Off the wire

BOXING

Alvarez wins by TKO

Canelo Alvarez added another title belt in the super middleweight division, handing Billy Joe

Saunders his first loss when the English boxer didn’t come out for the ninth round Saturday night in Arlington, Texas. The popular Mexican won his latest Cinco de Mayo bout with a staggering right hand in the middle of the eighth round, sending the raucous crowd of 73,126 into a frenzy. Saunders’ corner waved in defeat before the ninth while treating a cut under his right eye as Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 knockouts) added Saunders’ WBO belt to his WBA and WBC straps. It was the first loss in 31 fights for the 31-year-old Brit. With pandemic restrictions on attendance long gone in Texas, the festive crowd at 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium was the biggest to date for a sporting event in the pandemic. After a tentative first round, the 30-year-old Alvarez took control before Saunders had his best rounds in the fifth and sixth, when the southpaw landed his best left hand of the fight. Before the eighth-round flurry, Alvarez was in control. He was ahead on all three scorecards.

GOLF

Stricker on top in major

Defending champion Steve

Stricker made a long eagle putt on the final hole for a 7-under 65 and the third-round lead Saturday in the Regions Tradition, the first of five PGA Tour Champions majors. Stricker moved a stroke ahead of

Alex Cejka with the eagle that got him to 14-under 202 at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Ala. Cejka, who made the field as the first alternate Monday, bogeyed the 17th in a 66. Stricker, who won the major the last time it was held in 2019, raised his fist toward the fans just an instant before the eagle putt dropped in on the closing par 5. Cejka two-putted for par. It was shades of Friday when Stricker moved into a four-way share of the lead with a birdie on No. 18. He ran his bogey-free streak to 28 holes.

John Daly (Dardanelle, Arkansas Razorbacks) is tied for 12th place. Daly shot a 68 on Saturday and is at 5-under 211 for the tournament.

Glen Day (Little Rock) was good for a 69 on Saturday and is at 2-under 214. Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) had a 72 on Saturday and is at 11-over 227. Tavatanakit remains in front

Patty Tavatanakit struggled on the front nine but will take a oneshot lead over fellow Thai Atthaya Thitikul and German Caroline Masson into final round of the LPGA Thailand tournament. Tavatanakit recovered from her slow start to shoot a 2-under 70 in the third round at Siam Country Club on Saturday. After back-to-back 64s, Tavatanakit bogeyed on the fourth and ninth after a birdie on the second. She recovered with birdies on the 14th and 15th and fought back from the bunker on the final hole for her fourth birdie. She moved to 18-under 198. Gaby Lopez (Razorbacks) is tied for fourth and only two shots back. Lopez shot a 67 on Saturday and is at 16-under 200, tied with Lydia Ko. Higgo leads by two strokes Garrick Higgo made four birdies in his last four holes to shoot a 7-under 64 that gave him a two-shot lead entering the final round of the Canary Islands Championship in Tenerife, Spain, on Saturday. Higgo also made two eagles to move to 20 under at the European Tour event.

Richard Mansell, who also carded a 64, was second. Former University of Central Arkansas golfer Pep Angles shot a 73 on Saturday and is at 6-under 207.

Two share Korn Ferry lead Brent Grant fired an 8-under 64 Saturday and shares the lead of the Korn Ferry Tour’s Simmons Bank Open with Austin Smotherman after three rounds. Grant and Smotherman are both at 13-under 203 heading into today’s final round at College Grove, Tenn. Taylor

Moore (Razorbacks) shot a 4-under 68 on Saturday and is at 6-under 210.

Nicolas Echavarria (Razorbacks) turned in a 71 on Saturday and is at 2-under 214. U.S. holds Walker Cup lead

Cole Hammer and Ricky Castillo each won two matches Saturday in the Walker Cup at Juno Beach, Fla., and the United States took a 7-5 lead into the final day as it goes for its fifth consecutive victory on home soil. Hammer teamed with

Davis Thompson in the morning to win a foursomes match so wild that only three holes were halved in a 1-up victory, and then held on to beat John Murphy 3 and 1 in the anchor singles match at windblown Seminole Golf Club. Castillo beat Ben Schmidt 5 and 3 in the most-lopsided match of the day.

FOOTBALL

Sam Houston St. rallies

Jequez Ezzard’s catch-and-run for a touchdown and punt return for a score were among two of three touchdowns Sam Houston State scored in the last 21/ minutes 2 of the third quarter en route to a 38-35 comeback win against James Madison on Saturday in Huntsville, Texas. Second-seeded Sam Houston State (9-0) advances to the FCS title game to face No. 1 seed South Dakota State (8-1) next Sunday in Frisco, Texas. It’s the Bearkats’ first trip to the title game since losing in 2012 to North Dakota State. James Madison led 24-3 at halftime. Eric Schmid threw a slant to Ezzard who caught the ball about 14 yards into his route and took it the rest of the way for a 69-yard touchdown to reduce the deficit to 27-17. After forcing James Madison into a three-and-out, Ezzard ran back a punt 80 yards to cut the lead to three. South Dakota St. advances

Mark Gronowski passed for two touchdowns and caught a 24yard TD pass from Pierre Strong

Jr. to help top-seeded South Dakota State beat Delaware 33-3 in the semifinals of the FCS playoffs Saturday. South Dakota State, in its ninth consecutive FCS playoffs appearance, advanced to the championship game for the first time in program history. Gronowski had 115 of his 162 yards passing, 23 of his 27 yards rushing and all of his 24 yards receiving in the first half to help South Dakota State (8-1) build a 27-3 lead.

TENNIS

Sabalenka tops No. 1 Barty

Aryna Sabalenka is glad she changed her mind about playing at the Madrid Open. Two weeks after nearly withdrawing from the tournament because of a muscle injury, Sabalenka was standing on center court with the winner’s trophy in her hands on Saturday. Sabalenka defeated top-ranked Ashleigh

Barty 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 for her 10th WTA title — and first on clay. The victory, coming two weeks after she was hurt in a loss to Barty in the Stuttgart final, will move the Belarus player to No. 4 in the world next week. Sabalenka injured an adductor muscle in the three-set loss in Germany to Barty, who had won all of her three previous finals this year. In the men’s semifinals, Alexander Zverev followed his triumph over Rafael Nadal with a win over Dominic Thiem to reach another Madrid Open final. The No. 6-ranked Zverev defeated No. 4 Thiem 6-3, 6-4 to reach the final again after beating Thiem for the 2018 title.