By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            "What? Like, it's hard?"
            Certainly not for Baylor baseball true freshmen Jared McKenzie and Tre Richardson, who hit .500 this weekend (11-for-22) with five RBI and seven runs scored to help the Bears (2-1) bounce back from Friday's 19-9 season-opening loss to Nebraska and take the best-of-three series with a 7-2 win in Sunday's rubber match. 
            Batting in the leadoff spots in the series finale, Richardson and McKenzie both had two-hit days and combined to drive in three runs as the Bears rallied from an early 2-0 deficit. 
            "They're just good athletes," Baylor coach Steve Rodriguez said of his two freshman starters. "They play baseball really well and they understand the intricacies of the game at such a young age. 
            "For some kids, there could be a little bit of stage fright. They go out there and they don't want to swing and don't want to make mistakes. I told them, 'Hey look, I don't care about the mistakes. Just be aggressive. And as long as I can tell what you're attempting to do, we're going to be fine.' They're going to be fun to watch this year."
             If there was any stage fright in these two guys, it was clearly gone by Sunday. 
            Richardson, who graduated from Humble Kingwood High School a semester early to enroll in January, said the coaches were yelling at him during Friday's pregame warmups, "because I was kind of in awe."
            "It's amazing," said Richardson, who went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI on Sunday. "I just never experienced anything like this. We don't play in front of this many people until the playoffs. So, to come out in the home opener and you've got the home faithful behind you and stuff like that, that's pretty exciting."
            Compared to Friday's game, when the Bears found themselves down 11-0 after the first inning, a 2-0 deficit in the third was nothing. 
            Nebraska (1-2) took a 1-0 lead in the second on a two-out RBI single by Drew Gilin and then added another run in the third on an Aaron Palensky double and Luke Roskam's RBI groundout. But each time, Baylor starter Hayden Kettler (1-0) left a pair of runners stranded. 
            Thanks to an inning-ending double play in the fifth, Kettler got through five innings, giving up two runs on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts. 
            "My biggest thing was not to get down because they scored, but just try to minimize what they do at the plate," Kettler said. "I knew we were going to score some runs and the offense was going to come through. My job gets easier whenever my offense does that. It's awesome just to come out here and get a win on Sunday."
            Nebraska starter Cade Povich breezed through the first two innings, striking out five of the first six batters he faced and retiring the Bears in order.           The third inning was a different story. 
            Esteban Cardoza-Oquendo and Richardson reached base with singles, with the first run scoring when third baseman Gilin failed to come up with McKenzie's grounder. Nick Loftin followed with a two-run triple over the rightfielder's head that put the Bears on top, 3-2. 
            After Richardson scored on a passed ball in the fifth, Baylor padded its lead with a three-run sixth that included a pair of walks, singles by Ricky Martinez and McKenzie and a Richardson sac fly to push the lead to 7-2. 
            "It's just one of those things where coming in, I was just – I'm sure it's the same way with Jared – that baseball is baseball," Richardson said. "You could be seeing 98 (mph), you could be seeing 78. Baseball is always going to be baseball. If you stick with your approach, you'll succeed. I think our coaches have really prepared us to get to this point, and we sen went out and had fun."
            Baylor's defense turned inning-ending double plays in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, helping Kettler and reliever Evan Godwin wiggle out of jams. And then senior left-hander Ryan Lekich, making his first appearance of the season, retired the five batters he faced to close it out. 
            Richardson, McKenzie and Cardoza-Oquendo, a junior college transfer, had two hits apiece to account for six of the Bears' nine hits. 
            Bouncing back from Friday night's 19-9 loss, Baylor won Saturday's game, 8-7, on Chase Wehsener's walk-off RBI single in the 10^th and then won the series with its second-straight come-from-behind victory. 
            "A lot of teams, you take a beating like we did on Friday, and you kind of wear it the rest of the weekend," Rodriguez said. "Our guys didn't, and I'm pretty proud of them."
            Continuing an eight-game home stand, Baylor hosts Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-3) at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and then Oral Roberts (2-2) in a three-game series next weekend at Baylor Ballpark. 

NOTES

• Six of the Bears' seven runs on the day came with two outs. 
• The Bears are now 37-30-1 all-time against Nebraska. 
• The Bears are 24-10-1 all-time against the Huskers in Waco. 
• Head coach Steve Rodriguez is now 3-3 against Nebraska while at BU.  
• JR INF Esteban Cardoza-Oquendo's first hit of his Baylor career was the first hit of the day for the Bears. He eventually came around to score the Bears' first run of the day. 
• Cardoza Oquendo had his first multi-hit day in a Baylor uniform, going 2-for-3 with 2 runs scored and 1 walk. 
• RS-SO Kyle Harper earned his first start of the year. 
• FR Tre Richardson made his second-straight start, hitting leadoff as the designated hitter.

• FR CF Jared McKenzie had his third multi-hit game of the weekend, going 2-for-4 with 2 RBI and one run scored. 
• FR CF Jared McKenzie was 8-for-14 with 3 RBI, 2 doubles, 4 runs scored and 1 walk in his first collegiate series. 
• JR INF Nick Loftin delivered a two-run triple, his first three-bagger of the year.
• CF McKenzie and INF Nick Loftin each had two RBI apiece on the day. 
• First baseman Chase Whesener boasts a career fielding percentage of 1.000, has yet to make an error in 433 chances over 56 career games.
• FR LHP Evan Godwin made his collegiate debut and tossed 2.1 scoreless innings, striking out 2 and walking 2 while scattering 2 hits. 
• SR LHP Ryan Leckich made his 2020 debut and tossed 1.2 innings of flawless baseball, not allowing a hit or walk. He struck out 2 batters.
• Leckich has now appeared in 58 career games, 54 of those out of the bullpen.  
• Starting pitcher righty Hayden Kettler earned the win in his first outing of the season, allowing two runs on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts. 

 
STAT OF THE DAY
6 – 6 of the Bears' 7 runs on the day came with two outs. 
 
QUOTES OF THE DAY FROM HEAD COACH STEVE RODRIGUEZ 
On the mental fortitude of the team shown by this series…
"They did a great job adjusting. A lot of teams take a beating like we did on Friday and wear it the rest of the weekend, but our guys didn't and I'm pretty proud of them."

On getting guys in the games this weekend… 
"I want to make sure that they get those first time jitters out. Whether it is going to be in a pinch-run roll or a pinch-hit roll, going to defense, coming out of the pen. I mean we had chance to get a lot of guys in the game. I just wanted to make sure they got that out of their system and now they are able to go out and play without that nervous nature that a lot of kids have that first time out there."

Hayden [Kettler]'s pitching…
"Coming off of injury like he did last year, really happy with the performance. …He created some depth with his pitches, has great movement on his fastball, just creating some options for him. …It was really nice to get him back on the mound for us."
 
What makes freshmen Jared McKenzie and Tre Richardson so special…
"They're just good athletes. They play baseball really well. They understand the intricacies of the game at such a young age. I'm really happy just watching how, some kids have stage fright and don't want to swing or make mistakes, but I told them, I don't care about mistakes. Just be aggressive and as long as I can see what they're attempting to do, we're going to be fine. They're going to be fun to watch this year."
 
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears return to action on Tuesday, Feb. 18 as they host Arkansas-Pine Bluff. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. CT at Baylor Ballpark and will be streamed live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. Tickets to the game are only $3. Please visit baylorbears.com/tickets for more information and to purchase tickets.