Baylor
Iowa State
SB Set for Showdown with No. 22 UCF
3/12/2026 12:45:00 PM | Softball
BU begins opens a stretch of five-straight games against ranked foes
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RV/NR BAYLOR BEARS (18-6, 3-0 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Glenn Moore (Northwestern St., 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
RV/NR BAYLOR (18-6, 3-0) vs. 22/22 UCF (22-5, 2-1 Big 12) — March 13 • 5 p.m. CT RV/NR BAYLOR (18-6, 3-0) vs. 22/22 UCF (22-5, 2-1 Big 12) — March 14 • 3 p.m. CT RV/NR BAYLOR (18-6, 3-0) vs. 22/22 UCF (22-5, 2-1 Big 12) — March 15 • 11 a.m. CT Orlando, Fla. • UCF Softball Complex (600) LIVE STATS: BaylorBears.com/stats WATCH: ESPN+ Talent: Eric Lopez (pxp), Alex Powers (analyst) LISTEN: Cool 101.3 FM Talent: Nate Bilgoray Baylor Social Media:    |
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22/22 UCF Knights (22-5, 2-1 Big 12) Location: Orlando, Fla. Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Cindy Ball-Malone (Pacific, 2002) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
Story lines
• RV/NR Baylor takes its season-high six-game win streak to the Sunshine State for a three-game set at No. 22/22 UCF with all three games on ESPN+
• This is the first time since 2024 BU had multiple win-streaks of 6+ games
• Friday marks a stretch of five-straight ranked opponents for the Bears with No. 3 Texas waiting for BU on the other side of their Florida swing. It's the first time BU has seen five-straight ranked opponents in the regular season since 2019
• Baylor is looking for their first ranked win since beating No. 4 Florida 5-2 in the Super Regional in May of 2024
• The Bears are receiving six votes in the ESPN/USA Softball Poll, marking the first time since February of last year they have been ranked or receiving votes
• The Bears entered the week ranked 23rd in the NCAA's initial RPI, its highest place in the initial rankings since 2023 (14th)
• In search of the latest in a long line of Milestones, Glenn Moore enters The weekend with 1099 career wins, putting him ninth among all active coaches (6th among power-conference coaches)
• Moore enters his 30th season as a head coach, making him the fifth-longest tenured power-conference head coach
• The Bears hold a 12-3 edge in the all-time series with the Knights, with a 2-2 mark in Orlando
• Baylor is aiming to start 4-0 in conference play for the first time since 2016 when it started 5-0. BU has only started 4-0 in B12 play three other times in the Big 12 Era
• BU has won each of the first two series' between these programs as conference foes, going 6-1 over the last two years
• In the last series in Orlando between these programs, BU took 2-of-3 in 2017 en route to a College World Series Appearance
• The Bears are coming off a series-opening sweep over ISU, BU's first conference-opening series win since sweeping Texas Tech in 2021 and its first sweep of Iowa State since 2018
• BU's big week was buoyed by a dominant showing in the circle, by Cambree Creager earning her D1 Softball's National Pitcher of the Week honors, becoming Baylor's first pitcher since Dari Orme to be named a National Pitcher of the Week
• Creager went 3-0 with a 0.49 ERA, tossing 14.1 innings while striking out 17 and allowing just one earned run across three appearances, and enters the week 7th in the Big 12 in innings (54.2) and is tied for 6th in strikeouts (47)
• The ASU transfer is spearheading a 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation joining Tennessee transfer Peyton Tanner who enters the week 11th in the Big 12 in strikeouts (40) and tied for second in saves (2)
• Over Creager's last 11 appearances, she has compiled a 6-1 record with 43 strikeouts and a 1.42 ERA across 49.1 innings
• Over Tanner's last 12 appearances she is 6-2 with 33 strikeouts, a 2.44 ERA and two saves across 37.1 innings
• Lexie Warncke has provided a strong lift in the circle, limiting opponents to a .194 average, which is 7th-best in the Big 12
• Brooklyn Carter is coming off a big week, hitting .615 wreaking havoc on the base paths at the top of the order
• The senior put pressure on the opposing defense all week reaching base at a .688 clip with multiple hits in all four games, scoring four-runs including the game-winner on Sunday, when her speed forced an errant throw from ISU, allowing BU to walk off with the series sweep
• Carter now enters the weekend on a 5-game hitting streak eighth in the B12 in batting average (.441) and ranks Second in stolen bases (11)
• Carter and fellow senior Amber Toven are setting the tone at the top of the lineup, with one of those two leading off in all but two games this season, combining to hit .391 out of the top spot in the batting order
• Toven (Arizona, 2022), Carter (Washington, 2023) and Tanner (Tennessee, 2025) all boast Women's College World Series experience at their former stops
• Picked eighth in the Preseason Big 12 Coaches Poll, Baylor has met or outperformed its preseason expectations in 17 of Moore's 25 previous seasons at Baylor
• The Bears have 17 matchups against teams featured in the ESPN/USA Softball Preseason Top 25 including dates with both of the Preseason No. 1 teams (Texas Tech and Texas)
• BU has remaining home dates with No. 3 Texas (3/21), No. 11 Texas A&M (4/15) and No. 20 Oklahoma State (4/24-26), with road contests scheduled at No. 22 UCF (3/13-15), at No. 3 Texas (3/20) and at No. 2 Texas Tech (4/30-5/2)
• BUs Freshman trio of Kaygen Marshall, Olivia Buettner and Gianna Gusman have worked themselves into being lineup regulars, with Marshall starting 22 of 24 games, sitting second on the team in homeruns. Buettner has seen action in 19 games, with four of her 10 hits going for extra bases, while Gusman has played a solid right field, contributing a .250 average with three extra-base hits
• Marshall (Robinson), Harper Haas (Midway) Savanna Pogue (Crawford) all played their high school ball within 25 miles of Getterman Stadium, with Haas and Marshall playing less than 10 miles away from their college home
• Haas (2025), Marshall (2025) and Pogue (2022) all led their teams to UIL Texas State Championships
• Baylor has a 497-197 mark all-time at Getterman Stadium and, BU has had a winning record in all but one full season of competition since its doors were opened in 1999
• Baylor debuted it's new Peggy Hawkins Softball Locker Room this January after a five-month renovation. Loyal softball supporters helped BU fund a transformational project that exceeded half a million dollars
