Daily Bears Report 04.19.2013

First, if you are looking for ways to help with the recovery in West, here are ODB's earlier two posts: Help for West and #DiaDelWest.

Now, for the sports news:

No. 16 Baylor Softball split their doubleheader against North Texas on Wednesday night, losing the first game 5-3 before winning the second 2-1. The Lady Bears capitalized upon a UNT error in the third to what would be the winning run, and Clare Hosack picked off the runner at first in the 7th, getting the first out in what would be a Baylor win. The Lady Bears are off until April 23rd, when they will host Houston in a televised doubleheader beginning at 4:00 PM.

Baylor Baseball reopens their rivalry with TCU with their first Big 12 series, starting tonight in Ft. Worth. Though it has been a while since the two teams have played each other with conference standings on the line, the Bears will "treat this like a Texas or A&M." BU is currently a half-game behind conference leader Oklahoma, while TCU has not lived up to their pre-season billing, though their starting pitching has proven hard to hit. The series starts tonight at 6:30 PM, with projected starters Max Garner for Baylor and Preston Morrison for TCU.

Ieshia Small, a 6'0 guard from Florida, has signed a National Letter of Intent to play for coach Kim Mulkey on the Lady Bears next season. Small, a McDonald's All-American, was also named the Gatorade Player of the Year for Florida, and is ranked no. 3 nationally at her position.

Baylor Men's Basketball signed JuCo All-American point guard Kenny Chery to a NLI, the program announced on Wednesday. Chery will have two years of eligibility at Baylor, and is ranked no. 15 in the junior college recruiting class. Hailing from Montreal, Chery has experience with the Canadian Junior Men's National Team, as well as his junior college time.

Baylor Men's Tennis earned a share of the Big 12 title on Wednesday night, defeating 19th ranked Texas 6-1 in Austin. This is the 11th part-or-whole Big 12 regular season title for the 15th-ranked Bears, and they have secured the 1-seed at next week's Big 12 Championship in Norman, Oklahoma. If Baylor defeats 37th ranked TCU on Sunday, they will be the outright Big 12 regular season champions.

Baylor Equestrian's Western squad fell 5-3 to 9-seed Auburn in the first round of the NCEA National Championships held here in Waco. The top-seeded Hunter Seat team had a first round bye, and will open their title-defending tournament tonight against UT Martin today.

Baylor Women's Golf is heading to the Big 12 Championships this weekend, looking for their first conference title in program history. The tournament, held in Rhodes, Iowa, will be played today, tomorrow, and Sunday, and the 23rd ranked Lady Bears will tee off in a group with Texas Tech and Iowa State.

Baylor Track and Field hosts the Michael Johnson Classic this weekend, their last event before hosting the Big 12 Track and Field championships the first week of May. At least 16 other universities and colleges will send teams to compete in the Classic, including Big 12 members TCU, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech.