KU opened the tournament with a 3-1 loss to UTEP. Dougie McCaulley went 2-for-3 to lead the Jayhawks (1-1).

Against Arizona, Liz Kocon drove in the go-ahead run in the fourth inning with a run-scoring single, giving KU a 2-1 lead. Six Jayhawks recorded a hit.

Val George tossed a four-hitter at the Wildcats, giving up an RBI single in the second. She struck out eight and walked four. Sarah Vertelka pitched into the sixth against UTEP, striking out six with a lone walk. Vertelka gave up seven hits and three earned runs.

Val Chapple and Sara Ramirez also had Jayhawk hits in the UTEP loss.

Kansas will play No. 9 Northwestern and No. 11 Stanford today.

2. EX-HORNET SIGNS WITH Royals: Former Emporia State Baseball player Eric Shortell has signed a minor league contract with the Kansas City Royals . Shortell will report for extended spring training with the Royals and likely will start the season with the Burlington Royals of the rookie league. Shortell broke the MIAA single-season home run record with 23 last season.

3. BARBEE LEADS KU GOLFERS: Kansas golfer Nate Barbee shot a final-round 73 and finished the Hawaii-Hilo Invitational in a tie for 69th with a 231 total Friday at the Mauna Resort North Course in Mauna Lani. Walt Koelbel was right behind with a 232 (tied for 72nd). The Jayhawks finished 15th with a 924 total. Southern California won with an 851 total.

MISCELLANEOUS

1. EX-KSU COACH GETS MARYLAND JOB: Maryland offensive coordinator James Franklin was named Thursday as the eventual successor to Ralph Friedgen, putting him in line to become the Terrapins' first black head football coach.

There is no specific timeline for how long the 37-year-old Franklin would be the coach-in-waiting; Friedgen has three years remaining on his contract and has not indicated that he is ready to step aside. Franklin was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Ron Prince for the 2006-07 seasons.

2. LEACH, TECH TALKS STALL: Contentious negotiations on a new contract for Texas Tech coach Mike Leach have stalled largely on questions of what happens if he tries to leave the Red Raiders.

Leach and his agents have taken issue with termination and buyout clauses and a provision that would trigger the coach's firing and a $1.5 million penalty if he interviewed for another job without permission, according to documents released by the school Friday.

3. MENARD WRECKS AT DAYTONA: Paul Menard started the first wreck of the 2009 NASCAR season. Menard, the pole-sitter for Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout, got sideways during practice Friday at Daytona International Speedway and crashed with rookie Scott Speed.

4. NHRA QUALIFYING RAINED OUT: Rain forced NHRA officials to cancel professional qualifying Friday at the season-opening Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway. The rain started in the morning and continued into the afternoon, the second straight day it has caused problems.

PROFESSIONAL SPORTS

1. LEBRON LOSES TRIPLE-DOUBLE: LeBron James never saw this steal coming.

Two days after Cleveland's superstar recorded an apparent historic triple-double in a 107-102 win against the New York Knicks, the NBA stripped James of one of his 10 rebounds after reviewing game tape. The league said the rebound with 39.3 seconds left should have been credited to Cavaliers center Ben Wallace, who tapped a loose ball that James grabbed.

2. BOBCATS RE-SIGN MARTIN: The Charlotte Bobcats will sign forward Cartier Martin to a second 10-day contract when his existing deal expires today.

Martin was signed two days after starting forward Gerald Wallace suffered a partially collapsed lung and broken rib against the Los Angeles Lakers.

3. D-BACKS SIGN GORDON: Relief pitcher Tom Gordon agreed Friday to a $500,000, one-year contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The 41-year-old right-hander was a member of last season's World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies.

4. WOLF, Dodgers AGREE: Pitcher Randy Wolf and the Los Angeles Dodgers agreed Friday to a $5 million, one-year contract. Wolf was a combined 12-12 with a 4.30 ERA last year with San Diego and Houston.

5. HILL, NATS GO TO ARBITRATION: Washington pitcher Shawn Hill became the first player in the major leagues to go to a salary arbitration hearing this year, asking a panel Friday to award him $775,000 rather than the team's $500,000 offer.

Staff and wire reports