Griner has 9th career dunk, helps Mercury top Storm on Friday

SEATTLE - Brittney Griner had her ninth career dunk and matched Diana Taurasi with 25 points to help the Phoenix Mercury beat the Seattle Storm 85-82 on Friday night.

Griner has three more dunks than all the other players in WNBA history combined. She was 9 of 14 from the field.

Camille Little spun in the lane for a layup to extend Phoenix’s lead to 83-78 with 2:56 left and, after a Seattle miss, Danielle Robinson split two defenders for a seven-point lead.

Seattle’s Jewell Loyd was fouled on a drive with 32.5 seconds left and hit two free throws to pull to 85-82. After an offensive foul on Taurasi, Seattle lost control of it and a jump ball was called with 5.6 seconds left. Seattle won the tip and called timeout with 3.6 seconds left, but Sami Whitcomb’s long 3-pointer didn’t hit the rim.

LSU beats Oregon State 6-1 to reach CWS finals

OMAHA, Neb. - Caleb Gilbert held LSU to two hits in 7 1/3 innings, Michael Papierski homered from both sides of the plate and LSU beat No. 1 national seed Oregon State 6-1 on Saturday to reach the College World Series finals.

The Tigers (52-18) won their third straight elimination game, including back-to-back victories over Oregon State. The Beavers (56-6) had a pair of 23-game winning streaks and finished the season with a .903 winning percentage — the best since Texas’ mark of .908 in 1982.

The Tigers beat the Beavers 3-1 on Friday to force the second game.

Gilbert allowed an infield single and walk before Michael Gretler homered in the seventh. He struck out a career-high seven in his longest outing in his two seasons at LSU. Zack Hess allowed one hit the rest of the way.

Verstappen fastest in 2nd practice in Baku — then crashes

BAKU, Azerbaijan - Red Bull driver Max Verstappen secured the fastest time before crashing at the end of a chaotic second practice Friday at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The 19-year-old Dutchman, also fastest in the first practice, was narrowly ahead of Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas and Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo.

With 30 seconds remaining, Verstappen lost control of the rear of his car and slid into the barriers. He climbed out, took his helmet off and examined the car, anxious to see if there was any serious damage that needs repairing.

It seemed a fitting way to end the day, considering the Baku street circuit had been like an ice rink.