By Michael Haag | Sports Editor

Senior outfielder Josie Bower led Baylor softball with 30 RBI for the entire 2022 season. When sophomore infielder Shaylon Govan started her career with the Bears in 2023, it only took her 15 games to top that mark, as she already owned 31 RBI before the end of February.

Govan etched her name as one of the country’s best sluggers in those 18 days to start the season, and she’s caught the attention of just about every pitching staff the 18th-ranked Bears have faced since, if she hadn’t already.

“Shay’s one of the best hitters I’ve ever seen in my life, and so I’m really happy that she’s here,” Bower said.

A transfer from Stephen F. Austin State University, Govan has been jokingly referred to as “Babe Ruth” by head coach Glenn Moore. Given that the power hitter has been slashing at or near .400 (.398 as of April 27) for the entire year as well as showing off her arm in the circle on one occasion, Moore might have been spot on with
the comparison.

Govan came back to Earth after February, though, due to her not recording a multi-RBI outing until Baylor’s second game of a conference series against then-No. 2 Oklahoma State University on March 23. But it came with a price, since the three-hole hitter suffered a torn labrum in the series opener a day prior.

Govan said she told her mom about the shoulder injury in Stillwater, Okla., and that she was having flashbacks to last season. Govan came into 2023 off a season-ending hand injury at SFA and didn’t want this year to mirror that.

The Katy native shrugged off the Friday night injury but actually fell to the ground in pain in Saturday’s contest, the one in which she had two RBI.

“For me, seeing her like that, it really broke my heart as a mom, because I didn’t want to see her like that either,” Renia Govan, Shaylon’s mom, said. “She started out [the season] so great, just like she did at Stephen F. Austin
last year.”

Despite the torn labrum, Govan said she feels great and that she’s able to play through it. Shaylon has yet to miss a game this season, and she’s started in every contest.

“Every day, I’m just getting rehab with our trainer, and she has a very good rehab timeline for me,” Govan said. “And just working with the coaches, they’re able to sometimes accommodate me in case my shoulder isn’t feeling well.”

Moore, now in his 23rd year at Baylor, said he’s had athletes experience torn labrums before. He said it’s a “pain tolerance” issue and playing through the pain won’t result in a worse injury down the line.

Govan wants to play in every game, so Moore lets her play as long as she can tolerate the pain.

“She’s a tough kid because she’s out there in a very painful situation more often than not and continuing to stay in the game,” Moore said. “And we need her. I’d never ask a kid to play injured in a way that would damage her down the road. But we’ve been assured that it will not cause any more damage, and we’ll do something at the end of the season [to heal it fully].”

Wearing a shoulder brace and fighting through the pain, Govan got some of her mojo back when the Bears went 3-1 in their road trip to West Texas. After defeating Abilene Christian University 15-6, Baylor took a Big 12 series win over Texas Tech University from April 14-16.

Govan thumped two homers and four RBI on the weekend, most of that coming from the second game in which she hit a three-run home run early in the contest. She had a no-doubter on Friday, too, and said she was robbed of a third homer in the series finale.

Now that it’s no secret about her ability to rake in that third batting position, Govan said she’s had to adjust to different pitches when she steps in the box. She said the reason she was able to get through the dry spell was homing in on “one pitch” that she liked.

“Now I just have to keep my weight back [at the plate],” Govan said. “I’ve been getting a lot of off-speed stuff. And then if I do get the hard stuff, I just know that I cannot miss it, because usually the [pitchers] come with something that is honestly very hard to put a barrel on. So the goal now is just to pick up that one pitch, and usually it’s like the first one, which is hard.”

Moore said the fact that Govan is still playing at a high level is eye-opening to him and the coaching staff.

“She continues to amaze me, playing with an arm injury like that and continuing to get out there and play defense and offense and never even talk about it,” Moore said. “She wants to be on the field and she’s giving everything she’s got. She’s still a huge threat and can do a lot of things. Mechanically, I can see some things that have changed a little bit that she’s had to adjust to, but teams still don’t like to pitch to her.”

If you’re a Baylor fan that hasn’t caught a game at Getterman Stadium this season and you plan on doing so in the future, be careful where you park. Shaylon has hit 10 homers on the year, some of those having flown beyond the home venue’s left field wall and into the first row or two of cars in the parking lot.

Consider it “Shay’s Splash Zone,” which should tell you it’s somewhere you don’t want to park. Even Renia makes sure to stay far away from her daughter’s range.

“[I told my husband,] ‘Can you imagine calling the insurance company saying we have a cracked window because our daughter hit the softball out of the park and it hit our car?’” Renia said.

Whether it’s pummeling softballs out of the park or bringing a baserunner home, Shaylon said playing at Baylor has been a blessing and that she’s honored to represent the green and gold.

“Just getting Baylor’s name back out there, like, it’s been hard these past couple of years, that people have just kind of slept on Baylor,” Govan said. “So it’s cool to kind of be on the rise and help Baylor softball get back to where it’s supposed to be.”