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Short trip. Long on memories.

Wichita State's baseball team starts NCAA regional play in Stillwater, Okla., on Friday. It is WSU's first regional trip to Reynolds Stadium since the 1988 Shockers knocked off one of the greatest Cowboy teams on their way to the College World Series.

"I have a lot of good memories there," WSU coach Gene Stephenson said. "A lot of feisty memories there."

The second-seeded Shockers open against TCU, a team they swept earlier this season and routed by 10 runs in a 2006 regional game. WSU has lost three straight to OSU, including a 5-3 decision in Stillwater in April.

Many of the Shocker players are just as familiar with TCU as they are OSU. For them, Stillwater means a 125-mile drive for fans. That's a trip through the neighborhood for a team used to 12-hour bus rides in the Missouri Valley Conference.

The Wingnuts' road trip to Lincoln lasted about 155 miles and three hours in each direction. The rest of the bus rides in the American Association aren't nearly that easy.

Lincoln is the closest league city to Wichita. The Wingnuts have already endured an 18-hour bus trip this season and a 10-hour one. They could have it worse. The league's longest trip is from El Paso to St. Paul -- 1,631 miles and about 24 hours.

"It's better (in Wichita) because two years ago I managed in Pensacola," Wingnuts manager Kash Beauchamp said. "I've made those 24-hour bus trips. I don't care if you're laying down or not, those are hell. You start getting cabin fever and everything else on those things."

Beauchamp played 12 seasons in the minor leagues and has managed in the minors or independent leagues for 10. He has accepted the bus ride as part of the minor league lifestyle, but that doesn't mean he has gotten used to it.

The biggest challenge, he says, is stepping off the bus after a 10- or 12-hour trip and being mentally ready to play baseball.

NEW YORK -- If Willie Randolph was worried about losing his job, he never showed it.

He walked confidently into a packed news conference Monday, still the New York Mets' manager after a much-anticipated meeting with team ownership that lasted about two hours.

"Willie's job was never in danger going into this meeting," general manager Omar Minaya said.

The embattled skipper sat down with owner Fred Wilpon and his son, Jeff, the club's chief operating officer, as well as Minaya to discuss two things in particular: the team's sluggish play, and Randolph's comments last week about his portrayal on Mets broadcasts in which he raised the issue of race.

Randolph subsequently apologized for those statements and tried reaching out to ownership with a telephone call. The Wilpons said they'd rather talk face-to-face, Minaya said, so the foursome scheduled a meeting for Memorial Day afternoon.

Orioles 6, Yankees 1 -- Garrett Olson pitched seven innings of three-hit ball, and Nick Markakis went 3 of 4 as Baltimore ended New York's five-game winning streak.

• Aubrey Huff also homered for the Orioles, who snapped a five-game skid that began with successive defeats in New York.... Markakis is 9 for 11 with two doubles and a homer against Darrell Rasner (3-1), who gave up one run and five hits in six innings.

Rays 7, Rangers 3 -- Scott Kazmir won his fourth straight start, striking out 10 in seven innings to lead the AL East-leading Rays over the Rangers.

• Eric Hinske hit a three-run homer for the Rays, who have won 16 of their last 17 home games and at 31-20 have the best record in the major leagues.... Tampa Bay is just the second team -- joining the 1903 New York Giants -- to have the best mark on Memorial Day after finishing with the worst record in the big leagues the previous season (66-96).

NATIONAL LEAGUE

No. 21 Wichita State vs. No. 18 Texas Christian

When: 1 p.m. Friday

Where: Stillwater, Okla.

Radio: KNSS, 1330-AM

Other regional game: Oklahoma St. vs. Western Kentucky

Friday

Game 1 -- No. 2 Wichita State vs. No. 3 Texas Christian, 1 p.m.

Game 2 -- No. 1 Oklahoma State vs. No. 4 Western Kentucky, 7 p.m.

Saturday

Game 3 -- Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 1 p.m.

The Eagle track honor roll lists the top three times, distances and heights, regardless of class. Then the remaining class leaders, not covered in the top three, are listed.The Eagle thanks Carol Swenson for his assistance in compiling this honor roll. (xx) indicates school's not a KSHSAA member and didn't compete at the May 23-24 state meet.

Boys

100 meters

Rambo (R) '' (1 hr 45 min) _ Rambo is back, again. In Thailand, John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) assembles a group of mercenaries and leads them up the Salween River to a Burmese village where a group of Christian aid workers allegedly went missing.

Shelter (R) (1 hr 30 min) _ The feature-film debut from art director Jonah Markowitz ("Quinceanera") pivots on the tension between responsibility to family and responsibility to self as recent high school graduate Zach (Trevor Wright) tries to reconcile the competing halves of his life.

Cassandra's Dream (PG-13) (1 hr 49 min) _ Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell star as working-class brothers whose dreams of better lives lead to desperation, greed and deadly betrayal.

TV shows

1st season _ "Lipstick Jungle"

In the summertime, when the weather sizzles, televisions don't brown in the sun or break a sweat. The boob tube's seasonal barometer is an influx of reality TV programming, and this year is no different for networks looking to flesh out their summer schedules.

But ABC isn't just relying on new reality programs: Desperate executives are reaching back into the past for old reality shows that once spelled success. The Alphabet network is reviving "The Mole" (the fifth season debuts June 2) and "The Bachelorette," which rolled out a fourth installment last week. Former ratings hits, "The Mole" hasn't aired in four years and "The Bachelorette" hasn't seen the light of day for three, punctuating the toll the writers strike has taken on broadcast TV even in terms of temporary summer programming.

CBS and NBC are taking a less tried-and-true approach and going straight for the ridiculous. The Eye network is actually introducing a rover reality show called "Greatest American Dog" and a semi-intriguing advertising talent search titled "Jingles."

Not to be outdone, NBC has a Big Top offering called "Celebrity Circus," with D-listers like Christopher Knight ("The Brady Bunch") leading the charge, and "The Baby Borrowers," an experimental show that teaches teenagers about the trials and tribulations of parenthood by handing them instant families. But enough about reality TV.

The few bright spots of this summer are HBO's Documentary Film Series, which touts a provocative new offering every Monday beginning June 9, and a comedic drama on Showtime about a high-paid prostitute living a double life in "Secret Diary of a Call Girl."