Wildcats top Gamecocks 5-1 in CWS finals
College baseball: Konner Wade threw his third straight complete game, Robert Refsnyder homered and Arizona beat two-time defending national champion South Carolina 5-1 in the opener of the College World Series finals Sunday night in Omaha, Neb.
Wade (11-3) limited the Gamecocks to six hits in a steady outing to help the Wildcats (47-17) move within a win of their first national championship since 1986 and fourth overall.
The Gamecocks now need to beat Arizona twice to become the first team since USC in the early 1970s to win three championships in a row.
Refsnyder, batting .444 (8 of 18) in the CWS, went 2 for 3 and was intentionally walked twice. He hit a two-run homer off Forrest Koumas (2-3) in the first to give Arizona the lead, and scored in the fifth on Bobby Brown’s single to make it a four-run game.
Refsnyder also showed off his arm in right field, throwing out Adam Matthews when he tried to go from first to third on Kyle Martin’s single in the seventh.
Italy beats England on penalty kicks
Soccer: Alessandro Diamanti scored the decisive penalty kick to send Italy through to the European Championship semifinals with a 4-2 win in the shootout following a 0-0 tie with England in Kiev, Ukraine.
Ashley Young hit the crossbar with England’s third, and Ashley Cole’s attempt was saved by Gianluigi Buffon.
Italy will next play Germany in the semifinals on Thursday in Warsaw, Poland.
Mario Balotelli, Andrea Pirlo and Antonio Nocerino also scored for Italy. Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney scored England’s penalties.
• German midfielder could miss semis: Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger could be doubtful for the European Championship semifinals against Italy because of a lingering ankle injury.
Strait of Dover wins Queen’s Plate
Horse racing: Strait of Dover won the $1 million Queen’s Plate at Woodbine in Toronto, beating filly Irish Mission by 1 1/4 lengths in the first leg of the Canadian triple crown.
Ridden by Justin Stein, Strait of Dover led from start to finish, running 1 1/4 miles in 2:01.99 in a light rain to break the polytrack record at Woodbine.
Strait of Dover paid $9.60, $5.80 and $4.30, Irish Mission returned $8.40 and $6.20, and Dixie Strike paid $5.50 to show.
County pulls funds from 49ers’ stadium
Miscellany: A California county has surprised both the San Francisco 49ers and Santa Clara leaders by pulling $30 million in tax funds from the new 49ers stadium.
Santa Clara County officials told the Mercury News that they would rather spend the money on teachers.
The team and the city say voters specifically earmarked money for the $1.2 billion stadium and that the county has no right to keep it. Voters approved a 2010 measure that allocated $40 million in redevelopment funds for the stadium, which is set to open in 2014. Construction began in April.