In Sports from United Press International

Royals hire Pena as manager

KANSAS CITY, May 15 (UPI) -- Tony Pena, the bench coach of the Houston Astros, on Wednesday was named to replace Tony Muser, who was fired on April 19 and was replaced on an interim basis by John Mizerock.

Pena promised changes on a team that is in fourth place in the American League Central with a 13-23 record, but will not make any hasty decisions.

"I need to see what I got before I can do anything," Pena said. "Any time you go into a house you need to find out what is wrong and then go from there."

Former New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks manager Buck Showalter, Mizerock and Bucky Dent, manager of the Royals' Triple-A affiliate in Omaha, were believed to be the other candidates to replace Muser, who was fired on April 29.

The 44-year-old Pena has been bench coach of the Astros after three seasons as manager of the team's top minor league affiliate in New Orleans. Pena has often been mentioned as a managerial candidate, and received a pledge of support from Astros owner Drayton McLane, a friend of Royals owner David Glass.

During his tenure at Triple-A New Orleans, Pena helped develop some of the Astros' pitching talent, including Roy Oswalt and Wade Miller.

General Manager Allard Baird has said that the Royals' future is tied to to its young pitchers such as Jeremy Affeldt, Miguel Asencio, Chris George and Dan Reichert.

"His success at understanding pitching was a key factor," Baird said.

While taking over a losing team, Pena sees plenty of potential.

"I went for the interview because I saw the talent in this organization," Pena added.

Pena was a five-time All-Star in a career with Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Boston, Cleveland, the Chicago White Sox and Houston, and Baird hopes that experience dealing with pitchers will benefit the Royals' young staff.

Pena, a native of the Dominican Republic, was a lifetime .260 hitter. In three seasons at New Orleans, Pena posted a 205-216 record as a manager and won a share of the Triple-A World Series in 2001.

The hiring of Pena is another setback for Showalter, who has been bypassed for several managerial openings. Showalter currently is an analyst for ESPN.

Kansas City was 5-8 under Mizerock, who will remain on Pena's staff.

Nets seek to qualify for East Finals

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., May 15 (UPI) -- In more than a quarter century in the NBA, the New Jersey Nets never have played in a conference final, but that will change if they beat the Charlotte Hornets Wednesday night in Game Five of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

The three other conference semifinal series all ended in five games.

The Nets can advance to a meeting with the Boston Celtics, who reached the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 14 years on Tuesday with a 90-81 victory over the Detroit Pistons.

The two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers advanced to the Western Conference finals for the third straight year with a

93-87 homecourt victory over the San Antonio Spurs. The Lakers will meet the Sacramento Kings, who eliminated the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.

The Nets can complete the foursome as well as the Hornets' 14-year era in Charlotte with a victory. The NBA has approved their proposed move to New Orleans.

Despite playing with a swollen eye from a collision with the Hornets' David Wesley in Game Three last Friday, Jason Kidd turned in another superb performance, making 11-of-14 foul shots to offset a poor night from the floor in which he made 6-of-23 shots and outplayed Baron Davis in the fourth quarter.

Only six teams have come back to win from 3-1 deficits. The most recent was in 1997 by Miami against the New York Knicks.

The Nets have won four straight home playoff games since losing to Indiana in Game One of the first round. Charlotte is 0-4 this season at New Jersey.

Game Seven for Avalanche, Sharks

DENVER, May 15 (UPI) -- The Colorado Avalanche hope to remain undefeated in Western Conference semifinal play Wednesday night when they host the San Jose Sharks in Game Seven.

Colorado is 5-0 in Western Conference semifinals. It is the fourth time in their last five playoff series, dating back to last season, that the Avalanche are playing a seventh game.

Since 1996, Colorado is 3-3 in Game Sevens, going 3-1 on home ice. The Avalanche have won their last three Game Sevens, which have all been a home, by a combined score of 12-2.

Colorado goaltender Patrick Roy has an 11-10 career record in elimination games. Roy has won his last five elimination games, posting a 1.84 goals-against average with three shutouts. He

has appeared in 232 playoff games, which ranks first on the all-time list.

Chris Drury has tallied the game-winning goal in two of the last three Game Sevens for the Avalanche.

The defending Stanley Cup champions pushed the series to a decisive game on Monday as Peter Forsberg tallied 2:47 of overtime for a 2-1 victory at San Jose. The goal was his fifth in the last six games and extended his points streak to seven contests. He also leads the league with 18 points in the playoffs.

San Jose, which has never advanced past the conference semifinals, is 3-1 in Game Sevens. Including the regular season, the Sharks have gone 4-1 at the Pepsi Center this season.

The winner visits top-seeded Detroit to begin the conference finals on Saturday.

Four football players at ND expelled from school

SOUTH BEND, Ind., May 15 (UPI) -- The quartet of current and former football players at Notre Dame University accused of rape by a campus coed are no longer enrolled at the school.

The four men are Donald Dykes, 22, a senior from Hammond, La., Lorenzo Crawford, 19, a sophomore from Prospect Park, N.J.; Abram Elam, 20, a sophomore from Riviera Beach, Fla.; and Justin Smith, 22, a fifth-year student from St. Petersburg, Fla.

Dykes had been scheduled to graduate on Sunday; Smith already had graduated but was taking graduate-level courses while playing last fall, and Elam and Crawford were seen as possible starters this year.

Criminal charges have yet to be filed in the case, but St. Joseph County Prosecutor Chris Toth has told the South Bend Tribune that decision likely will not be made until next week. He said he has one more critical interview to conduct before he makes a final decision.

The men are accused of raping a female student on March 28 at a house east of campus. According to the men's attorneys, the men deny raping the woman. The men had remained enrolled until their appeals were heard. Each one was denied by Notre Dame President Rev. Edward Malloy.

The attorney for one of the four said their expulsions from the school were permanent.

Notre Dame's campus policy states that a student may be subject to suspension or dismissal for violating the university's sexual misconduct policy. The university defines sexual misconduct as including, but not limited to, sexual intercourse without consent, unwelcome touching or other offensive behavior.

The 20-year-old accuser claims she was raped a house near a bar where she ran into the four. Apparently, they were all acquainted.

She claimed she went to the house after being told there was a party there. She said she discovered when she got there that there was no party. The Tribune report said the woman waited five days to seek treatment at a local hospital and nine days to contact police.

Also, the paper reported police have taken DNA samples from each of the four suspects, and a source close to the investigation said police collected a sheet stained with the female student's blood from the trunk of Smith's car.

Venus Williams withdraws in Rome

ROME, May 15 (UPI) -- World No.1 Venus Williams has been forced to withdraw from the Italian Open (singles and doubles) because of a new right wrist injury. It is unrelated to the wrist injuries Williams suffered in 2000.

The top seed for the $1.224 million event hurt her wrist while picking up a bag prior to her second round match against Anna Kournikova. It was aggravated during her practice session prior to Tuesday evening's match, when she consulted the Sanex WTA Tour Primary Health Care Provider and tournament doctor, Enrica Pastore.

"I did notice it at the time (of picking up the bag), but then I was okay. But right now the same symptoms and same pain I had then is the same that I'm having now," Williams said.

"No prognosis at this point. Hopefully it won't be serious. Hopefully I'll be able to practice soon."

Williams, who received a first-round bye, was replaced in the draw by lucky loser, Lilia Osterloh.

Her injury will be re-evaluated on-site by the Sanex WTA Tour Primary Health Care Provider and the tournament doctor by week's end.