By Marquis Cooley | Sports Editor
This past weekend, Baylor Athletics took their programs on the road with women’s golf in Arizona, three teams taking a trip to the Sooner state and the rest competing across Texas. Here’s a quick rundown of everything that happened in case you missed it.
Women’s golf flourishes in third-place tie at PING ASU Invitational
No. 19 Baylor women’s golf showed consistency, tying for third place at the PING Arizona State Invitational at Papago Golf Club in Phoenix. The finish marked the sixth top-five finish for the Bears on the season and it was the first subpar team score since the Rainbow Wahine Invitational on Oct. 27, 2021.
On the individual leaderboard for Baylor, senior Gurleen Kaur notched her fourth top-five finish of the year with the help of two strong final rounds, as she finished 5-under 211. Kaur’s 11th career top-five finish moves her within one of former Baylor golfer Melanie Hagewood for third place in program history.
Up next, the Bears return back to the central time zone, as they will compete in the Bruzzy Challenge, scheduled from April 11-12 at Lantana Golf Club in Lantana.
Equestrian takes third at Big 12 Championship
No. 6 Baylor equestrian (7-7) finished third at the Big 12 Championship at Diamond Creek Ranch in Burleson. The Bears battled with No. 1 Oklahoma State University to the very end, but ultimately came up short, losing 10-9. The loss sent the Bears to the consolation meet where they faced No. 8 Fresno State. Baylor bounced back in a big way, beating the Bulldogs 12-6 to take third place.
The Bears now await their final ranking for the 2022 NCEA National Championship, which begins on Thursday, April 14, at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala, Fla.
Track & field posts strong outing at Texas Relays
Hardware, top spots and new school records, Baylor track and field did it all in the 94th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in Austin. Freshman jumper Johnny Brackins competed in the long jump and ended as the collegiate champion with a jump of 26-9 ¾. The length was good for the program record, broken for the first time since Danny Brabham set the record in 1973. Brackins now leads the nation by over an inch.
Qualifying for the top spot in the nation, freshman hurdler Nathaniel Ezekiel ran 49.14 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles. Ezekiel finished second place in the final round with a time of 49.31 seconds.
Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi, a freshman thrower, launched himself into Baylor history in his first ever collegiate meet, breaking the school record in javelin with a throw of 257-3, earning him first place in the event.
Up next, Baylor will host its first home meet of the season on Friday and Saturday at the Clyde Hart Track & Field Stadium.
MTEN dethrones No. 1 TCU; WTEN finds little success in Oklahoma
In a weekend packed with tennis, Baylor men’s tennis found great success on the court, whereas Baylor women’s tennis frustratingly fell short. No. 9 men’s team broke down No. 1 Texas Christian University in a 5-2 win on Friday in Fort Worth, while No. 22 women’s team fell both on Friday and Sunday to No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 11 Oklahoma State respectively.
After a frustrating 4-0 loss against then-No. 5 Michigan last weekend, Baylor men’s tennis (18-2) took the court in Fort Worth seeking redemption. With TCU housing five ranked singles players along with the No. 2, 3 and 4 doubles pairings, the Bears knew the challenge was going to be difficult, but were still able to pull out the victory.
In stark contrast, Baylor women’s tennis (13-6) found little success this weekend as they lost both of their ranked matches. Although a 6-1 loss to No. 3 OU seems like a large deficit, the Bears were continuously on the brink of putting more points on the board with four of the six singles matches being forced into three sets, but ultimately fell short. In their Sunday match with No. 11 OSU, momentum was never in Baylor’s favor, falling 5-2.
Women’s tennis looks on to their next match at noon on April 8 as they return to Waco in hopes to find a win against Kansas State University. The men’s squad has one more stop on their road trip with a match down I-35 against the University of Texas at 6 p.m. on Friday.
Acro & Tumbling rolls to 6-0 after defeating UHMB in rematch
No. 1 Baylor acrobatics and tumbling is 6-0 to start the season after a 279.460 – 257.725 victory in a rematch with the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor on Friday in Belton.
The Bears topped the Crusaders in every event, despite the start of the meet remaining relatively close. In the acro event, the Bears scored a 9.9 in three heats for an event total of 29.7 and put up 9.95, 9.8, and a flawless 10 in the opening heat of the pyramid event.
Up next, the Bears return home for their matchup with No. 8 Hawaii Pacific at 5 p.m. on Saturday for senior night in the Ferrell Center. It will be the last home meet of the season for the squad.
‘Discipline over emotion’ fuels Baylor baseball to avoid OU sweep
In consecutive series, Baylor baseball salvaged the final game, this time a 16-8 win versus the University of Oklahoma Sunday afternoon at L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman, Okla. The Bears dealt with heartbreak and adversity throughout the weekend, dropping the first two matches, but snagged the last contest over the Sooners to avoid the sweep.
In the opening game of the series, the Bears threatened late but came up short in a 5-3 loss to the Sooners. In the eighth and ninth innings, Baylor had the bases loaded but failed to tie the contest. Game two saw brutal heartbreak for the Bears, who held a 5-1 lead in the eighth, but gave up two grand slams for the Sooners to come away with the 9-5 success.
In the series-finale, the bats were hot all around, but none like Richardson who went 4-of-4 at the plate, one double short of the cycle, and notched a career-high five runs. Those five runs are the most scored by a Baylor player in a single game since Darryn Sheppard scored five times against Stony Brook on Feb. 27, 2016. Baylor cruised to a 16-8 win, striking first and answering every time OU tried to regain control.
The Bears head back home for a non-conference contest against the University of Texas at Arlington, first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Baylor Ballpark. The game against the Mavericks (8-15, 2-4 Sun Belt) can be watched on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
Softball swept by No. 1 Oklahoma in Norman
Baylor softball (17-13) was swept in their three game series with undefeated No. 1 University of Oklahoma (29-0) this weekend in Norman, Okla. The Bears dropped Friday, Saturday and Sunday’s games 9-1, 8-0 and 3-1.
Outfielders, freshman Taylor Strain and sophomore McKenzie Wilson, were the only two players to record hits in Friday’s game, with Wilson being the only Bear to score a run in the contest. Oklahoma put up eight in the first three innings and the game ended after five innings at a 9-1 mark. Baylor failed to score a single run in game two, concluding once again after five innings in an 8-0 final.
Game three proved to be a closer contested game. The Bears held their first lead of the weekend in the sixth inning of game three after a West sacrifice fly and Wilson advanced home. But the Sooners came roaring back in the bottom of the seventh with a Taire Jennings three-run walk-off home run to win 3-1 and secure the sweep.
The Bears return to Waco to face Incarnate Word at 6 p.m. CT on Tuesday. A three game series is set for next weekend at home against Oklahoma State.
