Baylor Softball Sweeps Final Big 12 Weekly Honors
The Baylor Bears have been on a roll heading into the Big 12 tournament, and following a series sweep against the fifth-ranked Texas Longhorns, the Bears swept the final Big 12 Weekly Honors awards.
Baylor outfielder Josie Bower won the title of Big 12 Player of the Week, while pitcher Rylee Crandall took home the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honor.
Bower hit .625 during the week with two doubles, five RBIs, and a slugging percentage of .875, according to the Big 12 press release. In Baylor’s 9-1 win on Friday, the contest only lasted five innings as the Bears run-ruled the Longhorns. Bower went 2-for-3 on Friday while bringing in four RBIs. In Baylor’s 2-1 walk-off win on Sunday afternoon, the senior outfielder started run-rally in the bottom of the seventh inning with a one-out double.
Crandall allowed just three runs in 13 innings pitched, which included two complete games against the Longhorns. She had six strikeouts and only gave up one extra-base hit during the weekend. The Artesia, New Mexico native is the second freshman to earn Pitcher of the Week this season, and marks the fourth consecutive week an underclassman has captured the honor. Crandall was also named D1Softball’s Freshman of the Week after her stellar performance.
Baylor now looks ahead to the Big 12 Tournament taking on the No. 5 seed Iowa State Cyclones on Thursday at noon. While Baylor still has a tough task ahead to climb to the Big 12’s highest peak, the Bears have every bit of momentum leading up to the tournament.
