NCAA:
Virginia has captured its first NCAA championship in baseball while avenging last year's loss in the College World Series finals. Pavin Smith homered and had three RBIs as Virginia doubled up Vanderbilt 4-2. Brandon Waddell went seven innings and limited the defending champs to two hits after the Commodores scored twice in the first inning.
MLB:
In baseball, in the American League, Boston topped Balitmore 5-1, Toronto beat Tampa Bay 1-0 in 12 innings, Cleveland bested Detroit 8-2, Minnesota won against the White Sox 6-1, the Angels edged Houston 2-1 in 13 innings, Oakland defeated Texas 8-2, and it was Kansas City over Seattle 8-2.
In the National League, Milwaukee bested the Mets 4-1, Cincinnati won against Pittsburgh 5-2, Washington slid past Atlanta 2-1 in 11 innings, St. Louis defeated Miami 6-1, the Dodgers beat the Cubs 5-2, Arizona edged Colorado 8-7, and it was San Francisco over San Diego 6-0.
In interleague play, the Yankees trumped Philadelphia 10-2.
NBA:
The 2015 NBA Draft starts tonight at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
Stephen Curry of the NBA champion Golden State Warriors and LeBron James of the runner-up Cleveland Cavaliers are among the nominees for best male athlete at the ESPY Awards. Serena Williams leads the list of nominees for best female athlete. Connecticut basketball player Breanna Stewart also is a nominee for female athlete. The awards will air July 15th from Los Angeles on ABC.
The Cleveland Cavaliers will have to dig deep to retain forward Kevin Love. A person familiar with the decision says Love is opting out of the final year of his contract and will become a free agent. He was scheduled to earn over $16 million next season. Love came to Cleveland last summer in a blockbuster trade and had a Thursday deadline to inform the Cavs of his plans. The former All-Star has said he wants to return to Cleveland. LeBron James has a similar contract option and is expected to opt out as well before inking a better deal with the Cavaliers.
NHL:
Boston Bruins' Patrice Bergeron has won the Selke Trophy as the NHL's best defensive forward for the third time in four years. Bergeron accepted the trophy at the NHL Awards show in Las Vegas last night. Bergeron also won the award in 2012 and 2014.
Montreal Canadiens netminder Carey Price came away with the Hart Trophy, the Ted Lindsay Award and the Vezina Trophy at the NHL awards show on Wednesday in Las Vegas. He captured the Hart Trophy as the league's most outstanding player after becoming first goaltender since Chicago's Ed Belfour in 1991 to lead the NHL in victories, goals-against average and save percentage. Price set a franchise record with 44 wins in the regular season, posting a 1.96 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman says the league is opening a formal expansion review process to consider adding new franchises to its 30-team league. Las Vegas, Seattle and Quebec City are the markets that have expressed the most serious interest, although a second team in the Toronto area leads the list of additional possibilities. The Board of Governors decided Wednesday that the league will take formal applications for new franchises on July 6, closing the process Aug. 10.
Olympics:
The organizers of Boston's Olympic bid say Harvard University, Boston College and Northeastern University will serve as venues for several events if Boston is chosen to host the 2024 Summer Games. The announcement comes as Boston 2024 continues its steady roll-out of potential Olympic sites around the state.
Golf:
Golfers who made the cross-country trip from the U.S. Open to Connecticut to play in this week's Travelers Championship may have been enticed by the $6.4 million purse or the nice trophy, but what many really want is their face on a piece of candy. The tournament has become known on tour for the little perks it offers players. That includes providing the champion with a supply of M&M's with his face printed onto the hard candy shell.
WNBA:
In the WNBA, Chicago beat Atlanta 100-96 in overtime.
MLS:
MLS scoring leader Kei Kamara had two goals, and the Columbus Crew snapped a six-game winless streak with a 2-1 comeback victory over the New England Revolution last night. Columbus avenged last season's conference semifinal 7-3 aggregate loss to New England, which has lost four straight on the road and nine of its last ten games.
The New York Red Bulls beat short-handed Real Salt Lake 1-0 last night to snap a four-game losing streak. Mike Grella scored in the fourth minute for the Red Bulls. Kemar Lawrence and Sean Davis set up the goal that gave the Red Bulls their second win in the last 10 games.
Tennis:
Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams have been installed as the No 1 seeds at Wimbledon, which gets underway next week. Two-time champion Rafael Nadal was seeded No. 10, his lowest seeding ever at the All England Club.
Djokovic is followed in the men's seeding by seven-time champion Roger Federer, 2013 winner Andy Murray and French Open champion Stan Wawrinka. Following Williams are defending champion Petra Kvitova, Simona Halep and Maria Sharapova.
The Wimbledon draw will be on Friday.
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