South Carolina Drops Tough Decision to No. 6 Baylor

Waco, Texas – South Carolina fell to No. 6 Baylor on the road on Friday in a 13-5 decision. In the loss, junior Madeline Schaefer earned M.O.P. honors on the flat and helped the Gamecocks take the event 4-1.
 
The meet kicked off with fences and horsemanship. In fences, Schaefer notably scored an 83 on Calvin to tie her Baylor opponent. With the tie, the four possible points went to Baylor which took the event 4-0.
 
In horsemanship, four out of five Gamecocks scored a 73.5 or above. Senior Alexa Thorpe earned the highest score of the day for South Carolina with a 75. Additionally, Kendalynne Herlocker earned her second-highest career score with a 73.5. Baylor took horsemanship 5-0 and led 9-0 going into the half.
 
The Gamecocks had their best performance of the day on the flat. Alice Kass‘ 64.5 on Cassanova earned the first point for South Carolina in the event. Senior Caroline Bald also earned a point with an 86 on Worthy, which was the highest score of the day.
 
Schaefer and Capistrano scored an 83 and the ride earned her M.O.P. honors for the first time this season. Earning the final point on the flat was Maya Clarkson with a 77. She is 2-0 on the flat this season and her win sealed South Carolina’s 4-1 result in the event.
 
South Carolina earned its final point of the day in the reining event after one of Baylor’s rides went under review. Emilia Reutimann‘s 72 narrowly topped her opponent to earn the sole point for the Gamecocks in western.
 
South Carolina’s five points are the most scored by the team in the last two meets. The Gamecocks are back in action Saturday when they travel to No. 2 Texas A&M at 11 a.m. ET.