Wednesday, May 7 • vs Kansas • Oklahoma City, Okla. | Devon Park • Radio: 101.3 FM • Watch: ESPN+

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
OKLAHOMA CITY – Currently sitting on the wrong side of the bubble at No. 58 in the RPI rankings, Baylor softball (26-26) goes into the Big 12 Tournament likely needing to win four games in four days to earn an NCAA regional berth.
 
But the eighth-seeded Bears are focused on one game at a time, facing ninth-seeded Kansas (22-27) in a first-round matchup at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at OGE Energy Field at Devon Park (formerly Hall of Fame Stadium).
 
"We've got one game a day and four games, and we're going to do it one game at a time and just be ready to play," said Baylor coach Glenn Moore, whose team is trying to earn its third-straight regional bid and 13^th in the last 16 NCAA Tournaments dating back to 2009.
 
"You win the next game and pass the baton to the next day and the next pitch or whoever we choose to put in that lineup and just focus one game at a time."
 
Workhorse pitcher Lillie Walker, a Duke transfer who is 11-10 with a 2.51 ERA, three saves and 89 strikeouts, said she tries not to think about the next game potentially being her last in a Baylor uniform.
 
"You could dwell on it, if you want to," Walker said. "I don't necessarily think that's probably the best approach. It is a reality, and it's something that we need to keep in mind. But I think just going and playing Baylor softball and trying to do that to the best of our ability is the best approach."
 
The Bears had won 13 of 16, including series victories over UCF, Houston and BYU, before dropping a pair of one-run games in a series at Iowa State that began with a 10-0, run-rule victory. They would have earned the No. 5 seed and a first-round bye with a sweep of the Cyclones.
 
"It was obviously frustrating," said senior second baseman Presleigh Pilon, who's hitting .278 with eight doubles, one homer and 19 RBIs. "You want to come out and win each game. Obviously, we didn't wake up with the intention to lose or play the way that we did. But that's just kind of how the cards turned. We're just going to get ready and start over with this tournament."
 
Two months ago, Baylor played Kansas in a conference-opening series at Getterman Stadium. After splitting a pair of one-run games, the Bears were run-ruled in Game 3, 12-2, with freshman pitcher Sadie Ross giving up four runs in 3 1/3 innings.
 
"I know Sadie's a different pitcher now than she was when we played Kansas," Moore said, "and that gives us a little bit more hope. Lillie will certainly start, and I think I have enough confidence in Saide to use her whenever we need to right now. I'm going to focus on Game 1 and use whatever we need to get through Game 1, because we're not promised Game 2."
 
Baylor and Kansas bring similar numbers to Wednesday's first-round game. The Bears are hitting .276 with a Big 12-low 22 homers and have compiled a 3.58 ERA, while the Jayhawks are 10^th in the league in batting average (.275) and eighth in ERA (4.03).
 
"We know what we're up against, and they know what they're up against," Moore said. "There are no secrets anymore. It's just go out and play the best you can, and hopefully that's enough for us."
 
The draw gets a lot tougher if the Bears advance. They would meet 11^th-ranked and regular-season champion Texas Tech (42-12) in the quarterfinals at 1:30 p.m. Thursday and either fourth-seeded Oklahoma State (33-17) or fifth-seeded Arizona State (34-18) in Friday's 3 p.m. semifinal.
 
As hard as that road seems, winning Saturday's 11 a.m. championship game and the automatic bid that goes with it is Baylor's best chance at this point.
 
"If we think about all the games coming up," Walker said, "that's really not letting us be present in the moment. And I don't think that's playing Baylor softball."
 
Saturday's championship game will be broadcast by ESPN, with the other nine games in the tournament all streamed by ESPN+.
 
Wednesday's other first-round matchups are seventh-seeded UCF (32-21-1) versus 10^th-seeded Utah (13-39) at 5 p.m., followed by sixth-seeded BYU (31-16) versus 11^th-seeded Houston (22-24) at 7:30.
 
"Hall of Fame Stadium (OGE Field), where so many greats have played and where we attended four World Series and had some great memories," Moore said, "it's a fun environment, and I'm proud our conference has the opportunity to utilize that stadium for the Big 12 Tournament."

 
STORY LINES
• Baylor Softball is heading to the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Tournament this week as the No. 8 seed. The Bears will face No. 9 seed Kansas on Wednesday, May 7, at 2:30 p.m. CT at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 
• Devon Park is the re-branded Hall of Fame Stadium name, the home of the Women's College World Series.
• After the No. 8 vs No. 9 seed matchup, the winner will go on to play the No. 1 seed, Texas Tech, on Thursday, May 8 at 1:30 p.m. CT.  
• The Bears are coming off of a three-game series against Iowa State to close out the regular season, where the Bears fell in the series 1-2. 
• Baylor won its first game at the Big 12 Tournament since 2018 last year when they defeated UCF in its first game. 
• The Bears hold the 46-35 all-time record over Kansas, after taking one game from the Jayhawks earlier this season in walk-off fashion before falling to KU in the final two games. 
• 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 losses on the season have come against opponents ranked in the Top 25. 
• Shaylon Govan leads the Bears offensively with a .413 average this season, only missing four opening weekend games due to a class conflict. She has a team-leading six home runs, seven doubles and 26 RBIs. 
• Govan picked up the Big 12 Batting Average Champion award for leading the Big 12 with a .453 conference batting average. 
• Picking up the Bears' first Big 12 Player of the Week honor, Govan hit .571 in the series against Houston and pushed her on base streak to 18-straight games, a streak that ended with 19-straight. 
• Lillie Walker leads the Bears in the circle with 87 strikeouts with 37 appearances. Walker currently stands in the top five of the Big 12 stats in wins, strikeouts, innings pitched, games started and complete games. 
• Leading Baylor during last week's three-game series against BYU and midweek against Texas State in the circle was Walker who made four appearances, picked up two wins and totaled a 1.75 ERA while striking out eight.
• Faith Piper picked up the Big 12's Big Stick of the Week award after the Bears' series victory over BYU for leading the conference with a .667 average on the week with two doubles and a triple. 
• Defensively, Pilon is ranked second nationally in assists so far this season with 143, while Amber Toven follows with 115. Those two together have helped contribute to the Bears' 28 double plays so far this season which ranks them tied for 12th nationally. 
• Shaylon Govan is now Baylor's all-time leader in career walks with 141 after she set the record when she drew a walk in the first inning of the Bears' 6-0 midweek win over Texas State. 
• As Baylor's unanimous First-Team All-American last season, Govan, is currently in 6th place nationally in on base percentage (.596) 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.