In Brief: Texas Tech ousted by Coastal Carolina
Baseball: Light-hitting David Parrett had three RBIs in his first College World Series start and Coastal Carolina converted three Texas Tech errors into six unearned runs in a 7-5 victory that eliminated the Red Raiders on Thursday night in Omaha, Nebraska.
Coastal Carolina (51-17) will play TCU in the Bracket 2 final on Friday night. The Chanticleers, in the CWS for the first time, would have to beat the Horned Frogs in that game and again Saturday to reach next week’s best-of-three finals.
Texas Tech (47-20), at No. 5, was the third and final national seed knocked out of the CWS.
The Chanticleers took a 4-3 lead in the third after they converted three hits and two infield errors into three runs.
Mike Morrison (8-1) pitched a season-high 4 1/3 innings of relief for the win, and Bobby Holmes earned his fourth save. Erikson Lanning (3-3) took the loss.
Rahm takes lead
at Congressional
Golf: Jon Rahm had a professional debut to remember, shooting a 7-under 64 at Congressional in Bethesda, Maryland, to take the early first-round lead in the Quicken Loans National.
The 21-year-old Spaniard was in the clubhouse with sole possession of the lead at Tiger Woods’ annual tournament, the start of which was delayed two-plus hours by rain. The soft course allowed players to attack fairways and play aggressively, and Rahm took advantage of that with seven birdies and a bogey-free round.
McDowell won’t replace McIlroy at Rio: Graeme McDowell rejected the chance to replace Rory McIlroy in the Irish Olympic team, becoming the latest high-profile golfer to opt out of the Rio de Janeiro Games.
While McIlroy cited concerns about the Zika virus, McDowell said he decided months ago not to leave the United States while his wife expects their second child.
Next in line for Irish selection for the first Olympic golf competition since 1904 is three-time major champion Padraig Harrington.
McDowell, the 2010 U.S. Open, said his wife Kristin was due to give birth “just a couple of weeks” after the Olympic golf ends on Aug. 20.
Azarenka withdraws from Wimbledon
Tennis: Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka has withdrawn from Wimbledon because of a right knee injury.
It was the same knee she hurt at the French Open, forcing her to retire during her first-round match. She hasn’t played since.
Azarenka, ranked No. 6, was seeded the same for the grass-court Grand Slam starting Monday.
The Belarusian has earned three titles this year, including two of the biggest outside of the majors, Indian Wells and Miami, in March. She beat Serena Williams in the Indian Wells final.
At Wimbledon, she has reached the semifinals twice, and quarterfinals twice. Williams stopped her in three of those runs.
Berger, Fernandez to coach US tennis: Jay Berger will coach the U.S. men’s tennis team at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in place of Davis Cup captain Jim Courier, while Fed Cup captain Mary Joe Fernandez will coach the country’s women at the Summer Games.
Dan James will coach the U.S. Paralympic wheelchair team.
USTA spokesman Chris Widmaier said that Courier “elected not to accept” the position as Olympic coach. Berger, who is the head of men’s tennis for USTA Player Development, also coached the American men at the 2012 London Olympics.
Puig qualifies for Eastbourne semis: Monica Puig became the first qualifier to reach the Eastbourne, England International semifinals in three years though it took her nearly three hours to get there.
Puig, a Puerto Rican, needed 2 hours, 43 minutes to overcome Kristina Mladenovic of France 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-3, and become the first qualifier in the semis since American Jamie Hampton in 2013.
Both players struggled to hold serve, with Puig facing 23 break points in the match and Mladenovic 13.
Mladenovic broke three times in the opening set and led 5-4, but each time allowed her opponent to break back in the following game before failing to convert a set point in the tiebreaker.
Predators part-owner suing team, chairman
NHL: A part-owner of the Nashville Predators is suing the team and its chairman, saying they breached their fiduciary obligations and contractual commitments to him after he helped keep the franchise in Nashville.
The lawsuit filed by David Freeman and Commodore Trust lists Predators Holdings LLC and Predators chairman Tom Cigarran as defendants. The complaint names Cigarran “the chief architect of this scheme.”
The plaintiffs seek $250 million in damages. The complaint says Freeman “led the fight” to keep the Predators in Nashville in 2007.
Baylor releases 5 signees to transfer
Miscellany: Baylor is releasing five incoming freshman players from their national letters of intent and allowing them to attend other schools without losing eligibility.
The players were not identified in Baylor’s news release, but all requested release prior to May 31, according to the school. The requests came after the Baylor board of regents fired coach Art Briles following the release of a report commissioned by the school that found he and other university leaders inappropriately handled sexual assault allegations by female students.
Johnson, Boudia earn US diving spots: Steele Johnson wouldn’t let the reality sink in until after the final dive. David Boudia wouldn’t let him.
Standing off to the side of the 10-meter platform, Johnson realized he and synchronized diving teammate Boudia had such a large lead if they didn’t complete their final dive they would still win the final round and earn spots in the Olympic Games.
But Boudia, who competed in the 2008 and 20012 Olympics, reeled in his teammate and the pair completed their final dive, finishing with a score of 1,326.57 to cement their spot on the U.S. team.
Ryan Hawkins and Toby Stanley finished in second at 1,088.55.
Pro football season starts in Canada: Jeremiah Masoli threw three touchdown passes and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats beat Toronto 42-20 in Canadian Football League play, in Toronto, spoiling the Argonauts’ regular-season BMO Field debut.
A crowd of 24,812 attended the game at the stadium originally built for Toronto’s Major League Soccer