GRITTY WIN
5/3/2025 2:19:00 AM | Baseball
ASU’s defense opened the door for Bears’ six-run seventh inning in a 7-4 comeback win
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – Playing alongside him, Wesley Jordan has seen Baylor centerfielder Ty Johnson rob plenty of home-run balls in practice. Maybe dozens.
But this was different.
In a scoreless game Friday night at Baylor Ballpark, Johnson got to the wall on a blast by Arizona State's Brandon Compton, leaped up and pulled it back for what closer Gabe Craig referred to as "one of the best plays I've ever seen."
"That was the first time I've ever done that, so that was cool," said Johnson, who also had an RBI single in a six-run outburst in the seventh inning that helped the Bears pull out a 7-4, series-opening win over the visiting Sun Devils (30-17, 14-8). "I'm glad I could help out (Mason) Green, because he was throwing such a good game."
Winning just its second conference series opener of the season, Baylor improved to 29-16 overall and ninth in the Big 12 at 10-12, just a game behind seventh-place Cincinnati in the league standings.
"Every one of these is precious to us, and we need to fight like they're precious," said Baylor coach Mitch Thompson, whose team extended its win streak to three-straight. "We don't have any room . . . there's no slack in the chain right now. Let's just keep going, let's pull as hard as we can."
Erasing a 4-1, seventh-inning deficit, the Bears recorded their 11th comeback win of the season to boost their postseason resume.
"This is a good steppingstone," Johnson said. "It's showing the character of our team. Just keep putting those wins together, bats start to get hot, pitchers keep throwing like they are, defense starts playing good."
After not getting out of the first inning of last Friday's 7-2 loss to TCU, Green was masterful in his four-inning, 37-pitch start in Friday's series opener. Retiring the first nine batters, he took a perfect game into the fourth and faced the minimum batters with a leadoff walk erased by an inning-inning double play.
"It was awesome that he came out there and filled up the zone and forced contact," said Craig, who struck out four of the eight batters he faced in picking up his eighth save. "That's really what you have to do, especially on a day like today. Lot of growth from him, coming off not being at his best last weekend and really coming out and responding and giving us a chance to win the game like he did. That's all you can ask from the starter."
Baylor didn't fare much better against ASU starter Ben Jacobs, but did get his pitch count up and got him out of the game after throwing 99 pitches in five innings. Jacobs struck out 10, giving up one run on three hits and six walks.
The Bears loaded the bases in the second inning with a pair of walks and a sharp single up the middle by freshman Pearson Riebock that hit one of the base umpires squarely on the leg. But Jacobs worked out of the jam, getting Enzo Apodaca on an infield pop-up.
After drawing a one-out walk in the third inning, Tyriq Kemp took second on a failed pickoff throw and scored the first run of the game on a two-out RBI double by Wesley Jordan just inside the third-base bag.
"Honestly, I was just trying not to miss the fastball," said Jordan, who went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs. "And I got lucky. (I) got one and didn't miss it. Just trying to do that as much as I can."
ASU's Kien Vu broke up the no-hitter with a seeing-eye single up the middle off reliever Bryson Bales in the fifth, but Nu'u Contrades hit into one of the three double plays the Bears turned.
Bales wasn't as fortunate in the sixth, giving up a pair of two-run home runs by Isaiah Jackson and Kyle Walker that staked the Sun Devils to a 4-1 lead. Relievers Grayson Murry and Stefan Stahl (2-1) bridged the game into the eighth, allowing no runs on two hits and a pair of walks.
"Just coming in and keeping them right where they were and giving our offense a chance to come back," Craig said, "I wouldn't have been able to go out there and do what I did without any of the guys before me. It's because of them. I can't give them enough credit."
After a perfect sixth inning, reliever Lucas Kelly (3-2) quickly ran into trouble in the seventh when he gave up back-to-back singles to Cortlan Castle and Apodaca. He bounced back to strike out Travis Sanders and get Kemp on a lazy fly to left, but the door opened on the first of three two-out errors by third baseman Contrades.
Contrades had a two-base error when he overthrew first on a Hunter Simmons grounder to third, scoring Castle from second. Jordan provided the game-tying hit with a two-run double to left-center that hit less than a foot below the top of the wall.
"You can definitely tell when he's seeing somebody good," Johnson said of Jordan. "You're kind of waiting for it to happen and for him to get the pitch to do it on. I think every single person in the dugout has the most confidence in the world in him, knowing that he's going to get the job done."
Continuing the nightmarish of an inning for ASU, Riebock walked and Will Pendergrass reached on a fielding error by the third baseman, scoring Jordan with the go-ahead run. And then, after Johnson had an RBI single through the right side that plated Riebock, the final run scored on another fielding error by the third baseman.
"The guys that they were running in out of the bullpen, they were phenomenal," Thompson said. "But we were able to put balls in play. And when you do that, sometimes good things happen. Really, for me, the difference in the game was the defense. Obviously, it cracked the door for us, and our guys were able to run through it and score a bunch of runs."
Baylor will go for the series win in Saturday's 2 p.m. game, which will be streamed by ESPN+.
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – Playing alongside him, Wesley Jordan has seen Baylor centerfielder Ty Johnson rob plenty of home-run balls in practice. Maybe dozens.
But this was different.
In a scoreless game Friday night at Baylor Ballpark, Johnson got to the wall on a blast by Arizona State's Brandon Compton, leaped up and pulled it back for what closer Gabe Craig referred to as "one of the best plays I've ever seen."
"That was the first time I've ever done that, so that was cool," said Johnson, who also had an RBI single in a six-run outburst in the seventh inning that helped the Bears pull out a 7-4, series-opening win over the visiting Sun Devils (30-17, 14-8). "I'm glad I could help out (Mason) Green, because he was throwing such a good game."
Winning just its second conference series opener of the season, Baylor improved to 29-16 overall and ninth in the Big 12 at 10-12, just a game behind seventh-place Cincinnati in the league standings.
"Every one of these is precious to us, and we need to fight like they're precious," said Baylor coach Mitch Thompson, whose team extended its win streak to three-straight. "We don't have any room . . . there's no slack in the chain right now. Let's just keep going, let's pull as hard as we can."
Erasing a 4-1, seventh-inning deficit, the Bears recorded their 11th comeback win of the season to boost their postseason resume.
"This is a good steppingstone," Johnson said. "It's showing the character of our team. Just keep putting those wins together, bats start to get hot, pitchers keep throwing like they are, defense starts playing good."
After not getting out of the first inning of last Friday's 7-2 loss to TCU, Green was masterful in his four-inning, 37-pitch start in Friday's series opener. Retiring the first nine batters, he took a perfect game into the fourth and faced the minimum batters with a leadoff walk erased by an inning-inning double play.
"It was awesome that he came out there and filled up the zone and forced contact," said Craig, who struck out four of the eight batters he faced in picking up his eighth save. "That's really what you have to do, especially on a day like today. Lot of growth from him, coming off not being at his best last weekend and really coming out and responding and giving us a chance to win the game like he did. That's all you can ask from the starter."
Baylor didn't fare much better against ASU starter Ben Jacobs, but did get his pitch count up and got him out of the game after throwing 99 pitches in five innings. Jacobs struck out 10, giving up one run on three hits and six walks.
The Bears loaded the bases in the second inning with a pair of walks and a sharp single up the middle by freshman Pearson Riebock that hit one of the base umpires squarely on the leg. But Jacobs worked out of the jam, getting Enzo Apodaca on an infield pop-up.
After drawing a one-out walk in the third inning, Tyriq Kemp took second on a failed pickoff throw and scored the first run of the game on a two-out RBI double by Wesley Jordan just inside the third-base bag.
"Honestly, I was just trying not to miss the fastball," said Jordan, who went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs. "And I got lucky. (I) got one and didn't miss it. Just trying to do that as much as I can."
ASU's Kien Vu broke up the no-hitter with a seeing-eye single up the middle off reliever Bryson Bales in the fifth, but Nu'u Contrades hit into one of the three double plays the Bears turned.
Bales wasn't as fortunate in the sixth, giving up a pair of two-run home runs by Isaiah Jackson and Kyle Walker that staked the Sun Devils to a 4-1 lead. Relievers Grayson Murry and Stefan Stahl (2-1) bridged the game into the eighth, allowing no runs on two hits and a pair of walks.
"Just coming in and keeping them right where they were and giving our offense a chance to come back," Craig said, "I wouldn't have been able to go out there and do what I did without any of the guys before me. It's because of them. I can't give them enough credit."
After a perfect sixth inning, reliever Lucas Kelly (3-2) quickly ran into trouble in the seventh when he gave up back-to-back singles to Cortlan Castle and Apodaca. He bounced back to strike out Travis Sanders and get Kemp on a lazy fly to left, but the door opened on the first of three two-out errors by third baseman Contrades.
Contrades had a two-base error when he overthrew first on a Hunter Simmons grounder to third, scoring Castle from second. Jordan provided the game-tying hit with a two-run double to left-center that hit less than a foot below the top of the wall.
"You can definitely tell when he's seeing somebody good," Johnson said of Jordan. "You're kind of waiting for it to happen and for him to get the pitch to do it on. I think every single person in the dugout has the most confidence in the world in him, knowing that he's going to get the job done."
Continuing the nightmarish of an inning for ASU, Riebock walked and Will Pendergrass reached on a fielding error by the third baseman, scoring Jordan with the go-ahead run. And then, after Johnson had an RBI single through the right side that plated Riebock, the final run scored on another fielding error by the third baseman.
"The guys that they were running in out of the bullpen, they were phenomenal," Thompson said. "But we were able to put balls in play. And when you do that, sometimes good things happen. Really, for me, the difference in the game was the defense. Obviously, it cracked the door for us, and our guys were able to run through it and score a bunch of runs."
Baylor will go for the series win in Saturday's 2 p.m. game, which will be streamed by ESPN+.
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