Morning Headlines for April 4, 2011

Barrett Barnes went 2 for 5 with 2 home runs and 3 RBI as a Texas Tech rally in the late innings came up short to salvage the Sunday finale at No. 7 Oklahoma losing 8-5. Oklahoma sweeps the series and improves to 5-3 in the Big 12 and 22-6 overall while Tech suffers to 4-5 in the Big 12 with a 17-11 overall record.

Next time out for Texas Tech is a Tuesday doubleheader in San Angelo, TX as they face UTSA (11-18; 4-8 Southland) starting at 3 p.m.

Matt Harrison threw 7 innings giving up 1 run and Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz became the first pair of teammates to homer in the first 3 games to start a season in a 5-1 Rangers win over Boston to sweep the opening weekend series. Texas will host Seattle for a 3 game series starting today.

Roy Oswalt pitched six strong innings against his former team and Ryan Howard homered and drove in four runs to help the Philadelphia Phillies complete a season-opening, three-game sweep with a 7-3 win over the Houston Astros on Sunday.

Connecticut, the Big East Conference champion, can earn its third national title when it plays Butler out of the Horizon League in tonight's NCAA men's basketball championship. The eighth-seeded Bulldogs are in the championship game for the second straight year after losing to Duke last season.

No. 18 LCU Baseball swept a 4 game series against Arizona Christian winning a doubleheader Saturday 21-2 then 19-12. LCU is 27-8 overall and have won 7 in a row.

No. 22 Texas Tech Softball split a series with No. 14 Oklahoma winning Friday 5-0, then losing Saturday 7-6. Tech is 36-4 overall and 1-3 in the Big 12. They host Baylor for a 2 game series starting Wednesday afternoon.

LCU Softball over the weekend swept Mid America Christian winning both games 8-0. The Lady Chaps improve to 29-6 on the season.

After two upsets in the women's Final Four, it's Notre Dame and Texas A&M in Tuesday night's NCAA women's championship. Skylar Diggins scored 28 and the Irish upset the UConn women 72-63 after the Aggies earned their first title trip by rallying from 10 down to nip Stanford 63-62 on Tyra White's go-ahead layin with 3.2 seconds left.

Phil Mickelson warmed up for this week's Masters by firing a final-round 7-under 65 to win the Houston Open by finishing 20 under par. Lefty is the last player to win the week prior to a Masters victory, capturing the BellSouth Classic in 2006 before earning his second green jacket at Augusta.

Last night in the NBA, Portland upended road weary Dallas 104-96, Houston defeated Atlanta 114-109, and San Antonio broke their 5 game losing streak by beating Phoenix 114-97.

Kevin Harvick passed Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the lead and held on to win at Martinsville Speedway. Earnhardt had taken over the lead with 20 laps to go but Harvick was closing quickly, and pulled onto Earnhardt's bumper with four laps to go. He made his pass in the second turn. Earnhardt tried to get the lead back, but conceded as they rounded the fourth turn.
Harvick sailed away for his second consecutive victory. Following the front two was Kyle Busch in third.