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Baylor celebrates with brooms after sweeping Texas on walk-off

Screen Shot 2024-05-28 at 9.09.17 AMby:Kaiden Smith•05/07/23•

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(Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

After being held scoreless for six innings, the Baylor Bears softball team came to life in the 7th inning on Sunday, winning in walk-off fashion 2-1 over Texas to complete a series sweep over the No. 5 ranked Longhorns.

No. 20 Baylor was down 1-0 in the bottom of the 7th when shortstop Amber Toven was walked and left fielder Ana Watson hit a single that put the game-tying and game-winning runs on third and second base for the Bears.

Catcher Zadie LaValley stepped up the plate and hit a ball that bounced off of first base and remained in play, which reads as a first baseman error on the stat sheet, but represented a walk-off play that sent Toven and Watson home to score and sent the Bears dugout into a full out celebration.

Baylor didn’t hold back in their celebration, pulling out an assortment of brooms as props to celebrate their series sweep over the Longhorns. The Bears also gave senior outfielder Josie Bower an ice bucket bath to celebrate, after she got the 7th-inning scoring rally going with a double to right center. The certainly gave the home crowd a spectacle in the series finale.

It was senior day in Waco, and potentially the last game for Bower and her other senior teammates at Getterman Stadium. Bower was given a curtain call moment after her double off the wall in the 7th, as Taylor Strain came in to pinch run for her in a special moment where Baylor’s fans and players cheered her on her way to the dugout. Her hit becoming the catalyzing play of the game was the cherry on top to a perfect senior day that the Bears’ will remember for a long time.

“That was really cool, Coach Moore warned me it was coming but I’m so thankful for him for allowing me the opportunity. Thankful to the fans for enjoying me these past five years,” Bower said. “Incredible, words can’t describe what that was like. That was I think the craziest game I’ve ever been a part of, so I’m really blessed. If that was my last game at Getterman I’ll be pleased.”

Baylor defeated Texas 9-1 on Friday and 5-2 on Saturday to get their sweep started. The sweep extends the Bears’ record to 39-15 on the season and 8-10 in Big 12 play, as the Big 12 Softball Championship tournament begins Thursday May 11.