Baylor
Iowa State
SB Readies for Big 12 Opener Against Iowa State
3/5/2026 9:55:00 AM | Softball
The series begins with a doubleheader on Friday at 1 p.m.
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BAYLOR BEARS (14-6, 0-0 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Glenn Moore (Northwestern St., 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
IOWA STATE (13-6, 0-0) vs. BAYLOR (14-6, 0-0) — March 6 • 1:30 p.m. CT IOWA STATE (13-6, 0-0) vs. BAYLOR (14-6, 0-0) — March 6 • 3:30 p.m. CT IOWA STATE (13-6, 0-0) vs. BAYLOR (14-6, 0-0) — March 7 • 2:30 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • Getterman Stadium (1,250) LIVE STATS: BaylorBears.com/stats WATCH: ESPN+ Talent: Lincoln Rose (pxp); Kelly Harrell (analyst) LISTEN: Cool 101.3 FM Talent: Dan Ingham Baylor Social Media:    |
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IOWA STATE CYCLONES (13-6, 0-0 Big 12) Location: Ames, Iowa Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Jamie Pinkerton (Tulsa, 1997) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
Story lines
• Baylor continues its season-long seven-game homestand, opening Big 12 play against Iowa State, beginning Friday at 1 p.m., on ESPN+
• Wet weather forecast for Central Texas this weekend forced a schedule adjustment, moving games one and two to a double-header on Friday, with Saturdays series finale slated for 2:30 p.m. CT, weather permitting
• BU is 10-14 in Big 12 openers and 13-9-2 in Big 12-opening series' under Glenn Moore, boasting a .500 or better conference record in 14 of 24 seasons
• A series win against the Cyclones would give BU it's first win in a conference-opening series since sweeping Texas Tech to open the 2021 Big 12 Campaign
• Baylor leads the all-time series with Iowa State 46-26 going 23-11 in games played in Waco
• The Bears will look to avenge a series loss to ISU in Ames last season, but took two of three from the 'Clones the last time these teams met in Waco in 2024.
• The home team has won each of the last three series' between these two programs
• Baylor has a 494-197 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
• Boasting the team lead with six doubles, Leah Cran is tied for the third-most in the Big 12
• Cran is one of five regulars in the batting order boasting a .300 average or better
• The BU offense is spearheaded by Amber Toven who has excelled at the top and bottom of the lineup boasting team highs in slugging percentage (.635), RBIs (20) & homeruns (5). Her five homeruns are a single-season career best
• Preseason All-Big 12 selection Brooklyn Carter is leading the team in batting average (.413) and stolen bases (8). The Inglewood, Calif., native ranks second among active power-conference players (8th overall) in career steals (78)
• Sophomore Faith Piper is coming off a huge week where she collected five hits and drove in a team-high six runs across four games, she has notched a hit in three -straight games and five of her last six
• Piper and Toven are spearheading an effort to best the program record for double plays (31) set in 2023. With six so far this season, BU has averaged 27.6 over the previous three seasons.
• Baylor is leaning on its full pitching staff with four pitchers tallying at least 20 innings so far this season.
• Peyton Tanner and Cambree Creager have established themselves as the front end of the rotation with the duo boasting a combined 72 strikeouts, one of just three teams in the Big 12 with multiple players in the top-10 in strikeouts
• Over Tanner's last eight appearances, she has picked up five wins, two saves and 28 strikeouts
• Over her last nine appearances, Creager has twirled a 1.50 ERA, while holding opponents to a .218 batting average with 34 strikeouts across 42.0 innings
• Entering this weekend, Tanner and Creager have strung together back-to-back complete game shutouts, becoming the first Baylor pitching duo since Rylee Crandall and Aliyah Binford in 2024 to accomplish that feat
• Sadie Ross has been a reliable arm out of the bullpen, putting together 23.2 innings solid innings with a team-leading 2.66 ERA
• Freshmen Kaygen Marshall, Olivia Buettner and Gianna Gusman have worked themselves into regular contributors
• Marshall (3 homeruns & 1 triple), Buettner (four doubles) and Gusman (three doubles) have flashed extra-base power early in the season
• Moore enters his 30th season as a head coach, making him the fifth-longest tenured power-conference head coach
• His 1,095 career wins put him ninth among all active coaches (6th among power-conference coaches)
• 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. 23 UCF (3/13-15), at No. 3 Texas (3/20) and at No. 2 Texas Tech (4/30-5/2).
• 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
• Toven (Arizona, 2022), Carter (Washington, 2023) and Tanner (Tennessee, 2025) all boast Women's College World Series experience at their former stops
• 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
• It's fitted with flat-screen TVs, a lounge, a nutrition center, a hallway vanity and several other State-of-the-Art amenities
• Working with the local architecture firm, RBDR, Former Baylor Player Zadie LaValley (2021-24) was instrumental in helping design the new space for her former team
