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HUDSON COMING BACK AT UTM
Lester Hudson of Tennessee-Martin has withdrawn his name from this year’s NBA draft. The reigning OVC Player of the Yerar averaged 25.7 points per game last season and became the first Division I men’s player to record a quadruple-double. Also, North Carolina underclassmen Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green will return to Chapel Hill next season after removing their names from the NBA draft Monday. Waiting until hours before the deadline, forward Robert Dozier announced Monday he will not turn pro this year, and return to the University of Memphis for his senior season. Dozier's move had been expected, but waiting until the last minute gave Tigers fans some anxious moments. Coach John Calipari says if Dozier works hard this year, he could be a lottery pick in next year's NBA draft. Less than two hours later, junior college guard Roburt Sallie announced he will join the Tigers this fall, and cancelled a planned recruiting visit to Kentucky. Sallie comes to Memphis after two years in a California junior college, where he landed after failing to qualify academically at Nebraska. Before that, he played at Laurinberg Prep in North Carolina with Dozier and Tigers senior Antonio Anderson.
FORMER BRED IS NEW COACH AT OBU
Former Murray State baseball player and coach Chris Moddelmog is the new head baseball coach at Ouachita Baptist University. Moddelmog arrives from Fort Scott Community College and succeeds Scott Norwood, who resigned to accept the head coaching position at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock. Moddelmog had a 203-178 overall record at Fort Scott. Prior to taking the job at Fort Scott, Moddelmog was the head coach at Rend Lake College. He previously was the assistant baseball coach at Belmont University in Nashville and an assistant coach at Murray State University
TRACK FINED
Churchill Downs Inc. was fined $15,000 on Monday for a rules violation at the starting gate of last month's Kentucky Derby. The Kentucky Horse Racing Authority announced the fine during its meeting Tuesday. The allegation involves assistant starter Clinton Beck, who loaded Pyro into the gate. Pyro finished eighth in the race. Under racing rules, trainers of the Derby horses aren't supposed to have prior knowledge of which assistant starter will load their horse into the gate. Pyro trainer Steve Asmussen had requested that Beck be used to handle Pyro. The racing authority's action only applied to Churchill Downs Inc. It took no action against Asmussen. However, authority executive director Lisa Underwood said an investigation is ongoing.
MOLINA OUT, CARPENTER CONCERNED
After a vicious collision that led to him leaving the field strapped to a backboard Sunday, Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina was released from a hospital Monday. Molina sustained a mild concussion and the team expects him to be at the ballpark today for the start of a series against Kansas City. How much activity he will attempt this afternoon depends on how he feels two days removed from the crash at home plate with Philadelphia runner Eric Bruntlett. Chris Carpenter met with specialist Dr. James Andrews on Monday, and the Cardinals plan to gather the righthander and officials today to discuss solutions for the recurrence of soreness in the pitcher's right elbow. Carpenter sought a second opinion on his elbow after a battery of tests with team doctors Friday in St. Louis. The righthander had stopped his throwing progress last week because of discomfort in the joint. The Cardinals were off last night. Airtime for tonight's game with the Royals is 6:32 on 1340 WNBS.
NATIONAL SPORTS REPORT
Major League Baseball
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Ryan Howard clubbed a pair of home runs and added an RBI triple, as the
Philadelphia Phillies pounded the Boston Red Sox, 8-2, in the opener of a
three-game interleague set at Citizens Bank Park. Howard finished with four
RBI, and Jimmy Rollins was 3-for-5 with a solo home run, three RBI and two
runs scored for the Phillies, who snapped a two-game slide. Shane Victorino
went 2-for-4 and scored a run, while Pat Burrell was 2-for-2 and walked twice.
Elsewhere in Interleague play:
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New York Mets 9, LA Angels of Anaheim 6
Florida Marlins 6, Seattle Mariners 1
San Francisco Giants 8, Detroit Tigers 6
National League
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Jair Jurrjens silenced the Rockies' bats over 7 2/3 innings of shutout ball,
as the Atlanta Braves bested Colorado, 7-1, in a makeup of an April contest
postponed due to snow. Jurrjens (7-3) allowed eight hits and two walks with
seven strikeouts.
=== MLB ===
The New York Mets fired manager Willie Randolph following Monday's game
against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Bench coach Jerry Manuel, a former
manager of the Chicago White Sox, has been named interim manager. Randolph, in
his fourth season as Mets manager, posted a record of 302-253. The club is
just 34-35 this season and sits 6 1/2 games behind first-place Philadelphia in
the National League East. The Mets also fired pitching coach Rick Peterson and
first base coach Tom Nieto, adding Ken Oberkfell, Dan Warthen and Luis Aguayo
to the coaching staff.
===
New York Yankees ace Chien-Ming Wang will wear a protective boot on his right
foot for a minimum of six weeks after he was diagnosed with a Lisfranc injury
on Monday. Tests at a New York hospital revealed a mid-foot sprain of the
Lisfranc ligament of the right foot and a partial tear of the peroneal longus
tendon of the right foot. Wang left Sunday's 13-0 New York victory over the
Houston Astros after suffering the injury running the bases during his club's
eight-run sixth inning. The right-hander gave up six hits through five shutout
innings in the game and was credited with the victory. He is 8-2 with a 4.07
earned run average in 15 starts this season.
===
The struggling Seattle Mariners fired executive vice president of baseball
operations & general manager Bill Bavasi on Monday, and replaced him with Lee
Pelekoudas on an interim basis. The Mariners are just 24-46 this season, the
worst record in the major leagues, and are 17 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles
Angels of Anaheim in the AL West. Bavasi was in his fifth season as the head
of the Mariners baseball operations after being named to that position in
November of 2003, when he took over for Pat Gillick.
=== GOLF ===
It had all the makings of a David vs. Goliath ending, only David didn't have
enough to finish Goliath off. Tiger Woods finally beat Rocco Mediate on the
91st hole of the U.S. Open on Monday, ending an instant-classic major
championship with a par at the 19th hole of a playoff. Woods made a birdie to
send the scheduled 18-hole playoff into sudden-death, then needed only a
routine par at the next hole after Mediate bounced a bunker shot off the cart
path and against the bleachers. It brought to an end one of the longest U.S.
Opens in history, a tournament whose first four rounds played out in primetime
on the East Coast. Millions watched one of Woods' most compelling victories.
Many of them got their first look at Mediate. Both players shot even-par 71s
through the first 18 holes of the playoff on Monday, the same score posted by
Mediate on Sunday when Woods carded a 73 and needed a birdie putt at the 18th
hole to force the playoff.
=== NBA ===
The Celtics will have their first opportunity to close out the NBA Finals at
home as Game 6 is set to take place on Tuesday at TD Banknorth Garden. In Game
5 at Los Angeles on Sunday, Kobe Bryant scored 25 points as the Lakers held on
for a 103-98 victory despite squandering leads of 19 and 14 points. The
Celtics still hold a 3-2 lead in the series and are in pursuit of their 17th
NBA title and first since 1986 and are 12-1 thus far in the postseason on
their home floor, where they won the first two games of this series. Los
Angeles is trying to become the first team to win the championship by coming
back from a 3-1 series deficit.
=== COLLEGE BASEBALL ===
The Miami Hurricanes survived their elimination contest with the Florida State
Seminoles behind a two-run homer from Jemile Weeks, beating their cross-state
rivals 7-5. The top-seeded Hurricanes play another elimination game on
Wednesday against Stanford, which dropped a 4-3 decision to Georgia on Monday.
The Bulldogs need only one more win to advance to the CWS championship series.
=== COLLEGE BASKETBALL ===
University of Arizona sophomore forward Chase Budinger announced on Monday
that he will return to the university for the 2008-09 season. Budinger had
entered his name for the upcoming NBA Draft, but he did not sign with an
agent, leaving him the option of returning to school for his junior season. A
6-foot-7, 203-pounder from Encinitas, CA, Budinger averaged 17.1 points, 5.4
rebounds and 2.9 assists per game during his second season in Tucson. He also
became the 42nd player in school history to eclipse the 1,000-point mark
during his career, and just the sixth sophomore to do so.
===
UCLA forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute has decided to remain in the NBA draft
and will forgo his senior season, Bruins head basketball coach Ben Howland
announced Monday. Mbah a Moute had declared for the draft in April, but did
not hire an agent, leaving open the possibility of returning to school. In
2007-08, Mbah a Moute averaged 8.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game and was
named an honorable mention All-Pac-10 selection. He also became the first
Bruin since Jamaal Wilkes, Bill Walton and Greg Lee (1972-74) to start in
three straight Final Four games.
=== NHL ===
The Nashville Predators signed defenseman Ryan Suter to a four-year, $14
million contract on Monday. Suter, 23, established career highs in assists
(24), points (31) and penalty minutes (71) last season, while leading all
Nashville blueliners in goals with seven. The 6-foot-1, 196-pound Madison,
Wisconsin native has averaged more than 20 minutes of ice time the past two
seasons.
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