Wildcats Cruise to 51-14 Victory over Southwestern

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. - Heading into the final stretch of the 2025 regular season, Baker flag football rolled past Southwestern with a dominating 51-14 victory here Thursday evening at Liston Stadium to open up a three-game homestand for BU.

The Wildcats scored over 50 points for the second time this year, finding the end zone twice in every quarter to come away with their seventh win against a KCAC opponent this season.

Baker put up 431 yards of offense with Tara Llorente passing for a season-high 281 yards and totaling six touchdowns in the game with five through the air and a long 58-yard touchdown on a catch-and-run for BU's first points of the night.

Masielle Peralta paced the pass-catchers with 89 yards on three receptions and two touchdowns. Melanie Assmar had four catches for 63 yards and a touchdown, while Sanija Waller finished with five receptions for 51 yards.

Llorente took the third play of Baker's opening drive all the way to the house with Waller finding her on a quick-hitter that resulted in the do-it-all player blowing by the Moundbuilders defense to give BU a quick 6-0 lead.

After nearly scoring on a huge 50-yard catch earlier in the drive, Peralta was rewarded for her efforts with her first touchdown grab of the contest coming on a long 4th-and-18 play late in the first quarter.

Assmar recorded her first interception of the spring to give the ball back to BU early in the second period and Llorente linked up with Jaylin Harris on the ensuing offensive possession to stretch the lead. The Wildcats tacked on one more score before halftime with Kaley Phillips running one in from six yards out on another fourth-down play to make it a 26-0 lead for BU at the break.

The Baker offense continued to roll in the second half as well with Peralta hauling in another touchdown grab just over a minute into the half.

Facing their third red zone fourth down of the game, the Wildcats were able to come through once again with Gabriella Zabaletta slipping underneath the defense to extend the lead to 39-0.

Southwestern broke up the shutout with a couple of harmless scores in the fourth quarter to cut into the Baker lead before the Wildcats got the points back on back-to-back late touchdowns.

Assmar caught the secondary off guard and was able to snag an easy touchdown pass from Llorente before Peralta capped the night by picking off a pass on the final play of the game and taking it right to the doorstep before pitching to Faith Phillips, who scored to settle the final score at 51-14 in favor of BU.

Up next, Baker continues the late-season homestand with a key matchup against Kansas Wesleyan on Saturday, April 12 with kickoff at 1 p.m. in Liston Stadium. The two teams are tied for second in the KCAC standings with matching conference records of 7-2.

#BakerBuildsChampions