Baylor equestrian left Dover with a clean sweep in hand, knocking off Delaware State 12-8 and No. 10 UT Martin 9-6 in a Friday doubleheader at Redstone Ranch.
The Bears improved to 2-1 by leaning on a balanced effort across the lineup. Against Delaware State, Baylor grabbed three event wins in Fences, Flat and Horsemanship, then carried that momentum into the second meet by taking three more events against UT Martin.
Senior Carly Rutledge, senior Caroline Muth and sophomore Morgan McCarthy all collected Most Outstanding Performer honors against Delaware State. Muth’s award was the first MOP of her career. In the win over UT Martin, Rutledge and McCarthy each added a second MOP honor for the day, while junior Katie Smith picked up her first career MOP in Fences.
Baylor’s work against Delaware State set the tone early. The Bears scored four points apiece in Fences and Horsemanship and went into halftime with an 8-2 cushion before the Flat and Reining rounds.
After the break, Baylor won Flat 3-2 behind junior Grace O'Connell, McCarthy and junior Daniela Carvajal. O'Connell and McCarthy both posted career-high 88s in the event.
Junior Britt McIlnay then delivered Baylor’s only point in Reining, sealing the 12-8 result.
The second meet followed a similar script. Baylor earned three points in Reining and three more in Flat against UT Martin, with McCarthy and Jumping Seat senior Juliette Earley leading the way in Flat with scores of 88 and 85, respectively. Rutledge and fellow Horsemanship senior Addisyn Albers each added points in their event, and Smith’s point in Fences closed out the Bears’ 9-6 win over the Skyhawks.
A few individual performances stood out across the afternoon. Horsemanship freshman Ava Pope scored her first career point and posted a career-high 75.25 against Delaware State.
Jumping Seat freshman Ava Berman also earned her first career point in Fences, while turning in a career-high 84.5. Carvajal made her collegiate debut and delivered two points for Baylor, including a career-high 80.5 in Flat.
Seven riders finished with scores of 80 or better.
McCarthy went 2-0 in Flat and posted an 88 in both meets, while Rutledge and Albers each went 2-0 in Horsemanship. McIlnay also went 2-0 in Reining. Baylor was 4-1 in both Fences and Reining against Delaware State.
Head coach Casie Maxwell said, "I am very proud of how resilient the team was today. We started really strong this morning, then had a few fumbles and hardships, but they kept fighting through every ride.
It's hard enough to play on the road, and then to play your event back to back like today's schedule, but they turned the page quickly and rose to the challenge. These ladies have worked very hard these past few weeks and I'm so glad to see that pay off for them today."
Maxwell also said, "I think this team is just really grateful to see all of our hard work paying off. Everyone is super proud of each other and just soaking it all in.
Double MOP-ing is such an exciting feeling, and I'm really happy with how my day went. I'm also really glad I was able to contribute two points to the team today!"
And on the team’s outlook, she added, "The dual MOPs and two team wins feel great! We are happy our hard work paid off today. We are going to keep working hard at home and look to carry this momentum into our first Big 12 Conference meet next week versus Fresno State."
Baylor returns home to Waco to face Fresno State at 11 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 9 at the Willis Family Equestrian Center.
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