In Brief

LOCAL COLLEGES

Woodward's offensive effort wasted as CSN softball falls

A.J. Woodward homered and singled twice, driving in three runs, but the College of Southern Nevada fell out of the winners' bracket of the National Junior College Athletic Association Region 18 Softball Tournament with a 6-4 loss to Salt Lake Community College in Salt Lake City on Friday.

The third-seeded Coyotes (38-27) will have to win three games today through the losers' bracket of the double-elimination tourney to claim the title.

Woodward had a run-scoring single in the first inning, plating Tiffini Lucero, who tripled.

Second-ranked and top-seeded SLCC (51-7) then scored six unearned runs with two out in the second inning to take a commanding lead.

Kalei Adams hit a solo home run in the sixth to pull CSN within 6-2 before Woodward followed with a two-run shot with one out in the seventh.

Also: Tanner Peters pitched his third straight complete game and league record-tying seventh of the season as the UNLV baseball team beat Air Force 3-1 in a Mountain West Conference game in Air Force Academy, Colo.

Peters (9-3) scattered eight hits for the Rebels (31-19, 8-10 MWC), who have won six of their past seven games.

Ryan Scott gave Peters all the offensive support he would need with a two-run double in the first inning.

Scott finished with two hits, as did teammates Travis Cook and Trent Feiner.

The UNLV softball team parlayed four singles, three walks and a Colorado State error into five sixth-inning runs in a 10-8 Mountain West Conference victory at Eller Media Stadium.

Kylie Wagner (4-2) pitched 2 2/3 innings of relief for the Rebels (26-18, 8-5) to earn the victory. Bri Bernardi had two of UNLV's nine hits.

Amanda Bingson and Chelsea Cassulo finished 1-2 in the hammer throw as UNLV moved up to fifth place in the nine-team Mountain West Conference Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Fort Collins, Colo.

Bingson, who has the nation's second-best throw in the hammer this season, won the league title with a distance of 228 feet, 6 inches. Cassulo followed with a throw of 210-9.

The Rebels have 38 points after the second day of the three-day meet, trailing first-place Brigham Young (67), New Mexico (58), San Diego State (45½) and host Colorado State (42).

Bingson also placed fifth in the discus with a throw of 151-2.

UNLV's only other top-five finish of the day came in the high jump, where Ashley Henry cleared 5-7.

MOTOR SPORTS

Kyle Busch captures truck race, plays nice with rival Harvick

Under probation, Kyle Busch was on his best behavior, racing side by side with rival Kevin Harvick. Under caution, Busch geared up for the restarts that helped move him up the NASCAR record book.

Busch won the Trucks Series race at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del., moving into a tie for fifth place with 96 career wins in the three major divisions.

Busch matched Mark Martin with his total: 21 in Sprint Cup, 48 in the Nationwide Series and 27 in trucks. He can boost his total with wins in today's Nationwide race and Sunday's Cup race.

He also became the first Trucks driver to win twice at Dover.

Busch's biggest challenge came from rookie Cole Whitt. Whitt was strong early on the long runs, leading 23 laps, but he struggled on the short ones. When the race came down to late restarts, Busch beat the 19-year-old and took the checkered flag for the third time this season in the series.

Busch won under caution and raced all 200 miles without incident against Harvick. The Sprint Cup regulars sparked a pit road dustup last week at South Carolina's Darlington Raceway, and both were placed on probation.

Also: John Force topped Funny Car qualifying at the NHRA Southern Nationals in Commerce, Ga., with a 4.072-second pass at a top speed of 310.98 mph in his Ford Mustang.

If Force takes the No. 1 qualifying spot, he will tie Pro Stock star Warren Johnson for the NHRA record of 138. The 62-year-old Force is a seven-time winner at Atlanta Dragway.

Spencer Massey (Top Fuel), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also topped their divisions in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event.

MISCELLANEOUS

Venus Williams joins her sister in pulling out of French Open

Venus Williams withdrew from the French Open, one day after her younger sister Serena did.

Venus' agent, Carlos Fleming, wrote in an email to The Associated Press that the seven-time Grand Slam champion notified tournament organizers she wouldn't compete at Roland Garros, where play starts May 22.

The 30-year-old American has been off the tour since January, when she stopped playing minutes into a match in the third round of the Australian Open because of a hip injury. A left knee injury limited her to one event in the final six months of 2010.

Serena pulled out of the French Open on Thursday. She hasn't entered a tournament since early July, sidelined by two foot operations and blood clots in her lung.

Also: Rafael Nadal will keep the world No. 1 ranking for at least another three weeks following a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Croatia's Marin Cilic in the Italian Open quarterfinals in Rome.

Nadal was at risk of losing the top spot to Novak Djokovic if he failed to reach the semifinals of the clay-court tournament, which the Spaniard has won five of the past six years.

Djokovic also reached the past four, extending his winning streak to 37 matches with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over fifth-seeded Robin Soderling. The Serb has won all 35 of his matches this year, trailing only John McEnroe's 42-0 start in 1984.

Colin Kaepernick recently had a surgical procedure that the San Francisco 49ers think will have no impact on the second-round draft pick's rookie season.

The 49ers issued a statement saying the former UNR quarterback had surgery to repair a pre-existing condition and that they were aware of the injury before the draft. The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee first reported that Kaepernick had a minor surgical procedure on his lower left leg at Stanford Hospital.

Santa Anita again will race in the fall after a one-year absence.

Officials of the Arcadia, Calif., track announced the six-week meet will open in September and run through Nov. 6, pending approval by the California Horse Racing Board.

Santa Anita's fall meet will have a full schedule of stakes races generally consistent with the previous schedule, including the Lady's Secret, Goodwood, Norfolk, Oak Leaf, Yellow Ribbon and Ancient Title.

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and champion fillies Open Mind, Safely Kept and Sky Beauty were elected to the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame.

Hollendorfer has been Northern California's most successful trainer since the mid-1980s with 37 straight training titles at Bay Meadows and 32 straight at Golden Gate Fields.

Open Mind won 12 of 19 career starts and was voted champion filly as a 2-year-old in 1988 and again as a 3-year-old. Safely Kept won 24 of 31 career starts in a four-year career from 1988 to 1991 and earned $2,194,206.

Sky Beauty won 15 of 21 starts, including the New York filly triple crown during a five-race winning streak as a 3-year-old in 1993.

Chris Wood carded a 5-under-par 65 to lead the Iberdrola Open in Son Servera, Spain, by three shots after the second round.

The 23-year-old Englishman made six birdies before dropping a shot at No. 16 to finish at 8-under 132. European Tour rookie Matthew Nixon of England and Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland, who both shot 70, were at 135.

New York Rangers enforcer Derek Boogaard died in Minneapolis. He was 28.

The team announced Boogaard's death but gave no details.

Boogaard began his NHL career with Minnesota and appeared in 255 games with the Wild from 2005 to 2010. He joined the Rangers in July and appeared in 22 games last season. He had a goal, an assist and 45 penalty minutes.

Sweden and Finland reached the finals of the ice hockey world championship in Bratislava, Slovakia.

The Swedes got two goals from St. Louis Blues forward Patrik Berglund in a 5-2 victory over the defending champion Czech Republic. Finland then blanked Russia 3-0 to set up a Scandinavian showdown for the trophy.