YSU softball recruit Snodgrass selected

YSU softball recruit Snodgrass selected

youngstown

Youngstown State softball recruit Samantha Snodgrass of South Charleston, W. Va. was named the West Virginia Gatorade softball player of the year.

Snodgrass, a right-handed pitcher for St. Albans High School, signed a letter of intent with YSU in November.

In the recent West Virginia state tournament, Snodgrass threw 21-scoreless innings and struck out 32 batters to lead her team to the Class AAA state championship.

In the title game, Snodgrass allowed just three hits and struck out seven batters.

She also drove in the game-winning run in the fourth inning of the 1-0 victory over Logan.

Local boxers to fight at Heinz

PITTSBURGH

Campbell natives Jake Giuriceo and Chris Hazimihalis will be part of the undercard for the “Summer Brawl” boxing show at Heinz Field on June 30.

Giuriceo (6-0-1, 2 KOs) is a welterweight while Hazimihalis (2-0, 2 KOs) fights at lightweight. Their opponents have not been announced.

Tickets range from $25 to $100 and can be purchased by calling (412) 471-3663 or (412) 621-1650.

The main event will feature Pittsburgh’s “Lightning” Rod Salka (11-0, 3 KOs), in an eight-round lightweight battle against Harold Orji (6-2, 3 KOs), of Laurel, Maryland.

NASCAR fines Braun Racing crew chiefs

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.

NASCAR on Wednesday suspended the crew chiefs and tire specialists for Braun Racing’s two Nationwide Series entries for actions during last week’s race in Nashville.

Stuart Cooper, crew chief for the No. 10 car driven by Tayler Malsam, and Trip Bruce, crew chief for the No. 38 car driven by Jason Leffler, were suspended for the next two Nationwide events and fined $25,000.

Tire specialists Sean Whisenhunt and Kevin Bellicourt were also suspended for the next two events. All four were also placed on probation through the end of the year. Leffler and Malsam were penalized 25 driver points; owners Todd and Ralph Braun were docked 25 owners points.

Two BCS schools could lose scholarships

INDIANAPOLIS

The NCAA’s big boys have figured out how to beat up the little guys in the classroom, too.

Spend more money.

The newest Academic Progress Rate, released Wednesday, showed seven of the 137 teams facing penalties come from BCS conferences and only two power conference schools — Colorado and Syracuse — were sanctioned in football, men’s basketball or women’s basketball.

Both schools said they have already taken the scholarship losses and won’t be affected next season. And there’s little doubt about the reasons for the disparity between big and small schools.

Rafael Nadal cruises to victory on grass

LONDON

French Open champion Rafael Nadal made a smooth adjustment from clay to grass Wednesday, defeating Marcos Daniel in straight sets to reach the third round of the Queen’s Club tournament.

The top-seeded Nadal, who captured his fifth Roland Garros title on Sunday, began his Wimbledon preparations with a 6-2, 6-2 victory under rainy London skies.

The Spaniard, who had a bye in the first round, was joined in the last 16 by second-seeded Novak Djokovic, who beat Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 6-3, and Sam Querrey, who knocked out fellow American Robby Ginepri 7-6 (4), 6-2.

Lakers’ win earns top TV ratings for ABC

BOSTON

The Los Angeles Lakers’ victory in Boston in the NBA finals earned the highest television ratings for a Game 3 since 2004.

The Lakers’ 91-84 win earned an 11.5 overnight rating, 14 percent better than the Lakers and Orlando posted in Game 3 last year. It was the highest-rated show on television Tuesday night, helping ABC win primetime.

Vindicator staff/wire reports