Final Stats

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

If this was a democracy, Baylor starter Cody Bradford was definitely voting to go back in for the ninth inning to finish off the Bears' first one-hitter in seven years.

After a quick 1-2-3 eighth inning that included two strikeouts, the sophomore lefty went to pitching coach John Strauss and said, "Hey, Coach, I've got this. I've got one more in me. Let's go."

But, with All-American closer Troy Montemayor ready in the bullpen, "I don't think there was really a question on if (Bradford) was going to go out there. He wasn't going out there," head coach Steve Rodriguez said.

Troy Montemayor worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth to record his 27th career save as Baylor defeated the visiting Houston Baptist Huskies, 1-0, in Friday's opener at Baylor Ballpark.

"It was really impressive watching him go out there," Rodriguez said. "The improvements he made from last year, the spike in his velocity, his breaking ball is tighter, a really good changeup. We knew he had it, but he's doing it with better arm action this year. He just had so much confidence with Coach Strauss and the pitches he was calling. . . . It was just really fun watching him have confidence with every pitch he was throwing up there."

That confidence is obviously well-placed. After taking a no-hitter into the seventh, Bradford gave up just one hit and one walk with a career-high eight strikeouts and faced just one batter over the minimum in eight clean innings.

"I peeked at the scoreboard once or twice," Bradford said, "but I really try to push that out of my head and just focus on each batter."

Sticking with baseball's unwritten rule about not jinxing a no-hit bid, "nobody approached me, nobody said anything," Bradford said, until he came back to the dugout after giving up a two-out single to right by 3-hole hitter Matt Heck.

"When I came in, I was actually the first one to say, 'Man, I made a bad pitch and he made a good hit,''' Bradford said. "And that was it."

That's all she wrote for the visiting Huskies, who had just three baserunners with two walks and the one single. In the ninth, pinch-hitter Grant Buck drew a four-pitch walk and pinch-runner Anthony Jones moved up to second on a sac bunt by Jack Fitzgerald.

But, as he had done 26 previous times, Montemayor buckled down and got the save to close it out. He retired Spencer Halloran on a high pop-up to third and then Tyler Depreta-Johnson on a flare to centerfielder Richie Cunningham for the final out.

"We have a preseason All-American, one of the best closers in the nation, in Troy Montemayor," Bradford said. "It's a no-brainer. He did a great job of going out there and closing it tonight. There was no reason for me to go back out."

After wasting a couple scoring chances in the first two innings, Baylor scored the only run of the game in the fourth after a leadoff double by Shea Langeliers. The Bears loaded the bases when Davis Wendzel walked and Cole Haring was plunked by a pitch.

T.J. Raguse then drove in the only run of the game with a sacrifice fly to foul territory down the left-field line, with Langeliers scoring easily from third.

"I was just happy with how well our guys were swinging the bats," Rodriguez said. "We went up there and hit some balls hard, they made some good plays. The first game is always a little chaotic, but I was really happy with how we approached it."

Baylor and Houston Baptist resume the series with a 3:05 p.m. matchup on Saturday, with Baylor junior Kyle Hill opposed by sixth-year senior Matthew McCollough. Sunday's series finale is slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch.

Bradford gave the Bears offense plenty of time to work, allowing no hits in his first 6.2 innings of work. The offense finally gave him all he needed - one run - in the fourth inning. Shea Langeliers led off with a double, Davis Wendzel walked and Cole Haring was hit by a pitch with one out to load the bases. T.J. Raguse got the job done with sacrifice fly to push Langeliers across the plate.

In the seventh, HBU's Matt Heck dropped a two-out single to right field to break up the no-hitter (Bradford issued a walk to Spencer Halloran to lead off the fourth). However, the sophomore lefty recovered to induce a fly out to center to end the inning, and worked a flawless eighth, striking out his last two batters.

Montemayor entered in the ninth and walked his first batter. But he got back on track after a sac bunt, getting a pop out and fly out to nail down the win.

Bradford (1-0) earned the win, tossing eight innings while allowing one hit and one walk with eight strikeouts. Montemayor picked up his first save of the season, giving up one walk. HBU's starter Zach Carter took the loss, surrendering one run on four hits and three walks with one strikeout in six innings.

NOTES
*Baylor posted its first one-hitter since March 11, 2011 vs. Louisiana Tech (7-0, Logan Verrett pitched a complete game).

*Baylor posted a shutout in its first game of a season for the first time since a 7-0 win vs. Northwestern State in Waco on Feb. 5, 2000.

*Baylor has eight shutouts under third-year head coach Steve Rodriguez (six in 2017, one in 2016). BU's last shutout was a 10-0 win at UTSA on May 16, 2017.

*Baylor notched its first 1-0 win since April 15, 2014 vs. Texas Southern in Waco.

*Baylor is 74-24 all-time in home openers and has won six of its last seven and 11 of its last 13.

*Baylor is 62-34 all-time in season openers and has won four of its last five.

*Baylor has finished its home schedule with a .500 record or better (1-0 in 2018) in all 19 seasons at Baylor Ballpark (since 1999) and is 417-193 all-time at the park.

*Troy Montemayor gathered his 27th career save to pull within 11 of topping Baylor's career leader Zane Carlson (37, 2000-04). He converted his first eight career save attempts in 2016, and after blowing his ninth try, converted 12 straight before blowing his 22nd attempt. He has converted 18 of his last 19 saves tries and seven straight. He is 26-for-28 in career save attempts.

*Cody Bradford tied a career high with eight strikeouts.

*Richard Cunningham extended his career-high hitting streak, which dates back to last season, to 13 games. He led the Bears with two hits.

*Cole Haring started and went 1-for-2 with a double and walk in his Baylor debut.

*Davis Wendzel tied a career high with two walks and has a four-game on-base streak, dating back to last season.

*Josh Bissonette has a four-game on-base streak, dating back to last season.

*Tucker Johnson made his first career start.

STAT OF THE GAME
6 - The amount of 1-2-3 innings that Bradford had.

QUOTE OF THE GAME
"It was really impressive watching [Cody Bradford] go out there and be able to show the improvements he made throughout the offseason. His velocity has increased, his breaking ball is tighter and he has a really good change-up. We knew he had it in him and he just had so much confidence in Coach [Jon] Strauss and the pitches he was calling. It was really fun watching him throw out there and have a good result." - Baylor Head Coach Steve Rodriguez

WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears and Huskies play Saturday at 3:05 p.m. CT and Sunday at 1:05 p.m. to finish the series. BU RHP Kyle Hill faces HBU LHP Matthew McCollough on Saturday and BU RHP Hayden Kettler squares off against HBU RHP Daniel Endsley on Sunday. For tickets, visit: http://www.baylorbears.com/tickets/. For updates on the program follow @baylorbaseball on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.