Friday, April 4 • vs Houston • Houston, Texas | Cougar Softball Stadium • Radio: 101.3 FM • Watch: ESPN+
Saturday, April 5 • vs Houston • Houston, Texas | Cougar Softball Stadium • Radio: 101.3 FM • Watch: ESPN+
Sunday, April 6 • vs Houston • Houston, Texas | Cougar Softball Stadium • Radio: 101.3 FM • Watch: ESPN+
 
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
HOUSTON, Texas – Although the Baylor softball team (15-21, 4-8) has dug a hole that will be hard to climb out of, coach Glenn Moore said the Bears' confidence has never wavered.
 
"Ironically, with the bleak outlook that we've created here, I've never sensed that this team didn't have confidence," said Moore, whose Baylor team will play last-place Houston (20-13, 3-7) in a three-game series starting at 6 p.m. Friday at Cougar Softball Stadium.
 
After taking two of three from UCF last weekend at Getterman Stadium, "I would think that they would have confidence after that series," Moore said, "because that was a good UCF team. But I've never seen them waver from a lack thereof, anyway. We had one of our better practices (Wednesday), and I hope that'll translate over to creating more offense."
 
Duke transfer Lillie Walker (5-6, 2.84 ERA, 56 strikeouts) has settled a lot of the Bears' issues in the circle, throwing complete games in five-consecutive starts before giving up two first-inning runs in Sunday's 7-2 loss to UCF.
 
"That's old-school pitching. You used to see it three days in a row," Moore said. "That's what we're going to have to do to have success, it looks like, with her. We tested the waters a little bit. It's not something that I'm afraid to do, and she's willing to do it. Hitters are really good now, to see the same arm three days in a row, it's not like you're facing the one time every day. You're facing them three, four times, every day. And you see everything they've got."
 
Senior second baseman Presleigh Pilon, who was 3-for-3 in Saturday's series-clinching 3-2 win, said Walker (has been killing it."
 
"I call her my Lil' Wayne, throwing heat over there," Pilon said. "When more people start coming together in a lineup, that's huge for us to get hits. Little things like bunting people over, that was huge for us. Continuing to do that is going to be a big momentum thing."
 
Baylor's bigger struggles of late have been an anemic hitting attack that has seen the Bears score just 21 runs in 12 league games, hitting .224 in conference-only games and .254 for the season.
 
Moore said he's challenged his everyday starters that "we're going to give up a little bit of defense if we have to, if we see some poor at-bats early."
 
"We're getting people out of there and get some bench players in there," Moore said. "We put Emry (McDonough) in there last week. I told her, 'You're the one we're going to if we need to pinch hit.' And she goes in and drives one to the left side of the field for a quality at-bat. You can preach, preach, preach, but if they don't execute, it doesn't matter. As a coach, it's your job to figure out how to push the right buttons to get them to do what you want them to do."
 
Short of winning the Big 12 Championship tournament in Oklahoma City, which comes with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, Baylor has to finish above .500 to be eligible for an NCAA regional. With 18 games left, the Bears would have to go 12-6 just to finish at .500.
 
"I don't look at it," Pilon said of the record. "Obviously, Coach Moore will bring it up. But I think it's one thing where you just let it go in one ear and out the other. You just take it day by day. You can't do anything about what's already happened. So, looking at the record, you just can't . . . you've got to have a positive attitude and a refresh mindset going into the new series."
 
This will be a homecoming for third baseman/catcher Turiya Coleman, who is hitting .371 with two home runs and 13 RBIs.
 
"I feel like when you play your old school, it's always something fun," Pilon said. "You get to see your old teammates, your coaches. But I think she's excited. Obviously, we've got some big goals in mind. But yes, (she's excited)."
 
The series continues with games at 2 p.m. Saturday and 12 p.m. Sunday, with all three games streamed by ESPN+.
 
 

STORY LINES
• Baylor Softball is preparing for a three-game conference series at Houston, for its fifth conference series of the season.  
• The Bears lead the all-time record over the Cougars, 28-15, including the 10-9 record in Houston. Baylor faced Houston during the regular season in 2024, sweeping the Cougars in the three-game conference series in Waco, scoring at least six runs in every contest. 
• BU is coming off of a three-game series against UCF where they took the series win over the Knights 2-1. BU took down UCF in the first two contests before falling in the series finale. 
• The Bears did not compete in a midweek contest this week. 
• During the 2025 season, the team is competing with a veteran squad that consists of 12 seniors and 15 upperclassmen.
• After ending the 2024 campaign back in a Super Regional for the first time since 2017, the Bears returned 15 off of the 2024 squad, while adding four transfers and seven freshmen. 
• The Bears four transfers include Brooklyn Carter (Washington), Turiya Coleman (Houston), Carson Frier (UCF) and Lillie Walker (Duke). Coleman and Frier add depth to the Bears infield/catching position, while Carter adds speed to the outfield and Walker tosses left-handed in the circle. 
• The Bears faced nine opponents so far this season who were either ranked or receiving votes in the preseason/weekly ESPN poll for a total of 14 games. Those teams include: No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 6 UCLA, No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 13 Arkansas, No. 15 Missouri, No. 16 Nebraska, No. 1 Texas, No. 12 Texas Tech and No. 13 Oklahoma State. Thirteen of Baylor's 19 losses on the season have come against opponents ranked in the Top 25. 
• Shaylon Govan leads the Bears offensively with a .397 average so far this season, only missing four opening weekend games due to a class conflict. She has a team-leading five home runs, five doubles and 15 RBIs. 
• Karynton Dawson is leading the Bears with 16 RBIs, closely followed by Govan (15), Turiya Coleman (13) and Abi Flores (13). 
• Lillie Walker leads the Bears in the circle with 56 strikeouts with 25 appearances. 
• Walked tossed 14.1 innings against the Knights last weekend picking up two complete games and one shutout. She struck out seven, while only allowing one earned run through both complete game performances. She didn't allow an extra-base hit in her shutout and only walked three over three appearances. 
• Defensively, Presleigh Pilon is ranked third nationally in assists so far this season with 97. Amber Toven is tied for ninth in assists with 90. Those two together have helped contribute to the Bears' 19 double plays so far this season which ranks them 15th nationally.
• Shaylon Govan now holds the second-place spot in career walks at Baylor. She currently has 125 and is eight walks away from tying the career record. 
• As Baylor's unanimous First-Team All-American last season, Govan, is currently in ninth place nationally in on base percentage (.589) after leading the nation in that category last season. 
• Head coach Glenn Moore is in his 25th season at the helm of the Baylor Softball program. In a quarter of a century, Moore is Baylor Athletics' active all-time wins leader across all sports. He has progressed up the active NCAA coaching ranks, now ranking No. 17 in total victories among active Division I head coaches.