WACO, Texas – The Wofford College baseball team was defeated 9-5 by Baylor on Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears scored four runs in the first inning and four in the fifth inning on the way to the win in the first game of the midweek series.
 
Wofford is 16-14 overall and Baylor is 14-14 overall. The Terriers were led by Dylan May with two hits and a pair of RBIs, while Mack Nathanson added two hits and an RBI. Six of the twelve hits by the Bears went for extra bases, with Darryn Sheppard and Kameron Esthay each having three hits.
 
McClain Bradley had a single with two outs in the top of the first, but as picked off to end the top half for the Terriers. Baylor opened with back-to-back doubles for a 1-0 lead. An RBI single, RBI double and sacrifice fly made it 4-0 at the end of the first inning. Carson Waln led off the top of the second with a single and he moved to second on a failed pickoff attempt. A single to left field by Mack Nathanson scored Waln for a 4-1 score in the middle of the second.
 
Baylor was retired in order in the bottom of the second inning. Alec Paradowski reached on a walk in the top of the third, but a double play ended the Wofford half. The Bears led off the bottom of the third with a hit by pitch, however were unable to advance the runner. McClain Bradley walked to lead off the fourth inning and Dylan May singled with two outs. Both runners were stranded in the middle of the fourth. The Bears had runners in scoring position in the bottom of the fourth with two out after a walk and error before a ground ball ended the inning.
 
The Terriers had a walk from Alec Paradowski in the top of the fifth. After Paradowski stole second, an infield single by Derek Hirsch gave Wofford runners on the corners with two outs. An attempted delayed steal resulted in Paradowski being picked off third base to end the top half. In the bottom of the fifth, the lead-off batter was hit by pitch and a double gave the Bears runners in scoring position. A single by Kameron Esthay drove in both runs for a 6-1 lead. With two outs, a double plated two more runs for an 8-1 game at the end of the fifth.
 
Wofford opened the sixth with a walk by McClain Bradley and Carson Waln reaching on an error. A double steal advanced the runners and with one out a double by Dylan May to left center cut the lead to 8-3. With two outs, a double by Kody Ruedisili scored May for an 8-4 game. Ruedisili stole third and Brett Hash drew a pinch hit walk to give Wofford runners on the corners, but a strikeout ended the top of the sixth.
 
The Bears had runners on the corners in the bottom of the sixth after a triple and a hit by pitch. A sacrifice fly added a run for a 9-1 score at the end of six innings. Wofford was retired in order to send the game to the seventh inning stretch. Baylor added a single in the bottom of the seventh. Mack Nathanson led off the eighth with a single for Wofford, but a double play was followed by a strikeout to end the top half. The Bears added back-to-back singles with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, but a strikeout stranded both runners. With one out in the top of the ninth, Brett Hash hit a solo home run to left center for a 9-5 game. Back-to-back strikeouts ended the game.
 
Wofford starting pitcher Austin Higginbotham (0-3) went four innings and allowed seven runs on six hits, along with three strikeouts. Elliot Lance worked an inning with one run scored on two hits. Connor Foltyn threw two-thirds of an inning with one run allowed on one hit. Spencer Kulman gave up a single and had two strikeouts in an inning. Adam Scott went the eighth inning with two hits allowed and a strikeout.
 
Nick Lewis (1-3) started for Baylor and went 5.2 innings with four runs allowed on seven hits, plus five strikeouts. Drew Robertson worked 2.1 innings with one hit allowed and two strikeouts. Joe Heineman threw the ninth and gave up one run on a hit, with three strikeouts.
 
The game was a homecoming for six Wofford players who are from Texas – John Caskey, Connor Foltyn, Dylan May, Matt Milburn, Alec Paradowski, and Quintin Pile. It marks just the second time Wofford has traveled to Texas for a series, as the Terriers faced Texas Tech in 2003. Wofford alum Fisher DeBerry's grandson, Joe Sabatini, plays for Baylor. The Terriers are now 1-3 this season against schools from a Power Five conference.
 
Wofford continues the six-game road trip on Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. ET at Baylor. The Terriers will then play at Samford for a three-game weekend series and a midweek game at Winthrop before returning home.