BOUNCE BACK
3/21/2025 9:44:00 AM | Baseball
BSB pitching staff looking to respond after rough series at Kansas
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – Beat up by a Kansas team that exploded for 30 runs in a three-game series in Lawrence, the Baylor pitching staff will look to bounce back when the Bears (15-5, 1-2) face Kansas State (13-7, 3-0) this weekend at Baylor Ballpark.
The series begins with Friday's 6:30 p.m. game, with Baylor junior left-hander Ethan Calder (3-2, 4.44 ERA) matched against K-State lefty Jacob Frost (0-0, 4.50).
"Their three starting pitchers are all left-handers, so it's going to be three lefties against three lefties, which is really unusual," third-year Baylor coach Mitch Thompson said. "I don't know if I've ever seen that before. Their guys have performed well. It'll be a big test."
Going into the Kansas series, Baylor's pitching staff had an ERA of 2.79 that ranked second in the Big 12 and seventh nationally. But that ballooned to 3.98, a mark that is still the sixth best in the league and a full run lower than K-State (4.98).
"I don't think that's a problem for them. They believe in themselves, and their confidence is good," Thompson said of the pitchers bouncing back. "I don't have any question that these guys will come back and bounce back this weekend and throw the ball well. . . . We could have used our bullpen a little differently, but we made some decisions to save some other guys. And it helped us winning a game on Sunday."
In Sunday's 9-7 win in the series finale, the bullpen gave up just one run on one hit over the last 4 2/3 innings, with redshirt senior closer Gabe Craig striking out the side in the ninth to pick up his fourth save.
"Gabe's just a really mature kid," Thompson said, "obviously a 23-year-old guy, fifth-, sixth-year guy in school. I think (pitching coach Sean Snedeker has) had a big impact on him and on his confidence and believing in himself. And his stuff has always had that elite type ability to it. it's just been honing it in and getting it into the zone. He's been outstanding. His stuff on Sunday was real. And it was fun to see that."
Craig has strung together four-straight scoreless outings and has struck out eight in a row stretched over his last three appearances.
"It's not really something that goes through my mind," Craig said. "You throw well, you feel good, everything's clicking. You let that build your confidence and your trust. The thing about baseball is you've got to stay steady. You can't let the lows get too low, can't let the highs get too high. You have to find that middle ground of confidence where you can go out there and keep doing the same thing and focusing on where your feet are in the moment."
Baylor's bullpen followed that up with five shutout innings in Tuesday's 19-3, run-rule victory over Texas State, with five relievers combining to allow just three hits and two walks with three strikeouts. The Bears' bullpen ranks as one of the best in the country with a 2.74 ERA.
"You know that if you go out there and struggle one day, the guy behind you is going to come in there and he's going to get the job done. Which is huge," Craig said. "I think that shows the depth that we have. It's big when you have a lot of trust in your teammates, and it builds confidence as a team."
After two lopsided losses in the Kansas series, the Bears overcame a 5-0 deficit to pick up a 9-7 win and avoid the series sweep.
"I think it just speaks to what we already knew about our team," said senior outfielder Wesley Jordan, who is hitting .333 with four home runs and a team-high 19 RBIs. "We're resilient. We're going to use all 27 outs. And it was good to get that one on Sunday, because we didn't play that weekend how we wanted to. So, getting that one on getaway day is always good."
The Bears remain one of the hottest-hitting teams in the league with a .303 batting average and .422 on-base percentage, collecting 11 walks in Tuesday's win over Texas State.
"I think our approach has stayed solid the whole time," Jordan said. "We might not always get the results we wanted, but we're sticking to what's working for us and just keep it going."
Kansas State swept its conference-opening series against Utah and has won 12 of its last 15 games after a 1-4 start. Georgia State transfer Maximus Martin is hitting .429 with nine homers and 31 RBIs, leading a K-State attack that is hitting .299 as a team with 36 home runs.
"They have really good athletes, and this is a team that was in the Super Regionals last year," Thompson said. "You're talking about a team that was right on the doorstep of making it to Omaha (for the College World Series). It'll be a big challenge for us."
The series continues with games at 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. All three games will be streamed by ESPN+, with former Baylor pitcher Pat Combs providing color commentary alongside a rotating panel of play-by-play announcers of Pete Sousa on Friday, Kyle Youmans on Saturday and Kurtis Quillin on Sunday.
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – Beat up by a Kansas team that exploded for 30 runs in a three-game series in Lawrence, the Baylor pitching staff will look to bounce back when the Bears (15-5, 1-2) face Kansas State (13-7, 3-0) this weekend at Baylor Ballpark.
The series begins with Friday's 6:30 p.m. game, with Baylor junior left-hander Ethan Calder (3-2, 4.44 ERA) matched against K-State lefty Jacob Frost (0-0, 4.50).
"Their three starting pitchers are all left-handers, so it's going to be three lefties against three lefties, which is really unusual," third-year Baylor coach Mitch Thompson said. "I don't know if I've ever seen that before. Their guys have performed well. It'll be a big test."
Going into the Kansas series, Baylor's pitching staff had an ERA of 2.79 that ranked second in the Big 12 and seventh nationally. But that ballooned to 3.98, a mark that is still the sixth best in the league and a full run lower than K-State (4.98).
"I don't think that's a problem for them. They believe in themselves, and their confidence is good," Thompson said of the pitchers bouncing back. "I don't have any question that these guys will come back and bounce back this weekend and throw the ball well. . . . We could have used our bullpen a little differently, but we made some decisions to save some other guys. And it helped us winning a game on Sunday."
In Sunday's 9-7 win in the series finale, the bullpen gave up just one run on one hit over the last 4 2/3 innings, with redshirt senior closer Gabe Craig striking out the side in the ninth to pick up his fourth save.
"Gabe's just a really mature kid," Thompson said, "obviously a 23-year-old guy, fifth-, sixth-year guy in school. I think (pitching coach Sean Snedeker has) had a big impact on him and on his confidence and believing in himself. And his stuff has always had that elite type ability to it. it's just been honing it in and getting it into the zone. He's been outstanding. His stuff on Sunday was real. And it was fun to see that."
Craig has strung together four-straight scoreless outings and has struck out eight in a row stretched over his last three appearances.
"It's not really something that goes through my mind," Craig said. "You throw well, you feel good, everything's clicking. You let that build your confidence and your trust. The thing about baseball is you've got to stay steady. You can't let the lows get too low, can't let the highs get too high. You have to find that middle ground of confidence where you can go out there and keep doing the same thing and focusing on where your feet are in the moment."
Baylor's bullpen followed that up with five shutout innings in Tuesday's 19-3, run-rule victory over Texas State, with five relievers combining to allow just three hits and two walks with three strikeouts. The Bears' bullpen ranks as one of the best in the country with a 2.74 ERA.
"You know that if you go out there and struggle one day, the guy behind you is going to come in there and he's going to get the job done. Which is huge," Craig said. "I think that shows the depth that we have. It's big when you have a lot of trust in your teammates, and it builds confidence as a team."
After two lopsided losses in the Kansas series, the Bears overcame a 5-0 deficit to pick up a 9-7 win and avoid the series sweep.
"I think it just speaks to what we already knew about our team," said senior outfielder Wesley Jordan, who is hitting .333 with four home runs and a team-high 19 RBIs. "We're resilient. We're going to use all 27 outs. And it was good to get that one on Sunday, because we didn't play that weekend how we wanted to. So, getting that one on getaway day is always good."
The Bears remain one of the hottest-hitting teams in the league with a .303 batting average and .422 on-base percentage, collecting 11 walks in Tuesday's win over Texas State.
"I think our approach has stayed solid the whole time," Jordan said. "We might not always get the results we wanted, but we're sticking to what's working for us and just keep it going."
Kansas State swept its conference-opening series against Utah and has won 12 of its last 15 games after a 1-4 start. Georgia State transfer Maximus Martin is hitting .429 with nine homers and 31 RBIs, leading a K-State attack that is hitting .299 as a team with 36 home runs.
"They have really good athletes, and this is a team that was in the Super Regionals last year," Thompson said. "You're talking about a team that was right on the doorstep of making it to Omaha (for the College World Series). It'll be a big challenge for us."
The series continues with games at 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. All three games will be streamed by ESPN+, with former Baylor pitcher Pat Combs providing color commentary alongside a rotating panel of play-by-play announcers of Pete Sousa on Friday, Kyle Youmans on Saturday and Kurtis Quillin on Sunday.
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