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West Virginia 58, PC 53

BY KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer

NEW YORK -- Providence College has lost its Big East Tournament game to West Virginia,, 58-53. PC finishes its season 15-16.

The Friars had poor offensive execution down the stretch with turnovers and missed shots at the rim. Joe Alexander led WVU with 22 points. Weyinmi Efejuku led the Friars with 12 points.

Posted by Art Martone  at 4:42 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Baldelli speaks publicly about illness

BY JOE McDONALD
Journal Sports Writer

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Rocco Baldelli has gone public.

The Rhode Island native decided it was time to reveal the serious health issue that has kept him sidelined for much of the last few seasons. The 26-year-old Rays center fielder said he has metabolic and/or mitochondrial abnormalities, which causes severe fatigue and muscle cramping.

Read the entire story on projo.com's Sox Blog.

Posted by Art Martone  at 4:41 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

3 players, 2 coaches ejected from nasty Yanks-Rays game

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Both benches cleared during the second inning of a spring training game between the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday, leading to the ejections of two players and two coaches.

The teams, meeting four days after Yankees manager Joe Girardi complained about Tampa Bay's aggressive play after a home-plate collision that injured catcher Francisco Cervellio, had been warned before the game that the umpires would have little tolerance for any further problems.

The benches cleared after New York's Shelley Duncan slid into Rays second baseman Akinonori Iwamura with the spikes raised after singling off third baseman Evan Longoria's glove and trying to stretch the hit into a double.

Duncan was immediately tossed. Tampa Bay's Jonny Gomes was ejected, too, after racing in from right field and barreling into Duncan as other players poured onto the field. No punches appeared to have been thrown as order was restored.

Yankee third base coach Bobby Meacham and hitting coach Kevin Long also were ejected by the umpiring crew, which met with Girardi and Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon before the game.

New York left-hander Heath Phillips was ejected during the first inning after one of his pitches appeared to graze Longoria's shirt. The Rays had already scored two runs and three hits in the inning.

Girardi protested Phillips' ejection and both benches were warned.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 2:24 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Baldelli to begin season on DL with condition causing extreme fatigue

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Tampa Bay's Rocco Baldelli will begin the season on the disabled list because of a condition that the 26-year-old outfielder says leaves him extremely fatigued after short workouts.

Baldelli has been sidelined since last May because of lingering hamstring problems and has appeared in just 127 of 486 games the past three seasons because of an assortment of injuries. He has played in two games this spring, going 0-for-4 as a designated hitter.

Baldelli will be sidelined indefinitely, but said he is not retiring. He said there hasn't been an exact diagnosis but that doctors have told him he has "some type of metabolic and/or mitochondrial abnormalities."

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 1:10 PM to Red Sox | Permalink | Comments 0

Yankee adviser injured during batting practice

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Yankees special assistant to the general manager Stump Merrill was taken to a hospital after being hit just above the lip by a thrown ball during batting practice before Wednesday's game against Tampa Bay.

Merrill was collecting balls near a screen behind second base when he was struck by a ball thrown from the outfield. He was taken off the field on a stretcher.

The Yankees said Merrill was conscious and alert.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 12:48 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Multimedia: Kevin McNamara previews PC-West Virginia

Click the play button below to see and hear the show, as Kevin McNamara previews the Friars' Big East Tournament game this afternoon against the Mountaineers.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 11:18 AM to PC basketball | Permalink | Comments 0

Multimedia: Paul Kenyon previews URI-Charlotte

Click the play button below to see and hear the show, as Paul Kenyon previews the Rams' A-10 Tournament game tonight against the 49ers.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 11:16 AM to URI Basketball | Permalink | Comments 0

Yankees scratch Pettitte from start

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - New York Yankees left-hander Andy Pettitte was scratched from his start Wednesday against Tampa Bay due to a minor muscle irritation in his left forearm.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Pettitte will make his next scheduled start in five days, and that the injury will not keep the pitcher from being ready for the start of the regular season.

"It is nothing serious," Girardi said. "He's mad at us for not letting him throw today, but it was kind of an executive decision that we made. We figure we'll just back him off and he'll make his next start, and it won't change where he starts during the season."

Girardi said Pettitte felt the discomfort after his last bullpen session.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Comments 0

On the fantasy sports blog: Hitter watch, pitcher watch, bum watch

Right now on our fantasy sports blog, you can find the latest hitter and pitcher rankings for both leagues, as well as Michael Salfino's column about which 2007 American League disappointments might turn things around in 2008.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments 0

Download today's sports cover

On today's sports cover, Kevin McNamara reviews the stakes for PC and its coach, Tim Welsh, when the Friars take the court to play West Virginia this afternoon. Paul Kenyon has the story on the URI Rams as they get ready for a rematch with Charlotte. And Jim Donaldson writes that neither of these teams really deserves a shot at sneaking into the NCAA Tournament through the conference tourney backdoor. From Fort Myers, Joe McDonald writes about the Red Sox confused catching situation behind captain Jason Varitek.

Click here to download the file in pdf format.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 8:33 AM | Permalink | Comments 0