By Foster Nicholas | Sports Editor
From Selection Sunday to the NCAA Track and Field Indoor Championship, Baylor Athletics had little time to rest. Here’s everything you may have missed over the one-week break.
WBB falls in Big 12 Championship, set to host regional
The fourth-seeded Bears (27-7, 15-3 Big 12) will open the 2025 NCAA Tournament at 2:30 p.m. Friday against No. 13 seed Grand Canyon (32-2, 16-0 WAC) at the Foster Pavilion. The winner will advance to a second-round matchup on Sunday against the winner of No. 5 Ole Miss (20-10, 10-6 SEC) and No. 12 Ball State (27-7, 16-2 MAC).
Baylor forced 20 turnovers in its 64-59 Big 12 Championship loss to second-seeded TCU. Senior center Aaronette Vonleh led the way with 20 points on 8-for-18 shooting with six rebounds. Graduate guard Sarah Andrews (13) and senior guard Yaya Felder (12) also finished with double figures.
MBB falls to No. 9 Texas Tech, readies for Big Dance in Raleigh
For the sixth straight season, Baylor is going dancing in the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA selection committee announced Sunday that Scott Drew’s Bears (19-14, 10-10) earned a No. 9 seed in the East Region, setting up a first-round matchup with No. 8 Mississippi State (21-12, 8-10) at 11:15 a.m. Friday in Raleigh, N.C.
The green and gold head to the postseason following a 76-74 loss to No. 9 Texas Tech in the quarterfinals of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship on Thursday. The Bears bounced back from a three-game skid to win three of their last five, with the two losses coming to top-three seeds Houston and Texas Tech by a combined six points.
Baseball steals series finale at Kansas
Baylor erased a five-run deficit, the largest comeback win under head coach Mitch Thompson, scoring five runs in the fifth inning to overcome Kansas 9-7 on Sunday at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence, Kan.
Senior right-handed pitcher Will Glatch (1-0) earned his first career win with 2.1 scoreless frames and three strikeouts while sixth-year senior right-handed pitcher Gabe Craig (4) picked up the save, striking out the side in the ninth.
The Bears ended the opening weekend of Big 12 play 1-2 against Kansas, bumping their overall record to 14-5. The green and gold will face Texas State at 6 p.m. Tuesday and host Kansas State for a three-game series at Baylor Ballpark starting at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
Softball swept by No. 12 Texas Tech
Baylor was outscored 21-1 over the course of a three-game series at home against the Red Raiders, failing to score an earned run in 21 innings. Junior Texas Tech right-handed pitcher NiJaree Canady fired two complete games, allowing 11 hits and two walks in 14 innings and striking out 18.
Softball aims to get back on track against No. 14 Oklahoma State for a three-game series that opens at 6 p.m. Friday at Cowgirl Stadium in Stillwater, Okla.
Alexis Brown wins long jump at NCAA Indoor Championship
Graduate student Alexis Brown became the first Baylor athlete to win the national championship in the long jump on Friday with a school record mark of 22 feet, 7 3/4 inches.
Baylor track and field finished with nine All-Americans — five in individuals and one in the 4×400 team relay. The women finished 15th with 14 points and the men finished 23rd with 12 points. This is the first time under head coach Michael Ford that both men and women finished inside the top 25 at the Indoor Championships.
The Bears will be back in action hosting the Clyde Hart Classic on Saturday at the Clyde Hart Track & Field Stadium.
Men’s and women’s tennis split-ranked weekend matchups
Competing in the UTR Sports College Championship at the BNP Paribas Open, No. 14 Baylor men’s tennis knocked off No. 28 Pepperdine 4-3 before falling to No. 45 Arizona State 4-3 in the finals in Indian Wells, Calif. The Bears will have their chance at revenge, hosting the Sun Devils at 6 p.m. Friday at the Hurd Tennis Center.
No. 20 Baylor women’s tennis split a pair of home contests, taking down Colorado 4-2 on Friday and falling to No. 14 Texas Tech 4-2 on Sunday. The Bears are set to face Iowa State at 4 p.m. Friday and Kansas at noon Sunday for a pair of matches on the road.
