No. 10 Bulldogs set to host No. 5 South Carolina, No. 4 Baylor

FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State equestrian team returns home to host No. 5 South Carolina and No. 4 Baylor at the Student Horse Center in its home opening weekend. This weekend will be the first and only chance to see the equestrian team in action at home before the spring season begins on Feb. 1.

The first ride against No. 5 South Carolina is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. PT on Friday, Nov. 9 while competition against No. 4 Baylor will start at 11:00 a.m. PT on Saturday, Nov. 10.

Live stats of the Fresno State Invitational will be available (here) as well as on the Fresno State equestrian twitter page.

Fresno State will honor Taeya Harle and Hailey Robison in a Senior Day ceremony on Saturday before riding begins.

Parking and admission are always free of charge.

Quick Look at the Bulldogs (1-4, 1-2 UEC)
Fresno State took a trip to Texas to face then-No. 2 Texas A&M in College Station on Oct. 26 and then-No. 3 SMU in Dallas on Oct. 27.

The Bulldogs fell to the Aggies, 17-3. Freshman Cecily Hayes earned the Most Outstanding Player accolade in Equitation on the Flat with a team-high 91 ride. Hayes outscored her opponent 91-90 in the high-scoring outing.

The next day, Fresno State dropped its contest to SMU 15-5. Three of the five Bulldog points were earned in the Horsemanship arena by freshman trio Kameron Thorn, Brooklyn Moch and Hannah Buijs.

Moch picked up a pair of United Equestrian Conference honors for her 72.5-70 point over her SMU opponent. The freshman's victory came in her first collegiate ride with the Bulldogs.

The Alberta, Canada native was named the UEC Horsemanship Rider of the Week immediately following the Bulldogs' travel weekend and was named the UEC October Horsemanship Rider of the Month for her 1-0 record throughout the month.

Fresno State has received UEC recognitions on several occasions this season. Following the Bulldogs' showing at the Willis Invitational (Sept. 28-29), Fresno State had a trio of riders earn UEC Rider of the Week honors. Senior Brooke Nelson (Equitation on the Flat), redshirt sophomore Nicole Campbell (Horsemanship) and junior Paige Barton (Reining) each earned the awards after their first official competitions.

Nelson (Flat), Campbell (Horsemanship) and Barton (Reining) were joined by senior Alexandra Dirickson (Equitation Over Fences) as the UEC September Rider of the Month honorees. Moch was the only Bulldog to earn any UEC accolades in October.

Scouting the Gamecocks (2-3, 1-2 SEC)
South Carolina opened this season ranked No. 8 in the NCEA preseason poll and has jumped to the No. 5 slot over the course of the fall slate.

No. 5 South Carolina is coming off of an 11-8 road victory over UT-Martin. The Gamecocks defeated the Skyhawks in Equitation Over Fences (4-1) and Equitation on the Flat (3-2). The teams tied in the Reining (2-2) and UT-Martin took Horsemanship (3-2).

South Carolina's most impressive outing was a 10-9 upset over then-No. 2 Georgia. The Gamecocks had a sufficient lead over the Bulldogs throughout the course of the meet. South Carolina handed Georgia its first loss of the season.

Last Time vs. the Gamecocks
South Carolina has a 9-2 all-time advantage over Fresno State.

The Bulldogs fell 13-6 in their only matchup with the Gamecocks in Blythewood, S.C. on March 9, 2018.

Scouting the Bears (4-1, 1-1 Big 12)
Baylor is coming off of an 11-8 victory over then-No. 5 TCU, as it handed TCU its first Big 12 loss this season.

Baylor's only loss of the season came in a road meet at then-No. 7 Oklahoma State. The Cowgirls defeated the Bears 11-9 on October 13, 2018 in the Big 12 opener.

Baylor was ranked No. 7 in the NCEA preseason ranking and has worked its way up to as high as No. 4 this season after earning three consecutive wins and clenching its 10th straight Willis Invitational title.

Senior western rider, Abbi Demel was named the NCEA Horsemanship Rider of the Month for September after staying perfect in her rides on the month and helping the Western squad to a combined 19-4 record in three meets in September.

Last Time vs. the Bears
Fresno State and Baylor faced off in this season's Willis Invitational on Sept. 29 in Waco, Texas. The Bulldogs fell to the Bears, 11-4. Three of Fresno State's points were earned in Equitation Over Fences while the fourth was picked up in Reining.

Baylor owns a 10-4 all-time advantage.

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No. 10 Bulldogs set to host No. 5 South Carolina, No. 4 Baylor

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Players Mentioned

Paige Barton

Nicole Campbell

Cecily Hayes

Brooke Nelson

Hailey Robison

Fresno State Athletics