Sports Round-Up by Paul Beitler

Woodward drives in two runs to help Chanticleers kick off road swing
SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Designated hitter Scott Woodward drove in two runs with a hit and sacrifice fly to help the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers open a five-game West Coast road trip with an 8-3 victory over the University of San Diego on Tuesday afternoon at Cunningham Stadium.
The Chanticleers, who are ranked 23rd in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll, have one more game today against San Diego before facing Pepperdine in a three-game series running Friday through Sunday.
Woodward, a senior from Markle and a 2007 graduate of Norwell High School, came into the week leading off the Chanticleers’ lineup with a .346 batting average. He had 18 hits, five doubles, one home run and five runs batted in, plus 12 walks. He had been hit by a pitch seven times and had successfully stolen 12 of 13 bases. He also was sporting a perfect fielding percentage as a center fielder.
Tommy La Stella was 3 for 5 with three RBI and pitcher Matt Rein did not allow an earned run over his five innings on the mound. The Chanticleers (12-5) and Toreros (4-10) will play the second of their two-game set today.
Rein (2-1) got a rare start after not pitching this past weekend. He scattered three hits and a walk to allow two unearned runs while striking out four. Jordan Coons retired all six batters he faced, including a strike out, while Aaron Burke worked the final two innings, allowing four hits and one run while striking out two.
In addition to La Stella’s three hits, Coastal’s offense was helped by Jacob May, Daniel Bowman and Rich Witten each getting two hits and May also added two RBIs.

Purdue suspends Barlow for season
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Purdue sophomore guard Kelsey Barlow has been suspended for the remainder of the season for conduct detrimental to the team.
The school made the announcement on Tuesday.
It’s a blow for a team that had lost two straight heading into the NCAA tournament. Purdue, the No. 3 seed in the Southwest Region, will face No. 14 seed Saint Peter’s on Friday in second-round action.
Purdue coach Matt Painter has called Barlow one of the best perimeter defenders in the Big Ten conference. Painter said the situation was disappointing, but the team would move forward.

Squires softball league forms sent
Registration forms for the Markle Norwell Squires Girls’ Softball League have been sent home with all girls at Ossian and Lancaster elementary schools and Norwell Middle School. Forms also may be downloaded online at www.NorwellKnightsSoftball.com. Forms should be returned to Norwell head coach Scott Hanni at Norwell Middle School. Forms need to be completed by April 1. For questions, contact Hanni at Scott.Hanni@nwcs.k12.in.us or league president Doug Denney at dtank23@frontier.com.

Lowe steps down at NC State
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Sidney Lowe resigned as coach at North Carolina State, ending a frustrating five-year run in which he failed to lead the Wolfpack to the NCAA tournament.
Lowe had an 86-78 overall record, but just 25-55 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. He inherited a program coming off five straight NCAA tournament trips, but he never finished higher than ninth in the ACC despite twice being picked to finish in the top third of the 12-team league.

Cardinals’ pitcher retires
JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — Ian Snell decided to retire at age 29 after the St. Louis Cardinals optioned him to the minors.
The right-hander signed a minor league deal in January after going 0-5 with 6.41 ERA in 12 games, eight of them starts, for the Seattle Mariners last season. Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said Snell decided to quit before Tuesday’s spring game against the Atlanta Braves.
The Cardinals had anticipated Snell starting the season at Triple-A Memphis.The move leaves them with 42 healthy players in camp.

NHL to enforce tighter rules
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — NHL general managers have decided against recommending a ban on head shots to curb concussions. Instead, they will propose tighter enforcement of rules on charging and boarding.
The general managers also will propose longer suspensions for illegal head hits and repeat offenders.
Following a second day of meetings to discuss concussions, general managers also decided against rule revisions that would slow the game.
A rise in head injuries this season, including two recent high-profile cases, put the issue at the top of the GMs’ agenda. But Commissioner Gary Bettman said the group decided a ban on all head shots would be too radical a response.