Horned Frogs pull away to defeat LSU
College Baseball: Preston Morrison limited LSU to five hits and a run in seven innings, and TCU capitalized on LSU starter Jared Poche’s stunning middle-inning struggles in a 10-3 victory at the College World Series Sunday in Omaha, Nebraska.
The Horned Frogs (50-13), in the CWS for the second straight year and third time overall, will play a Bracket 2 winners game against Cal State Fullerton or Vanderbilt on Tuesday night. The Tigers (53-11) meet one of those teams in an elimination game that afternoon.
Morrison (12-2) earned his first win in nine career starts in the NCAA tournament. The Chicago Cubs’ eighth-round draft pick struck out five, walked none and retired the last 12 batters he faced.
The later game between Cal State Fullerton and Vanderbilt was suspended due to weather. Fullerton held a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. The game resumes today at 9:05 a.m. PDT and the broadcast will continue on ESPN2.
U.S. knocked out by Serbia on penalties
Soccer: Serbia beat the United States 6-5 on penalties in Auckland, New Zealand, highlighting the value of a strong defensive combination as it reached the Under-20 World Cup semifinals for the first time.
The match needed 18 penalties to decide a victor after it finished 0-0 after extra time, and in the end Serbia advanced after a marathon shootout.
Serbia, which restricted the Americans to two shots on target, has conceded just two goals in more than 500 minutes of World Cup action and is the only European team in the semifinals.
Serbia next plays Wednesday against Mali, which upset Germany 4-3 on penalties in Christchurch.
For the United States, the chance to record their best effort since finishing fourth in 1989 was dashed despite the efforts of goalkeeper Zack Steffen.
In the other quarterfinal matches, Senegal edged Uzbekistan 1-0 in Wellington, and Brazil won a second consecutive penalty shootout after a scoreless draw with Portugal in Hamilton.
Nadal earns Mercedes title over Troicki
Tennis: Rafael Nadal defeated Viktor Troicki 7-6 (3), 6-3 to win the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Germany, for the third time and claim his first title on grass since Wimbledon in 2010.
The top-seeded Spaniard, who had no aces in his semifinal win over Gael Monfils, ended the first-set tiebreaker with an ace – his ninth. Nadal saved the only break point he faced.
Nadal previously won the tournament in 2005 and 2007 when it was still on clay.
The tournament made the switch to grass as a Wimbledon tune-up this year.
• Mahut, Giorgi win: Frenchman Nicolas Mahut won his third career title after beating second-seeded David Goffin 7-6 (1), 6-1 at the Topshelf Open in ’s-Hertogenbosch, while fifth-seeded Camila Giorgi of Italy won the women’s final.
Giorgi clinched her first career title with a 7-5, 6-3 win against Swiss teenager Belinda Bencic.
Froome rallies for second Dauphine
Miscellany: British cyclist Chris Froome launched one of his blistering mountain attacks to win the Criterium du Dauphine race for the second time, clinching the eighth stage to take the yellow jersey from American rider Tejay van Garderen in Modane Valgrejus, France.
Froome won the race in 2013 on his way to the Tour de France title, and with the showcase race starting in less than three weeks this victory sends a strong message out to his rivals.
Van Garderen led Froome by 18 seconds overnight, but could not keep up when Froome attacked with about 1.25 miles left on the final climb.
Froome moved into contention by winning Saturday’s seventh stage – the toughest of the race with five category-1 climbs – and again proved too strong.
• Lorenzo continues streak: Jorge Lorenzo won his fourth straight race in a Yamaha 1-2 finish with Valentino Rossi at the Catalonia Moto Grand Prix in Montmelo, Spain, tightening the championship fight between the teammates.
The two-time former champion’s 37th career MotoGP victory left him one point behind Rossi at 138-137 in the championship standings.