What Baylor Baseball Must Do to Finish the Season Strong

Entering this season, I had three major goals I wanted to see head coach Mitch Thompson’s Bears accomplish: make the Big 12 Tournament, play their best baseball in April and May and have a strong nucleus of returning talent for the upcoming year.

On paper, I do think Baylor’s roster has the bones to be a potential NCAA Tournament team next spring. However, after a scorching April in which the Bears won 10 out of 11 games, they have been in a tailspin in recent weeks, losing eight straight conference games and putting themselves in serious jeopardy of missing the Big 12 Tournament for the second consecutive year.

All hope is not yet lost on missing the conference tournament, but to make a late run to grab the 10th and final bid, I’ve listed what Baylor (21-26, 9-15) will need across the season's final two weeks, outside of the easiest solution of course – winning.

LF Wesley Jordan to Return to the Lineup

Since going down with a concussion in the series opener against No. 21 West Virginia on April 26, left fielder Wesley Jordan (Jr.) has not returned to the starting lineup and has missed seven consecutive games – Baylor is 2-5 during that stretch.

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LF Wesley Jordan (Jr.) has missed seven consecutive games with a concussion – Baylor is 2-5 during that stretch.

Jordan is BU’s biggest power threat and arguably the Bears' second-best hitter. He leads the team in on-base percentage (.461) and is second in extra-base hits (19). Jordan has reached base in 31 straight games and is the first player since Davis Wendzel (37) in 2018 to reach safely in 30 consecutive contests.

Without the star slugger in the heart of the order, Baylor’s already depleted lineup is nowhere near full strength. If Jordan can play against No. 18 Oklahoma this weekend, he will be a welcomed addition and a nice morale boost for the Bears.

Limit Free Passes

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In Friday’s loss to TCU, RHP Mason Marriott (Jr.) tossed a career-high eight innings and allowed just four hits and two earned runs.

Across Baylor’s back-to-back series losses against Kansas (27-17, 13-11) and No. 21 West Virginia (28-18, 15-9) in late April, the pitching staff combined to surrender 48 earned runs and issue 56 free passes in a six-game span. Entering the TCU series last weekend, limiting walks and hit batters was a major talking point.

“We’re focusing too much on the free passes,” left-handed pitcher Ethan Calder (So.) said last Thursday. “We’re like, ‘Oh, it’s a 3-2 count, I can’t walk him.’ We have to flip our mindset to attacking hitters and being confident in our stuff.”

While it hasn’t been a renowned success, Baylor’s pitching staff has taken some steps in the right direction in the last four games – allowing 30 earned runs and issuing 22 free passes in 38 innings of work.

Sixteen of the Horned Frogs' 26 runs came against Baylor’s Saturday and Sunday starters, Collin McKinney (RFr.) and Mason Green (Fr.) and veteran reliever Patrick Hail (RJr.).

Play Clean Defense

Another important and often overlooked facet of the game is defense. After a rough start to the year, Baylor’s defense has improved significantly in recent weeks. The Bears have recorded just three miscues in their last seven games. Thompson’s team is 17-15 when they commit one error or less and 4-11 when they commit two or more.

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Baylor is 17-15 when they commit one error or less and 4-11 when they commit two or more.

One crucial mistake, however, was in the 11th inning of Saturday’s 9-7 loss to TCU. With a runner on first base and no outs, Calder was back out on the mound, pushing a career-long seven innings while having surrendered only one earned run up to that point.

The southpaw got TCU’s leadoff hitter, Anthony Silva (So.), to line out to shortstop, but in a rushed attempt, Tyriq Kemp (Jr.) caught the ball and sailed the throw to first base in an attempt to complete the double play.

The Horned Frogs runner promptly advanced to third and scored on the following at-bat. From that moment forward, the floodgates opened, and TCU hung a three-spot in the frame to ice the extra innings victory, 9-7.

“It’s a disciplined play that we have to learn from,” Thompson said postgame. “[Kemp’s] trying to make a play that probably shouldn’t be made. Because we pushed the issue, it turned into a runner on third base, and now we have stress. If there’s one out and a runner on first base, no big deal.”

3B Hunter Teplanszky is the Best Version of Himself

After a successful sophomore season, third baseman Hunter Teplanszky (Jr.) entered 2024 with high expectations and has had an up-and-down year. Teplanszky has been quite the enigma this spring; he leads the team in strikeouts (54), multi-hit games (16) and multi-RBI games (8). 

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3B Hunter Teplanszky (Jr.) drew a career-high three walks in Tuesday’s win over Tarleton.

When he’s off, swings and misses have been a major issue. From April 11 to May 5, Teplanszky was 11-for-54 at the plate with 23 Ks and six RBIs despite usually hitting in the four-or-five-hole. 

At his best, however, he’s a hitting machine. From March 16 to April 7, Teplanszky was 21-for-50 with 5 Ks and 15 RBIs.

In Tuesday’s 11-4 win over Tarleton, Teplanszky appeared to take a step in the right direction, drawing three walks and crushing a two-run double off the wall in right-center field. In order for Baylor’s lineup to be dangerous across the final two weeks, Thompson will need Teplanszky to be the best version of himself.

“You never know when the page is going to turn, so getting a win like this gives us all of the confidence in the world going into the weekend,” Teplanszky said after beating Tarleton. “I was trying to slow the game down and get back to feeling comfortable in the [batter’s] box and seeing the ball deep.”

Win One Game against No. 18 Oklahoma

For the full breakdown of potential scenarios for Baylor to make the Big 12 Tournament, click here. Regardless of what happens elsewhere across the conference, the Bears desperately need to find a way to break their conference losing streak and pick up a win in Norman against the league-leading No. 18 Oklahoma Sooners (29-17, 18-6) this weekend.

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Baylor will close out the season with a series at home against UCF.

“We have to play a tick better here and there, and we have to win games,” Thompson said after Sunday’s loss to TCU. “Coming close isn’t going to cut it. Going into extra innings isn’t going to cut it. Winning is what’s going to cut it. We have to go to OU, and we have to win games. Then we have to come home and we have to play Central Florida and win games, so that’s what the focus is.”

While winning the series against Oklahoma is unlikely – if Thompson’s squad can piece together one victory this weekend, they will be in a much better position standings-wise and will be able to control their own destiny going into the final series of the year against UCF (30-15, 11-12).