Author: Ben Everett

By Ben Everett | Sports WriterThe No. 4-ranked Baylor men’s tennis team fell to rival No. 9 TCU 1-4 Wednesday night at the Hurd Tennis Center to drop out of the Big 12 Championship race.The Bears (21-5, 2-2) remained at third place in the conference standings, whereas a win over the Horned Frogs (16-4, 4-0) would have forced a three-way tie for first place.The match served as senior night for Max Tchoutakian, Tyler Stayer and Sam May, though Tchoutakian was the only one in the lineup.Baylor head coach Matt Knoll said the lack of upperclassmen was a factor in the…

By Ben Everett | Sports WriterThe Baylor baseball team defeated Stephen F. Austin 2-1 Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark in a thrilling bottom-of-the-ninth comeback. The Bears (23-14) trailed 0-1 going into the bottom of the ninth where it scored on back-to-back home runs to defeat the Lumberjacks (22-17).Despite struggling most of the game to find rhythm on offense, the Bears pulled away when it mattered most. Baylor head coach Steve Rodriguez said it was nice to get the win in spite of the offensive struggles.”Its frustrating,” Rodriguez said. “I know our guys were pretty frustrated. They brought in a closer…

By Ben Everett | Sports WriterThe No. 15-ranked Baylor women’s tennis team defeated No. 24 Texas by a score of 4-2 Wednesday night at Hurd Tennis Center.The Lady Bears (17-5, 4-2) extended their win streak to four games with a hard-fought win over the Longhorns (10-7, 4-3).Baylor head coach Joey Scrivano says a win like this against a top-25 team can give his team major confidence going forward.”Anytime you win it builds your self-esteem,” Scrivano said, “but when you win like this it can take you to another level. These experiences are invaluable.”In doubles play, senior Blair Shankle and sophomore…

By Ben Everett | Sports WriterBaylor baseball fell to Sam Houston State 7-4 Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears (20-13) had more hits in the game with nine than the Bearkats did with eight. However, Baylor failed to convert them to runs in the loss. Junior pitcher Kyle Ott, usually utilized as a reliever, started on the mound for the Bears but struggled early.Ott gave up a single and a double on the first two at-bats of the game, and both runners scored after a groundout and a sac-fly, giving the Bearkats a 2-0 lead.The Baylor offense started strong…

By Ben Everett | Sports WriterThe No. 3-ranked Baylor men’s tennis team split a pair of matches this weekend in Waco to begin Big 12 conference play with a .500 record. The Bears (20-4, 1-1) defeated No. 16 Oklahoma 4-3 on Friday before falling to No. 8 Oklahoma State 3-4 on Sunday. In the first match, Baylor jumped out to an early advantage over the Sooners with a dominating win in doubles. The Bears saw wins from sophomore Will Little at the No. 4 spot and sophomore Johannes Schretter at No. 3 to jump out to a 3-1 lead despite…

By Ben Everett | Sports WriterBaylor baseball hopes to get the season back on track as the Bears face Texas Tech this weekend in a three-game series in Lubbock.The Bears (19-10, 2-4) are just 4-8 since the start of Big 12 Conference play after a 15-2 start to the season. The Red Raiders (26-6, 4-2) hold a daunting 13-1 record when playing at home. Baylor head coach Steve Rodriguez says that while Tech raises a challenge, the team is just trying to get back to playing good baseball. “The biggest challenge we have is not Texas Tech or going there,”…

By Ben Everett | Sports WriterThe Baylor baseball team dropped a midweek game to Lamar 11-1 Wednesday at Baylor Ballpark to drop to 1-5 in their last six games.The Bears (19-10) gave up eight runs in the first three innings and never recovered against the Cardinals (17-13).Baylor head coach Steve Rodriguez says the team’s pitching and defense was not what he wanted to see. “We didn’t make great pitches,” Rodriguez said. “We had an opportunity to make plays on defense. We walked too many guys and they took advantage of it.”The Cardinals wasted no time getting on the board. Right…

Over spring break, I had the pleasure of traveling to Boston to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. The MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference was founded in 2006 by Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey and CEO of Kraft Analytics Jessica Gelman. The intention was to educate both sports industry employees and aspiring employees about the impact of technology and statistics in the sports world. I attended hoping to learn more about the intricacies of analytics in the basketball world and to network with individuals in the sports industry. While I was successful in doing both,…

The No. 15-ranked Baylor women’s tennis team looks to improve their conference record as they face Iowa State and West Virginia this weekend.The Lady Bears (13-5, 1-2) defeated No. 47 Oklahoma but dropped road matches to No. 7 Oklahoma State and No. 9 Texas Tech earlier this month Baylor head coach Joey Scrivano says the team has a chance to bounce back this weekend on the road. “Every match we play is an opportunity to get better,” Scrivano told Baylorbears.com, “so Iowa State and West Virginia are going to provide us an opportunity to bounce back and get back to…

By Ben Everett | Sports Writer Baylor men’s basketball redshirt junior Al Freeman will graduate in May and play his final season of college basketball as a graduate transfer at another university, according to Director of athletic communications David Kaye. Freeman averaged 9.2 points per game on 39 percent shooting from 3-point range for a Bears team that made the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2014. “Al has been a tremendous student-athlete and made great contributions to our program over the last four years,” Baylor Bears head coach Scott Drew said in a statement. “We’re thrilled that he’s…

By Ben Everett | Sports WriterBaylor baseball dropped a home game to UTSA 15-9 Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark after a young pitching staff failed to contain the opponents’ bats.The Bears (18-7) sent out seven different pitchers on the day, five of them freshman, and combined allowed 21 hits. Baylor head coach Steve Rodriguez says the goal was to get younger guys experience on the mound. “It was a good opportunity for us to get a lot of guys experience,” Rodriguez said. “One thing they had been talking about was at what point were we going to have an opportunity…

By Ben Everett | Sports WriterThe No. 4-ranked Baylor men’s tennis team defeated No. 28 Memphis and Prairie View A&M Sunday at the Hurd Tennis Center to remain undefeated at home on the season. The Bears (18-3) struggled to compete in doubles play against the Tigers in the first match but bounced back behind strong play from freshman Constantin Frantzen and senior Max Tchoutakian who led the entire way in their doubles match to win 6-4.Baylor clinched the doubles point when sophomores Johannes Shcretter and Jimmy Bendeck came from behind to defeat Memphis’ Felix Rauch and Ryan Peniston 6-4 as…

By Ben Everett | Sports WriterThe No. 1-seeded Baylor Lady Bears basketball team heads to Oklahoma City to face No. 4-seed Louisville at 8:30 p.m. on Friday in Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Lady Bears (32-3) are familiar with the building, having played the Big 12 Tournament there in recent years and having played there in the Sweet 16 in 2013. Senior forward Nina Davis says the team is focused on the game rather than the location, despite having seen mixed results at that specific arena. “We’ve shed plenty of tears there, but we’ve also celebrated in confetti there,” senior forward…

By Ben Everett | Sports WriterBaylor football opened spring practice on Saturday, ushering in the first year of new head coach Matt Rhule’s era in the program. In his opening statement, Rhule said the players have a great attitude so far, but there is still work to be done.”Everyone had a great attitude,” Rhule said. “Everyone is not where we want them to be mentally, even at this point, but they’re working toward getting there. So, I was excited about that, but I want to see some crispness.”A key headliner going into spring is the quarterback competition between returning sophomore…

By Ben Everett | Sports WriterBaylor baseball defeated Dallas Baptist 8-6 Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears (17-4) and Patriots (13-7) battled back and forth throughout the game, but an RBI [runs batted in] triple from Baylor senior first baseman Aaron Dodson made the difference as the Bears came out victorious.Dodson said his mindset is no different in clutch situation than it is throughout the game. “Next guy up,” Dodson said. “Our team did a great job scoring lots of runs and I was just a small piece of that. My time came up and I put a good…

The No. 1-seeded Baylor Lady Bears basketball team defeated No. 9-seed California 86-46 Monday night at the Ferrell Center to advance to the Sweet 16. The Lady Bears (32-3) used a balanced scoring attack and strong defense to oust the Golden Bears (20-14) and advance to the Oklahoma City Regional.Every player that played more than two minutes scored for the Lady Bears. Head coach Kim Mulkey says that depth is crucial to Baylor’s postseason success.”I thought our depth has surfaced big time in these two playoff games,” Mulkey said. “We knew we had depth. We’ve seen it all year. You’ve…

By Ben Everett | Sports WriterBaylor baseball looks to start Big 12 Conference play on the right foot as it faces West Virginia in a weekend series at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears (15-2) own the best record among Big 12 teams while the Mountaineers (8-7) currently sit at second-to-last.Baylor head coach Steve Rodriguez says West Virginia’s record may be due to their schedule and that they are still a strong team. “They’ve played all their games on the road right now, so this will be nothing different for them,” Rodriguez said. “They have really good starting pitching. They’ve got some…

By Ben Everett | Sports WriterIn recent years, the postseason has not been kind to the Baylor men’s and women’s basketball teams, but both hope to turn their luck around as March Madness starts this weekend.BearsWhen the men’s basketball team made the NCAA tournament for the first time under head coach Scott Drew in 2008, they were a No. 11 seed and fell in the first round to Purdue.Those kind of finishes became a thing of the past, however, when Drew brought his team back to the tournament in 2010 and 2012 and led them all the way to the…

By Ben Everett | Sports Writer Baylor has terminated the employment of associate director of football operations DeMarkco Butler on Monday, according to Baylor football spokesperson David Kaye. “DeMarkco Butler is no longer employed by Baylor University,” Kaye wrote in an email to the Lariat. “As a personnel matter, we have no further comment.” A school official said Butler was released following an incident involving inappropriate text messages with a teenager, KWTX reported. The official indicated the individual is considered an adult under Texas statute, KWTX reported. Butler was hired on Feb. 15 by new head football coach Matt Rhule, according to…

By Ben Everett | Sports WriterOn Sunday, the Baylor men’s basketball team was selected as a No. 3 seed at-large bid for the 2017 NCAA March Madness tournament.The Bears are slotted in the East Region with Villanova and Duke taking the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the region, respectively. The selection marks the fourth year in a row that Baylor has been in the NCAA tournament, a school record.Lone senior Ishmail Wainright said he is grateful to be back in the tournament but does not want to lose early like the past two years.”I’m extremely excited to make…

By Ben Everett | Sports WriterNo. 3-seeded Baylor men’s basketball fell to No. 6-seeded Kansas State Thursday in Kansas City in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament. The Bears (25-7) and Wildcats (20-12) battled back and forth for most of the game, but Kansas State pulled away in the second half to boost its tournament resume. Entering the day, the Wildcats were listed in the “First Four Out” of the NCAA Tournament by ESPN expert Joe Lunardi. The win propelled the team to a spot in the “Last Four In.”Kansas State sophomore guard Barry Brown, who scored 21 points…

By Ben Everett | Sports WriterBaylor football senior defensive back Travon Blanchard has been suspended indefinitely following a protective order that was issued Tuesday accusing Blanchard of multiple acts of violence against his ex-girlfriend.The order was applied for on behalf of the woman by the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office earlier this month and was signed off by a judge on Tuesday, according to KWTX.”The Baylor Athletics Department is aware of a complaint made against Travon Blanchard through the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office,” David Kaye, Baylor Director of Athletic Communications wrote in an email to the Lariat. “Immediately upon…

By Ben Everett | Sports WriterBaylor baseball defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions 17-3 Tuesday at Baylor Ballpark to remain undefeated on the season.The Bears (9-0) were unstoppable on offense and controlled the Golden Lions (0-7) by utilizing five different pitchers.Junior starting pitcher Alex Phillips started out strong, recording a strikeout and allowing no runs or hits in the first inning, but he started to slip following the opening frame.In the second inning, Golden Lions designated hitter Julian Jones hit a double to the right-center gap, and catcher Corey Henderson drove him in with a single to left field as the…

By Ben Everett | Sports WriterThe No. 4-ranked Baylor Lady Bears basketball team defeated No. 19 Oklahoma 103-64 to finish the regular season. The Lady Bears (28-2, 17-1) handed the Sooners (22-8, 13-5) their first home loss of the season.Baylor senior guard Alexis Prince scored 24 points in the win while knocking down five 3-pointers.On senior day, Oklahoma head coach Sherri Cole went with five seniors in the starting lineup. The Lady Bears took advantage, scoring the first seven points of the game.Sooners junior center Vionise Pierre-Louis got Oklahoma on the board with a post up, but Baylor responded with…

By Ben Everett | Sports WriterBaylor baseball won their weekend series matchup against South Alabama, sweeping all three games to remain undefeated on the season. The Bears are 8-0 for the first time since 1984 — In the 84′ season, Baylor started 13-0, which is the all-time record for best start to a season in program history. The Bears won the first game friday night by a score of 3-2, powered by a strong performance from senior starting pitcher Nick Lewis. Lewis made it through seven innings, giving up just six hits and two runs while striking out seven. Baylor…

By Ben Everett | Sports WriterThe No. 4-ranked Baylor Lady Bears basketball team looks to clinch a share of their seventh straight Big 12 regular season championship when they take on Texas Tech at noon on Saturday in the Ferrell Center.The game will serve as senior day for guards Alexis Jones and Alexis Prince as well as for forward Nina Davis and post Khadijiah Cave.Davis said while senior day will be emotional, there is still work to be done tomorrow.”It’s bittersweet,” Davis said. “We’re not really trying to focus on that too much or be too emotional about that. But…

By Ben Everett | Sports WriterBaylor football’s co-offensive coordinator Matt Lubick has resigned to take another coaching position.Lubick has been hired by Washington to be co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach for the Huskies, according to ESPN. Baylor quarterbacks coach Glenn Thomas has been promoted to co-offensive coordinator, Baylor officials told the Lariat via e-mail.Washington head coach Chris Petersen said he is excited to add Lubick to his staff in a statement obtained by ESPN.”He has earned a national reputation as an innovative coaching mind and a successful recruiter. Equally as important, we believe he will be a terrific fit…

Video by Elisabeth Tharp | Broadcast Reporter, Story by Ben Everett | Sports Writer The No. 9-ranked Baylor men’s basketball team defeated Oklahoma 60-54 Tuesday night in Waco behind a double-double from junior forward Johnathan Motley. The Bears (23-5, 10-5) survived a second-half surge from the Sooners (9-18, 3-12) to snap a two-game losing streak and remain in the running for second place in the Big 12. Baylor head coach Scott Drew said the game was defined by one thing, defense. “If you like defense, you like tonight’s game,” Drew said. “Both teams defended very well. I’m pleased with holding…

Today, Twitter is one of the most visited websites in the world and has become a source of news, sports and comedy to many, including myself. Whenever a major event is happening, such as the Super Bowl, the Grammy Awards or the Presidential Inauguration I look to Twitter for instant updates and reactions.Two areas of interest that continue to bring me back to Twitter are sports and memes. For those that are unaware, a meme is defined as a humorous image, video or piece of text that is copied and spread rapidly by Internet users. I watch a lot of…

By Ben Everett | Sports WriterThe No. 4-ranked Baylor Lady Bears basketball team defeated Oklahoma State 89-67 behind double-doubles from sophomore center Kalani Brown and senior forward Nina Davis.The Lady Bears (25-2, 14-1) move into a tie atop the Big 12 standings with Texas ahead of Monday night’s showdown in Austin.The Cowgirls (14-12, 4-11) kept it close in the first half but were unable to overcome the Baylor front court duo of Brown and Davis.Davis said she felt that she played the way her team needed her to. “I definitely felt like I was in a rhythm out there,” Davis…