THE GOOD STUFF

Coming off the field after a 1-2-3 fourth inning, sixth-year senior pitcher Bryson Bales was trying to remember whether or not Baylor starter Mason Green had given up a hit in three innings of work.
 
A quick glance to the scoreboard only confirmed what he suspected and wouldn't dare talk about – the Bears were actually no-hitting the Utah Utes in Saturday afternoon's series finale at Baylor Ballpark.
 
In a series-clinching win, the Bears actually carried that no-hitter into the eighth inning, when reliever Grayson Murry gave up a single through the right side by pinch-hitter Jake Long one pitch after what looked like a third strike. The Utes' only other hit in a 9-0 loss was a two-out double in the ninth by Kaden Carpenter as four Baylor pitchers combined on a two-hit shutout.
 
"Oh, I was aware," Baylor coach Mitch Thompson said. "I'm not sure everybody in the ballpark was . . . but I was aware. So, that was disappointing. I'm kind of glad the guy in the ninth got one down the wire, too. That takes the pressure off that (call). That was probably as close as we've come in 25 years since maybe the last one when Kyle Evans did it in 2000."
 
Cody Bradford did throw a one-hitter against TCU in 2018, but Baylor's last nine-inning no-hitter was indeed Evans' no-no versus a now-defunct Iowa State program on April 15, 2000.
 
"It feels great," said Green, a sophomore left-hander making just his third appearance of the season after rehabbing an injury. "It could have felt even better. It was close, very close, very controversial. But we'll take two hits and zero runs any day of the week."
 
The Baylor pitching staff's masterful performance came just two days after the Bears gave up 16 hits in a 13-1 loss to Utah (16-19, 5-13) in the series opener. But BU (25-14, 8-10) bounced back to take Friday's game, 4-3, before Saturday's dominant Game 3 victory.
 
"I think the biggest thing is, I hope the other pitchers can see the success of today and just roll with it," said Bales (3-3), who gave up a walk and a hit batter with four strikeouts in 3.2 innings. "Just know that your stuff is good and that you can pound (the zone) and get zeroes on the board."
 
The back-to-back victories came after what the players referred to as a "come to Jesus meeting" Friday morning, when Thompson challenged them to respond.
 
"I just told them that we're better than this, and it's time for us to be good. And it's my job to get it out of you," Thompson said. "It was just good to get guys to go, 'Hey, it's time. No more. Let's go!' To see them respond was fun."
 
After throwing just one inning apiece in his first two outings, Green was able to stretch it out to a three-inning stint, throwing an efficient 39 pitches and giving up just one walk with one strikeout.
 
"It feels great. It's very disappointing watching everyone else have all the fun while I'm sitting in the dugout," Green said. "We're progressing along, making sure that my body can hand it well. We'll get there eventually."
 
Bales, who started out the season in the weekend rotation, had easily his most effective outing. The Division I transfer from Hendrix College lowered his ERA by nearly a run to 5.68.
 
"Today was good," Bales said. "The biggest thing is just making a few adjustments, pitching-wise, and knowing there's a new opportunity every day. I know it's been a tough road, but just going out there every time and trying to compete the best you can is what's really changed."
 
Bales had bookend strikeouts in the fifth, when the Utes got a pair of runners on base with an error and hit by pitch. And then in the sixth, shortstop Tyriq Kemp bailed him out with back-to-back defensive gems. After going deep in the hole to gun down fellow shortstop Core Jackson, Kemp knocked down a hit up the middle by Tyler Quinn and threw him out by a half-step.
 
"For baseball fans to get to watch (Kemp and Jackson) play the last three days, give me a break, man," Thompson said. "Their guy was phenomenal yesterday, and Tyriq's play today, oh my gosh! To make those plays and those throws and to do it like they're doing it, people have no idea. Oh, and by the way, let's beat a guy that's running a 4.1 down the line. We're blessed with Tyriq, and he's played fantastic."
 
Much like Friday's game, Baylor jumped out to a first-inning lead when Enzo Apodaca tripled to center on a ball that got by diving centerfielder Santino Panaro all the way to the wall and scored on Kemp's sacrifice fly to left.
 
The Bears broke it wide open in the fourth, when Travis Sanders led off with a solo homer to right-center field and Will Pendergrass followed with a grand-slam shot to left that made it 6-0. Sanders added a solo shot in the seventh for a two-homer day and then drove in the last run of the day with a bases-loaded walk in the eighth.
 
"I kind of blacked out in the moment. It's been a while," said Pendergrass, who hit his first home run of the season and just the fourth of his three-year Baylor career. "I was looking for a ball up, preferably a heater, and it was kind of a cement-mixer slider at the top of the zone. And I didn't miss it. So, it felt good."
 
Bales said Pendergrass's slam "gave me the confidence to go out there and just pound the strike zone and let the field play."
 
After Bales gave up a two-out walk in the seventh, Murry came out of the bullpen and induced a grounder by Derek Smith that ended the inning. When the Utes finally broke up the no-hitter in the eighth, Murry followed that up with a double-play grounder and a strikeout to end his day.
 
And then in the ninth, reliever Will Glatch retired dangerous hitter Drake Digiorno on a fly ball to the warning track in left after Carpenter's double that landed just inside the foul line in left field.
 
"To see (Green) go out there for 40 pitches today was great," Thompson said. "I thought he was really good, and it was obviously his best outing. And it was Bales' best outing, too. That's encouraging, because if we can get Bales going and Green going, then we're a lot better. We're deeper, deeper, deeper. And that was a really nice step in that direction."
 
The Bears wrap up a four-game homestand with a 6:30 p.m. matchup Tuesday against Houston Christian before a three-game road series against 25th-ranked TCU (29-12, 12-6) next Friday-Sunday in Fort Worth.