WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (2-2) downed HCU (0-4) by a final of 11-4 Tuesday evening at Baylor Ballpark in Waco.
 
Freshman INF Kolby Branch and redshirt freshman OF Gavin Brzozowski combined to go 6-for-10 with a pair of home runs and 10 RBIs to lead the charge from the top two spots in the lineup. The Bears' bullpen threw 7.1 innings of one-run baseball, helping BU come back from a 3-0 deficit to outscore the Huskies 11-1 from the second inning on.
 
THE RUNDOWN
HCU put up a quick three spot in the top of the first inning thanks in part to a two-run home run and an RBI double, but after junior RHP Jared Matheson entered from the bullpen the Huskies' bats went quiet.
 
Matheson put up zeros in his Baylor debut, racking up four strikeouts in 2.1 innings before handing the ball off to fellow junior righty Adam Muirhead. In his season debut for the Bears, Muirhead also notched four punchouts in 1.2 scoreless frames.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, the Bears broke through after Branch crushed a grand slam for his first-career home run. After junior INF Will Pendergrass reached on an error, freshman C Zach Mazoch and junior INF/OF Cole Posey both walked to set up the Branch bomb, giving Baylor a 4-3 lead.
 
The Huskies would tie the ledger in the top of the seventh, cashing in on a pair of walks and wild pitches. However, BU responded in the bottom half with a two-run homer off the bat of Brzozowski to climb back in front, 6-4.
 
After junior RHP Hambleton Oliver retired the HCU side in order in the top of the eighth, the Bears put the game away with a five-spot in the bottom of the inning. Once again, it was Branch who delivered the knockout blow, a two-run double that chased in sophomore INF Hunter Teplanszky and junior C Harrison Caley. Brzozowski followed it up with a two-run single and later scored on junior INF Casey Sunseri's pinch-hit sacrifice fly to make it 11-4.
 
Fifth-year junior righty Anderson Needham closed it down in the ninth, setting the Huskies down in order on just nine pitches as Baylor improved to 2-2 on the season.
 
HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor improved to 7-2 all-time against HCU and has now won each of the last three meetings over the Huskies.
• Baylor won its first midweek game of the season after going 10-3 in such games in 2022.
• BU is 1-0 against teams from the state of Texas in 2023. The Bears went 12-10 against Lone Star State opponents a year ago.
• This is the fourth-straight game in which Baylor's pitching staff has struck out double-digit batters. The last time the Bears had such a stretch was a five-game span from March 5 to March 12, 2021, against Memphis and Xavier.
• Kolby Branch went 4-for-5 with six RBIs and was a triple shy of the cycle. He is the first Bear to drive in six since Andy Thomas did so on May 9, 2021, against Kansas State.
• Branch hit BU's first grand slam since Jared McKenzie's against Oklahoma State on May 19, 2022. It was Branch's first-career homer.
• Gavin Brzozowski drove in four runs and hit his first-career home run.
• Casey Sunseri collected his first-career RBI.
• Jared Matheson made his Baylor debut with four strikeouts in 2.1 scoreless innings.
• Adam Muirhead made his first appearance of the year with four strikeouts in 1.2 scoreless frames.
• Hambleton Oliver picked up his first win of the season after going 1.2 innings without allowing a hit.
• Anderson Needham pitched a clean ninth inning in his first outing of 2023.
• Zach Mazoch made his first-career start for the Bears behind the plate.
 
STAT OF THE GAME
10 – Freshmen Kolby Branch and Gavin Brzozowski combined to drive in 10 of Baylor's 11 runs against HCU.
 
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Mitch Thompson
On playing from behind…
"We're obviously going to try [playing with a lead], that's going to be a lot more fun. But you know, the good news is that there's no quit in us. We're going to battle, we're going to compete and that's what we've done even in the game we got blown out in. We came back and tried to score, so you know the thing I'm probably the most proud of was watching the bullpen come in. [Jared] Matheson for the first time, [Adam] Muirhead for the first time, [Anderson] Needham for the first time, and then having [Blake] Rogers and Hambleton Oliver come in and really do a nice job in pressure situations. [Oliver] pitched like a veteran, so it's fun to watch guys do that."
 
Freshman INF Kolby Branch
On his grand slam…
"It was amazing. I had a lot of fun. I saw he gave me three curveballs before and I saw it again. It was fun. It was fantastic. I'm happy to be with the guys and bring home four runs for us."
 
Redshirt freshman OF Gavin Brzozowski
On battling back…
"Coach Thompson was just telling us that we have been behind in every game, but we're battling back, and that's one thing I love about this team. We're going to battle. No matter who we're playing, Houston Christian, Duke, it doesn't matter. We're gonna battle and we're gonna come back and win the game."
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor (2-2) heads out east to square off with Duke (2-1) in a three-game set. The series opener is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 24, at 3 p.m. CT at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. All three games will be carried on ACC Networks via ESPN+.
 
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