Michigan, Vanderbilt in CWS finals

Michigan scored in all but one inning against a struggling Texas Tech pitching staff and beat the Red Raiders 15-3 on Friday in Omaha, Neb., to continue its improbable postseason run.

Next stop: College World Series finals.

Jimmy Kerr homered twice and had four hits, Jesse Franklin had three hits and four RBIs and the Wolverines scored double-digit runs for the 20th time this season.

One of the last four teams to receive an at-large bid to the 64-team tournament, the Wolverines (49-20) reached the CWS for the first time since 1984 and will play for their first national championship since 1962.

They’ll play a best-of-three series against Vanderbilt, which beat Louisville 3-2, starting Monday.

Pat DeMarco chopped a grounder over third base in the ninth inning to give Vanderbilt its first lead and the Commodores (57-11) advanced to the finals for the first time since 2015.

Longtime assistant Mike Martin Jr. was promoted to head coach at Florida State, taking over the program where his father became the career wins leader in all NCAA sports.

U.S. men ready for rematch

Nearly two years ago, the U.S. men’s soccer team was dealt its most devastating result in three decades, an impossible-to-imagine loss that shattered an entire program.

Coming off a 4-0 win over an inferior Guyana team in its CONCACAF Gold Cup opener, the U.S. on Saturday faces Trinidad and Tobago for the first time since that 2017 contest, when the Soca Warriors stunned the Americans 2-1 and ended their streak of seven World Cup appearances.

The colossal defeat also led to a slow, seismic overhaul of the men’s program.

“Totally different team,” U.S. captain Michael Bradley said. “I’m not sure on the inside of the group it carries a whole lot of weight.” In Gold Cup play in Houston, Leandro Bacuna scored to give Curacao a 1-0 victory over Honduras, and El Salvador and Jamaica played to a 0-0 tie.

College basketball: St. Mary’s head coach Randy Bennett announced the signing of transfer guard Logan Johnson from Cincinnati.

Tennis: Roger Federer defeated Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to reach the Halle Open semifinals in Germany for the 15th time in his past 15 appearances in the grasscourt tournament. ... French Open champion Ash Barty remains on course for the No. 1 ranking after beating seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the semifinals at the Birmingham Classic grasscourt event in England.

WNBA: Shekinna Stricklen made seven 3-pointers and scored 24 points as host Connecticut beat Atlanta 86-76 . ... Erica Wheeler had 28 points and eight assists to lead visiting Indiana past Chicago 76-69 . ... Jewell Loyd made five 3-pointers and scored 23 points as host Seattle beat Los Angeles 84-62 to give coach Dan Hughes a victory in his season debut.