Sports briefs 5/25/06

Baseball

• The pitching-thin Mets acquired Orlando Hernandez from Arizona on Wednesday, welcoming El Duque back to New York and hoping he can help them now -- and maybe later, when even more is at stake.

The Mets traded reliever Jorge Julio to the Diamondbacks for Hernandez. The deal was announced before the NL East leaders hosted Philadelphia.

Listed at 36 years old and a proven postseason pitcher, Hernandez was struggling in his first season in the National League. He was just 2-4 with a 6.11 ERA in nine starts for the West-leading Diamondbacks, and was not pitching with a set turn.

Colleges

• A former Barton County Community College basketball coach has admitted participating in a scheme to falsify the records of student athletes.

Ryan Cross, one of eight people caught up in the scandal, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court Tuesday to a single count of wire fraud. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors agreed to dismiss another wire fraud charge accusing Cross of sending a fax containing course materials that could be used to obtain college credit for Ricky Clemons, who later played at the University of Missouri.

Clemons accumulated 24 credit hours during a single 2002 summer semester at Barton County Community College. A dozen of those credit hours were for classes on the campus in Great Bend, the rest for correspondence or online courses from other institutions.

Horse racing

• Barbaro enjoyed a restful nap and a few crunchy treats Wednesday, another small step toward recovery from a shattered hind leg for the Kentucky Derby winner.

The 3-year-old bay colt broke bones above and below his ankle at the Preakness on Saturday, ending his Triple Crown bid and racing career.

Lacrosse

• In a show of solidarity with the Duke University men's lacrosse team, members of the school's women's team plan to wear sweatbands with the word "Innocent" written on them.

The university canceled the rest of the season for the highly ranked men's team because of a woman's complaint she was raped in March at a team party where she had been hired to strip.

The women's plan to wear sweatbands on their arms or legs was reported Wednesday by The Herald-Sun of Durham. The teams plays Northwestern in the NCAA semifinals Friday.

Soccer

• A day after straining his right hamstring in a lackluster 1-0 loss to Morocco, U.S. captain Claudio Reyna said the injury was minor.

Reyna had an MRI exam Wednesday before the Americans left for Cleveland, where they play Venezuela on Friday night, and the scan showed no damage.

The 32-year-old midfielder is among only seven players in this year's tournament appearing on a World Cup roster for the fourth time. In 1994, he missed the entire tournament because of a right hamstring injury.

-- From wire reports