In Brief

TENNIS

Federer, Azarenka nab
titles at Indian Wells

Roger Federer defeated John Isner 7-6 (7), 6-3 to win his record fourth BNP Paribas Open title Sunday in Indian Wells, Calif., avenging a loss to the American who beat him in Davis Cup play last month.

Victoria Azarenka routed Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-3 for the women's title in the WTA Tour's first final between the No. 1 and No. 2 players since 2008.

Federer and Azarenka each earned $1 million, the richest winner's checks in the tournament's history.

Federer improved to 39-2 since last year's U.S. Open, with his only losses to No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals of the Australian Open and the 11th-ranked Isner, who won on the Swiss star's home turf. Federer avenged both those defeats in consecutive days, putting away Nadal in the rain-delayed semifinals Saturday.

Azarenka broke Sharapova six times in improving to 23-0 this year.

LOCAL COLLEGES

UNLV baseball suffers
sweep at hands of TCU

The UNLV baseball team ended a rough weekend against Texas Christian with a 15-6 loss at Wilson Stadium, as the Horned Frogs swept the three-game series.

TCU (11-6, 3-0 Mountain West Conference) led 8-2 after eight innings, then had a seven-run ninth inning to make it 15-2 before the Rebels (10-10, 0-3) got four runs in their last at-bat.

Trent Cook went 1-for-5 with two RBIs for UNLV, and Brandon Bayardi was 2-for-4 with a run scored.

Also: The UNLV women's golf team will play 18 holes today and 18 Tuesday in the Battle at Rancho Bernardo, after rain in San Diego forced a cut from 54 holes to 36.

The UNLV softball team had its game against Valparaiso canceled as rain plagued the San Diego State Classic II for a second straight day.

MISCELLANEOUS

Cardinals ace Carpenter
throws batting practice

St. Louis Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter threw batting practice for the first time since a neck injury.

The 2005 NL Cy Young Award winner threw 40 pitches at training camp in Jupiter, Fla., two days after throwing off a mound for the first time in two weeks.

Carpenter had been slated to start for St. Louis in the April 4 major league opener at Miami. It's unclear when he will pitch in a spring training game.

Also: Scott Hartnell scored his second goal of the game in the final second of overtime to lift the host Philadelphia Flyers to a 3-2 win over the Penguins, snapping Pittsburgh's 11-game winning streak.

McLaren driver Jenson Button won the Formula One season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, winning the race for the third time in four years.

Bolton soccer player Fabrice Muamba was fighting for his life in intensive care at a London hospital, remaining in critical condition a day after collapsing due to cardiac arrest during an English FA Cup match.

Boston College earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA men's hockey tournament. Michigan, Union (N.Y.) and North Dakota also received top seeds for the tournament, which starts Friday.

Denver, led by Las Vegan Jason Zucker, was seeded third in the Midwest Region and will open the 16-team tournament against No. 2 seed Ferris State.

Sarah Erickson scored twice, Noora Raty stopped 42 shots, and Minnesota beat Wisconsin 4-2 in the NCAA women's hockey final in Duluth, Minn.

Renowned sports writer Furman Bisher died of a massive heart attack at the age of 93. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Bisher's death on its website. Bisher retired in 2009 after 59 years at the newspaper.