FanFare 3/29/03

Briefly

Baseball

Rick Ankiel was optioned to Double-A Tennessee on Friday by the Cardinals, delaying his return to the major leagues. Ankiel, being converted from a starter to a reliever, was inconsistent this spring in his bid to earn a spot in the Cardinals' bullpen. Ankiel made nine appearances of an inning or less, allowing eight runs and nine hits while walking nine and striking out nine. He did not allow a hit or a walk in just two of those innings.

Colleges

The Ohio Valley Conference hired Jon A. Steinbrecher away from the Mid-Continent Conference and introduced him as its new commissioner. Steinbrecher, commissioner of the Mid-Continent Conference since 1994, said it was an honor to join Division I's eighth-oldest conference.

Golf

Padraig Harrington made 10 birdies in 26 holes, giving him rounds of 67-68 and a two-stroke lead in The Players Championship. He was at 9-under 135 and had a two-stroke lead over Craig Perks (69), Davis Love III (67) and Skip Kendall (69), who has yet to make bogey on the TPC at Sawgrass. Tiger Woods had an 8-foot par putt on his 10th hole and was in jeopardy of falling below the cut line. He made that, plus three birdies in the next four holes, for a 70 to finish seven strokes back going into the weekend.

Patricia Meunier-Lebouc thought playing with Annika Sorenstam might make her a better player. So far at the Kraft Nabisco, she's been better than ever. Paired with Sorenstam for her fourth straight round, Meunier-Lebouc shot a 4-under 68 to take a two-stroke lead over her playing partner midway through the first LPGA major championship of the year.

Motorsports

Bobby Labonte grabbed the pole for the Samsung/Radio Shack 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Labonte took his second pole of the season and the 23rd of his career with a lap of 193.514 mph on the 1 1/2-mile Texas oval. Labonte is off to a strong start, with three top-five finishes in his last three starts, including a win in Atlanta.

Tennis

Jennifer Capriati is headed for a rematch against top-ranked Serena Williams in today's final at the Nasdaq-100 Open. The No. 6-seeded Capriati advanced by beating No. 12 Chanda Rubin in the semifinals 6-2, 6-4. Capriati has never won the Key Biscayne title but has been runner-up the past two years, losing to Williams in 2002 and to Venus Williams in 2001. Albert Costa won his rain-delayed quarterfinal match, taking 13 minutes to finish off No. 4-seeded Roger Federer 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (7). Federer was trailing 5-6 when a thunderstorm forced the suspension of the match Thursday.

On the air

College baseballMissouri Valley at Southeast, 11:45 a.m, KGIR-1220

College men's basketball

NCAA Division II championship, Kentucky Wesleyan vs. Northeastern State, noon, KFVS, KGIR-1220

NCAA tournament,Kentucky vs. Marquette, 3:30 p.m., KFVS, KGIR-1220

NCAA tournament, Arizona vs. Kansas, 6 p.m., CBS, KGIR-1220

College women's basketballNCAA tournament, Colorado vs. Villanova, 11 a.m., ESPN

NCAA tournament, Penn State vs. Tennessee, Tenn., 1 p.m., ESPN

NCAA Division II championship, Northern Kentucky vs. South Dakota State, 5 p.m, ESPN2

NCAA tournament, Duke vs. Georgia, 8 p.m., ESPN

NCAA tournament, Texas Tech vs. New Mexico, 10:30 p.m, ESPN2

Figure skatingWorld Championships, 7 p.m., WSIL

Golf

The Players Championship, 1 p.m., WPSD

Kraft Nabisco Championship, 3:30 p.m., WSIL

MLB

Boston at Atlanta, 12:05 p.m., TBS

Motorsports

Busch Series O'Reilly 300, 1 p.m., KBSI

NBA

Sacramento at Chicago, 7:30, WGN

NHL

Detroit at St. Louis, 2 p.m., WSIL

Soccer

U.S. vs. Japan, at Seattle, 3 p.m., ESPN2

Tennis

NASDAQ 100, 10 a.m., KFVS

CHARTER CABLE KEY:CNBC (ch. 53), ESPN (42), ESPN2 (43), Lifetime (49)Fox-Midwest (45), Fox-Central (352), Fox-Pacific (353), Fox-Sunshine (351), Fox-World (350), FX(50), Golf Channel (46), KBSI (9), KFVS (7), MSNBC (55), Outdoors (38), Outdoor Life Network (74), Oxygen (75), Speed Channel (44), TNT (48), WDKA (17), WPSD (6), WQWQ (33), WSIL (3). Listings and times are provided by the networks and individual stations and are subject to change.

Area eventsCollege baseball

Missouri Valley at Southeast (2), noonCollege softball

Tennessee State at Southeast (2), 1 p.m.College gymnastics

Southeast at Midwest Independent Championships, Baton Rouge, La.College women's tennis

Eastern Kentucky at Southeast, 10 a.m.High school baseball

Perryville at Farmington, 10 a.m.

Poplar Bluff at Central, noon

Notre Dame at Festus TournamentHigh school girls' soccer

Notre Dame Optimist Spring Classic: Consolation semifinals, 10 a.m.; semifinals, noon; seventh place, 2 p.m.; fifth place, 2 p.m.; third place, 4 p.m.; championship, 4 p.m.High school track & field

Perryville Invitational, 9 a.m.

Central at Washington University Invitational, 10 a.m.High school girls' swimming

Notre Dame Triangular, 11 a.m.