UC Davis suspends its entire baseball team over incident
UC Davis suspended its entire varsity baseball team and put the team’s coaching staff on administrative leave while it investigates unspecified allegations of misconduct, officials said Wednesday.
The UC Davis Office of Compliance and Policy is investigating the allegations, “and the entire baseball program has been placed on suspension pending the outcome of this review,” the university’s intercollegiate athletics department said in a statement.
The investigation is expected to last for the first two months of the fall quarter that begins in September, but it is too soon to determine when team activities including practices may resume, the department said.
“We are committed to conducting a thorough assessment to determine the best path forward to provide a safe and inclusive experience for all team members,” the department said without elaborating.
It added that “the safety of students is of utmost importance” and that confidential resources like counseling are available to help those affected.
University spokeswoman Melissa Blouin did not immediately respond with more details or why they are being withheld, nor say when the allegations surfaced.
The team is at the bottom of the standings in the Big West Conference, with an 8-32 record this year.
Horse racing
JUDGE NULLIFIES BAFFERT’S N.Y. SUSPENSION >> A New York federal judge nullified the suspension of horse trainer Bob Baffert, finding that the New York Racing Association acted unconstitutionally by failing to let him adequately respond to claims made against him after Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit failed a postrace drug test.
In her written ruling, Brooklyn Judge Carol Bagley Amon said a prompt post-suspension hearing where Baffert could refute the claims was required to meet constitutional muster.
But she said the racing association “had held no hearing — let alone a prompt one.”
Attorney W. Craig Robertson III, who represented Baffert at a Monday hearing before Amon, said the ruling confirms that “following the Kentucky Derby, there was an improper rush to judgment and Mr. Baffert has been treated unfairly.”
Dave O’Rourke, president of the NYRA, said in a statement the association is reviewing the court’s decision to determine its “legal options and next steps.”
Soccer
MESSI REPORTEDLY TO SIGN NEW DEAL WITH BARCELONA >> Lionel Messi is set to extend his stay at Barcelona by signing a new five-year deal, with the Argentine talisman set to take a wage cut, La Vanguardia newspaper and ESPN reported.
Messi, Barca’s all-time top scorer and appearance maker, technically ended his 21-year association with the club last month and is currently a free agent after his previous contract expired.
Tennis
OSAKA PLANS TO RETURN TO WTA
TOUR NEXT MONTH >> World No. 2 Naomi Osaka has committed to making her return to the WTA tour at the National Bank Open in Montreal in August, event organizers announced.
Osaka hasn’t played in a WTA event since withdrawing from the French Open in late May due to mental health reasons. She also decided to bypass Wimbledon due to the same concerns.
The 23-year-old Osaka is preparing to play in the Tokyo Olympics, where she will represent her native Japan.
Osaka bowed out of the French Open before the second round two weeks and directly cited challenging media sessions as the reason she wouldn’t play. She was fined for her decision to skip mandatory postmatch news conferences at the tournament.
Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion, said she deals with anxiety and depression and has struggled to address it since 2018.
HALL OF FAMER FRY IRVIN DIES AT 94 >> Tennis Hall of Famer Shirley Fry Irvin, who won three consecutive major titles in the 1950s to complete a career Grand Slam, has died at 94.
Competing as Shirley Fry, she won her first Grand Slam singles title at the French Open in 1951. She also won Wimbledon in 1957.
Golf
KORDA SISTERS TEAM FOR SHARE OF LPGA TOUR LEAD >> Nelly and Jessica Korda teamed to shoot a 5-under 65 in alternate-shot play Wednesday for a share of the first-round lead in the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational in Midland, Mich.
Defending champions Cydney Clanton and Jasmine Suwannapura joined “Team Jelly” and Pajaree Anannarukarn-Aditi Ashok and Jillian Hollis-Lauren Stephenson atop the leaderboard at Midland Country Club. The teams will play best ball today, alternate shot Friday and close with best ball Saturday.
College football
NEBRASKA PICKS ALBERTS AS NEW HUSKERS AD >> Nebraska announced it has hired former star football player Trev Alberts as its new athletic director.
Alberts, the athletic director at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, will fill the job that opened with the retirement of Bill Moos.
Alberts, 50, earned All-American honors as a Huskers linebacker, playing from 1990 to 1993, and won the Dick Butkus and Jack Lambert awards as the top college linebacker. He played for the Colts as the fifth overall pick in the 1994 draft.
OHIO COACH SOLICH RETIRING TO ‘FOCUS ON HEALTH’ >> Ohio coach Frank Solich is retiring after leading the program through 16 seasons of unprecedented success to “focus on his health,” the school said.
The school announced that Solich was stepping down less than two months before the start of the season and his 77th birthday.
Offensive coordinator Tim Albin was promoted to head coach.
Solich is the winningest head coach in the history of the MidAmerican Conference with 115 victories. Including a stint as coach at Nebraska, Solich is 173-101 as a major college football head coach.