Facilities: Baylor University unveiled its new tennis center when it hosted the 2001 Big 12 Conference Men's and Women's Tennis Championships. The facility is part of the Jim and Julie Turner Riverfront Athletic Park, and it includes six individual outdoor courts, each separated by a short fence. Chairback seating for 1,268 tennis patrons overlooks the courts from the north, and berms at each end of the complex allow the stadium to hold 1,500 fans at capacity. Opposite the seats is a team clubhouse that will contain a pro shop, training rooms, meeting rooms, public and team locker rooms and coaches' offices. It also will include office space and locker rooms for Baylor's softball team. The school expects a June 2001 completion date for the clubhouse ... Miami University (Ohio) broke ground on its new baseball stadium May 5, and construction on the $3.7 million facility began in earnest after the final 2001 home game May 8 against Wright State University. Within the coming weeks, the existing McKie Field will be demolished and the new ballpark will be built on the same site. The new facility will feature several amenities for both players and spectators. The park, which will seat about 1,000 fans, will have improved sightlines, a picnic area, protected bullpen areas, enclosed batting tunnels, fully equipped dugouts, an alumni/VIP suite, a new state-of-the-art press box and a natural turf field with underground drainage and irrigation systems. The project, which is scheduled for completion in January 2002, is being funded entirely through alumni gifts and local funds ... Part of Northern Illinois University's $1.1 million renovation of 31,000-seat Huskie Stadium includes installation of the FieldTurf "filled" system, featuring a loose laid mixture of sand and recycled rubber within a fiber mat that rests on a compacted sub-grade of free draining rock and an underground drainage system. The FieldTurf system features individual 2 1/2-inch-long polyethylene blended fiber grass blades surrounded by a specially formulated mixture of sand and rubber granules. The turf also has been installed at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln; the University of Washington; the University of Cincinnati; and the University of Tulsa.

Milestones: Furman University men's tennis coach Paul Scarpa became only the fourth college tennis head coach to reach 700 wins with the Paladins' 4-1 victory over East Tennessee State University in the Southern Conference Tennis Championships. Scarpa is in his 35th year at Furman and 38th season and boasts an overall record of 700-422 (664-403 at Furman). Scarpa spent his first three seasons as head coach at Florida State University and the U.S. Naval Academy. Scarpa's accomplishments have earned him induction into the South Carolina Tennis and Furman Athletic Halls-of-Fame ... Valparaiso University baseball coach Paul Twenge won his 400th career game April 29 when his Crusaders downed Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, 13-4. Twenge, in his 20th season as a coach, has guided Valparaiso the past 14 years.

Miscellaneous: The Eastern College Athletic Conference has announced the creation of the ECAC Bowl Game, which will match the regular-season football champions from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and the Northeast Conference (NEC). The first ECAC Bowl Game will be played December 1, 2001. The site will rotate annually between the two conferences. The site of the 2001 ECAC Bowl will be determined at a later date. The ECAC Bowl Game was conducted from 1993 to 1997 as the season-ending game for the now defunct Intercollegiate Football Conference, which was composed of many of the MAAC and NEC members. The MAAC Football League, which began play in 1993, is composed of Canisius College, Duquesne University, Fairfield University, Iona College, La Salle University, Marist College, St. Peter's College and Siena College. The Northeast Conference Football League, which started play in 1996, is composed of State University of New York at Albany, Central Connecticut State University, Monmouth University, Robert Morris College, Sacred Heart University, St. Francis University (Pennsylvania), St. John's University (New York), State University of New York at Stony Brook and Wagner College ... The Ohio Valley Conference has announced that Host Communications, Inc., will serve as the exclusive sales agent for the league. The three-year agreement means that Host will facilitate various sales efforts for the conference, including corporate partnerships, title sponsorship sales for the postseason basketball championships, inventory sales for radio and television assets, signage at selected conference championships, as well as advertising sales for the league's Internet site and print publications ... John York and Denise DeBartolo York, who head the DeBartolo Corp. and San Francisco 49ers, have donated $500,000 to Youngstown State University's intercollegiate athletics program. The gift is the largest single gift in school history, and it is being directed to women's sports. "It is a milestone in women's athletics, and it puts Youngstown State at the forefront," said Paul McFadden, the university's development director. Interest earned on the gift will be used to support special projects or purchase equipment in the women's athletics program. Youngstown State offers 10 intercollegiate sports for women. "We've watched how the sports really help the women develop," DeBartolo York said. "We wanted to do something that showed our recognition of our enjoyment of the women's sports and what we think women's sports mean to the entire community. I think it builds women's confidence, both academically and socially, and that's why we designated to that program."

-- Compiled by Gary T. Brown