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BREWERS BRAUN BRUISED

Milwaukee Brewers’ outfielder Ryan Braun bruised his right thumb in last night’s 6-to-5 exhibition loss to San Diego in Peoria Arizona. It happened in the first inning, when he tried to catch a line drive off the bat of Brian Giles – and Braun lost the ball in the lights. He was taken to a hospital for X-rays, and they turned up negative. The team says Braun is day-to-day with his contusion. It happened while he was still getting over a strained right rib-cage – an injury he may have to live with for awhile. Braun drove in a run in the top of the first. Mike Cameron hit an R-B-I triple. And Prince Fielder doubled and singled for the Brew Crew. Giles and Eliezer Alfonzo each hit solo home runs for the Padres – both off Milwaukee starter Braden Looper. He gave up four runs on seven hits in four innings. David Riske gave up a pair of run in two frames, as the Brewers fell to 18-10-and-3 in the Cactus League. Milwaukee will play the Arizona Diamondbacks this afternoon. Right-hander Dave Bush will make his final exhibition start. Third baseman Bill Hall is expected to return, after having a tooth removed yesterday.

BREWERS WILL KEEP HOT HITTING MCGEHEE

It looks like the Brewers will keep hot-hitting Casey McGehee on their regular season roster. That’s after the team decided yesterday to release veteran infielder Mike Lamb. McGehee literally earned a job during spring training. He’s hit .370 this spring with six homers and 15 R-B-I’s. General manager Doug Melvin says a final decision on McGehee has not been made yet. But with his spring numbers, manager Ken Macha says he could hardly let him go. McGehee played first, second, and third base this spring for Milwaukee – and he also caught in the minors. And he’d be the Brewers’ only other right-handed hitter on the bench besides catcher Mike Rivera. The Brewers won’t announce the roster move until Lamb decides whether to take an assignment at Triple-“A” Nashville, or get an out-right release. Lamb said he thought he played well enough to make the Brewers, and he says he deserves more than being some team’s “insurance policy.” Lamb batted .250 this spring with two homers and 12 R-B-I’s in 52 at-bats. Milwaukee signed him late last season, after Minnesota released him. The Brewers picked up the 26-year-old McGehee off waivers from the Chicago Cubs last fall. He hit .296 a year ago at Triple-“A” Iowa.

BUCKS GET LAKERS TONIGHT

The Milwaukee Bucks will host the Los Angeles Lakers tonight. Kobe Bryant-and-company have clinched the best record in the Western Conference at 58-and-16, but they’ve lost two straight. The Bucks are coming off a 1-and-3 road trip which ended with a rout at New Jersey on Monday night. Despite their injuries, the Bucks still have a good chance to win when they play unselfishly and pass the ball on offense. They had 27 assists against the Nets, the most in over a month. The Bucks had just 15 assists in a loss at Orlando last week, and 16 in a loss at Miami. Forward Richard Jefferson said he encouraged point guard Ramon Sessions to be more aggressive in Monday night’s contest – and both pass and shoot more. Sessions had eight assists, and Jefferson said it was the first time in awhile that everyone was hitting on all cylinders. The Bucks are 32-and-43, practically out of the playoff chase but not officially. They’re three-and-a-half games behind eighth-place Chicago with seven games left.

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A former Dane County high school basketball stand-out has been named the new men’s coach at Virginia Commonwealth University. Shaka Smart was hired yesterday to replace Anthony Grant, and he’ll be introduced at a news conference tomorrow. The 32-year-old Smart has just finished one season at Florida, where he was an assistant to Billy Donovan. He’ll inherit a V-C-U team that went 76-and-25 in three seasons under Grant, and will have all of its starters back except for point guard Eric Maynor. Grant was recently hired at Alabama. Smart was a starter for three years at Oregon High School, south of Madison. He made the all-Badger Conference team as a senior, and he broke the school records for assists in a game, season, and career. Smart played his college ball at Kenyon. He has also been an assistant coach at Akron, Dayton, and California of Pennsylvania.

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The Milwaukee Admirals will play at Quad City tonight. The Admirals became the first team in the American Hockey League to clinch a division title when they beat Chicago last Sunday. Mike Santorelli scored a hat trick in that game – but he won’t play for the Admirals tonight, because he’s been called up by the N-H-L’s Nashville Predators for the second time this season. Milwaukee is 45-20-3-and-6. Quad City is 31-30-6-and-7, in seventh place in the West Division. Meanwhile, the Admirals’ first two playoff games have been set for April 16th and 18th at the Bradley Center. The opponent has yet to be determined.

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The Wisconsin football team is using its spring practices in part to re-tool its offensive line. There will be three new players this fall, including both guards. Redshirt junior John Moffitt will take over the center spot, after moving there from a guard post last season. He says he’s trying to be a smarter player. And he’ll miss learning from the experience of last year’s senior guards Kraig Urbik and Andy Kemp. Meanwhile, Peter Konz got his first workout with the number-one offense yesterday, sharing time with Josh Oglesby at right tackle. Konz red-shirted last season, and he moved over from the defensive side. Coach Bret Bielema says Konz has shown some good things – and he wants to see exactly where he’ll fit in. Oglesby started three games at right tackle last year – but he had a hard time dealing with the speediest pass rushers.

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No criminal charges will be filed against former Wisconsin running back P-J Hill. He was given traffic citations yesterday for first-offense drunk driving, refusing to take a breathalyzer test, and driving without headlights for an incident March 14th in Madison. Hill is scheduled to appear in Dane County Circuit Court next Monday. The 22-year-old Hill is the third-leading rusher in Badger history, and he left after his junior year to join next month’s N-F-L Draft. Authorities said Hill’s car smashed into a guard rail at a convenience store. And after a short chase with police, the car hit a retaining wall at his apartment. Meanwhile, the O-W-I charge could become a second offense – with a possible five days in jail – if Hill is convicted of drunk driving in Arizona. He was arrested in Scottsdale in early March on charges that also included speeding and unsafe lane changes.

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A former girls’ basketball coach at Mukwonago High School was sentenced to two years and four months in prison for molesting a player. 58-year-old Todd Huth of Racine apologized at yesterday’s court proceeding. He pleaded no contest in Waukesha County last December to sexual assault of a student by a school staffer. Five other counts were dismissed in a plea bargain, including a charge from Kenosha County that involved the same victim. Prosecutors said Huth had sex with a 16-year-old girl in the summer of 2007 – and he reportedly told her she’d be cut from the team if she didn’t cooperate.