The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 69

taturtUy. hrfy 16 1W4 THE TENNESSEAN SPORTS A.M. COMPILED FROM STAFF, WIRE REPORTS BY PAUL DOMEIER Nets' Coleman investigated Detroit police are investigating a woman's allegation that New Jersey Nets star Derrick Coleman raped her yesterday in a downtown hotel room after she rejected his sexual advances. Coleman denied the charge. Tm here to enjoy a family reunion," he said as he left the Westin HoteL "Allegations have been made against me.

I gave the police a statement" RUDY CLEARED Harris County prosecutors yesterday threw out a drunken driving charge against Houston Rockets Coach Rudy Tomjanovich because of insufficient evidence. Tomjanovich was arrested early Wednesday in West University Place, an affluent Houston enclave. But the Harris County District Attorney's office dropped the charge Friday. GOODWILL CHANGE: Corey Beck will replace Arkansas teammate Corliss Williamson on the 1994 USA Men's Goodwill Games basketball team because of Williamson's injury. Knights to host experiment New Nashville Knights owner Richard Adler said 5 an experimental International Hockey League exhibi-; ition game between San Diego and new IHL champion Atlanta would be played Sept 24 at Municipal Auditorium.

He said the exhibition would experiment with four 12-minute quarters (rather than the usual -tthree 20-minute periods), a 15-minute intermission and no center-ice red line. "We've been talking to SportSouth for the possibili-. ity of TV," he said. Adler also announced that Mark Miller of Michi- would be Nashville's radio announcer, and said ithe list of coaching candidates for the Knights has ibeen narrowed to four and that an announcement would be made later this month. HAROLD HUGGING PROBERT IN CRASH Detroit Red Wings forward Bob Probert was in stable condition with bruises and scratches after being thrown from his motorcycle during a collision with a car in West Bloomfield Township, Mich.

I SECOND HOME Wayne Huizenga wants his Florida Panthers and the Miami Heat which now play at the downtown Miami Arena, to switch some a games to an arena he plans at Blockbuster Park, a i huge complex in nearby Miramar, Fla. LIGHTNING STRIKES Hillsborough County have approved a 30-year contract paving the way for construction to begin on a perma-v nent home in Tampa, for the Lightning. Little consolation in third The players hate it The game has little significance except that it brings extra revenue for soccer authorities. On the eve of the title match, the playoff for third place is the most anti-climatic game of the World Cup. This time, coaches of Sweden and Bulgaria, the two losing semifinalists who will contest today's match for third place in Pasadena, see some value in the game.

"We could be looking at the early edition of the 1996 European Championship final," Swedish Coach Tommy Svensson said. BAGGIO IFFY Roberto Baggio said yesterday that he still felt twinges of pain in his right hamstring but expected to play for Italy in the World Cup final against Brazil on Sunday. ALL-STAR TEAM FIFA announced its first World Cup All-Star team yesterday. Brazil had four members; Italy and Bulgaria had two apiece. U.S.

defender Alexi Lalas was one of nine players to receive honorable mention. BOOKMAKING DISASTER Sunday World Cup final between Brazil and Italy is not a match made in heaven for the bookies who took future bets on the tournament "This is the World Cup final from hell," said Graham Sharpe, spokesman for William Hill in Britain. "It is a nightmare final which will cost us 1.5 million pounds $2.25 million, whoever wins." Carner challenging again JoAnne Carner, the LPGA Hall of Famer who hasn't won a tournament in almost a decade, shot a 4-under-par 67 yesterday and took a twoshot lead midway through the $650,000 JAL Big Apple Classic in New Rochelle, N.Y. Another Hall of Famer, Pat Bradley, matched earner's 67 and was at 137. Dale Eggeling was also two strokes back after a 68.

SENIOR TIE J.C Snead, winner of only one senior event in five years, and Marion Heck, a true unknown, blistered par by seven strokes yesterday, turning in 65s to grab a share of the first-round lead in the $750,000 Ameritech Senior Open in Aurora, 111. STAYING HOT Mike Sullivan birdied his last two holes yesterday for a 3-under-par 69 to move to 9-under 135 and remain atop the leaderboard of the Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic in Madison, Miss. AP Jim Courier fires a backhand shot in his straight-set, David Cup victory against Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands yesterday. U.S. takes 2-rout lead Pete Sampras and Jim Courier were in dominating form yesterday as the United States took command of its Davis Cup quarterfinal against the Netherlands in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Courier beat Richard Krajicek 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 and Sampras routed Jacco Eltingh 6-2, 6-2, 6-0 to give the Americans a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five match competition. The United States can eliminate the Dutch today with a victory in doubles. Americans Richey Rene-berg and Jared Palmer will play the Dutch pair of Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis. MOVING ON Third-seeded MaliVai Washington and fifth-seeded Wally Masur reached the semifinals of the U.S. Pro Tennis Championships with straight-set victories yesterday in Brookline, Mass.

USTA 16S DRAW The draw for the 128-player USTA Boys 16s clay court tennis tournament will be posted at noon today at host Belle Meade Club. Brentwood's Andy Crews, Memphis' David Froschauer and Athens' Brad Emendorfer are the lone Tennesseans in the draw. Play begins tomorrow at 8 a.m. at Belle Meade and Maryland Farms. Camps have spots remaining Enrollment is open for three remaining Vanderbilt Baseball Camps.

Hitting and Defense Camp will be in the mornings Monday through Thursday and costs $75. The Pitching and Catching Camp runs the I same days in the afternoons and also costs $75. The 3 Full Day Camp will be held July 25-29 and costs $150, including lunch each day. All three camps are -open to players ages 8-17. Call 322-4123 to register or 1 for more information.

1 GOOD SPORT Douglas Gregory has been named winner of the Donruss Baseball Cards Sports- manship Award for 1994 by the Greater Nashville Amateur Baseball Association. Gordon on provisional pole Robby Gordon broke the Penske stranglehold on the IndyCar series, at least temporarily, setting a track qualifying record yesterday on the way to winning the provisional pole for Sunday's Toronto Mol-son-Indy. Indurain pads Tour lead Leader Miguel Indurain rolled steadily towards a fourth straight Tour de France title yesterday at Luz Ardiden, France, in the 12th stage. Indurain finished more than seven minutes behind the stage winner, Richard Virenque of France Tony Rominger of Switzerland, Indurain's main rival, was more than three minutes farther back and is 7:56 behind. Jet ski races to start today The Budweiser Championship Jet Ski Races are to-f day and tomorrow at Hermitage Landing resort on i Percy Priest Lake.

Registration is 9-1 1 a.m. today and 7-9 a.m. tomorrow. Devers out of Goodwill Gail Devers, the 1992 Olympic 100-meter champion, has withdrawn from the Goodwill Games later this month because of an injured left leg. CHRISTIE HURT World and Olympic champion Linford Christie pulled up clutching his right hamstring yesterday as Joe Drummond won the 100-meter dash in 10.03 seconds at the TSB Games Grand Prix meet in London.

3 Carbajal back in a belt Michael Carbajal's relentless pursuit of the WBO junior-flyweight title paid off last night when he powered his way to a unanimous decision over Josue "Dickie" Camacho of Puerto Rico in Phoenix. There are race divisions for men, women, 14-18-year-olds, veterans (over-50) and novices, as well as for modified and stock jet skis. Events in each class are freestyle, slalom, closed course and drag racing. Entry fee is $35. Team barnstorms Tullahoma The RitchSuperior TPS barnstorming slow-pitch softball team will be in Tullahoma today and Sunday at the Worth NIT in Tullahoma.

Saenz carries Nashville to victory over Louisville No relief: Bullpen could make, break Braves 3 against leities if switch-hitting Terry Pendleton gets healthy. Bill Pecota has been playing there and hitting only .208, the reason Cox has turned to rookie Jose Oliva. Pendleton is hitting just .240, but .271 from the right side of the plate. If Pendleton is unable to come back, the Braves would likely stick with Oliva. The final question is can this team build a lead and hold it? That's something the Braves have never been able to do.

Even in 1992, when they had a 10 '2 -game lead in September, they watched the Reds knock off six games in 10 days. The key will likely be the bullpen, considering that with a strong performance in that area, the Braves probably would have won 60 games in the first half. er who could help them in the postseason. For a player to be eligible for the playoffs, he must be on the roster before Sept 1. Since coming to the Braves, Schuerholz has always made some sort of second-half deal to help them.

In 1991 it was Alejandro Pena, then Jeff Reardon in 1992 and McGriff last year. Offensively, the Braves don't need any help. They hit .273 in the first half and are second in the league in home runs with 99. They do need to improve against left-handers. They've gone 10-11 against them so far, and the Expos have three lefties in their rotation.

But what will help against lefties is the return of the right-handed-hitting Mike Kelly, who will start in left instead of Dave Gallagher, hitting just .226. They also should fare better saves but has blown seven. The rest of the relievers have often been shaky. Perhaps the pitcher with the most potential to contribute more than he has is righthander Mark Wohlers. Unlike the others, he has the overpowering fastball to become a closer along the lines of John Wetteland or the Lee Smith of a few years ago.

The question is, will manager Bobby Cox ever put him in the late spot? General manager John Schuer-holz can't afford to wait too long to deal if his bullpen continues to slump. The trading deadline is July 31. In any deal after that the player would have to clear waivers, meaning another club could block it Also, if there is a strike, and if it lasts long enough, it could keep the Braves from obtaining a play Staff Report LOUISVILLE Olmedo Saenz's bases-loaded double in the ninth inning helped the Nashville Sounds hold on for a 13-9 win at Louisville last night, despite a six-run seventh by the Redbirds. The two-out, two-bagger by Saenz capped a two-homer, six-RBI night for the third baseman as the Sounds evened their record at 1-1 in the four-game series. Nashville scored in five of the first six innings including a five-run fourth to build a 10-3 lead, but Louisville racked four different Sounds pitchers in the seventh to cut its deficit to one run.

Pitching the final 2y3 innings, Atlee Hammaker earned his third save while preserving the victory for Steve Olsen (2-0), who worked six-plus innings before departing. Louisville starter Paul Anderson (4-1) took the loss. had held every day from the opener until last Sunday. In the past three seasons, the Braves have won 68.1 of their games in the second half. Also, their rotation is healthy and should be much better in the second half.

It's incredible to think that they won 52 games despite John Smoltz being 6-9, Steve Avery winning once since May 20 and Tom Glavine having a 4.20 ERA. The bullpen probably can't be much worse than it was in the first half, when it had a collective 4.31 ERA. No pitcher that has taken the closer's role and run with it the way Greg McMichael did in the final two months last year. This year McMichael has 18 Saenz had two of Nashville's four home runs Ray Durham added a solo shot in the third and Domingo Martinez one in the fifth. NEW COACH: Dewey Robinson joined the Sounds yesterday as the team's pitching coach.

Robinson was replaced as bullpen coach for the Chicago White Sox by Rick Peterson, who began the season as the Sounds pitching coach; he succeeds Kirk Champion and Don Cooper in the rotating position. HOWITT'S BACK: Outfielderfirst baseman Dann HowitC is expected to join the Sounds for pie third time this season after being sent down by the Sox yesterday when the team re-activated second baseman Joey Cora from the disabled list Reynolds determined to make up lost ground fi) Jj EVEN PARKED, IT'S UNPARALLELED. afe One of the grandest battles NEW 1994 E320 SEDAN Mike Reynolds has slipped from first to third in the championship standings at Nashville Raceway, and he says it's time to start playing catchup. "We've been kind of spinning our wheels here lately and it's becoming said Reynolds, who will be trying to get back on track In tonight's 50-lap Late Model Stock Car feature. The event highlights a ever to.

take place on AC Jfr American soil continues. The goal: The final battle on July 17 in Pasadena. As the games play on, full schedule of racing that starts at 7:30 p.m. Andy Kirby, winner of the past two races, holds the division points lead (554) over Joe Buford (549). Reynolds has 488 points, followed by Jerry Coble (482) and Tony Formosa Jr.

(432). Kirby and Buford have been the two hottest drivers on the track in recent weeks. "I don't think they're getting ttat much better; I think I've been feet-ting worse," Reynolds said. "We've had some bad luck with a couple of crashesTbut we've not been making any luck for ourselves either. 'It's time to stop tiptoeing around.

I've got to run as hard as I can." A full schedule of racing Is set for Highland Rim Speedway in Ridge-top, also starting at 7:30. In the Rim's Late Model Stock Car points race, Bo Miller leads veteran James Climer by 14. 2 the 511 Network will 137291 meor Jts LEASE TheTennesseanS Nashville Banner Present cover every pass, shot and save of the 1994 World Cup competition. Just dial category code 47 on the 5 11 Network. It's Your Connection to the World and the INCLUDES! FREE RT TRANSPORTATION FREE ADMISSION FREE ALl-yOU-CAN-EAT STEAK BUFFET FREE $10 IN TOKENS WITH PURCHASE OF $40 IN TOKENS Wll TDCATuChIT MIDDLE TENNESSEE MOTOR CARS, INC.

AUTHORIZED MERCEDES-BENZ DEALER 10 DISCOUNT IN Gin SHOP ff rvrnr 42 month doMd nd Imm Total Hum at incapMn S6526 85 Total of payments 120 984 04 Option to putcnsM at MM nO $23,636 25 Based on 10.000 miM pat yaar 20 par (Ma panalty tor 1ft 5000 mwt and 25c aach additional nwa. Ptu tax. wta 1 tags, wrtfi approvad craort through MercadavBam Credit Corporation 535 Murfreesboro Rd. at Fesslers Lane Charges made to your monthly World CuP-phone bill. For more information call 242-5511.

742-8000.