WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball secured the four-game sweep after the 8-7 win over Memphis at Baylor Ballpark on Sunday. The Bears (7-4) led for the whole game against the Tigers (4-5).
 
In the first two innings, the Bears kept the Tigers off the scoreboard and followed with a string of runs in the first and second frames. Courtesy of Andy Thomas' RBI in the first, and a Chase Wehsener RBI-single and Jared McKenzie RBI-single in the second, Baylor went up 3-0.
 
In the third inning, the Bears gave up a two-run home run to Memphis, but Baylor answered back with two runs of its own. A single by Esteban Cardoza-Oquendo combined with a Memphis field error and another Wehsener RBI-single put Baylor back up by three runs.
 
Baylor stacked onto its lead with the addition of two runs, with an RBI sac fly from Thomas and an RBI-single from Davion Downey in the fourth inning making the score 7-2.
 
In the top of the fifth, the Bears gave up a run to the Tigers, however, two innings later, Jack Pineda hit an RBI-double to make it 8-3.
 
The Bears let one run get by in the eighth and two more in the ninth before bringing in reliever Luke Boyd to close things out. The Bears came up with a double play to end the game, 8-7.
 
Boyd (2) earned his second save of the season, while reliever Jacob Ashkinos (1-0) came up with his first win of the year after throwing 1.1 innings of work. Baylor starter Hayden Kettler threw 4.2 solid innings after allowing two runs and striking out five. Memphis' Landon Kelly (1-1) was tabbed with the loss.
 
NOTES
• BU is now 5-0 at home in 2021.
• Baylor is on a five-game winning streak, it's longest since April 23 – May 4, 2019 when the Bears won six-straight.
• The Bears earned their first four-game sweep since Feb. 15-17, 2019 against Holy Cross.
• Baylor has outscored its opponents this week 46-15, after going 5-0.
• Boyd is now 2-for-2 in save opportunities this season.
• In the series, Richardson hit .533 (8-for-15, six runs, three RBI), McKenzie .500 (8-for-16, eight runs, one home run, one triple, four RBI), Downey .500 (6-for-12 four runs, seven RBI).
• Pineda walked three times in the game, the first BU player to walk three or more times in a game since Downey vs. Kansas on March 30, 2019.
• McKenzie finished the game 3-for-5 with two runs and one RBI.
• Richardson, Downey and Wehsener ended Sunday with two hits apiece.
 
QUOTE FROM COACH ROD
"I thought our energy level was really good at the beginning of the game. You could tell that they were a little bit tired at the end. That's what I was telling our guys that it's really difficult to beat a team four times when you're going out there and they have the chance to go out and see your hitters and see your pitchers on a pretty consistent basis. Beating a team four times is difficult, so I thought they did a great job."
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor has two games scheduled for next Saturday in Baton Rouge, La. The Bears are set to play UTSA (1 p.m.) and No. 11 LSU (6:30 p.m.) on March 13.
 
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