No. 9 Baylor Equestrian Preps For Big 12 Championship
WACO, Texas – No. 9 Baylor equestrian (5-8, 2-4) is set to compete at the 2023 Big 12 Championship this weekend at Oklahoma State’s Pedigo-Hull Equestrian Center in Stillwater, Okla., running March 24-25.
The fourth-seeded Bears will face top-seeded and No. 5-ranked Oklahoma State (6-4, 4-2) on Friday at 10 a.m., while No. 2 seed and third-ranked TCU (11-2, 4-2) tangles with No. 3-seed and eighth-ranked Fresno State (3-7, 2-4) simultaneously.
Friday’s winners will advance to Saturday’s final, which is set to begin immediately following a consolation meet between the two non-advancing teams, starting at 9:30 a.m.
In last season’s Big 12 Championship, BU suffered a narrow 10-9 first-round loss to OSU, but bounced back to defeat Fresno State in the consolation meet, 12-6.
The Bears dropped both regular-season contests to the Cowgirls this year, including a 17-3 defeat in Stillwater on Oct. 15, then a 10-9 decision on Feb. 18 in Waco. Oklahoma State leads the all-time series 33-13, and has won each of the last 10 meetings.
Baylor split the season series with both TCU and Fresno State. BU swept Flat to upset the then-No. 1 Horned Frogs on Oct. 21 in Waco, 12-7, but lost its regular-season finale to TCU, 12-7, in Fort Worth. The Bears topped the Bulldogs, 11-7, on Nov. 18 at home, but fell 13-4 on Feb. 3 on the road in California.
BU has claimed the league championship four times in program history, having most recently won the title in 2019. BU also took home the crown in 2010, 2015 and 2017.
Baylor enters the postseason after rounding out its regular season with two close losses to No. 1 SMU and No. 3 TCU. Despite the shortcomings, BU’s Flat squad boasts an eight-meet win streak heading into Big 12 competition. Senior Maddie Vorhies is unbeaten in her last 10 Flat rides, while junior Madison Mitchell carries a seven-meet win streak in the event.
With her latest win in Flat, senior Dominika Silvestri improved to 11-2 on the season, becoming the first Bear to record 11 wins in the event since Rachael Davis did so in the 2020-21 campaign. Additionally, Silvestri picked up her fifth Most Outstanding Performer honors of the year with an 84 in Fences against the Horned Frogs in her last time out.
On the Western side, fifth-year senior Marley Mainwaring also collected MOP praise in Horsemanship against TCU with a career-high 77. The award marked her first of the season and third-career MOP honor.