Sports briefs
W&J favorite in
PAC preseason poll
Defending champion Washington & Jefferson earned seven first-place votes and 97 total points to secure the top spot in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference preseason baseball poll.
The poll collects votes from each of the league’s 10 head coaches.
Thomas More finished second with the final three first-place votes and 93 points. Thiel was third with 76 points and was followed by last year’s runner-up, Grove City, in fourth with 60 points. Waynesburg was picked fifth (57), Bethany was sixth (48), Westminster seventh (40), Saint Vincent eighth (37), Geneva ninth (24) and Chatham was 10th (18). Chatham is in its first season as a varsity program.
Last season, W&J was the NCAA Division III runner-up.
Arkansas State sues Miami over game
Arkansas State has sued Miami and is seeking $650,000 in damages for failing to reschedule the football game in Jonesboro that was canceled in September because of concerns about Hurricane Irma.
The lawsuit was filed in Craighead County District Court late Friday afternoon, and Arkansas State says Miami has “refused to timely and reasonably reschedule the game in years in which it has openings.”
Miami was scheduled to play at Arkansas State on Sept. 9 as part of a two-game contract that saw the Red Wolves travel to face the Hurricanes in 2014.
However, because of travel issues ahead of Hurricane Irma, the game was canceled – despite Arkansas State athletic director Terry Mohajir offering to play the game a day earlier and aid with travel and accommodations.
Volquez signs
with Rangers
Edinson Volquez has agreed to a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers, returning to his original team with a chance to be a candidate for the rotation in 2019.
The 34-year-old Volquez will not pitch this season while recovering from ligament reconstruction surgery on his right elbow last August.
The minor league agreement announced by the Rangers includes an invitation to major league spring training. It covers the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
Volquez has a 93-87 career record in 276 games for seven teams. He made his MLB debut for the Rangers at age 22 on Aug. 30, 2005, and was traded to Cincinnati after the 2007 season in the deal that sent slugger Josh Hamilton to Texas. He has also pitched for San Diego, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Kansas City and Miami.
In college basketball
Matt Mobley scored 26 points and grabbed a key rebound with 4.2 seconds left, and St. Bonaventure beat Rhode Island 77-74 to snap the 16th-ranked Rams’ 16-game winning streak Friday night.
LaDarien Griffin scored 10 of the Bonnies last 14 points over the final six minutes in rallying them back from a 67-61 deficit – St. Bonaventure’s largest of the game. The Bonnies (10-4 Atlantic 10, 20-6) won their eighth straight and stayed in the hunt for the regular-season conference title.
Jared Terrell led the Rams with 23 points, but missed a potential go-ahead layup with 4.8 seconds left. Down 75-74, Terrell’s shot banked off the backboard and off the front of the rim and out. Mobley came down with the rebound and was fouled.
The Rams (13-1, 21-3) had not lost since Dec. 6. Rhode Island’s winning streak was the longest active in the nation.