Final Stats

THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas - Baylor baseball lost 5-2 to Houston Baptist on Saturday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears (1-1) were unable to hold off a late rally by the Huskies (1-1).

BU started the game with an early lead thanks to a leadoff home run by Andy Thomas in the second. But the lead only last until the fourth, as HBU scratched a run off BU starter Kyle Hill on a hit, walk, sacrifice bunt and RBI groundout.

The Bears had a one-out rally going in the fourth after a single by Davis Wendzel and walk by Thomas but no runs came of it.

Hill and reliever Tyler Thomas held the Huskies scoreless through seven innings. However, the Bears ran into trouble in the eighth as Luke Boyd gave up a leadoff single, hit a batter and balked before getting an out. Drew Robertson came on to try to keep the score even, but gave up a sac fly and RBI single.

In the bottom of the eighth, Josh Bissonette and Davion Downey had back-to-back two-out singles to no avail. HBU kept the pressure on with two more runs in the ninth on three singles and an error.

Baylor rallied in the bottom of the ninth but it wasn't enough. With one out, Davis, Thomas and Cole Haring singled in succession to load the bases. T.J. Raguse then popped up to shallow center field and the ball dropped in to score Davis but Haring was forced out at second on a close play. Tucker Johnson grounded out to second on the next play to end the rally.

HBU reliever Matt Heck (1-0) picked up the win, giving up a hit in one inning. HBU reliever JT Newton earned the save, despite giving up one run on five hits in two innings with one strikeout. Boyd (0-1) took the loss for Baylor, allowing two runs on one hit in 0.1 frames.

NOTES
*Baylor has finished its home schedule with a .500 record or better (1-1 in 2018) in all 19 seasons at Baylor Ballpark (since 1999) and is 417-194 all-time at the park.

*Andy Thomas hit his first home run of the season and second of his career.

*Richard Cunningham's career-high hitting streak, which dated back to last season, ended at 13 games.

*Davis Wendzel has a five-game on-base streak, dating back to last season. He led BU with three hits.

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

*Freshman Davion Downey made his Baylor debut with a pinch-hit single in his lone plate appearance in the eighth inning.

*Freshman Nick Loftin made his Baylor debut in the ninth inning as a defensive replacement at shortstop.

*Freshman Tyler Thomas made his Baylor debut on the mound with two scoreless innings, allowing three walks with two strikeouts.

*Redshirt freshman Jimmy Winston made his Baylor debut on the mound to get the final out in the ninth inning.

STAT OF THE GAME
4 - The amount of Baylor players that made their career debuts: OF Davion Downey, IF Nick Loftin, LHP Tyler Thomas and RHP Jimmy Winston.

QUOTE OF THE GAME
"We really wanted to be able to get some young guys in there just to kind of play, so they understand and get that nervous energy out. Davion Downey coming out and smashing the ball to left field in his first at-bat - that is really big for us and gives him confidence as well. So having some of those young guys, even Tyler Thomas coming out on the mound and just kind of breaking the ice for him to, that was really good to see." - Baylor Head Coach Steve Rodriguez

WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears and Huskies wrap up the series Sunday at 1:05 p.m. CT. BU RHP Hayden Kettler faces HBU RHP Daniel Endsley in the rubber match. For tickets, visit: http://www.baylorbears.com/tickets/. For updates on the program follow @baylorbaseball on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.