GOLF
Poulter shares lead
Ian Poulter put himself in position for a last-minute invitation to the Masters after a near miss last week, shooting a 7-under 65 on Saturday to surge into a share of the lead at the Houston Open. Poulter followed an opening-round 73 that had him packing his bags in anticipation of a missed cut with rounds of 64 and 65 to reach 14-under 202 at the Golf Club of Houston. Beau Hossler birdied the par-4 18th to shoot 69 and match Poulter. The 42-year-old English veteran made the quarterfinals at last week's Dell Technologies Match Play to improve his world ranking to 51st -- just missing the cutoff to move into the top 50 and earn an invitation to Augusta National, where he has never missed the cut in a dozen appearances. The only way he can get in the field now is to win in Houston. Rickie Fowler birdied three of the first four holes to move into the lead before he faltered with a double bogey and a triple bogey. He shot 73 and was five shots back.
Burns ahead by 1
Sam Burns shot a 7-under 65 on Saturday to take a 1-stroke lead in the Web.com Tour's Savannah Championship. Burns has a three-round total of 14-under 202 at Deer Creek Golf Club in Savannah, Ga. Julian Etulain (67), Justin Hueber (69) and Edward Loar (70) were tied for second at 13 under. Roberto Castro (66), Cameron Champ (67) and Scott Langley (68) were tied for fifth at 12 under.
TENNIS
Stephens wins Miami
Sloane Stephens became the final women's champion at the Miami Open on picturesque Key Biscayne island by beating Jelena Ostapenko 7-6 (5), 6-1 Saturday. The tournament is moving 18 miles north next year to suburbia and the NFL Dolphins' stadium. The No. 13-seeded Stephens won with defense, repeatedly extending rallies until Ostapenko would make a mistake. The No. 6-seeded Ostapenko had a 25-6 advantage in winners but committed 48 unforced errors to 21 by Stephens. On the men's side, John Isner tries for the biggest title of his career today when he faces Alexander Zverev in the men's final. Isner could give the United States its first sweep at Key Biscayne since 2004, when the champions were Andy Roddick and Serena Williams.
BASKETBALL
Xavier hires Steele
Xavier has hired assistant Travis Steele as its next coach, keeping with its custom of promoting from within and maintaining continuity. Steele has been an assistant at Xavier for 10 seasons, including the last nine on the staff of Chris Mack, who left for Louisville earlier in the week. Steele, 36, becomes the school's 18th coach. Steele has been an integral part of the program's development in the Big East. The Musketeers won their first Big East regular-season title last season and were ranked as high as No. 3 in the AP poll, a school record. They also received the first No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed in school history, but lost to Florida State in the second round.
BOXING
Joshua defeats Parker
Anthony Joshua was taken the distance for the first time before beating Joseph Parker by unanimous decision and becoming a three-belt world heavyweight boxing champion on Saturday at Cardiff, Wales. Two judges awarded it to Joshua 118-110 and the other made it 119-109. Joshua won his previous 20 fights by knockout but struggled to land many clean shots on Parker, who stayed alive with his movement and counterattacking skills in front of a crowd of 78,000 at Principality Stadium. Joshua added Parker's WBO strap to his WBA and IBF titles, and moved within one belt of becoming the first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis in 2000. Deontay Wilder holds the other main heavyweight belt, the WBC's, and could meet Joshua before the end of the 2018.
BASEBALL
DeShields breaks hand
Texas Rangers center fielder Delino DeShields has been moved to the 10-day disabled list after breaking his left hand during an at-bat Friday night. Rangers Manager Jeff Banister said DeShields had an MRI Saturday afternoon. DeShields is expected to miss four to six weeks. Right-hander Nick Gardewine was recalled from Class AAA Round Rock.
Yanks lose another
The New York Yankees, already running low on outfielders, lost another one Saturday afternoon, and maybe a relief pitcher, too. Rookie left fielder Billy McKinney, called up Friday to replace the injured Aaron Hicks, injured his left shoulder while crashing into the wall Saturday as he tried to chase down a first-inning drive by Josh Donaldson in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Though X-rays were negative, McKinney was diagnosed with a left shoulder AC sprain, making a stint on the disabled list likely. Right-hander Adam Warren was knocked from the game in the sixth when he took a comebacker off his right ankle area.
FOOTBALL
Briles, Starr received millions after leaving Baylor
WACO, Texas — Former football coach Art Briles received $15.1 million from Baylor University after it fired him in 2016 in the wake of a sexual assault scandal that included allegations by former players and rocked his program, according to newly released tax documents.
Former president Ken Starr received $4.52 million from the university after he resigned that same year. His departure followed a scathing report that found that the nation’s largest Baptist university did little to respond to sexual assault accusations involving members of its vaunted football program.
The dollar figures surfaced in annual required tax filings to the IRS and were reported by The Dallas Morning News and Waco Tribune-Herald. The settlement figures had not previously been disclosed.
Former Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw received $761,059 — essentially one year’s salary — upon his resignation. McCaw is now the athletic director at Liberty University.
Briles, 61, was fired after an investigation by the Pepper Hamilton law firm found that over several years the school mishandled numerous sexual assault allegations, including some against football players. The Pepper Hamilton review also led to the departures of Starr and McCaw.
Pepper Hamilton produced a 13-page “findings of fact” which states that the football staff conducted inquiries into sexual assaults by players and did not report them to the administration. School administrators also encouraged victims to not report complaints, the report indicated.
Later, school regents said 17 women had reported sexual and domestic assaults involving 19 players — including four gang rapes — since 2011. One lawsuit, since settled, alleged 52 acts of rape by 31 players between 2011 and 2014.
Briles has acknowledged making mistakes and apologized for some “bad things that went on under my watch.” He has also pushed back against some accusations made against him and his program in lawsuits and made clear he wanted to return to coaching. He has not landed a full-time coaching job since leaving Baylor.
Baylor has settled federal Title IX lawsuits against the school related to the sexual assault scandal and previously settled with three women who hadn’t sued.
In a statement Friday, Baylor said it “stands by the unprecedented corrective actions the Board of Regents made in May of 2016, which included leadership changes within the university administration and athletic department and the acceptance of 105 recommendations to improve our processes, communication, training and response related to incidents of sexual violence within our campus community.”
Sports on 04/01/2018