Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
WACO, Texas – Go ahead, try and wipe that smile off Baylor baseball coach Mitch Thompson's face.
 
Finishing off its first season-opening series sweep in six years, Baylor (3-0) run-ruled Youngstown State, 16-4, in a seven-inning first game Saturday afternoon and then took the series finale, 12-4, in a day when the Bears collected a combined 33 hits.
 
"It's what the doctor ordered," Thompson said. "I think we got really good performances from the guys on the mound. We had a bunch of guys get out there. And I think we'll keep getting better and better on the mound. And then offensively, there's a whole bunch of guys that really swung the bat well."
 
Including Ethan Calder's five-inning, 13-strikeout gem in Friday's 10-3 win, the Baylor starters gave up a combined five runs in 13.0 innings and struck out 24 batters. The pitching staff has a 3.24 ERA, while the Bears scored 38 runs in the three games and hit .430.
 
"It feels so good," said 9-hole hitter Tyriq Kemp, who went 4-for-6 with two doubles, a home run and five runs scored in Saturday's two games. "Having Scoob (Hunter Simmons) back in the lineup, you see him making a big difference. Everyone's feeling good, everyone's swinging the bat, so we've just got to keep doing this."
 
The visiting Penguins (0-3) actually took a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning of Saturday's first game on Kyle Fossum's second home run of the weekend. But the Bears answered with six runs on five hits and a pair of walks in the bottom half of the inning, the last run scoring on Wesley Jordan's infield single to third base.
 
When Youngstown plated two more runs in the sixth, the Bears put the game away with a nine-run explosion highlighted by an Enzo Apodacatriple, JJ Kennett's two-RBI single and a three-run double by Wichita State transfer Jack Little.
 
Baylor's top four hitters in the lineup – Little, Apodaca, Jordan and Simmons – went 10-for-18 and drove in 10 runs.
 
"I think it's less about the record and more about how we feel in the clubhouse and just showing ourselves that it's a different year," said Jordan, who hit a team-high .692 with four extra-base hits and seven RBIs, "and kind of getting that confidence rolling and being ready to go."
 
Hendrix College transfer Bryson Bales got the win in Saturday's opener, allowing two runs on two hits with two walks and eight strikeouts in four innings.
 
In the nightcap and series finale, fifth-year senior right-hander Cole Stasio made just his second start in 39 career appearances at Baylor. He had seven runners reach base in the first two innings, allowing two runs on four hits, before retiring five of the last seven batters he faced and ending the fourth inning with a double-play grounder.
 
'I felt like at times, Cole was trying so hard, and it was like, 'Man, just enjoy it. Just get out there and coopete. Your stuff's been really good all along. That's why you're getting the opportunity," Thompson said. "He handled it, and he ended up turning in a nice performance."
 
After Cole Smith tied it up with a two-run double in the top of the second, Kemp and Jordan both blasted home runs in a five-run bottom half of the inning that also included an RBI double by freshman Pearson Riebock.
 
In what became a consistent theme through the weekend, when Cole Smith had his second-straight two-run double in the seventh, the Bears answered with four runs of their own. Little, Apodaca and Jordan delivered run-scoring hits to push Baylor's lead to 12-4.
 
In line to be the team's closer, fifth-year senior Gabe Craig struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth inning to complete the series sweep.
 
Hosting UTSA (0-2) for a midweek game at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Thompson said he would "like for the sun to come out and for the wind to die down."
 
"I don't know that Tuesday's weather looks great," he said, "so we'll see what the weather forecast brings us this next week, and hopefully it'll start improving."