Friday, March 28
Fort Worth, Texas
10AM
Baylor
vs
Oklahoma State
No. 9 EQ Faces No. 5 Oklahoma State in First Meet of Big 12 Championship
3/27/2025 1:09:00 PM | Equestrian
Bears looking to earn Big 12 title
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
BURLESON, Texas – Forged by fire, with five of its six losses coming against top-5 teams, ninth-ranked Baylor equestrian (5-6) will face fifth-ranked and four-time defending champion Oklahoma State (7-5) at 10 a.m. Friday in the Big 12 Championship semifinals at KSM Bear Creek Farms.
"Our team has definitely trended up at the right point in the season," said Baylor coach Casie Maxwell, whose team is 4-2 in the spring, including an 11-9 win over second-ranked TCU. "We had a great win over TCU, and that was a touch of confidence in their belt that they needed. I think they still have room to go out there and be even better than they were on that day."
Against TCU, the Bears had "all four events coming together on the same day," Maxwell said, winning reining, fences and horsemanship by 3-2 scores and falling 3-2 in flat. Senior Alexis Rutledge earned MOP honors in horsemanship with a score of 75 on the penultimate ride.
"That's so critical," Maxwell said. "You need at least three events to come together, to be able to win a meet. All four competed so well from start to finish that day. And they know they have to do that in the postseason."
Following up the win over TCU, Baylor traveled to Brookings, South Dakota, and defeated South Dakota State, 14-5, and Minnesota-Crookston, 11-3, on back-to-back days.
"We knew the competition would be a little easier than TCU," Maxwell said. "But they didn't let off the gas at all. they really just performed like they – like we, Baylor – needed to perform, no matter who the opponent was. You just really saw them ride, just lift that chin and ride with a little more confidence than they had been for a little while. It's a big thing for them, especially coming into this week. And while it's a neutral meet, it's at someone's home facility."
In a 13-7 loss to Oklahoma State earlier this spring, Baylor had a 3-2 win in fences and lost five rides by a point or less.
"I think we beat ourselves when we played Oklahoma State," Maxwell said. "We made our own errors, and that is completely fixable. We did not get outridden. We just left the door open in too many places. That puts the control back in our corner, and we know we're perfectly capable of going out and beating them."
Top-seeded and third-ranked TCU (9-4) faces fourth-seeded and eighth-ranked Fresno State (7-6) in the other semifinal. The two semifinal winners advance to Saturday's championship meet, with the two losers facing off in the consolation meet.
With the top eight teams qualifying for the NCEA Championship next month in Ocala, Fla., Baylor will likely need to win at least one of the two meets this weekend, "depending on what everyone else in the country does."
"There are a lot of conference championships going on this weekend, too, so it depends on how some of that stuff shakes out," Maxwell said. "You've got the human element of a bunch of people in the room, and it's not going into a computer. There is nothing that tells you that you have to do this to make it in. And there's just a whole lot of moving pieces.
"I think if we win out and win a conference championship, that definitely helps us. But we've told the team, point blank, I don't know that that's a guarantee. Let's just take it one day at a time. And if it shakes out and gets us to Ocala, then let's keep going."
BURLESON, Texas – The ninth-ranked Baylor Bears return to the ring on Saturday to face No. 5 Oklahoma State, kicking off the Big 12 Championship in the Semifinals.
The meet will start at 10 a.m. at TCU's KSM Bear Creek Farms with Reining, followed by Fences, Horsemanship and Flat, in that order.
The third-seeded Bears (5-6, 2-4) face the second-seeded Cowgirls (7-5, 3-3) in BU's first meet of the postseason. The winner of this meet will go on to face the winner of the (1) TCU/(4) Fresno State meet.
Last time out, BU faced both South Dakota State and Minnesota-Crookston on the road in Brookings, S.D. and won both meets, 14-5 and 11-3, respectively.
On the Jumping Seat side, the dynamic duo of Lauren Reid and Madi Mitchell lead the lineups in both Fences and Flat. On the Western side, Riley Cachat and Isabella Hehr will lead the Bears in Reining while Taylor Smith and Anna Thron return to the arena in Horsemanship.
Information on the conference championship can be found here, while a live feed of both the Western and Jumping Seat action can be found on ESPN+ and live scoring available. A full recap and final scoresheet will be uploaded after the conclusion of the competition.
To stay up to date all year long on all things Baylor equestrian, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorEQ.
Baylor Bear Insider
BURLESON, Texas – Forged by fire, with five of its six losses coming against top-5 teams, ninth-ranked Baylor equestrian (5-6) will face fifth-ranked and four-time defending champion Oklahoma State (7-5) at 10 a.m. Friday in the Big 12 Championship semifinals at KSM Bear Creek Farms.
"Our team has definitely trended up at the right point in the season," said Baylor coach Casie Maxwell, whose team is 4-2 in the spring, including an 11-9 win over second-ranked TCU. "We had a great win over TCU, and that was a touch of confidence in their belt that they needed. I think they still have room to go out there and be even better than they were on that day."
Against TCU, the Bears had "all four events coming together on the same day," Maxwell said, winning reining, fences and horsemanship by 3-2 scores and falling 3-2 in flat. Senior Alexis Rutledge earned MOP honors in horsemanship with a score of 75 on the penultimate ride.
"That's so critical," Maxwell said. "You need at least three events to come together, to be able to win a meet. All four competed so well from start to finish that day. And they know they have to do that in the postseason."
Following up the win over TCU, Baylor traveled to Brookings, South Dakota, and defeated South Dakota State, 14-5, and Minnesota-Crookston, 11-3, on back-to-back days.
"We knew the competition would be a little easier than TCU," Maxwell said. "But they didn't let off the gas at all. they really just performed like they – like we, Baylor – needed to perform, no matter who the opponent was. You just really saw them ride, just lift that chin and ride with a little more confidence than they had been for a little while. It's a big thing for them, especially coming into this week. And while it's a neutral meet, it's at someone's home facility."
In a 13-7 loss to Oklahoma State earlier this spring, Baylor had a 3-2 win in fences and lost five rides by a point or less.
"I think we beat ourselves when we played Oklahoma State," Maxwell said. "We made our own errors, and that is completely fixable. We did not get outridden. We just left the door open in too many places. That puts the control back in our corner, and we know we're perfectly capable of going out and beating them."
Top-seeded and third-ranked TCU (9-4) faces fourth-seeded and eighth-ranked Fresno State (7-6) in the other semifinal. The two semifinal winners advance to Saturday's championship meet, with the two losers facing off in the consolation meet.
With the top eight teams qualifying for the NCEA Championship next month in Ocala, Fla., Baylor will likely need to win at least one of the two meets this weekend, "depending on what everyone else in the country does."
"There are a lot of conference championships going on this weekend, too, so it depends on how some of that stuff shakes out," Maxwell said. "You've got the human element of a bunch of people in the room, and it's not going into a computer. There is nothing that tells you that you have to do this to make it in. And there's just a whole lot of moving pieces.
"I think if we win out and win a conference championship, that definitely helps us. But we've told the team, point blank, I don't know that that's a guarantee. Let's just take it one day at a time. And if it shakes out and gets us to Ocala, then let's keep going."
BURLESON, Texas – The ninth-ranked Baylor Bears return to the ring on Saturday to face No. 5 Oklahoma State, kicking off the Big 12 Championship in the Semifinals.
The meet will start at 10 a.m. at TCU's KSM Bear Creek Farms with Reining, followed by Fences, Horsemanship and Flat, in that order.
The third-seeded Bears (5-6, 2-4) face the second-seeded Cowgirls (7-5, 3-3) in BU's first meet of the postseason. The winner of this meet will go on to face the winner of the (1) TCU/(4) Fresno State meet.
Last time out, BU faced both South Dakota State and Minnesota-Crookston on the road in Brookings, S.D. and won both meets, 14-5 and 11-3, respectively.
On the Jumping Seat side, the dynamic duo of Lauren Reid and Madi Mitchell lead the lineups in both Fences and Flat. On the Western side, Riley Cachat and Isabella Hehr will lead the Bears in Reining while Taylor Smith and Anna Thron return to the arena in Horsemanship.
Information on the conference championship can be found here, while a live feed of both the Western and Jumping Seat action can be found on ESPN+ and live scoring available. A full recap and final scoresheet will be uploaded after the conclusion of the competition.
To stay up to date all year long on all things Baylor equestrian, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorEQ.
- BaylorBears.com -
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