WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball bounced back with a 4-2 victory over Texas State on Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears (14-10) snapped their four-game losing streak with the win over the Bobcats (11-15).
 
Baylor started off strong with three-straight hits to begin the home-half of the first. Following two singles from Jared McKenzie and Jack Pineda, second-year freshman Tre Richardson crushed his first triple of the season into left field to put the Bears in the lead 2-0. 
 
Later on, Texas State climbed back into the game after scoring a run in both the second and third innings to tie the game 2-2.
 
In the fifth, newcomer Antonio Valdez singled through the right side to score Richardson and give BU the 3-2 lead. The Bears doubled their lead in the sixth after second-year freshman Kyle Nevin smacked his first-career home run on the first pitch of the at-bat, making it 4-2.
 
With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the eighth, third baseman Esteban Cardoza-Oquendo came up with a huge double play to end the inning and keep the Bobcats off the board. In the ninth, Luke Boyd shut the door with two strikeouts and a pop up to end the game.
 
Baylor reliever Jacob Ashkinos (3-0) picked up his third victory of the season after hurling three scoreless innings, while Texas State's Zeke Wood (2-2) was tabbed with the loss. Boyd (4) earned his fourth save of the year.
 
NOTES
• Baylor is now 12-2 at Baylor Ballpark.
• BU is 13-5 against non-conference opponents.
• This is the Bears first win of the year when getting out-hit by their opponent.
• Third-year sophomore Brooks Helmer made his first career start and his first appearance of the year, throwing a scoreless first inning.
• Nevin hit his first career homerun with a solo shot in the sixth.
• Richardson smacked his second-career triple in the first inning.
 
QUOTE FROM COACH ROD
"Our team has been grinding all year, we just played two of the best pitching staffs that we're going to see in conference this year and I was just really proud of how they came out and competed tonight. The biggest thing today was really great because (Tre) Richardson had been struggling a bit and he smashed a two-run triple to kind of get us going. It led to a lot of relief for our team because we had really been wanting a big hit like that. Then obviously Kyle Nevin comes to bat later on and hit the solo shot. We had been waiting for him to do that for a while now and I think he has a lot of potential. It's going to be fun to watch him get stronger."  
 
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears will take on North Carolina A&T in a four-game series beginning on Thursday, April 1 at 6:30 p.m. CT at Baylor Ballpark.
 
To stay up to date throughout the season on all things Baylor baseball, follow the team on Facebook (Baylor Baseball), Twitter (@BaylorBaseball) and Instagram (@BaylorBaseball).