In brief: Pinch-hit grand slam clinches regional for UC Santa Barbara
NCAA Baseball: Sam Cohen put UC Santa Barbara into its first College World Series with a pinch-hit grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 4-3 victory over second-seeded Louisville 4-3 on Sunday in Louisville, Kentucky.
Cohen, a freshman catcher, sent a 1-2 pitch from Cardinals closer Zack Burdi (1-3) over the right field fence to stun a red-clad crowd and ignite a wild home plate celebration by the Gauchos (42-18-1). Until then, UC Santa Barbara couldn’t touch Louisville left-hander Drew Harrington, who struck out a career-best 12 and allowed just six hits in seven-plus innings.
Burdi struck out Gauchos slugger Austin Bush to open the ninth, but struggled after that. He yielded two walks and a single to set the stage for Cohen’s dramatic no-doubt shot that improved the Gauchos to 5-0 in the tournament and sent them to Omaha, Nebraska, for the CWS.
Louisville finished 50-14 and lost consecutive home games for the first time this season.
Michelangeli’s slam lifts Miami to CWS: No. 9 hitter Edgar Michelangeli hit a grand slam and a three-run homer to lift Miami to a 9-4 win over Boston College in Coral Gables, Florida, and a spot in the College World Series for the second straight year.
The Hurricanes, the No. 3 national seed, will play Arizona in their first game in Omaha.
The Eagles, seeking their first trip to the College World Series in 49 years, had forced the decisive Game 3 of the Super Regional with a win Saturday, just their second victory in 16 tries at Miami.
The seven RBIs were a career high for Michelangeli, a junior who touched off a near brawl when he celebrated his grand slam – which made the score 9-3 in the seventh inning – by running around the bases with his right hand up.
Lanning Ks 6 to help Texas Tech advance to CWS: Erikson Lanning struck out a career-high six, Eric Gutierrez drove in three runs and Texas Tech advanced to the College World Series for the second time in three seasons, beating East Carolina 11-0 in Game 3 of the super regional in Lubbock, Texas.
The Red Raiders won two straight games after losing the opener to the Pirates on Friday. Texas Tech posted three three-run innings Sunday after edging ECU in 13 innings Saturday.
Lanning held the Pirates to wo hits over seven innings in the ongest outing of his career. He retired 10 consecutive batters after putting runners on second and third with one out in the first inning.
Gutierrez picked up where he left off after his go-ahead, two-run single in the 13th inning of Game 2. He drove in two runs to make it 3-0 in the first and added another in the seventh to make it 7-0.
Buffett leads Oklahoma State back to CWS: Oklahoma State is back in the College World Series after 17 years behind Tyler Buffett’s pitching performance in a 3-1 victory over South Carolina that clinched the super regional in Columbia, South Carolina.
The Cowboys (41-20) earned their 20th all-time trip to Omaha – and first since 1999. They used their powerful rotation to once again cool off a hot-hitting team in the NCAA Tournament.
At Clemson last week, Oklahoma State limited the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament champs to four runs in two games. This week, the Cowboys gave up two runs in two games to the Gamecocks (46-18) after they scored 51 in five games last week.
Corey Hassel and Donnie Walton had RBI singles in Oklahoma State’s three-run fifth, helped by two errors by South Carolina.
Poland beats Northern Ireland for its first Euros win
Soccer: A goal by Arkadiusz Milik was enough for Poland to break down a determined Northern Ireland and hand his team a 1-0 victory at the European Championship in Nice, France.
Poland’s win in the Group C match was its first ever at a European Championship following disappointing displays in the previous two tournaments, including in 2012 when as co-host it came bottom of its group.
Poland dominated large passages of the match but it was only in the 51st minute that Milik fired his team ahead from the edge of the penalty area following a neat square ball from Jakub Blaszczykowski. Milik’s strike went through the legs of Northern Ireland defender Craig Cathcart and beyond the reach of goalkeeper Michael McGovern.
Poland put on a strong team display, even when star striker Robert Lewandowski struggled to make an impact, while Northern Ireland failed to register a single shot on target in its first ever match in the European Championship.
“The team has realized that we won’t win as individuals,” midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak said through a translator.
Northern Ireland faces a tough task to qualify from the group stage at its first major tournament in 30 years and must now face Ukraine and Germany.
Modric scores lone goal in Croatia’s Euro win over Turkey: Luka Modric’s perfect technique lifted Croatia to a 1-0 win over Turkey at the European Championship in Paris.
The Real Madrid midfielder scored with a dipping volley in the 41st minute of a rugged and bloodied Group D game at Parc des Princes. Modric strode forward into the path of a high clearance for a 25-meter shot that Turkey goalkeeper Volkan Babacan failed to keep out.
Croatia had several good chances to score, but was twice denied by the crossbar in the second half. Veteran captain Darijo Srna’s curling free kick glanced off the woodwork on its way over, and Ivan Perisic’s close-range header rebounded out of danger.
Modric’s goal stood out in a mostly uninspiring first half. Playing in a deep role, he was perfectly placed when Turkey’s defense panicked dealing with a cross into the goalmouth.
An aimless clearance sent the ball looping into a central area and Modric sent back a bouncing shot.
In the first Euro 2016 match after violence Saturday at the match between Russia and England in Marseille, a fan in a Croatia shirt jumped from the stands to join the players while they were celebrating the goal. He was led away by stadium security staff and UEFA will likely sanction Croatia’s soccer federation for the security breach.
Schweinsteiger caps Germany’s Euro win over Ukraine: Bastian Schweinsteiger marked his return from injury by sealing Germany’s 2-0 win over Ukraine in in the world champions’ opening game at Euro 2016 in Lille, France.
Schweinsteiger, who suffered his second serious knee injury of the year in training on March 22 and hadn’t played since, came on in the last minute. He scored in the second minute of injury time when Mesut Ozil crossed for him to rifle in a volley on a counterattack.
Shkodran Mustafi’s header put Germany on course in 19th minute of the Group C encounter, when the Valencia defender beat his marker to meet Toni Kroos’ curling free kick from the right and head with power inside the left post.
Despite dominating possession and creating the early chances, Germany needed Manuel Neuer to make two big saves in the first half and another in the second.
Sagan wins record 12th win at Tour of Switzerland
Cycling: World champion Peter Sagan earned a record 12th career win at the Tour of Switzerland, sprinting to a second-stage victory in Baar, Switzerland. Juergen Roelandts of Belgium leads overall.
On a second day of racing on rain-soaked roads, the Slovak was fastest in the sprint finish after a 187.6-kilometer (116.6-mile) route of four laps around Baar.
Maximiliano Richeze of Argentina was second and Michael Matthews of Australia was third, both in the same time as Sagan.
Roelandts was fifth, also with Sagan’s time, to take the leader’s yellow jersey by one second from Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland.
Sagan rose to fourth overall, trailing Roelandts by 10 seconds.
The nine-day race continues Monday with a 192.6-kilometer (120-mile) ride from Grosswangen to Rheinfelden.
Froome wins Tour de France warmup: Chris Froome warmed up for the Tour de France by winning the Criterium du Dauphine stage race for the third time in Superdevoluy, France.
It may prove to be a good omen for Froome, because his other Dauphine wins were in 2013 and 2015 – the years he also won the Tour, which starts July 2.
“It’s a massive satisfaction to win the Dauphine for the third time, it’s a very important race,” the 31-year-old Froome said. “Coming into this week, I was just happy fighting for the podium. It’s a confidence booster ahead of the Tour de France, but there’s still some work to do.”
Froome finished with a winning margin of 12 seconds over Frenchman Romain Bardet, while Tour rival Alberto Contador of Spain was fifth overall.
Armstrong plans to join ride in honor of killed cyclists: Lance Armstrong plans to be in Kalamazoo, Michigan, for a “Finishing the Ride” event in honor of the five cyclists killed when they were hit by a pickup truck.
Armstrong told the Detroit Free Press the collision on June 7 in Kalamazoo County’s Cooper Township, 160 miles from Chicago, is the worst he’s seen and he’s not sure he’s emotionally ready for the ride. Armstrong says a fear of being struck by a vehicle is shared by all cyclists.
Armstrong plans to join Kalamazoo-area cyclists in a 28.5-mile ride Tuesday from Kalamazoo to Plainwell and back.
The driver of the pickup, Charles Pickett Jr., appeared in court Friday on second-degree murder charges and other crimes. He was ordered held without bond, and an attorney will be appointed to represent him.
Halep withdraws from Aegon Classic
Tennis: Simona Halep has withdrawn from the Aegon Classic in Birmingham, England, next week because of a left Achilles injury.
No. 5-ranked Halep says Sunday she has “some fluid inside the tendon so the doctor says that I have to rest for a few days” but that “it’s nothing serious.”
The grass-court event in Birmingham is a warmup for Wimbledon, which starts June 27.
Merecedes Cup final delayed due to weather: Heavy rain has forced organizers to suspend the Mercedes Cup final in Stuttgart, Germany, between Dominic Thiem and Philipp Kohlschreiber.
The match, already an hour late to start, was halted for about five hours Sunday. It was then finally suspended after another delay, with the two tied 6-6 and Kohlschreiber up 3-2 in the tiebreaker.
Workers tried to dry the slippery court with hot-air blowers but the rain kept returning to make it impossible to play.
The match will be completed on Monday.