Sports briefs 4/30/05

College

* Kyle McCulloch threw seven innings, allowing just one run on six hits to lead Texas past Missouri 4-1 on Friday night.

McCulloch (8-2) surrendered a home run to leadoff batter Zane Taylor to start the game before settling down. He struck out five before he was relieved in the eighth by J.B. Cox, who picked up his 11th save.

Seth Johnston put Texas (36-8, 12-6 Big 12) ahead in the seventh with a sacrifice fly that scored Robby Hudson. Two batters later, the Longhorns scored again on a two-RBI single from Chance Wheeless.

Missouri's Max Scherzer (6-2) lasted 6 2-3 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits.

The win moved Texas into second place in the Big 12, ahead of Missouri (30-12, 10-6).

* An assistant coach will assume the duties of veteran head baseball coach Larry Cochell while the University of Oklahoma reviews remarks he made during two off-camera interviews earlier this week, officials said Friday.

Before Tuesday's telecast of the Oklahoma-Wichita State game on ESPN2 and ESPNU, Cochell used racial epithets as he praised freshman outfielder Joe Dunigan, who is black, ESPN reported on their Web site.

Olympics

* The U.S. Olympic Committee's board of directors removed the "interim" title from chief executive officer Jim Scherr on Friday.

The former wrestler will lead the rehabilitated and remodeled organization into the Turin Winter Games next February and the Beijing Games in the summer of 2008.

USOC president Peter Ueberroth said an unspecified pay raise will go along with the move. Ueberroth said Scherr's selection was unanimously approved by the 11-member board and was followed by a standing ovation from all those present at its lengthy afternoon meeting at a Phoenix resort.

Tennis

* Fourth-seeded Tommy Haas withstood 19 aces by Australia's Wayne Arthurs and won 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) Friday to reach the BMW Open semifinals in Munich, Germany.

Top-seeded David Nalbandian defeated Juan Monaco 6-0, 6-4 to set up a semifinal against Jarkko Nieminen, who rallied to oust Michal Mertinak 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Haas will next meet fifth-seeded Andrei Pavel, who beat Raemon Sluiter 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in this tuneup for the French Open. Haas, a Munich finalist in 2000, is trying to become the first German to win this tournament since Michael Stich 11 years ago.

Arthurs saved a break point at 3-3 in the first set, the only game in which he had trouble with his serve. A serve-and-volley player whose game is ill-suited for the slow red clay, Arthurs squandered a 4-2 lead in the first tiebreaker and Haas won the set with a backhand pass.

Arthurs' serve kept him in the match, but he hit a ball long to give Haas a 3-1 lead in the second tiebreaker and never recovered.