No. 9 Baylor Equestrian Falls Short in First Round of Big 12 Championship
STILLWATER, Okla. – No. 9 Baylor equestrian (5-9) dropped a 12-8 contest to No. 5 Oklahoma State (7-4) in the first round of the Big 12 Championship on Friday in Stillwater, Okla.
Despite closing the lead in the second half of competition, BU was not able to capture enough points to take down the top-seeded Cowgirls.
Jumping Seat senior Dominika Silvestri collected her 12th win of the season in Flat, becoming the first Bear in four seasons to win a dozen meets in the event.
THE RUNDOWN
The meet started with Bears falling 4-1 in Flat against OSU. BU’s only point came from senior Dominika Silvestri, who collected a combined score of 216. In the outdoor arena, BU’s Horsemanship squad narrowly fell to the Cowgirls who took home a 3-2 win in the discipline. Senior Gabrielle Marty (219.5) and sophomore Alexis Rutledge (218.5) scored the points for Baylor.
Following the afternoon break, BU returned to action in the covered arena for Fences, winning the event 3-2 and inching closer with the overall meet score at 9-6. Freshmen Lauren Jorgensen (233) and Lauren Reid (253) joined Silvestri as the point-winners for the Bears.
However, the day concluded with BU’s Reining squad dropping the event 3-2 to OSU. Seniors Jenna Meimerstorf (212) and Andie Pratt (210.5) put up the points for the Bears.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Senior Dominika Silvestri improved to 12-2 on the season in Flat, becoming the first Bear since Rachael Davis in 2018-19 to collect 12 wins.
• Freshman Lauren Jorgensen recorded her second win of the season in Flat (233).
• Alexis Rutledge has won eight of her last 10 rides in Horsemanship
QUOTABLE
Head coach Casie Maxwell
On today’s performance and heading into tomorrow’s matchup against Fresno State…
“I mean I just think it’s unfortunate. We were in a great mindset—we prepped great. I mean they were in a great space coming in here and we just made too many mistakes. That’s kind of been our case throughout the season, so it’s not new by any means. That’s the biggest thing we’ve got to clean up tomorrow. We’re 1-1 with Fresno State and there is no reason we should not be 2-1 by the time we finish the weekend, but they’re going to have to ride clean because Fresno State put a lot of pressure on TCU today and I expect them to come out and be even better tomorrow. Our team is going to have to clean up their errors if they want to walk away with a win this weekend.”
WHAT’S NEXT
No. 9 Baylor (5-9) takes on No. 8 Fresno State (3-8) in the consolation meet on Saturday morning, with first ride set for 9:30 a.m.
To stay up to date on all things Baylor equestrian, follow the team on its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorEQ.