By Marquis Cooley | Sports Editor
After taking the show on the road last week, Baylor Athletics returned home in full force with five different programs competing in Waco. Here’s a rundown of everything that took place in case you missed it.
Baylor baseball secures first series sweep
Baylor baseball notched its first series sweep of the season, this time over East Tennessee State University at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears lit up the scoreboard on Friday night, winning 15-1. The most competitive contest came in game two on Saturday with Baylor pulling out a tight 8-7 victory. The Bears secured the sweep with a 7-4 win Sunday afternoon to improve to 16-11.
“I was just really happy with how our guys approached the whole weekend,” head coach Steve Rodriguez said. “They came out with a worker mentality, and they laid some really good swings on things. I think our guys did a really good job of competing against a really good program.”
Up next, the Bears will take a short trip north for a midweek match against Dallas Baptist University, set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Horner Ballpark in Dallas.
Softball loses seventh straight game; swept by No. 6 OSU in Big 12 home opener
Baylor softball (17-17, 0-6 Big 12) was swept in its three-game series with No. 6 Oklahoma State University 6-1, 2-0 and 7-2 at Getterman Stadium. After being swept by the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., and dropping their midweek matchup to Incarnate Word, the Bears haven’t managed to clinch a victory in any of their last seven outings.
“I thought our pitching has given us a chance to compete with these top-level teams, but we’re just not good enough behind them,” head coach Glenn Moore said. “We do have people playing out of position in some areas that we just can’t improve fast enough to make the routine plays to keep us in those games. I thought we started off the game really well, but you know a team like that is going to put runners on base and force you to make plays, and if you don’t make them, you’re in trouble. And we were in trouble today because we didn’t make routine plays.”
Hoping to pick up a win before hitting the road, Baylor welcomes Lamar University in a weekday matchup. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday at Getterman. The Bears then head to Lawrence, Kan., to battle it out with the Jayhawks in an important Big 12 series.
Baylor track and field comes away with 21 victories in Baylor Invitational
Baylor track and field came away with 21 wins, not counting professional athletes, in their first home meet of the season at the Baylor Invitational on Saturday at the Clyde Hart Track and Field Stadium. The Bears put on a show, breaking program as well as stadium records.
“I think overall we just had a great meet,” head coach Michael Ford said. “I always say when God gives us great weather and a great turnout with the crowd, that’s what we do. We only have two home meets, so we want to make sure we show out at those two meets. I thought anywhere from the field events, to the sprinting, to the hurdles, to the distance, to the field we did awesome. We had an awesome day.”
Next, Baylor will compete in the 44 Farms Invitational next weekend in College Station before hosting the Michael Johnson Classic from April 22-23.
Weekend of mixed emotions; No. 4 Baylor MT starts Big 12 play 1-1
This weekend No. 4 Baylor men’s tennis (19-3, 1-1 Big 12) started Big 12 play against two top-ranked opponents, No. 11 University of Texas and No. 3 Texas Christian University. The Bears swept the Longhorns 6-0 in Austin on Friday and on Sunday fell in a nail biting match to the Horned Frogs 3-4 in Waco.
“We have bigger matches ahead of us than a regular-season match,” head coach Michael Woodson said. “I think this is what we want. We want to play the best teams. We want to have opportunities to test ourselves against the best competition in the country. TCU is going to be No. 1 again next week. Credit to them, but we won’t be too far behind. We just have to continue to improve.”
The Bears look to redeem themselves with a win against Oklahoma State University at 6 p.m. on Friday at the Hurd Tennis Center.
Baylor acro flips to 7-0 after beating Hawaii Pacific
No. 1 Baylor acrobatics and tumbling defeated No. 7 Hawaii Pacific University 279.775-255.395 in the Ferrell Center on Saturday, which was senior day. The Bears improved to 7-0 on the season, winning every event and only dropping two heats.
“We still have a lot of work to do, got a lot of things that we can improve on and we will improve on,” head coach Felecia Mulkey said. “They’re doing well, the things that we worked on this past week, we saw improvement and we’re just gonna keep working, I think we’re going to peak at the right time.”
Up next, the Bears travel to face off once again against the University of Oregon at 4 p.m. on April 10 in Eugene, Ore.
