By Michael Haag | Sports Editor
With basketball season over, it’s time for the other Baylor sports to entire the limelight. Whether it was a series sweep in the mountains or several blunders to the Texas Longhorns, here is everything you may have missed in Baylor Athletics over the weekend.
Baylor track and field’s freshman duo dominates pole vault in final day of Tom Jones Memorial
Freshman pole vaulters Molly Haywood and Alencia Lentz placed in the top three of their event to lead Baylor track and field through the final day of the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational on Saturday on the Percy Beard Track at the James G. Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, Fla.
Haywood won the pole vault with a new outdoor best (14-4 ¾) on her second attempt. Lentz trailed in third place with a 14-0 ¾ mark.
Head coach Michael Ford said he loved what he saw from the Bears in the two-day event.
“Yesterday, opening up with Nathaniel [Ezekiel]’s school record in the 400 hurdles, probably third in the nation right now — I am looking forward to seeing him continue to improve and get under that 48-second barrier. He also got the PR in the 400, so a great performance from him,” Ford said. “Molly Haywood also got the PR and won the pole vault today.
“We have a lot of PRs and season bests heading into the Michael Johnson Invitational, [and I’m] looking for another great weekend back at home to run some good times and get some good performances in before we head to Arizona as a final meet before the Big 12 Championships.”
Baylor is back at home to host the Michael Johnson Invitational, which will take place on Friday and Saturday at the Clyde Hard Track and Field Stadium.
Baylor men’s golf places 10th at Thunderbird Collegiate
Baylor men’s golf closed out its weekend in 10th place after a 275 in the final round of the Thunderbird Collegiate on Saturday in Phoenix. Freshman Davis Ovard and graduate student Johnny Keefer led the way for the Bears with a final round 67 and 68, respectively.
Baylor finished one shot back of Texas Tech, which finished in ninth place. Only 10 shots separated third and 11th place on the weekend.
https://twitter.com/BaylorMGolf/status/1779264601965658510
“This final round was exactly what this team needed for momentum heading into the Big 12 Championship tournament,” head coach Mike McGraw said. “We’ve got some time this week to clean up a few things that gave us trouble in round two.”
The Bears get back on the green for the Big 12 Championship, scheduled for April 22-24 at Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity.
Baylor baseball holds off BYU’s rally to secure series sweep
Baylor baseball secured its first Big 12 sweep since 2019 by outlasting BYU 18-17 on Saturday at Miller Park in Provo, Utah. The Bears led 18-5 through five and a half innings, but the Cougars couldn’t find the equalizer after 12 unanswered runs.
“Well it’s gut-wrenching, man,” head coach Mitch Thompson said of the game. “That’s how you get gray hairs as a coach. Momentum is a funny thing in this game, and at a place where the ball travels like this, it’s never over. It’s never over until it’s over. I give BYU credit for coming back down 13 runs, but they only got 12 of them, and we won.”
ENZOOOOOOOO 🗣️
After hitting a league-best .600 on the weekend with a home run and five RBIs, @enzo_apodaca is your Big 12 Player of the Week 🏆
🗞️: https://t.co/wuimpEHa8j#SicEm 🐻⚾️ | #Together pic.twitter.com/vSbeRzqkko
— Baylor Baseball (@BaylorBaseball) April 15, 2024
Baylor (16-18, 8-7 Big 12) has one more road contest at UT Arlington before returning home. The midweek bout is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Tuesday in Arlington.
No. 4 Texas crushes Baylor men’s tennis 7-0 in regular-season finale
Baylor men’s tennis couldn’t keep up with No. 4 Texas, as the Bears wrapped up the regular season with a 7-0 loss to the Longhorns on Saturday at the Texas Tennis Center in Austin.
Baylor (18-10, 2-5 Big 12) came close to a doubles point win but ultimately fell and played from behind the rest of the way.
The Bears are now the sixth seed for the Big 12 Championships, and they’ll face third-seeded TCU in the quarterfinals at noon on Friday.
Baylor women’s tennis falls to No. 8 Texas 4-0 in final match of regular season
Baylor women’s tennis dropped its home and regular-season finale to No. 8 Texas by a score of 4-0 on Sunday afternoon at the Hurd Tennis Center.
The Bears’ (16-10, 7-6 Big 12) best chance at a point came in doubles play when the decision came down to a third-set tiebreaker on court three. The Longhorns (12-1, 19-4 Big 12) cruised the rest of the way.
Baylor will now take part in the Big 12 Championships, which are slated to begin on Wednesday in Stillwater, Okla. The Bears will take on West Virginia in the first round of the tournament at noon on Wednesday.
No. 24 Baylor softball comes up short 9-5 in series finale at No. 1 Texas
No. 24 Baylor softball fell in its series finale against No. 1 Texas by a score of 9-5 on Sunday afternoon at Red and Charline McCombs Field in Austin. The Bears were swept on the weekend.
Baylor (22-17, 5-13 Big 12) trailed by six runs entering the seventh inning, and it was only able to scratch across two runs before a fly-out and pop-out ended the game.
“I tip my hat to the best Texas team I’ve seen in my 24 years here,” head coach Glenn Moore said. “They’re an outstanding team all the way around. They have speed, great offense, and they have great arms in the bullpen.
“I’m definitely happy with this [Bears] team. I thought they represented well. We are wounded a little bit. Had we had all the bullets in our game, we’d have had a better chance. … It was going to take everything we had and then some and hoping that [the Longhorns] maybe don’t play their best. But we did not lay down. We came out fighting yesterday and today and forced some pitching changes.”
Final: Texas 9, Baylor 5
The Bears score two runs in the seventh, but any hope at a comeback comes up short.
Baylor is swept for the third time in Big 12 play and returns to action Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. against UT Arlington.
— Zach Smith (@ByZachSmith) April 14, 2024
The Bears play host to UT Arlington next, as they’ll square off in a midweek contest at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Getterman Stadium.
