OKLAHOMA CITY – Baylor Softball took down No. 9 seed Kansas, 7-3, Wednesday afternoon in the first round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship. 
 
THE RUNDOWN
The Bears started off strong sitting the Jayhawks down in order in the top of the first before Brooklyn Carter singled to lead off the home half of the inning. Carter was standing on second after stealing her 22^nd base of the season but that would be all in the first. 
 
After keeping Kansas off of the board in the top of the second inning, Baylor got on the board first in the bottom half of the inning after a one-out double from Leah Cran got things going. Abi Flores then reached on an error that got past the second baseman and scored Cran from second to put the Bears up 1-0. 
 
Tying the game in the top of the third inning, the Jayhawks hit a solo shot over the fence in left field to make it a 1-1 ballgame. 
 
Baylor got the lead back in the bottom of the third when Carter led off with a single followed by Presleigh Pilon reaching on an error before Shaylon Govan walked to load the bases. Although the Bears grounded into a double play, a run came home before Karynton Dawson roped a one-RBI double to give Baylor the 3-1 lead. 
 
Kansas tied the game again after plating a run in the top of the fourth and fifth innings to make it 3-3. 
 
The Bears made history in the bottom of the fifth inning while taking the 7-3 lead. Getting things started, Pilon singled up the middle before Govan launched her seventh home run of the year over the wall in left center to put Baylor ahead, 5-3. Turiya Coleman then went back-to-back with Govan and sent a shot over the wall in straight-away center before Dawson put a cherry on top of the inning when she launched a third-consecutive home run to give the Bears the 7-3 advantage. 
 
Keeping Kansas off of the board after issuing two walks in the top of the sixth, Baylor closed out its first game of the Big 12 Tournament the way it started and sat the Jayhawks down in order to pick up the win. 
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• The Bears totaled eight hits on the day
• Brooklyn Carter and Karynton Dawson each had two hits 
• Leah Cran and Dawson each recorded a double
• Shaylon Govan, Turiya Coleman and Dawson each hit homeruns
• This marks the first time in Baylor history the Bears have hit three consecutive homeruns in a game
• This is the Bears' first multi-homerun game since April 11 against ACU when the Bears had two
• This is the first three homerun game for the Bears since April 15, 2023, vs Texas Tech
• Lillie Walker is now 12-10 on the season after pitching 5.1 innings 
• Sadie Ross came in in relief and tossed 1.2 innings with a strikeout
• BU has now won a game at the Big 12 Tournament in the last two seasons

 
UP NEXT
The Bears will face No. 1 seed Texas Tech in the second round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament on Thursday, May 8 at 1:30 p.m. CT.