In Brief

GOLF

Dufner overtakes Harrington,
leads Transitions by two shots

Jason Dufner and Padraig Harrington felt cautious at times for different reasons Friday in the Transitions Championship at Palm Harbor, Fla. They also had a far different outcome.

Harrington was 12 shots worse than his course-record 61 in the opening round.

Dufner, trying to play more conservatively when he doesn't feel confident about attacking, made it through another round at Innisbrook without a bogey and posted a second straight 5-under 66 to take a two-shot lead into the weekend.

"Pretty stress-free round," said Dufner, at 10-under 132.

Harrington said he didn't feel as though he hit the ball much worse in a round of 73. He realized it would be difficult to back up his record score on the Copperhead course with another low score, and it crept into his putting, especially on the back nine.

William McGirt had a 68 and joined Harrington at 8-under 134.

Also: Tiger Woods returned to practice and declared himself ready to play.

Woods said in a story on his website that his left Achilles tendon felt good and that he would play in the two-day Tavistock Cup exhibition that starts Monday in Orlando, and then the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, both in Orlando, Fla.

Woods withdrew from the Cadillac Championship on Sunday after 11 holes with what he described as tightness in his Achilles tendon.

Top-ranked Yani Tseng shot a 2-under 70 to take a one-stroke over five players after the second round of the LPGA Founders Cup in Phoenix.

The Taiwanese star had three birdies and a bogey on her final nine to reach 9-under 135.

Second-ranked Na Yeon Choi (69) was second along with fellow South Korean players I.K. Kim (66) and Meena Lee (67) and Japan's Ai Miyazato (68) and Mika Miyazato (67).

Bernhard Langer birdied the final hole for a 6-under 65 and a share of the first-round lead with Bobby Clampett and Olin Browne in the Champions Tour's Toshiba Classic in Newport Beach, Calif.

Eduardo De La Riva, a Spaniard ranked 610th in the world, shot a 3-under 69 to take a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the Andalucia Open in Marbella, Spain. He was at 8-under 136.

Tournament host Miguel Angel Jimenez shot a 68 to join Spain's Pablo Larrazabal (69), Italy's Matteo Manassero (73), Ireland's Damien McGrane and England's Tommy Fleetwood (69) at 7 under.

BASEBALL

Former lefty starter Willis loses
bid to make Phillies' bullpen

The Philadelphia Phillies released left-handed pitcher Dontrelle Willis.

The 30-year-old Willis signed a deal with the Phillies this offseason and was competing for a bullpen spot this spring.

A two-time All Star with the Florida Marlins, Willis has pitched for four teams in nine seasons, all of them as a starter. The Phillies signed him to a nonguaranteed contract in December and, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, he will receive $139,000 in severance pay.

Also: Derek Jeter will be out until Tuesday because of a stiff left calf, an injury the New York Yankees' shortstop says is "not that big of an issue."

Manager Joe Girardi said he wants to avoid unnecessary risks. Jeter spent time on the disabled list last season with a right calf injury.

Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee and will miss at least three months.

The 21-year-old Perez hurt his knee while warming up pitcher Jonathan Sanchez prior to a game on Tuesday.

LOCAL COLLEGES

No. 4-ranked UNLV golf team
third after two rounds of NIT

The fourth-ranked UNLV men's golf team shot a two-round total of 3-under 573 (283-290) to stand in third place after the first day of the National Invitational Tournament in Tucson, Ariz.

The Rebels trail 12th-ranked San Diego State, which led the 12-team event at 10-under 566 (282-284). Brigham Young is second at 4-under 572 (284-288).

Carl Johnson carded a 3-under 141 (68-73) to lead UNLV individually, standing in a tie for fourth. He is eight shots behind leader J.J. Spaun of San Diego State, who had rounds of 67 and 66.

Also: Paige Emerson had three hits, including a pair of doubles, and scored three times as UNLV's softball team won two games in the San Diego Classic, beating Purdue 6-2 and Harvard, 7-2.

Amanda Oliveto (9-7) and Jessica O'Connor (5-3) were the winning pitchers, respectively, as the Rebels (14-12) pushed their win streak to four games.

Katelynn Herrington became the second UNLV women's swimmer to earn All-American honors in as many days when she placed 14th in the 100-yard butterfly at the NCAA championships in Auburn, Ala.

Herrington was clocked in 52.60 seconds.

Rachel Dixon earned All-American honors Thursday by placing 15th in the 50-yard freestyle.

The UNLV women's tennis team fell to Fresno State 5-2 at the Fertitta Tennis Complex.

Aleksandra Josiofska and Manon de Lanlay won at Nos. 2 and 4 singles, respectively, for the Rebels (8-6).

The College of Southern Nevada swept a Scenic West Athletic Conference baseball doubleheader from 10th-ranked Western Nevada College at Morse Stadium, winning both games 5-4 and doing it with game-ending hits in the bottom of the eighth inning of each.

Cory Welch singled home the winning run in the first game for the Coyotes (19-7, 6-4 SWAC), and Rodee Anderson followed with his winning hit in the nightcap. The games were scheduled for seven innings.

Chad Whiteaker went 4-for-5 with a three-run homer and four RBIs for CSN in the sweep.

The CSN softball dream dropped a Scenic West doubleheader to Snow College in Ephraim, Utah. The Coyotes (15-19, 10-12 SWAC) lost, 15-6 and 7-0.

MISCELLANEOUS

Biffle continues strong start to
season by taking Bristol pole

Greg Biffle won the pole for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, maintaining his strong start to the season.

Biffle turned a lap of 125.215 mph in his Roush Fenway Racing Ford during a qualifying session in Bristol, Tenn. He is the Cup's points leader.

A.J. Allmendinger qualified second in a Penske Racing Dodge and was followed by Ryan Newman in a Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing.

Jeff Gordon qualified fourth in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Brad Keselowski was fifth to put both Penske cars in the top five. Regan Smith was sixth and was followed by Aric Almirola, Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and Kasey Kahne.

Also: Stockton scored three goals in a span of just under four minutes midway through the third period as the Thunder beat the Wranglers 3-1 in an ECHL game in Stockton, Calif.

Gabriel Levesque's goal at 11:43 broke a 1-1 tie, and Jason Morgan added a goal 58 seconds later to seal the win.

Kevin Baker's goal 8:46 into the third gave Stockton a 1-0 lead, but the Wranglers (39-19-5, 83 points) tied it less than three minutes later on a goal by Adam Miller.

Goalie Mitch O'Keefe finished with 29 saves for Las Vegas.

Rafael Nadal outlasted David Nalbandian 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Calif., setting up a semifinal against Roger Federer that will be a rematch of their Australian Open semifinal.

Federer had an easier time in his quarterfinal, beating Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 6-2 in just more than an hour for his fourth victory over the Argentine this year.

Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka defeated Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-4, 6-3 to reach the final of her sixth consecutive tournament. It was her 22nd straight victory to start the season, trailing only Martina Hingis' 37-0 start in 1997.

She will meet second-ranked Maria Sharapova, who advanced to the final when Ana Ivanovic retired after losing the first set 6-4 and leading 1-0 in the second.

A new poll shows stronger support than opposition for renaming Penn State's football stadium in honor of longtime coach Joe Paterno, who died in January of lung cancer.

The Quinnipiac University poll said 46 percent of those surveyed think the school should rename Beaver Stadium, while 40 percent are opposed.

Paterno was fired in November, following the arrest of former assistant Jerry Sandusky on child sexual abuse charges.

Alabama-Birmingham fired basketball coach Mike Davis after six seasons.

Blazers athletic director Brian Mackin announced the decision, citing in part "a growing apathy among our fan base" that has led to a decline in attendance and ticket revenue.

Davis led the Blazers to their first Conference USA regular-season title and into the NCAA Tournament in 2010-11, earning the former Indiana coach league honors.

UAB fell to 15-16 last season and lost six of its first seven games. Davis posted a 122-73 record and had one year remaining on his $625,000-a-year contract.