Sports briefs for April 27, 2005

Wednesday, April 27, 2005 | 10:49 a.m.

51s hold on for series split with Sacramento

Cody Ross' three-run double in the sixth inning opened up a four-run lead for Las Vegas and enabled the 51s to earn a 5-4 win at Sacramento Tuesday.

The 51s (9-9) split a four-game series against the River Cats.

Before Ross' double, things looked much better for Sacramento. River Cats starter Jimmy Serrano retired the first 13 Las Vegas batters, and Dan Johnson's RBI single in the first inning gave Sacramento a 1-0 lead in front of 7,487 home fans.

Heath Totten's recent resurgence continued as he pitched another strong seven-inning start. He gave up five hits but just the one run while striking out six Sacramento batters.

The River Cats rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Shawn Garrett and RBI singles from Fred Bynum and Jermaine Clark. But with two runners on and the tying run on second base, Matt Watson flied out to end the game.

Franquelis Osoria earned his second save of the year.

After an off day today, the 51s will travel down the Central Valley for a four game series at Fresno.

Matt Wagner got the start for UNLV (20-23) and was the losing pitcher, giving up three runs in two innings of work as head coach Buddy Gouldsmith used seven different pitchers.

UConn expels player

Connecticut freshman point guard Antonio Kellogg has been expelled from the school and granted a special form of probation on charges stemming from two recent arrests. Kellogg, 19, was in court today on charges including attempting to assault a police officer. Kellogg played about 14 minutes a game last season and averaged a little more than three points.

Belgian banned

Xavier Malisse, a 24-year-old Belgian who reached the semifinals of Wimbledon three years ago, was banned from playing tennis on the men's professional tour for a month after he threw a ball at an official, smashed his racket and kicked a chair last month at the Nasdaq-100 Open in Miami. Malisse, ranked 36th in the world, was also fined $6,000 and may be given a further four-week suspension if he repeats his behavior this year. -- Sun wire services