Sports briefs 6/1/04

Baseball

Mark Prior will make his first start with the Chicago Cubs on Friday after spending the first two months of the season on the disabled list. Prior, who's been sidelined with an inflamed right Achilles' tendon and sore right elbow, was impressive in his third rehab start Sunday when he allowed three hits and two runs while striking out 10 in 5 1-3 innings for Triple-A Iowa.

College

Texas was selected Monday as the top seed for the 64-team Division I college baseball tournament, and the Southeastern Conference received a record nine berths. The Longhorns (50-13) will host one of 16 four-team, double-elimination regionals that begin Friday. The other national seeds, in order, are: South Carolina (45-15), Miami (44-11), Georgia Tech (41-19), Stanford (44-12), Rice (43-12), Arizona State (40-16) and Arkansas (39-21). Those schools would face each other only if they made the College World Series. The nine SEC schools are: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

Golf

Hale Irwin survived a grueling week and a challenge from the Champions Tour's newest player to win his fourth Senior PGA Championship. Hale Irwin birdied the 18th hole to win the weather-plagued Senior PGA Championship event by one stroke over Jay Haas on Monday. Irwin led after each round at Valhalla Golf Club and finished at 8-under 276. He will turn 59 on Thursday and was the oldest winner of the tournament since Pete Cooper won in 1976 at age 61. Haas, playing in his first senior event after turning 50 in December, missed a 10-foot birdie putt on 18 as co-leader Irwin watched from the fairway.

David Toms shot a 2-over-par 73 Sunday and finished with a six-stroke victory over Bob Estes at the St. Jude Classic. Toms finished with a 16-under 268.

Annika Sorenstam shot a 4-under-par 68 for a two-stroke victory over third-round leader Michelle Estill and Vicki Goetze-Ackerman at the Corning Classic on Sunday. Sorenstam finished at 18-under 270. Estill finished with a 71, and Goetze-Ackerman had a 67.

Hockey

Nikolai Khabibulin was again at his best when the Lightning are in trouble, staying undefeated following a loss in carrying Tampa Bay to a series-tying 1-0 victory over the Calgary Flames in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup final Monday night. Brad Richards scored during a two-man advantage in the opening three minutes, and Khabibulin made the all-important goal stand up by tying Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff with his fifth playoff shutout this spring.

Tennis

Gustavo Kuerten moved one round closer to his fourth French Open title Monday with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Feliciano Lopez for a berth in the quarterfinals. Marat Safin's wild run at Roland Garros ended when he lost to No. 8-seeded David Nalbandian 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3. No. 12-seeded Lleyton Hewitt reached the quarterfinals for the second time when he beat Xavier Malisse 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 (6). Hewitt's next opponent will be unseeded Gaston Gaudio, who beat Igor Andreev 6-4, 7-5, 6-3.

-- From wire reports