Sports FYI
BY Staff and Wire reports
Friday, February 01, 2013
2/01/13 at 2:58 AM
Baseball
OU's Overton nabs preseason honor: Oklahoma junior left-handed pitcher Dillon Overton has been named to Baseball America's 2013 preseason All-America third team.
Overton was one of five Big 12 players to garner preseason All-America recognition from Baseball America.
Overton earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors in 2012 after ranking second in the conference in strikeouts (126) and innings pitched (122 2/3). He went 6-3 with a 3.15 ERA over 22 appearances, including 16 starts. The Weatherford native owns a career record of 14-7 and a career ERA of 2.83, fanning 185 over 45 appearances and 197 innings pitched. He garnered first-team freshman All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper after going 8-4 with a 2.30 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 2011.
Prado signs contract extension with Arizona: The Arizona Diamondbacks have agreed to a $40 million, four-year contract with Martin Prado just a week after acquiring the former All-Star infielder in the trade that sent Justin Upton to Atlanta.
Prado made the All-Star team as the Braves' second baseman in 2010 but is slated to play at third base for the Diamondbacks.
The 29-year-old infielder is a career .295 hitter. Arizona sent two-time All-Star Upton and third baseman Chris Johnson to the Braves for Prado, right-hander Randall Delgado and three minor leaguers.
Tennis
Isner leads U.S. Davis Cup team: John Isner is set to return from a knee injury and will play the No. 1 singles spot for the U.S. team against Brazil in the first round of Davis Cup World Group matches.
Isner injured his knee a month ago at the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia, playing with Venus Williams. He withdrew in his opening match the following week at the APIA International Sydney and hasn't played competitively since.
Isner's presence in the lineup is key to the Americans' hopes of beating Brazil and advancing to the quarterfinals in April against the winner of the Serbia-Belgium. Isner is the 13th-ranked player in the world, the best ranking of any of the four singles players competing in Friday's opening match.
He will meet Brazil's Thiago Alves, ranked No. 145 in the second singles match on Friday. The opening match pits the United States' Sam Querrey (No. 22) against Brazil's top player, Thomaz Bellucci (No. 33). It's the first meeting for the players in both matches.
TU women down Wichita State: The No. 23-ranked Tulsa women's team earned a 6-1 victory over Wichita State in a nonconference matchup at TU's Michael D. Case Tennis Center. Tulsa improved to 4-1 on the season, while the Shockers fell to 2-4.
Hockey
Prospective owner can't complete deal to buy Coyotes: An NHL official has told The Associated Press that the prospective owner of the Phoenix Coyotes is unable to complete his purchase of the team before a lease agreement deal with the City of Glendale expires.
Greg Jamison will issue a statement saying he can't meet the deadline but still hopes to buy the team, the official said on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the situation.
Jamison had until midnight Thursday to complete his purchase of the Coyotes from the NHL under terms of a 20-year, $308 million lease agreement with Glendale for Jobing.com Arena.
New Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers has said he will not extend the lease deal, opening up the possibility of other potential bidders to compete with Jamison to buy the team.
Soccer
Beckham signs with French team: David Beckham pledged to donate his salary to a children's charity after signing a five-month contract with French Ligue 1 powerhouse Paris-Saint Germain, the latest stop on his globe-trotting career.
The 37-year-old former England captain joined PSG after turning down several other offers and pledging to effectively play for free.
