BSB Comes Up Short at No. 21 Arizona State, 4-2

Saturday, April 25

Tempe, Ariz.

8:30 PM

Baylor

22-20, 9-11

Arizona State

30-14, 13-7

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Baylor	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	0
Arizona State	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	X	4	8	3

Brady Janusek after hitting a home run at ASU 2026

BSB Comes Up Short at No. 21 Arizona State, 4-2

4/25/2026 11:59:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Bears threaten late but unable to cash in on low-scoring night

TEMPE, Ariz. – Baylor baseball came up short in a tight 4-2 ballgame at No. 21 Arizona State on Saturday night at Phoenix Municipal Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.

Although the Bears (22-20, 9-11 Big 12) mustered just three hits on the ballgame, they had chances late in the game to take the lead with the bases loaded in the eighth and bringing the tying run to the plate in the ninth. BU couldn't take advantage of three ASU (30-14, 13-7 Big 12) errors and struck out 14 times offensively, leaving eight men on base.

Junior catcher JJ Kennett homered for the second consecutive game and freshman outfielder Brady Janusek tattooed a baseball for his 10^th long ball of the year, moving him closer to Baylor's single-season freshman home run record, held by Max Muncy (11, 2010).

Sophomore right-handed pitcher Zack Wallace matched his career high for the second start in a row with 5.2 innings of work on the mound and the bullpen duo of junior lefty RJ Ruais and senior right-hander Grayson Murry combined for 2.1 scoreless innings of relief behind him.

THE RUNDOWN
Arizona State got the scoring started with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first off two hits. A leadoff single from the Big 12's leading hitter, Landon Hairston, preceded an RBI double and a sacrifice fly later in the inning that gave the Sun Devils an early 2-0 advantage.

Baylor responded in the top of the second as Kennett crushed a solo shot to straightaway center field and cut the ASU lead to 2-1. Wallace settled in on the mound and retired seven of the next eight he faced after the RBI double in the first, and faced the minimum through that point thanks to Kennett cutting down a runner trying to steal. However, a solo shot with two outs in the bottom of the third put ASU back up by two runs.

In the fourth, Janusek demolished a baseball on the 10^th pitch of his second at-bat of the game, a solo blast that pulled Baylor back within a run at 3-2. The Bears threatened for more in the inning, loading the bases with one away, but a 4-6-3 double play got the Devils out of the jam.

Wallace and the Bears escaped further danger themselves in the home half of the fourth, as ASU loaded the bases with two outs. But, the New Jersey native was able to induce weak contact and get a groundout that ended the inning.

Both sides were quiet until the bottom of the sixth, as ASU put two men on base with one down. A would-be three-run home run was caught by freshman outfielder Dylan Perez on the warning track in left field, resulting in a sacrifice fly and 4-2 score instead.

After the Bears went down in order in the top of the seventh, Ruais worked a quick bottom half and got some help from a 6-4-3 double play after surrendering a one-out walk to Hairston.

That brought BU back to the plate still within striking distance in the eighth, as the Bears loaded the bases for Kennett with two outs. On a 1-0 pitch, the junior backstop smashed a line drive to dead center at 101 miles per hour off the bat, but it found the glove of ASU's Hairston in center just shy of the wall, helping the Devils to tiptoe out of peril.

In the ninth, facing Arizona State's closer and the Big 12's saves leader, Derek Schaefer, pinch hitter redshirt sophomore John Youens singled with two outs to bring redshirt junior infielder Travis Sanders to the plate. As the potential game-tying run, Sanders worked the count full but came up empty on a breaking ball that clinched the series for the Sun Devils.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor's two home runs on the night marked its 10^th multi-home run game of the 2026 season.
• This is the third time this season that the Bears have hit multiple home runs in back-to-back games.
• Redshirt junior INF Travis Sanders has reached safely in 38 of his 40 games played this season.
• Sanders stole his 17^th base of the season, moving BU's season total to 75 through 42 games.
• 75 stolen bases is the most by a Baylor team in any season since 2012 (96).
• Freshman OF Brady Janusek crushed his 10^th home run of the season, a 458-foot blast to the left-center gap.
• Janusek and redshirt senior 1B Tyce Armstrong are the first set of BU teammates to each hit 10+ homers in a single-season in the Thompson Era, and first Bears since 2021 (Andy Thomas (11) & Jared McKenzie (10)) to do so.
• Armstrong extended his on-base streak to 14 games.
• Junior C JJ Kennett hit his second home run of the season and extended his hitting streak to four games.
• Three of Kennett's four career home runs have been hit in the state of Arizona.
• Kennett became the fifth Bear to homer in back-to-back games this season.
• Freshman INF Cole Lanclos made his first-career start and reached base for the first time after being hit by a pitch.
• Sophomore RHP Zack Wallace tied his career high with 5.2 innings pitched, marking his third start of at least five innings so far this season.
• Junior LHP RJ Ruais made his 17^th scoreless appearance of the year.
• Senior RHP Grayson Murry worked his 11^th scoreless outing of the season and fifth consecutive.

STAT OF THE DAY
5 – Junior catcher JJ Kennett became the fifth Bear to homer in consecutive games this season as he crushed his second home run of the weekend, a solo shot, to straightaway center field in the second inning.

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Mitch Thompson
On the opportunities late in the ballgame offensively…
"JJ [Kennett] had a great at-bat, we had great at-bats for sure in the eighth inning. Got the runners on base and JJ put a great swing against their guy. I thought it was going to get over his head, but the wind was blowing straight down instead of blowing at all. It's just one of those things. He couldn't have hit it any better, couldn't have hit it any harder, so it just wasn't meant to be."

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor (22-20, 9-11 Big 12) looks to salvage the weekend series against No. 21 Arizona State (30-14, 13-7 Big 12) on Sunday, April 26. First pitch in the series finale is set for 3 p.m. CT from Phoenix Municipal Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.

To stay up to date on all things Baylor baseball, follow the team on its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorBaseball.

-BaylorBears.com-