The Enquirer and wire reports

Junior Mike Ferris, a Colerain High graduate, belted his single-season, school-record 20th home run in the Miami RedHawks' 13-6 victory over Otterbein on Tuesday in Oxford. Ferris eclipsed the record of 19 set by Michael Carlin.

Junior catcher John Slone (St. Xavier) extended his Mid-American Conference season-best hitting streak to 22 games and stole his 50th career base for MU (29-16).

BO REUNION ROAST: Miami will honor one of its living legends with a Bo Schembechler Reunion Roast this weekend. There will be several events culminating with the roast at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the Shriver Center. A 1951 MU graduate, Schembechler earned two letters as an offensive tackle in football and two as a pitcher in baseball (1949-50). He later coached at Miami and Michigan.

Horse racing

PREAKNESS: Smarty Jones' popularity keeps growing as his story is told over and over again: He's a Pennsylvania-bred who nearly died when he slammed his head on an iron bar; his trainer (John Servis) and jockey (Stewart Elliott) are based at small-time Philadelphia Park; and his owners refused a blank check to sell him.

Now he's the first unbeaten Kentucky Derby winner since Seattle Slew in 1977, with a chance to win the Preakness and enter the Belmont Stakes with a shot at becoming the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978. Smarty Jones is expected to head a field of 10 3-year-olds for Saturday's middle jewel of the Triple Crown at Pimlico.

Others expected to be entered today include Borrego, Eddington, Imperialism, Lion Heart, Little Matth Man, Rock Hard Ten, Sir Shackleton, The Cliff's Edge and Water Cannon. Post positions will be drawn at 5 p.m. today (ESPN).

"He's ready to run," Servis said after Tuesday's gallop. "Being alongside the pony, he knows he's getting ready to race. He's got his game face on."

Tennis

ITALIAN OPEN: Serena Williams won her first match after a month off with a knee injury, beating Maria Sanchez Lorenzo 7-5, 6-3 to reach the third round in Rome. Williams, who received a first-round bye, looked rusty.

HAMBURG MASTERS: Top-ranked Roger Federer beat to Gaston Gaudio 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, but five seeded players were eliminated in the first round.

Colleges

EX-BENGAL IN HALL: Former Bengals tight end Dan Ross and Washington Redskins defensive back Darrell Green head a list of six players and three coaches from small-division schools selected for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind. Joining Ross, who played at Northeastern, and Green, who played at Texas A&I - Texas A&M-Kingsville - are John Hopkins wide receiver William Stromberg, Westminster back Harold Davis, Huron running back Garney Henley and Marshall back Jackie Hunt.

BLOOM CASE: Colorado congressman Mark Udall is asking the NCAA to allow CU's Jeremy Bloom to play college football while collecting money for ski endorsements to train for the 2006 Olympics.

SYRACUSE: Say goodbye to the Orangemen - and the Orangewomen. Syracuse University's athletic teams will be known simply as the Orange and have the same logo, an interlocking SU.