By Michael Haag | Sports Editor
Now that Baylor’s Green and Gold weekend is over, it’s time to look back on the busy slate and see what all went down. Whether you attended or watched something each day — or did nothing at at all — here is everything you may have missed.
No. 5 seed Baylor men’s tennis drops heartbreaker, 4-3, in Big 12 Tournament
No. 5 seed Baylor men’s tennis was outmatched by No. 4 seed University of Oklahoma, 4-3, in the first round of the Big 12 Conference Championships Friday afternoon at the Jayhawk Tennis Center at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence, Kan.
“I don’t think we could’ve asked for a better start,” head coach Michael Woodson said. “We were able to do everything we wanted to do in doubles and corrected some things that got us off to a wrong start against OU last time. Chris [Frantzen] and Luc [Koenig] did a great job. They got the momentum swinging our way. The guys also did a great job of taking the doubles point into singles.”
After dropping the match 4-3, Baylor will now wait anxiously to hear if it will head to the NCAA Tournament. The selection show begins at 5:30 p.m. May 1 on NCAA.com. The first round will begin on campus sites May 5.
No. 2 seed Oklahoma hands No. 7 seed Baylor women’s tennis 4-2 loss in Big 12 quarterfinals
Baylor athletics’ tough day against the University of Oklahoma continued with the No. 7 seed women’s tennis team’s 4-2 loss to the No. 2 seed Sooners Friday in the Big 12 Championship quarterfinals at the Jayhawk Tennis Center at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence, Kan.
“We started off strong, but ultimately, in singles we fell a bit short,” head coach Joey Scrivano said. “Now, we just have to wait for the postseason to unfold with the NCAA Tournament. Overall, it was a good tournament for us this week. There were a lot of lessons learned in our last two matches, and we’ll go back and look at how we can improve, and we will do it.”
Baylor now looks ahead to its destination for the NCAA Tournament, which runs from May 17-27. The NCAA’s selection show for Division I women’s teams will take place at 5:30 p.m. May 1, available to watch on NCAA.com.
Aranda plans to name starting QB next week after seeing Green & Gold game
With Baylor football’s spring football slate at a conclusion, head coach Dave Aranda said a decision on naming a starting quarterback should come at some point next week.
“I think we’re ready to make a choice, but I want to make sure they’re ready, so we’ll be able to do that when we get back in the room,” Aranda said.
Aranda said this after the Bears’ annual Green & Gold game Saturday afternoon at McLane Stadium. Baylor created its own scoring system for an offense versus defense battle. Team Gold (offense) came away with a 38-27 win over Team Green (defense).
The green and gold will open its 2023 season at McLane Stadium on Sept. 2, hosting Texas State University.
Baylor track & field struts in front of university legends at Michael Johnson Invitational
Baylor track and field hosted its final home meet of the season with the Michael Johnson Invitational Friday and Saturday at the Clyde Hart Track and Field Stadium in Waco. The two-day meet brought a few Baylor legends back and showed off some current Bears as well.
“You feel the energy out here, especially with the [4×400-meter] relay, just the way it ended today,” former Baylor athlete Jeremy Wariner said. “A few years ago, we were finishing second, third or fourth in the relay. … They’re getting the relay back to where it used to be. I think they’ll be able to go sub-3:00 for the first time for us. This group can do it.”
Up next, the Bears hit the road for the LSU Invitational in Baton Rouge, La., for their last meet of the regular season.
Baylor baseball salvages series with 6-4 series finale win over No. Texas Tech
After dropping the series opener on Friday, Baylor baseball split its doubleheader with No. 13 Texas Tech University on Saturday at Rip Griffin Park in Lubbock. The Bears lost the first contest 14-9 before salvaging the weekend series with a 6-4 win.
“Two pretty good ballgames,” head coach Mitch Thompson said. “The first game was tied 6-6 and they kind of busted it open. We came back and started to make it a little interesting at the end. But I’m really proud of the guys for coming through and getting this third game. This is a tough place to win. The wind was a huge factor today and for us to get that W after being disappointed twice was a big deal.”
The Bears (15-25, 6-12 Big 12) will get back it with a midweek meeting against Tarleton State University at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Baylor Ballpark.
No. 1 Oklahoma blanks No. 16 Baylor across entire series, wins finale, 2-0
No. 16 Baylor softball’s weekend didn’t go quite like Feb. 19 did.
The Bears took down No. 1 University of Oklahoma, 4-3, on that day in Waco just over two months ago to give the Sooners their only loss in over a year. OU didn’t face much resistance in getting its payback, though, as it came right back to Getterman Stadium and swept Baylor in a conference series.
Oklahoma started with a 7-0 win Friday before winning a pair of contests on Saturday. The two teams decided to play a doubleheader with expected rain coming in on Sunday, and the Sooners booked the Bears with a 4-0 victory in the first game, followed by a 2-0 win in the finale.
“I wasn’t happy with our game yesterday [on Friday] and I thought we came out here a little too uptight, and I thought today [Saturday] we were relaxed and competed,” head coach Glenn Moore said. “I really thought we did well there but we did as well as we could against that powerful offense with our pitching and [I’m] really happy with Dari [Orme] and happy with the way Kaci [West] competed in game one today.”
The Bears will stick around for a midweek contest against Texas State University, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Getterman Stadium. Baylor’s next conference series will be at Iowa State University for a three-game set.
No. 13 Baylor women’s golf secures second place at Big 12 Championship
No. 13 Baylor women’s golf knocked at the door once again, but came up just shy of a conference trophy.
The Bears shot an 11-over 875 to come in second place at the Big 12 Championship Sunday at the Dallas Athletic Club in Dallas. Baylor has now finished in the top three nine times since 2012. It brought home hardware in 2015 for the program’s lone Big 12 championship.
“Not only are they great, but they’re fighters, and that’s what we need moving forward for the next two events,” head coach Jay Goble said. “We have to fight to earn our spot in the NCAAs and, when we get there, we need to get in that top eight and make a run. I feel like we can do that.”
Baylor will receive its regional destination with the NCAA women’s golf selection show, which starts at noon Wednesday on the Golf Channel.
