By Jeffrey Cohen | Sports Writer
After two dominant seasons at Houston, senior third baseman Turiya Coleman has lived up to expectations as another powerful bat helping lead Baylor softball’s lineup.
Coleman, who spent her freshman year playing limited time on a national champion Oklahoma team, transferred to Houston following her sophomore year, eyeing more playing time. She put together one of the best careers for the Cougars.
Being a Unanimous American Athletic All-Conference First Team selection in 2023 and All-Big 12 Second Team in 2024, Coleman finished her two-year stint in Houston as the program’s all-time leader in batting average (.385) and on-base percentage (.483). She was also third in slugging percentage (.618).
“This is not my first transfer, so I knew that entering into the portal, I was going to find a school that met all my needs,” Coleman said. “Knowing that I had two good seasons, I knew I could … find the perfect school for me.”
Despite Coleman’s success on the field, Houston finished last season 25-30, with a 4-23 conference record. The Cougars’ season ended in a sweep at the hands of Baylor, putting them in last place in the Big 12.
On the other side, Baylor finished the season 36-23 and 14-13 in conference play, good enough for fourth in the Big 12. The Bears then made a run to the Gainesville Super Regional, where they fell one game short of the Women’s College World Series.
“My first conversation that I had with coach [Glenn] Moore was him just talking about how Baylor is such a faithful school,” Coleman said. “That was one of my major selling points … He kind of sold me before I even saw the school and saw all the other great things that Baylor has to offer.”
Shortly after the 2024 season ended, it was announced that Coleman would be joining the Bears for her fourth season of college softball. The move added another power bat to pair with senior first baseman Shaylon Govan. Govan was coming off a season where she led the team in batting average, on-base plus slugging, RBI, hits, slugging percentage and walks.
Coleman, then, had to adjust to a completely new team and system throughout the following fall.
“My main focus was to learn the girls and get to know them, so that when we got to season, it felt like I had been here for as long as they’ve been here,” Coleman said. “The most important thing is creating that bond with your teammates.”
While Coleman’s transition would take some time, as she is more introverted, her new team, particularly senior right-handed pitcher Dariana Orme, ensured the change was smooth.
“Overall, it was a whole team effort, but I will give [Orme] her props,” Coleman said. “She really helped me to open my shell a little faster than I normally would here at Baylor.”
Coleman wasted no time replicating her Houston production in Waco. She began the 2025 campaign with a nine-game hit streak — the longest on the team this season. Coleman was hitting .500 with 12 RBIs through the season’s first month.
“That really just set the tone for me,” Coleman said. “Having the fans trust me and support me was very big … coming to a new school and being able to pick up where I left off was just great.”
Coleman has been a nice complement to Govan. Both lead the team in batting average, OPS and extra base hits. Govan also leads in home runs, RBIs and walks, while Coleman has the most doubles with 11.
The duo stays close to each other, usually hitting one or two spots apart in the lineup. Along with the similarities in their games, the two find themselves together off the field.
“She is my roommate, so we talk hitting, talk softball day in and day out,” Coleman said. “We watch games after the game at the hotel room. We’re rewatching our game, watching our bats, and I just feel like we feed off each other and learn from each other so much.”
Despite impressive seasons from Coleman and Govan, the Bears have taken a step back from where they were last season. On March 25, following a 6-2 loss to UT Arlington, Baylor was 13-20 and 2-7 against Big 12 opponents — six games worse than their 19-14 mark in 2024.
Over the last month, the Bears have been turning their season around, going 10-3 with six of the wins coming against Big 12 teams. Coleman kept her foot on the gas, hitting 13-for-32 and four extra-base hits over that stretch.
“We are finally clicking in all the right places,” Govan said after a series sweep of Abilene Christian to extend the Bears’ winning streak to six. “We finally found a lineup we can stick to and that we see works well. So, I feel now, at this point, it’s just us working well together and just having those that are upperclassmen helping lead the freshmen in the lineup.”
Baylor now sits in seventh place in the Big 12 with an 8-10 conference record and 23-23 overall. With the postseason on the horizon, Coleman and her team are trying to take it one step at a time and not worry about the next stage.
“Focusing on it game-by-game, pitch-by-pitch,” Coleman said. “We need to focus on not trying to get too far ahead in the season and just focusing on each other and what we have to do now. Then, everything will play itself out.”
