Sports briefs 3/20/04

Baseball

Gene Bearden, the knuckleballer who completed a remarkable rookie season by closing out the Cleveland Indians' last World Series championship in 1948, has died. He was 83.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays outfielder Josh Hamilton was suspended for the 2004 season for violating baseball's drug policy. Hamilton, the first pick in the 1999 amateur draft, already had been given a 30-day suspension on Feb. 17. Under the new suspension announced Friday, he isn't eligible for reinstatement until spring training next year.

College

Oklahoma State won three of four semifinal matches, including a quick pin by 174-pound Chris Pendleton, to close in on its second straight NCAA wrestling championship Friday night. Oklahoma State which had a six-point lead over Iowa after the quarterfinals, is seeking its 32nd national title. The Cowboys are the only team with three wrestlers in the finals, one more than Nebraska and Penn State.

Golf

Tiger Woods' drive for five at the Bay Hill Invitational took a major detour Friday. Trying to become the first player in history to win the same tournament five times in a row, Woods was out of bounds and in the trees on his way to a 2-over 74, which left him nine shots behind Shigeki Maruyama and needing to match his greatest 36-hole comeback to keep the streak alive. Maruyama piled up enough birdies for his second straight 66, giving him a two-shot lead over Darren Clarke (68), Chad Campbell (68) and Stuart Appleby (67).

Annika Sorenstam shot a 7-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead over Cristie Kerr after the first round of the Safeway International. Michelle Wie shot a 67 and was seven strokes behind .

Motorsports

Rookie Kasey Kahne is proving he's a force on the NASCAR circuit. On Friday, the 23-year-old driver won his second Nextel Cup pole in five tries, adding the top qualifying spot at Darlington Raceway to the one he took two weeks ago in Las Vegas.

-- From wire reports