By Marquis Cooley | Reporter
No.9 Baylor (1-1,1-0) was able to pull off a comeback upset in the season home opener against Big 12 rival No.7 TCU (3-1, 0-1) Saturday at the Willis Family Equestrian Center in the first conference meet of the season.
In fences, Baylor fell 3-2 with sophomore Savannah Hemby and freshman Emma Fletcher earning points for Baylor. Fletcher’s score of 84 earned her the Most Outstanding Performer award for the event, the first of her collegiate career.
In reining, the Bears tied 2-2 with performances from sophomore Jenna Meimerstorf and junior Madaline Callaway securing points for Baylor to head into the half trailing 5-4.
The Bears opened up the second half of the meet with a close 3-2 loss in the flat. Senior Rachel Davis earned MOP honors with a score of 81. Sophomore Maddie Vorhies was also able to gain a point for Baylor.
With the Bears down 8-6 heading into the final competition, head coach Casie Maxwell said she thought the team lost a little bit of optimism.
“We just knew that that was a lot of pressure on our last event to finish up,” Maxwell said. “But they came through as big as they possibly could today and were solid and really carried a lot of weight for us.”
After losing the first point in the horsemanship competition, Baylor was able to win three straight to take a 3-1 lead in the and tie the meet 9-9. With it coming down to the last head-to-head of the meet, senior Katie Davis’s score of 77.5 was enough to win the competition 4-1 and complete the comeback, winning 10-9. Davis said her win was “one of those moments.”
“It’s so much pressure, but when they record that score and you see you came out on top, I mean there’s no better feeling,” Davis said.
The win was Baylor’s first of the season and first in Big 12 play. Maxwell said even though the competition schedule gets harder, she thinks her team is ready for it.
“As long as they tend to look to elevate their rides every single week, we are in the right mindset to be able to take this schedule on,” Maxwell said.
The Bears next meet will be Thursday, Feb. 18, on the road against Fresno State at Diamond Creek Ranch.
