Gators earn third straight trip to CWS
College baseball: Daniel Pigott homered to open the 10th inning and Florida held on to beat North Carolina State 9-8 on Sunday in Gainesville, Fla., and advance to the College World Series for the third consecutive season.
Pigott’s eighth homer of the season was key in a wild, back-and-forth game that included 26 hits, 12 pitchers and a lengthy weather delay.
Casey Turgeon followed Pigott with a base hit and scored on Josh Tobias’ single. Tobias, a freshman and Florida’s No. 9 hitter, had an RBI double in the ninth.
• Florida State stifles Stanford to advance: Sherman Johnson homered and drove in five runs to lead Florida State to an 18-7 victory over Stanford in Tallahassee, Fla., to earn its 21st trip to the College World Series.
Stephen Piscotty had four of Stanford’s 18 hits. Stanford was outscored 35-8 in the two games.
Florida State’s infield turned three double plays for the second straight game to stifle Stanford’s best scoring threats.
• Ducks force third game: Freshman right-hander Jake Reed allowed two runs and five hits to steady Oregon in a 3-2 come-from-behind victory in Eugene, Ore., that snapped Kent State’s 21-game winning streak and pushed the NCAA super regional to a deciding third game.
Reed struck out six over 6 2/3 innings for the Ducks, the national No. 5 seed who faced elimination by the upstart Golden Flashes after a series-opening 7-6 loss.
Prince lifts Sky to victory over Liberty
WNBA: Epiphanny Prince scored 26 points to help the Chicago Sky beat the New York Liberty 73-64 in Newark, N.J., only 45 minutes from Rutgers, where Prince played college ball.
Former Gonzaga standout Courtney Vandersloot added eight points, five rebounds and five assists for Chicago.
Spain held to tie with Italy at Euro 2012
Soccer: Opening their bid for a third straight major title, the Spanish rallied to earn a 1-1 tie against Italy, which entered this year’s European Championship amid another match-fixing scandal.
Antonio Di Natale put Italy in front after an excellent setup from Andrea Pirlo in the 61st minute, but Cesc Fabregas tied it for the defending champions three minutes later by finishing off a dazzling display of Spain’s trademark passing game.
• Croatia tops Ireland: Mario Mandzukic scored two goals to help Croatia beat Ireland 3-1 in Pozan, Poland, in Group C of the European Championship.
Mandzukic scored in the third minute to open the match and closed it out with another goal in the 48th.
• Mattocks leads Whitecaps past Dynamo: Darren Mattocks scored a goal in each half to help the Vancouver Whitecaps beat the Houston Dynamo 3-1 in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Wiggins wins third major race of year
Cycling: Britain’s Bradley Wiggins cemented his status as a Tour de France favorite, winning the Criterium du Dauphine race for the second straight year.
The three-time Olympic gold medalist successfully defended his title in the mountainous weeklong race that ended in Chatel, France, finishing 1 minute, 17 seconds ahead of Sky teammate Michael Rogers of Australia. Tour de France champion Cadel Evans was third, 1:26 behind Wiggins.
Three killed in shooting near Auburn
Miscellany: Three people were fatally shot, including two former Auburn University football players, and another three people were wounded during a party at an apartment complex near the school Saturday night, authorities said.
Auburn Police Chief Tommy Dawson said during a news conference that current football player Eric Mack was among those wounded and was being treated at a hospital.
The two slain former players were identified as Edward Christian and Ladarious Phillips. The other person killed was identified as Demario Pitts. Officials also said Xavier Moss and John Robertson were wounded.
Police say Desmonte Leonard has been charged with capital murder and has not yet been captured. Dawson stressed that the football team was connected to the shooting only because current and former players were victims.
• Sharks get Stuart from Detroit: The San Jose Sharks acquired former draft pick Brad Stuart – an overall No. 3 pick in 1998 – in exchange for forward Andrew Murray and a conditional 2014 draft pick in a deal with the Detroit Red Wings. Stuart can become an unrestricted free agent July 1.
• Boxing Hall welcomes new inductees: Al Bernstein stood in front of a thousand fans as he accepted his commemorative ring, and then took the podium at the 23rd International Boxing Hall of Fame’s induction ceremony on in Canastota, N.Y.
Six others were honored as part of the 2012 class: Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns, Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson, trainer Freddie Roach, ring announcer Michael Buffer, writer Michael Katz, and Bernstein, the noted boxing analyst for Showtime.