the left-field line by Erickson. With two outs Ezra McNaughten then doubled down the right-field line to bring home Erickson.
The Bears responded with another run in the fifth and tacked on two more in the sixth to take a 10-3 lead. The Cougars fought back with a run in the top of the seventh, but back-to-back strikeouts ended the threat with two runners aboard.
After holding BU scoreless in the seventh, BYU picked up a run in the eighth on an Erickson sacrifice fly that scored Keoni Painter, for a 10-5 score. Baylor answered back with two insurance runs in the bottom of the inning for what would be the final score of 12-5.
Up Next
Baylor and BYU will play game two of the three-game series on Friday, April 3 at 3:00 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and will also be available on the BYU Radio app, BYUradio.org, SiriusXM 143 and 107.9 FM in Utah County.