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For all the talk about the greens, Rory McIlroy’s most important club was his driver Thursday in the Wells Fargo Championship.

McIlroy kept the ball in play at Quail Hollow and gave himself plenty of birdie chances on a cloudy, soft afternoon. He ran off six birdies in a seven-hole stretch around the turn and finished with an 8-foot birdie putt for a 5-under 67 to share the lead with six other players.

Hector Santiago allowed two in five-plus innings filling in for Jake Peavy on Thursday night, Tyler Flowers hit a three-run homer and the Chicago White Sox beat Texas 3-1, handing the Rangers their first series loss of the season.

Flowers’ drive just inside the foul pole in left field was the third straight hit after Texas right-hander Justin Grimm (2-1) retired 10 in a row on the day he was named AL rookie of the month.

Johnny Manziel has decided he’s not going to allow the pitfalls of fame stop him from having a good time, forging friendships with rival quarterbacks or even going back to class — in person.

As for the pressure inherent in living up to the Heisman Trophy standard he set for himself in only his first season as quarterback at Texas A&M, isn’t concerned about that, either.

The Baylor Bears have been on a hot streak recently, riding a five-game winning streak and coming out as the victors in 14 of their last 19 contests.

The Bears look to continue the winning trend this weekend when they travel to Lawrence for a three-game series against the Kansas Jayhawks.

The Jayhawks are sitting in fifth place in the Big 12 with a 9-9 conference record and are 27-18 overall.

Coming off of a third-straight bowl game appearance and second straight bowl win, Baylor football is still hungry for something more: a Big 12 Championship.

Baylor has never won a Big 12 Championship, but this season I think that will change. From top to bottom, this could be the best roster the Bears have ever fielded with head coach Art Briles at the helm.

“Over the course of four years, you break down together and you pick each other back up. That is what makes us such a great unit.”

On Thursday, March 28, a few days before the Lady Bears’ upset by Louisville, senior center Brittney Griner did not realize the impact of her words.

As defending National Champions, the Lady Bears’ loss came as a surprise, but according to head coach Kim Mulkey, the loss should not define the six seniors’ collegiate careers.

In an unusually cold evening, the No. 15 Baylor Lady Bears took care of business with an 8-2 win over Texas Tech on Thursday at Getterman Stadium. The chilly weather didn’t seem to faze the Lady Bears who came out of the dugout with energy.

The Lady Bears scored in four of the six innings of play with everyone in the starting lineup having at least one hit, with the exception of junior left-handed pitcher Whitney Canion. However, Canion made up for it through her solid pitching.

Malcolmsports.com published the Ten Commandments for Parents of Athletes. Number 3 on the list: Don’t coach your child. Three coaches in the Baylor Athletic program have had to ignore this rule as they took on the role of being coach and parent to one or more of their children.

Head coach Kim Mulkey of the two-time National Champion Lady Bears Basketball team has made a name for herself in the world of collegiate women’s basketball. She is known for her intensity and competitiveness on the sidelines of the basketball court to anyone who knows her as Coach Mulkey. But to those who call her mom, she is a laid back, easygoing comedian who loves to spend time with her family.

The National Basketball Association has been maybe the most criticized league in sports over the past decade. From officiating, referee scandals, biased treatment to even the financial aspects, the league is somewhat of a joke.

For a while now, players have brought a new technique to the game: flopping. Flopping is defined as an intentional fall by a player after little or no physical contact by an opposing player in order to draw a personal foul call by an official against the opponent.

The Baylor men’s tennis team, ranked 13th in the nation, starts the Big 12 Championship Saturday as the top seed. The Bears (19-4) will play the winner of TCU and Texas.

The team began the season with a rough start in a loss at Tulsa, but then went on an eight-match win streak. The team then lost three in a row to top-five teams, including top-ranked Virginia. However, the Bears found themselves in every third set against the Cavaliers, making for a close match.

At one point this season, the Baylor baseball team was struggling with an 11-15 overall record and a 1-3 record in the Big 12. The outlook for the remainder of the season certainly did not seem optimistic, but a Baylor team with a history of success showed resiliency and is now in the hunt to defend its Big 12 Championship.

The No. 15 Baylor Lady Bears hope to end their season on a high note by sweeping against the Texas Tech Lady Raiders. The series will begin at 7 p.m. today and will finish at noon Saturday in Getterman Stadium.

The Lady Raiders (29-24, 3-12 Big 12) have only won three of their last 15 games, which included a nine-game losing streak. The team has scored more runs than Kansas and Oklahoma State, but its offense has been in a slump, hitting .219 in Big 12 play. Texas Tech does have some power hitters, tying Kansas with the second-most home runs with 11.

With the season winding down, the No. 15 Baylor Lady Bears are preparing to make a run for the NCAA Tournament. However, Baylor still needs to take care of business within the Big 12 Conference in order to gain favorable position for the end of the season.

Baylor (37-13, 8-6 Big 12) is currently third in the Big 12 behind Oklahoma and Texas.

Oklahoma and Texas hold the tiebreaker over Baylor due to series wins, so in the event of a tie, Baylor would lose out.

The Baylor Bears defeated UT Arlington 6-4 Tuesday night at Clay Gould Ballpark to move to a season-high five games over .500 with a 25-20 overall record.

Freshman left-handed pitcher Sterling Wynn started on the mound for the Baylor Bears. Wynn has a 5.84 ERA this season and has a 0-1 record. This was only Wynn’s ninth appearance of the season and his eighth start of the season. Wynn has been battling a blister on his pitching hand that has kept him off the mound.

The Baylor baseball team swept the Texas Longhorns over the weekend by winning all three games over the weekend.

“It’s always good to win and always good to win at home,” senior shortstop Jake Miller said. “We’ve got to take advantage of home field advantage. It’s huge and now that we’ve got a good winning streak going and with two road series, hopefully we can take advantage of that.”

Isaiah Austin, the highly-touted freshman center, announced Sunday that he is coming back to Baylor for his sophomore season.

Austin said he is excited to come back to Baylor and build off of last season’s NIT Championship.

He was projected by many to be a one-and-done player and bolt to the NBA following his freshman year, so to have Austin back in the green and gold is an immense boost for Baylor basketball.

The No. 14 Baylor Lady Bears took sole possession of third place in the Big 12 after a dramatic victory over the Kansas Jayhawks on Sunday.

Baylor won the series against the Jayhawks after splitting a double-header on Saturday.

“I am proud of the way this team fought through adversity,” head coach Glenn Moore said. “We treated this game with a lot of importance, so credit Kansas for giving us everything we could handle.”

The Baylor baseball team capped off a three-game sweep against the Texas Longhorns with a 5-2 win Sunday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark. For the last home Big 12 series, the Baylor seniors went out with a bang by sweeping Texas.

Senior shortstop Jake Miller was 2-4 and scored a run. Senior third baseman Cal Towey had two RBIs and was also 2-4. Senior right fielder Nathan Orf was 1-3 with a RBI as well.

It was a dramatic finish for No. 14 Baylor, but the Lady Bears came out on top with a 5-4 win over the Kansas Jayhawks on Sunday to take sole possession of third place in the Big 12.

Sophomore outfielder Kaitlyn Thumann went 2-4 and hit a critical home run and a sharp hit in the seventh to score junior first baseman Holly Holl for a what would eventually be the winning run. Freshman infielder Robin Landrith continued her on-base streak, drawing two walks and hitting a key double.

The Baylor Bears defeated the Texas Longhorns 1-0 Saturday night at Baylor Ballpark and are looking to go for the three-game series sweep in tomorrow’s matinee game.

Sophomore starting right-handed pitcher Austin Stone took the mound for the Bears and pitched six scoreless frames and only allowed four hits. Stone also struck out a career-high 10 batters, which is also the most strikeouts that any Baylor pitcher has had so far this year. Stone was in complete control and only yielded three base on balls.

The No. 14 Baylor Lady Bears split its third consecutive double-header Saturday after defeating the Kansas Jayhawks 6-1 in the first game, but falling 6-5 in the second.

With the pressure on, Baylor continuously made plays in two-out situations. Of the 11 runs Baylor scored, 10 were scored when Baylor had two outs.

The Baylor Bears took advantage of four errors from the Texas Longhorns to walk away with a 6-2 victory in the first of the three-game weekend series Friday night.

The Baylor Bears host the Texas Longhorns this weekend for the last home Big 12 Conference baseball series of the season. The Bears are 21-20 overall and 8-6 in Big 12 play.

The Bears are currently fourth in the Big 12 behind Oklahoma, Kansas and Kansas State.

After splitting back-to-back double headers against nonconference opponents, the No. 14 Baylor Lady Bears will resume conference play with a series against the Kansas Jayhawks today through Sunday in Lawrence, Kan.

“Going into the Kansas house, I know that they are always ready to play us,” senior center fielder Kathy Shelton said. “They always hit the ball well, so hopefully we just have it all together as a team and we go in there and get a sweep.”

Junior forward Cory Jefferson announced Thursday that he will be returning for another year and will not enter the NBA Draft.

After a breakout season, Jefferson was projected to be a late pick in the 2013 NBA Draft if he decided to enter.

After months of challenges and uncertainty, former Baylor midfielder Hanna Gilmore found a home with the Chicago Red Stars as she signed to the team’s final roster as part of the newly formed National Women’s Soccer League. As she adjusts to her new life as a professional soccer player, Gilmore answered some questions about the journey she is on and what the future may hold for her.

By Greg DeVries Sports Editor Junior forward Cory Jefferson announced today that he will be returning for anther year. After…

Two former Baylor receivers are hoping to hear their names called at the NFL Draft that starts today and ends Saturday.

Terrance Williams, the unanimous All-American performer, is expected to be the earliest Baylor player selected in the NFL Draft. Another Baylor receiver, Lanear Sampson, is also expected to be selected in the NFL Draft.

The Baylor men’s golf team participated in the Big 12 Men’s Golf Championship in Hutchinson, Kan., at the Prairie Dunes Country Club this week.

The Bears finished sixth overall, shooting 55-over-par with a total score of 895.

The Bears joined a field of eight other Big 12 schools that included every school in the conference except West Virginia.

Less than 48 hours before the 4-1 thrashing of Real Madrid, it was announced that Borussia Dortmund midfielder Mario Götze would join rival team Bayern München. Immediately, fans began to call him Judas and burn his jerseys.