GB, YSU favorites in Horizon League tennis

January 16, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

INDIANAPOLIS

Green Bay and Youngstown State enter Horizon League as favorites for tennis championships, according to the league’s coaches.

Green Bay, which captured its second consecutive regular season title last year, was picked as the unanimous selection with six first-place votes to total 36 points. The Phoenix won the 2014 Horizon League Championship to grab their second title in the past three years.

Youngstown State garnered its first Horizon League title in program history last season as well as first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. The Penguins were awarded three of the nine first-place votes totalling 58 points in the poll to edge last year’s runner-up Cleveland State by one.

Penguins goalie Fleury named an All-Star

PITTSBURGH

Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was selected to the All-Star game for the second time on Wednesday.

The NHL tabbed Fleury as an injury replacement after Detroit’s Jimmy Howard and Nashville’s Pekka Rinne were injured.

The 30-year-old Fleury leads the league with six shutouts and is fourth in wins (22), sixth in goals-against average (2.16) and seventh in save percentage (.926).

Fleury became the third-youngest goaltender to reach 300 victories last November and his steady play is one of the main reasons Pittsburgh trails the first-place New York Islanders by a point in the Metropolitan Division.

Swarzak agrees to minors deal with Tribe

CLEVELAND

Former Minnesota Twins right-hander Anthony Swarzak has agreed to a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians.

The 29-year-old free agent spent his third consecutive season with the Twins in 2014, going 3-2 with a 4.60 ERA in four starts and 46 relief appearances. He became a free agent in November when he refused an outright assignment to Triple-A Rochester of the International League.

Swarzak had been with the Twins his entire professional career after his second-round selection in the 2004 amateur draft. His 237 1-3 innings of relief are the second-most in the major leagues since 2012.

MLB to use pitch clock in Double-A, Triple-A

PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz.

Major League Baseball will use a pitch clock this season in Class Triple-A and Double-A games.

Commissioner Bud Selig made the announcement at the conclusion of baseball’s owners meetings.

He said the decision followed a successful experiment with the clock in the Arizona Fall League.

MLB officials said details of how much time will be allowed between pitches and an announcement on other measures to be tested in the minors to speed up the game will come later.

The MLB is negotiating with its players’ union on what speedup measures can be tried at the major-league level. Selig wouldn’t divulge details of what’s being considered for the majors because those talks are ongoing.

NFL to hold combine for veteran players

The NFL is adding a combine for veteran players to go with the massive event it holds for potential draftees.

The veterans’ combine will take place March 22 at the Arizona Cardinals’ training facility in Phoenix. That is about one month after the regular combine in Indianapolis for rookies.

Matt Birk, director of football development, told the 32 teams about the new combine Thursday. It will be open to veteran free agents who will participate in position-specific drills, timing and testing.

In the past, some veteran free agents have been included in the NFL’s regional combines held for draft-eligible players. But the new format will serve to isolate and consolidate veteran free agents for a more-focused evaluation.

Staff/Wire reports