Lee signs with Astros

The Houston Astros signed outfielder Carlos Lee and right-hander Woody Williams on Friday, bolstering their offense and pitching.

Lee, a two-time All-Star left fielder who played with Texas and Milwaukee last season, signed a six-year, $100-million deal after his fifth consecutive season with at least 30 home runs and 99 runs batted in.

Adding Lee will give the Astros another power threat besides All-Star first baseman Lance Berkman, who had 45 home runs and 136 RBIs and finished third in NL MVP voting behind Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard and St. Louis’ Albert Pujols.

Lee hit 28 homers in 102 games for the Brewers before the Rangers picked him up a few days before the July trading deadline. He finished with combined totals of 37 home runs and 116 RBIs. He batted .300.

Williams is a 14-year veteran who was 12-5 with a 3.65 earned-run average last season with San Diego, his best ERA since 2002 with St. Louis.

COLLEGE SOCCER

UCLA women reach NCAA semifinals

The second-seeded UCLA women’s team earned a trip to the NCAA Division I College Cup for the fourth year in a row, as the Bruins beat Portland, 2-1, in a quarterfinal match at Drake Stadium.

The Bruins (21-3), who lost to the Pilots (17-4-3) in last year’s final, will play the winner of today’s match between top-seeded North Carolina and second-seeded Texas A&M.;

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Big West Conference champion UC Santa Barbara (15-7) plays host to Northwestern (14-7) tonight at 7 in an NCAA Division I men’s quarterfinal. The winner advances to the semifinals Friday at St. Louis.

WINTER SPORTS

Lappi wins World Cup ski jumping opener

Arttu Lappi of Finland won the World Cup ski jumping opener in an event reduced to one jump because of wind and heavy snow at Ruka, Finland. He jumped 141 meters for 154.8 points.

Former Olympic champion Simon Ammann of Switzerland was second with a 136-meter jump for 145.7 points.

MOTOR RACING

Wease wins at Irwindale; Stewart finishes 24th

The unexpected appearance of two-time Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart added more NASCAR star power to the 66th running of the U.S. Auto Club’s Turkey Night Grand Prix of midget car racing at Irwindale Speedway, but it couldn’t keep Billy Wease from the victory.

Stewart was knocked out of the race in the 91st lap Thursday night when his car was involved in a collision with Brady Bacon’s car, and he finished 24th in a 34-car field that also included fellow Nextel Cup driver Casey Mears, Busch Series driver Jason Leffler and Craftsman Trucks Series driver Bobby East.

Pole-sitter Kody Swanson led for the first 80 laps until being passed by Wease, who started fifth. Swanson finished second, 0.189 of a second behind, in the 100-lap race on the half-mile track.

Stewart qualified 20th, forcing him to finish in the top eight in his “last chance” race to qualify (The top 14 qualifiers were assured spots in the main event.). He finished second in the 12-lap race, behind East, to earn the 18th spot in the starting grid.

Stewart did not tell U.S. Auto Club officials until Thursday afternoon that he would be racing, but as a team owner, he was not required to inform them that he would race.

-- Steven Herbert

MISCELLANY

USC water polo team advances to semifinals

The top-ranked USC men’s water polo team advanced to the semifinals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament with a 13-2 victory over host UC Irvine.

Thomas Hale scored three goals for the Trojans (24-0), who play Stanford today at 1 p.m. The Cardinal (17-7) defeated UC Santa Barbara, 12-9.