WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (1-7) dropped a 6-4 contest to Abilene Christian (7-3) on Wednesday night at Baylor Ballpark in Waco.
 
After trailing 4-0 in the third inning, BU climbed back to tie the ballgame at 4-4 but stranded junior catcher Cortlan Castle, who was 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI, on third base in the bottom of the eighth as the go-ahead run. ACU went on to score a pair of runs in the top of the ninth to steal the victory.
 
Three Bears combined to throw 5.2 innings of one-hit relief in redshirt junior righty Drew Leach, freshman southpaw Mason Green and rookie right-hander Stephen Sepulveda. BU struck out 11 batters on the night, eclipsing double digits for the fifth time in 2024.
 
THE RUNDOWN
ACU struck first with an RBI single in the top of the first and added another in the second to go up 2-0. In the third, the Wildcats plated a pair of runs via a bases loaded walk and an RBI groundout to increase their lead to 4-0.
 
Over the middle innings, Baylor's bullpen kept the Bears in it and allowed the offense to chip away at the four-run deficit. Fifth-year senior infielder Mason Greer doubled in the bottom of the sixth, advanced to third on an error and later scored on a wild pitch for BU's first run of the game. Then, Castle singled in freshman catcher Brayden Buchanan to cut the ACU lead in half, 4-2.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, redshirt junior outfielder Enzo Apodaca scored sophomore outfielder Caleb Bergman with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-3 and the Bears finally knotted the scoreline in the eighth as senior infielder Daniel Altman beat out a pinch-hit RBI infield single. However, a strikeout would end the inning and leave the bases full of Bears with a 4-4 game headed to the ninth.
 
ACU retook the lead after an RBI single and plated one more run on a passed ball in the top of the ninth, then worked around Apodaca's leadoff single in the home half to retire the next three Bears and claim the victory.
 
HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor still leads the all-time series, 14-5, over Abilene Christian.
• The Bears are now 1-1 against in-state opponents and 1-1 in midweek games in 2024.
• BU struck out 11 Wildcats, marking the fifth time this season that the Bears have eclipsed double digits in strikeouts as a team.
• Freshman LHP RJ Ruais made his first-career start and matched his personal best with three strikeouts.
• Redshirt junior RHP Drew Leach matched his season high with three punchouts and recorded his third scoreless outing of the season.
• Freshman LHP Mason Green pitched two scoreless innings and punched out three.
• Freshman RHP Stephen Sepulveda threw 1.2 hitless innings and extended his hitless innings streak to six.
• Redshirt junior OF Enzo Apodaca extended his team-leading hit streak to seven games.
• Junior C Cortlan Castle tallied three hits to tie his career high.
• Senior INF Daniel Altman delivered a game-tying, pinch-hit RBI infield single in the eighth inning.
 
STAT OF THE DAY
5.2 – Drew Leach, Mason Green and Stephen Sepulveda combined to allow zero runs and just one hit in 5.2 innings of relief.
 
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Mitch Thompson
On tonight's game…
"You look back at a ballgame like this and the first inning counts as much as the ninth inning. We didn't get anything going offensively for about the first five innings. There are disappointing things that end up coming back to beat you in a tight ballgame and we had multiple opportunities in different ways. There's other cases where the guys performed well – you see Mason Green throw the ball well, and [Stephen] Sepulveda throw the ball well. Drew Leach threw the ball extremely well, too. Kade Fletcher is stepping in and competing hard for us. Caleb Bergman got in the lineup today and competed hard for us. We're trying to overcome some stuff, but it's disappointing when we can't get a win."
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor (1-7) hosts Oral Roberts (4-4) for a three-game series at Baylor Ballpark in Waco, starting on Friday, March 1, at 6:30 p.m.
 
To stay up to date on all things Baylor baseball, follow the team on its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorBaseball.