In Brief

UNLV athletics

Higa, Bayardi lift baseball team to 14-3 win over Southern Utah

Danny Higa went 4-for-4 and Brandon Bayardi homered and drove in six runs to power UNLV to a 14-3 nonconference baseball victory over Southern Utah on Tuesday night at Wilson Stadium.

The Rebels (7-6) finished with 18 hits. Higa scored twice and was a homer shy of hitting for the cycle, Bayardi went 3-for-6 with three runs, and Trent Cole was 3-for-4 with two runs.

UNLV scored five runs in the first inning and five in the eighth.

Starter Andy Beresford (1-0) got the victory, allowing one hit in two innings.

Also: The UNLV women's golf team moved up one spot to finish fourth at the Bruin Wave Invitational in Valencia, Calif.

The Rebels posted the day's best round at 23-over-par 311 to finish at 56-over 920. Co-hosts Pepperdine (903) and UCLA (905) took first and second in the 15-team field, and Oklahoma State (911) was third.

Charlotte Brooks was UNLV's top finisher, placing fifth after shooting a final-round 6-over 78 for a 9-over 225 total. It was Brooks' second top-five finish of the season.

San Diego State's Christine Wong took medalist honors, finishing at 3-over 219.

Tim Hundley, who spent the past three years as UCLA's secondary coach, was hired as UNLV's linebackers coach.

He replaces Robin Ross, who left UNLV last week after one season with the Rebels.

Hundley's coaching resume includes 16 years as a defensive coordinator at the Football Bowl Subdivision level -- four at Texas-El Paso, five at Washington, six at Oregon State and one at Idaho. He has coached in 13 bowl games, including two Rose Bowls.

MOTOR SPORTS

IndyCar drivers not concerned
with Texas fence construction

Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage described it as a "punch out of nowhere" when he started seeing reports that IndyCar Series drivers were concerned about how the fence was constructed at the fast oval.

Especially since not a single driver had expressed any such concern to Gossage.

"I don't know why a speedway that had two races last year with one caution between them is suddenly the target," Gossage said. "We're the only people that have had any engineers look at it, so we don't understand it. But I think everybody has a better handle on it."

Gossage's comments came during his track's annual media day, which was held a day after several IndyCar drivers dismissed any notion of boycotting their June race at Texas.

IndyCar driver Graham Rahal, who was at the track for the media day, said there were some questions raised among drivers about the fencing but never any talk of a boycott. Rahal said he feels safe racing at Texas, where the series has had some of its fastest and closest races.

Also: Italian driver Luca Filippi will race for Bobby Rahal's team beginning with the Indianapolis 500.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing will run a full season with Takuma Sato and said it will field a second car for Filippi in 12 races. The two drivers know each other from when they tested for Honda in Formula One.

OLYMPICS

Krzyzewski dismisses talk of
coaching '16 basketball team

Mike Krzyzewski is only thinking about this year, not about a potential third Olympics as U.S. men's basketball coach.

Clearing up the confusion created when Cleveland Cavaliers rookie Kyrie Irving said he "found out" Krzyzewski planned to lead the United States again in 2016, the Duke coach said he is focused only on the remainder of this year's responsibilities.

"While Kyrie and I have discussed his potential role with USA Basketball in the future, my focus right now is on the remainder of our Duke team's season and the 2012 Olympics," Krzyzewski said in a statement provided by USA Basketball. "Jerry Colangelo and I have not discussed anything beyond what is ahead of the USA National Team this summer as we pursue a gold medal in London."

Krzyzewski led the U.S. to gold in 2008 and signed on the following summer for another run as coach. He guided the Americans to a world basketball championship in 2010, and they will be favored to retain their Olympic title this summer.

A member of 11 USA Basketball coaching staffs, he may have been motivated to stick around in 2016 had his hometown of Chicago won the bid to host those games. But Brazil won out, and if Krzyzewski opts to return, he would be 69 that summer.

Irving, who holds dual U.S. and Australian citizenship, said Monday he would not pursue a chance to play for Australia this summer in hopes of playing for the U.S. in four years. The point guard played for Krzyzewski in his lone college season, and he said the chance to play for Krzyzewski again made his decision easier.

Also: The British government rejected a warning by the Olympic team's top doctor that athletes should avoid shaking hands at the London Games.

The British Olympic Association's chief medical officer had expressed concerns that physical contact while greeting rivals and visiting dignitaries during this summer's games would spread germs.

However, the Department of Health responded by saying that "there's no reason why people shouldn't shake hands at the Olympics."

Athletes also seemed unconvinced. Olympic champion rower Zac Purchase said on Twitter the advice seemed a "bit pointless unless u r going to run around with disinfectant 4 every surface you come into contact with."

MISCELLANEOUS

Pens' Crosby: 'It's a good step'
to skate in first full practice

Sidney Crosby's head is clear. The superstar's return, however, remains murky.

The Pittsburgh Penguins captain participated in his first full practice since concussion-like symptoms resurfaced in December, and there is growing optimism he'll be back before the playoffs begin next month.

The ever-cautious Crosby insisted there still is no timetable on when he'll be cleared to play in a game, but he looked crisp while spending more than an hour on the Consol Energy Center ice.

"It's a good step," Crosby said. "Hopefully, I can keep the momentum and get out there soon."

Also: Ryo Ishikawa no longer has to worry about trying to qualify for the Masters. The 20-year-old from Japan received a special invitation for the second time.

Augusta National chairman Billy Payne said the Masters historically invites international players to expand the major's global reach. He said Ishikawa will help increase interest in Japan and throughout Asia.

Ishikawa has won nine times on the Japan Golf Tour. He also received an invitation in 2009 when he was 17. He was the second-youngest player to compete in the Masters.

The U.S. Women's Open Championship finals in Reno this summer are being moved outdoors in a bid to boost interest in the bowling event.

The head of the Bowling Proprietors Association of America said the title will be determined June 27 on temporary lanes beneath the arch that proclaims Reno the "Biggest Little City in the World."

ESPN2 plans to air the 2012 finals July 3.