Oregon State to play for baseball title
Kevin Abel and Jake Mulholland combined on a fourhitter, Tyler Malone hit his third home run of the College World Series, and Oregon State survived some ninth-inning drama to beat Mississippi State 5-2 on Saturday night to reach the best-of-3 finals against Arkansas in Omaha, Nebraska.
As they did in 2006, when they won the first of two straight national titles, the Beavers came back from losing their CWS opener to win four straight and make the finals.
Abel allowed three singles, walked three and struck out five in seven innings as Oregon State (5311-1) held down Mississippi State’s offense for the second straight day. Beavers pitchers gave up five hits in a 12-2 win Friday that forced the Bracket 1 final rematch.
Mulholland pitched a perfect eighth and retired the first two batters in the ninth before running into some trouble. He walked two in a row, Luke Alexander singled in a run and Mulholland plunked pinch hitter Tanner Poole to load the bases for Jordan Westburg. Westburg, who hit a grand slam against North Carolina two games ago, grounded out to end the game.
The best-of-3 series with Arkansas starts Monday.
Tennis
DJOKOVIC MAKES IT BACK TO A FINAL >> Novak Djokovic advanced to his first ATP tour final in almost a year by defeating Jeremy Chardy 7-6 (5), 6-4 at London’s Queen’s Club. The 12-time Grand Slam champion’s last final and title also came on a British grass court, when he defeated Gael Monfils in Eastbourne last July. Djokovic will face Marin Cilic in today’s final after the top-seeded Croat defeated Nick Kyrgios 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4).
Chardy had won 12 of his previous 13 matches but the Frenchman was still left without a win or even a set against Djokovic after their 11th career meeting.
FEDERER TO FACE YOUNG CORIC >> Defending champion Roger Federer will play 21-year-old Borna Coric in the Gerry Weber Open final in Halle, Germany, as he chases his 99th career singles title. Federer reached his 12th final in Halle after beating qualifier Denis Kudla 7-6 (1), 7-5.
Coric advanced when fourth-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut retired injured after slipping in their semifinal. The Spaniard was leading 3-2 in the first set.
After skipping the entire clay-court season for the second year in a row, Federer extended his grasscourt winning streak to 20 matches.
U.S. OPEN WILL NOW CONSIDER
PREGNANCY IN SEEDING >> The U.S. Open will begin taking pregnancy into account when determining women’s seeding, according to a report by the New York Times. United States Tennis Association president Katrina Adams told the Times that players returning from pregnancy shouldn’t be “penalized” for having a family: “It’s the right thing to do for these mothers that are coming back.”
The USTA’s move comes after some debate over the seeding of Serena Williams at last month’s French Open, which is organized by the French Tennis Federation.
Williams, who gave birth to her daughter in September, was unseeded
(and went on to defeat two seeded players before exiting the tournament with a pectoral injury) in part because of time she spent not competing because of her pregnancy, which she announced in April 2017. Williams was ranked No. 1 before giving birth; she is now ranked No. 183.
Track and field
HOULIHAN TAKES CROWN
FROM SIMPSON IN 1,500 >> Shelby Houlihan grew up in Sioux City admiring fellow Iowan and middle-distance star Jenny Simpson. Houlihan just might be poised to pass Simpson as America’s next great hope at 1,500 meters.
The 25-year-old Houlihan stormed past Simpson, 31, to win the 1,500 at the USATF national outdoor championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, Simpson’s hometown track. Houlihan took the lead from Simpson with 50 meters left to knock off the seven-time national champion. Houlihan won in 4:05.48, almost a second better than Simpson, to notch her second victory over Simpson in a month.
• Kahmari Montgomery won the men’s 400 in 44.58 seconds. Kenny Selmon took the men’s 400 hurdles in 48.21, and Shakima Wimbley cruised to the women’s 400 title in 49.52.
• Matthew Centrowitz, who was upset by Robby Andrews in this meet a year ago, won the men’s 1,500 in 3:43.37 to claim his fifth title. Centrowitz, the Olympic champion from 2016, is one victory shy of matching Steve Scott, who won the event six times.
Motorsports
NEWGARDEN ON TOP AT ROAD AMERICA >> Defending IndyCar series champion Josef Newgarden won the pole for the race at Road America, leading a Team Penske sweep of the front row in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Newgarden turned in a lap time of 1 minute, 43.20 seconds for his fifth career pole and second straight after taking pole position two weeks ago at Texas. He edged teammate Will Power by 0.05 seconds. HAMILTON GETS MOTOR RIGHT >> Lewis Hamilton finally got his improved engine and put it to good use, streaking away to a recordextending 75th career pole position at Formula One’s French Grand Prix in Le Castellet, France. Teammate Valtteri Bottas was the second quickest ahead of points leader Sebastian Vettel in his Ferrari. The Mercedes pair is poised for another one-two victory it achieved after starting from the front row in Barcelona last month.
Soccer
RED BULLS BLANK DALLAS >> Bradley Wright-Phillips scored his 11th goal of the season, and the New York Red Bulls beat FC Dallas 3-0 in Harrison, New Jersey, playing a man down for the final 60-plus minutes. Luis Robles had a season-high six saves in his fourth shutout of the season for New York (9-4-2). FC Dallas (82-5) had its four-game winning streak and seven-game unbeaten streak snapped and was held scoreless for the first time this season. DEMPSEY TIES SOUNDERS MARK >> Clint Dempsey scored his first goal of the season to match the Seattle regular-season career goals record, helping the Sounders tie the Chicago Fire 1-1 at home. Dempsey tied the club record for regularseason goals with 47 set by Fredy Montero from 200912.