THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (15-11) won its fourth game in a row and clinched its series over East Tennessee State (17-7) with an 8-7 win on Saturday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark in Waco.

Kobe Andrade turned in a quality start, going six innings and allowing only three runs with a trio of punchouts in the victory, while the offense received timely hits including a Chase Wehsener three-run home run.

For the second-straight day, ETSU got on the board first with a run in the top of the first, but the Bears answered right back with a three-run shot from Wehsener. BU added two more in the second thanks to RBI knocks from Jack Pineda and Kyle Nevin that made it 5-1.

After a Buccaneer two-run home run in the third cut the lead to 5-3, Andrade found his groove and retired 12 of the last 13 batters he faced before exiting the ballgame.

In the seventh, ETSU inched back with one more run, but Baylor responded again and took advantage of some miscues as two hits and two batters who were hit by pitches resulted in a pair of runs.

ETSU knotted the tally in the eighth at 7-7 with a three-run frame, but a Jared McKenzie sacrifice fly in the bottom half proved decisive, as what would be the winning run crossed the plate.

Mason Marriott (2-0) got the win, recording four outs with just one hit allowed.

NOTES
• BU improved to 4-0 all-time against ETSU and 6-0 all-time against SoCon opponents.
• Baylor is now 82-33 (.713) at home over the past five seasons, including a 10-7 mark in 2022.
• Chase Wehsener led the Bears with four RBIs, tying a season-high.
• It's Wehsener's seventh multi-RBI game of the season.
• Kyle Nevin tallied three hits, his third three-hit game and ninth multi-hit performance of 2022.
• Tre Richardson (17), Jared McKenzie (12), Jack Pineda (9), Wehsener (9), Ian Groves (7), Esteban Cardoza-Oquendo (6) and Nevin (6) each extended their on-base streaks.
• Casen Neumann drove in a run for the sixth-straight game, and seventh time in his last eight appearances.
 
STAT OF THE GAME
4 – Chase Wehsener drove in four in BU's fourth-consecutive victory.

TOP QUOTES
Head coach Steve Rodriguez
On winning without playing your best…
"That's what good teams are going to find a way to do. I thought we hit some balls really well early on that just got caught. We hit some balls deep to the outfield and just couldn't find a way to benefit from some of those swings, and that's kinda part of baseball unfortunately. You just have to keep laying good swings on pitches and hitting balls hard."
 
Sophomore LHP/OF Kobe Andrade
On getting into the flow of the game…
"We don't hit the panic button. We try to stay composed, stay within ourselves. Hitters have done a great job these past couple weeks of staying within themselves, getting hits up on the board, and the pitching staff is coming along. We're staying confident, trusting our stuff and knowing our defense is right behind us."
 
Redshirt Junior 1B Chase Wehsener
On winning games after being down runs…
"It feels good to come out with a victory. We didn't play our best today, but those games where you can just grind out a win are the ones you need over the course of the season and every single one counts. That was big for us today. Just keep going. We've been doing it all year. Got to keep going and keep the foot on the gas pedal."

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor (15-11) will look to finish off a series sweep of ETSU (17-7) on Sunday at Baylor Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT.
 
For the latest news on the Baylor baseball team all season long, follow its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorBaseball.