Sports in brief

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Football

Beavers’ Andersen adds assistants — Oregon State University head football coach Gary Andersen announced the appointments of Kalani Sitake, Chad Kauha’aha’a, Derrick Odum, Ilaisa Tuiaki and T.J. Woods to assistant football coaching positions on Tuesday. Andersen also announced the addition of Evan Simon as the football team’s strength and conditioning coach. All appointments are contingent on Oregon State University’s Administration and Human Resources’ approval. Sitake will serve as Andersen’s assistant head coach/defensive coordinator; the same capacity he held for the 2012-14 seasons at Utah. Kauha’aha’a will serve on the Beavers’ defensive coaching staff after spending the 2013 and ’14 seasons at Wisconsin as the defensive line coach. Odum will also be a member of OSU’s defensive staff after spending the past seven seasons as the safeties coach at SMU. Tuiaki was also added after being the defensive line coach the past two years at Utah. Woods also spent the last two seasons at Wisconsin (offensive line coach) and will hold an offensive coaching role for the Beavers.

Marshall takes out Northern Illinois 52-23 — Rakeem Cato capped a record-setting career by tying an NCAA mark for touchdown passes and throwing for three scores to help Marshall beat Northern Illinois 52-23 Tuesday night in the inaugural Boca Raton Bowl in Florida. Cato extended his streak of throwing at least one touchdown pass to 46 consecutive games. That tied the NCAA all-division record set by Central Washington’s Mike Reilly. As usual, Cato’s favorite target was fellow senior Tommy Shuler, who made 18 receptions for 185 yards and a score. Shuler broke the Conference USA record for career receptions with 322.

Grebe kicks Navy to 17-16 Poinsettia Bowl win — Austin Grebe kicked a 24-yard field goal with 1 minute, 27 seconds left and Navy beat San Diego State 17-16 in the sloppy Poinsettia Bowl on Tuesday night after Donny Hageman was wide right on a 34-yard field goal attempt with 20 seconds left. Hageman had made his first three field goal attempts for the Aztecs. The winning drive was set up when Donnel Pumphrey, who earlier set San Diego State’s single-season rushing record, fumbled at midfield.

Broncos lead Pro Bowl picks with nine — The AFC West champion Denver Broncos led the NFL with nine players selected for the Pro Bowl on Tuesday. Quarterback Peyton Manning was picked for the 14th time. Joining Manning from the Broncos will be Ryan Clady, Chris Harris, Von Miller, Aqib Talib, Demaryius Thomas, Julius Thomas, T.J. Ward and DeMarcus Ware. The NFC East champion Dallas Cowboys were second with six selections for the Jan. 25 game in Glendale, Arizona, site of the Super Bowl. Tony Romo will be going for the fourth time. Dez Bryant, Travis Frederick, Zack Martin, DeMarco Murray and Tyron Smith were also honored. The Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks were one of six teams with five players. For the second consecutive season, players will be selected without regard to conference in voting by fans, coaches and players.

Baseball

MLB average salary exceeds $3.8 million — Major League Baseball’s average salary shot up to more than $3.8 million this year following the steepest rise in more than a decade, putting big leaguers on track to top the $4 million barrier for the first time in 2015. The Major League Baseball Players Association said Tuesday the average salary was $3,818,923, up from $3,386,212 last year. The 12.78 percent hike was the biggest since a 12.83 percent rise from 2000 to 2001. Player salaries are spurting after several years of more modest gains. The increase is fueled by record revenue in the $9 billion range, much of it from national television contracts and club deals with regional sports networks.

Peavy, Giants finalize $24 million, 2-year contract — Jake Peavy and the San Francisco Giants finalized a $24 million, two-year contract. The deal was agreed to last week and completed Tuesday. Peavy will receive a $4 million signing bonus, $7 million next season and $13 million in 2016. The contract includes a full no-trade provision and award bonuses. A 33-year-old right-hander, Peavy helped Boston win the 2013 World Series and was traded to San Francisco on July 26. After beginning 1-9 with Boston, Peavy went 6-4 with a 2.17 ERA in 12 starts for San Francisco. He was 1-2 in four postseason outings as the Giants won their third title in five years.

— From wire reports