No. 24 Baylor SB Drops Series Opener, 10-2, at Texas

[Roberts, Matt]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – March 20, 2026

No. 24 Baylor SB Drops Series Opener, 10-2, at Texas
BU aims for a series split on Saturday in Waco
For more information, contact: Matt Roberts, 254-227-2280, WM_Roberts at Baylor.edu<mailto:WM_Roberts at Baylor.edu>

AUSTIN – No. 24 Baylor softball fell to the defending national champion Texas Longhorns 10-2 Friday night at Red and Charline McCombs Field in Austin.

Freshman Kaygen Marshall appeared to tie the game at two in the top of the fourth, only to have replay reverse the call, leaving Baylor’s deficit at 2-1. The Horns then came to bat, plating seven runs to blow the game open and send the Bears to 20-8 on the season.

RUNDOWN

Texas jumped out to an early lead in the first inning, stringing together three hits and a pair of walks to plate two runs for a 2-0 advantage.

Baylor broke through in the fourth though when Karynton Dawson led off with a double before Faith Piper followed with a single to put runners on the corners. Kaci West brought home the Bears’ first run with an RBI groundout, trimming the deficit to 2-1.

With two outs, Kaygen Marshall pulled a ball deep into the hole at short and appeared to beat the throw, allowing the tying run to score. Replay review reversed the call, ending the inning and keeping the Texas lead at 2-1.

The Longhorns responded with a decisive seven-run fourth inning, highlighted by a two-RBI triple from Kayden Henry and back-to-back-to-back home runs by Reese Atwood, Katie Stewart and Hannah Wells, as Texas burst out to a 9-1 lead.

Averie Waddell was a bright spot for the Bears on Friday picking off a runner in the second, and delivered her second homerun of the season deep to center field to cut it to 9-2 and push it to the bottom of the fifth.

Texas answered with an RBI single from Leighann Goode in the bottom half to set the final margin at 10-2.

GAME NOTES

  *   Baylor is 25-44 against Texas and 10-24 in Austin
  *   The Bears used a 28th-different lineup combination this season
  *   With a leadoff double in the fourth, Karynton Dawson added to her team-high 13 extra base hits
  *   Dawson is now 9-for-13 this season when leading off an inning (.692)
  *   Averie Waddell blasted her second homerun of the season in the fifth inning, her first since a two-run shot against New Mexico on Feb. 6
  *   Waddell picked off her team-high fourth runner of the season with a caught-stealing in the second
  *
Kaci West delivered her fifth RBI in 11 chances this season with runners on, by virtue of a fourth-inning RBI Groundout


WHAT’S NEXT

The Bears will host No. 2 Texas in the series finale in Waco Saturday night at 6:30 p.m.

All games for the remainder of the season will be televised on ESPN+<https://www.espn.com/search/_/q/baylor/o/watch> and heard on air and online via 101.3 COOL FM.<https://listen.streamon.fm/kbhthd2>

Follow @BaylorSoftball on X, Instagram and Facebook for additional updates.

—BaylorBears.com—

Matt Roberts | Director of Athletic Communications
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 254-227-2280
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