Baylor
(1) Texas Tech
Bricktown Bound: No. 8 Seed SB Readies for Big 12 Quarterfinals
5/6/2026 10:22:00 AM | Softball
BU prepares for fourth-straight game against top-seeded Texas Tech
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BAYLOR BEARS (28-25, 10-14 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Glenn Moore (Northwestern St., 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
BAYLOR (28-25, 10-14 Big 12) vs. Texas Tech (50-5, 21-3 Big 12) May 7 • 1:30 p.m. BAYLOR (28-25, 10-14 Big 12) vs. TBD May 8 • 3 p.m. BAYLOR (28-25, 10-14 Big 12) vs. TBD May 9 • 11 a.m. Oklahoma City, Okla. • Devon Park (9,000) LIVE STATS: BaylorBears.com/stats WATCH: ESPN+ (Thurs. & Fri.) ESPN (Saturday) Talent: Emma Tiedemann (pxp), Cat Osterman (analyst), LISTEN: Cool 101.3 FM Talent: Jeffrey Cohen Baylor Social Media:    |
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Texas Tech Red Raiders (50-4, 21-3 Big 12) Location: Lubbock, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Gerry Glasco (Illinois, 1980) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
STORY LINES
• No. 8 seed Baylor plays its fourth-straight game against No. 2 at top-seeded Texas Tech in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Softball Tournament presented by Allstate. The championship game will be featured on ESPN at 11 a.m. CT, with all other games available on ESPN+
• Looking to win a game in Bricktown for the third-straight year, the Bears are 16-32 all-time in the Big 12 Softball Tournament, aiming for its first win over Texas Tech in the event since 1997 (1-5)
• The Bears joined Arizona and Utah as one of three Big 12 teams to beat Texas Tech this season with a five-run comeback last Friday in Lubbock.
• BU's five-run comeback against the Red Raiders was its largest since a seven-run comeback against Kentucky in the 2014 CWS
• The win was BUs first win over a top-five team on the road since May of 2023 at No. 5 Texas.
• It was their first win over a top-two team since beating No. 1 Oklahoma on Feb. 19, 2023
• Entering the Big 12 Tournament, Baylor is the only team to beat Texas Tech this season when the Red Raiders hit a homerun
• The Bears are chasing the 30-win plateu for the 20th time (11th time in the last 13 full seasons years) Glenn Moore era
• After closing the regular season with six-straight games against ranked teams, the Bears had 21 games against opponents this regular season, its most since 2011 when the Bears saw 22 ranked teams en route to the College World Series
• Ranked 39th in the RPI entering this weekend, the Bears have been as high as 16th this season, playing the toughest schedule in the Big 12 (14th-toughest overall)
• This Baylor team has shown a great ability to come from behind, winning eight times this season, when trailing after the fourth inning or later. Four of those wins have come when trailing after six, including last Friday against the Red Raiders where Baylor plated three in the final frame to seal the upset win.
• Baylor has been buoyed by its pitching staff spearheaded by a couple of Texas natives who transferred back to their home state in Georgetown's Creager (Arizona St.) and Lake Jackson's Peyton Tanner (Tennessee)
• Creager entered this weekend in the top-10 in the conference in innings (113.1)
• Tanner entered the weekend in the top 10 in the league with 88 strikeouts, giving Baylor two pitchers with at least 60 K's since 2024
• Baylor is one of four Big 12 Teams (Texas Tech, ASU & Utah) with multiple pitchers in the top 12 in the Big 12 in strikeouts
• Entering the season with a combined 64.0 innings a season ago, Tanner (116.2) and Creager (113.1) have combined for 230 innings this season
• Entering the weekend, Tanner has been Baylor's workhorse over the last month or so, pitching 56% of Baylor's innings since April 8th, twirling a 3.50 ERA with 29 strikeouts.
• Creager shouldered a heavier load in March, pitching over half of Baylor's innings during another demanding stretch of the schedule. She tallied four complete games and 27 strikeouts, posting a 3.46 ERA against the likes of No. 22 UCF, No. 2 Texas and No. 13 Arizona
• Senior Amber Toven is in the midst of her best collegiate season, sitting second among active players on the team in batting average (.352) and has a team-best 47 RBIs, the most by a Baylor player since Shaylon Govan's 54 in 2024.
• Named to Softball's America's top-15 midseason shortstops, Toven has had a 10-game hit streak and a 20-game on-base streak (both career bests) at different times this season
• Toven and Brooklyn Carter have shared the leadoff spot for much of the season, Carter who is batting .329 with a .391 OBP, creating chaos on the bases with 23 stolen bases, which is second in the Big 12
• Carter is statistically one of the toughest hitters in the conference to strike out K-ing on just 5.1% of her plate appearances this season
• Leah Cran is equally difficult to strike out (4.5%) while also leading the team with 19 extra-base hits on the strength of 13 doubles, which is top-10 in the Big 12. Additionally her 13 doubles are the most by a Baylor Player since Aliyah Binford had 15 in 2022
• Freshmen Kaygen Marshall leads the team with 10 homeruns, the most by a Baylor Freshman since Kassidy Krupit hit 10 in 2019, and she is one of just six freshmen with double digit homeruns in the Moore era
• Freshman Gianna Gusman has also contributed in her first season on campus appearing in 41 games with 35 starts, hitting .221, with several highlight-reel plays in the outfield, replacing the injured Karynton Dawson. With injuries at catcher, Gusman has also been used behind the plate from time-to-time
• Entering Bricktown Sa'Mya Jones has been putting some good at-bats together, collecting hits in 10 of the last 12 games
• In 53 games this season, Moore has used 46 different lineup combinations
• Toven (Arizona, 2022), Carter (Washington, 2023) and Tanner (Tennessee, 2025) all boast Women's College World Series experience at their former stops
• Picked eighth in the Preseason Big 12 Coaches Poll, Baylor has met or outperformed its preseason expectations in 18 of Moore's 26 seasons at Baylor
• Marshall (Robinson), Harper Haas (Midway) Savanna Pogue (Crawford) all played their high school ball within 25 miles of Getterman Stadium, with Haas and Marshall playing less than 10 miles away from their college home
• Haas (2025), Marshall (2025) and Pogue (2022) all led their teams to UIL Texas State Championships
