COLLEGE BASEBALL
Aggies take SEC Tournament
Nick Banks hit two home runs, J.B. Moss drove in five runs and Texas A&M rallied Sunday for its first SEC Tournament title with a 12-5 victory over defending champion Florida. The Aggies (45-14) scored four runs in the seventh inning and five in the eighth to rout the league’s top pitching staff. Moss hit a tworun double and a three-run double in the two big innings. Banks belted a two-run home run in the seventh, following a solo shot in the third. Texas A&M won four consecutive games after losing its tournament opener to Vanderbilt. Banks, who came into the game with seven home runs on the season, had three in the tournament. SEC Pitcher of the Year Logan Shore started for the Gators (47-13) but went only one inning, allowing a run.
Texas A&M, Florida and LSU lead a pack of seven SEC schools chosen as regional hosts for the NCAA Division I baseball tournament. Mississippi, Mississippi State, South Carolina and Vanderbilt also are among the 16 host teams announced Sunday night, with all of the schools selected guaranteed spots in the 64-team tournament that starts next week. The rest of the field, including the top eight national seeds, will be announced today. Defending national champion Virginia is among six Atlantic Coast Conference host schools, joining Clemson, Florida State, Louisville, Miami and North Carolina State. The Big 12 had TCU and Texas Tech selected as hosts, and Louisiana-Lafayette of the Sun Belt is the other host site. Each regional includes four teams in a double-elimination format, with the winners advancing to the super regionals. The eight super regional winners advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
GOLF
Mediate wraps up Senior PGA
Rocco Mediate holed out from a greenside bunker for birdie on the par-3 17th to wrap up a record-setting, wire-to-wire victory Sunday in the Senior PGA Championship. Smoking cigars during the round, the 53-yearold Mediate closed with a 5-under 66 — holing a 15-footer for par on the last at Jack Nicklaus-designed Harbor Shores, for a three-stroke victory over two-time defending champion Colin Montgomerie. Mediate finished at 19-under 265 to break the tournament record of 268 set by Sam Snead in 1973 at PGA National. The six-time PGA Tour winner became the first wire-to-wire winner in the event since Nicklaus in 1991 at PGA National. Mediate matched the course and tournament records with an opening 62 and added rounds of 66 and 71 to take a two-stroke lead over Montgomerie into the final round. Glen Day (Little Rock) tied for 19th and won $35,000 at 7 under. Mike Grob (Arkansas Razorbacks) won $7,550 for his tie 44th-place finish.
Ariya Jutanugarn became the first player to win three consecutive LPGA Tour events in three years, closing with a 5-under 67 for a fivestroke victory in the Volvik Championship. Jutanugarn, 20, is the first player since Inbee Park in 2013 to win three consecutive tournaments and the first ever to make their first three career victories consecutive. Christina Kim was second after a 71. Jessica Korda (72) and Canada’s Brooke Henderson (68) tied for third at 9 under. Gaby Lopez (Arkansas Razorbacks) finished tied for 11th at 5 under and won $21,354.
Chris Wood won the BMW PGA Championship by one stroke for the biggest victory of his career, taking advantage of third-round leader Scott Hend’s collapse. Wood had a front-nine 29 and held a four-stroke lead after a birdie at No. 11, but dropped shots on Nos. 14, 16 and 17 to trim his advantage to one. The Englishman played the par-5 18th safe to make par for a 3-under 69 and 9-under 279 overall, finishing a shot ahead of Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg (65).
MOTOR SPORTS
Hamilton takes Monaco
Lewis Hamilton won an incident-packed Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday to get his Formula One championship bid back on track after a dismal run of eight races without a victory. Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo started from pole position and finished second, with Mexican driver Sergio Perez third for Force India. Hamilton, the defending F1 champion, started from third but soon overtook his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, and then held off Ricciardo with a gritty blocking move midway through. Because of poor visibility and a drenched circuit, the first few laps were a procession behind a safety car. But once the racing began properly, it featured multiple crashes and a huge blunder from Ricciardo’s team not being ready for a tire change. The Australian driver was unforgiving, saying “everyone was running around like headless chooks [chickens].”
BASKETBALL
Grizzlies finalize on Fizdale
The Memphis Grizzlies hired David Fizdale as their new coach Sunday and will introduce him in Memphis at a news conference Tuesday. Memphis announced the move Sunday. The hiring was first reported Thursday by The Associated Press and others. The Grizzlies did not disclose terms, but Yahoo! Sports reported Fizdale agreed to a four-year contract. General Manager Chris Wallace said in a statement that the Grizzlies are confident Fizdale is the right person to help Memphis build on its success. Fizdale has spent the past eight years with the Miami Heat, the past two as assistant head coach to Erik Spoelstra. The new Grizzlies coach says he feels fortunate to have worked with some of the NBA’s greatest coaches and players and believes he’s ready for the challenge of being a head coach.
BOXING
Bellew wins WBC title
Tony Bellew knocked out Ilunga Makabu in the third round to win the WBC cruiserweight title on Sunday night in Liverpool, England. Bellew, 33, lost two world title attempts at light-heavyweight, against Nathan Cleverly in 2011 and Adonis Stevenson in 2013, but made it third time lucky after stepping up to cruiserweight. The Liverpudlian, who played “Pretty” Ricky Conlan in Sylvester Stallone’s film Creed, had an early shock against his opponent from Congo. Makabu, 28, produced almost the perfect start in the opening round, soaking up a host of shots before countering with a straight left hand that put Bellew on the canvas. Both fighters were more cautious in the second round, with both bleeding from their noses after trading hefty blows. But when Bellew, an Everton fan fighting at his team’s home stadium Goodison Park, went full out in the next round Makabu could offer no defense.
BASEBALL
Royals catcher Perez out 7 to 10 days
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez is expected to be out 7 to 10 days with a bruised left thigh after colliding with rookie third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert while catching a foul pop up in the ninth inning Saturday.
Perez had a MRI on Saturday night, which confirmed the injury was a contusion with no structural damage.
“Hopefully it’s not going to require a trip to the DL,” Royals Manager Ned Yost said Sunday. “We’re hoping he’ll be back in 7 to 10 days. It could be earlier or later. We’ll just have to wait and see and just manage it day to day.
“Great news, you don’t want to have to put him on the DL and he’s ready to play in eight days and has to sit there for another week.”
The Royals recalled catcher Tony Cruz from Class AAA Omaha, where he was hitting .278 with 3 home runs and 20 RBI in 31 games. Cruz has a .220 average in 229 games with St. Louis the past five years.
The Royals optioned righthander Peter Moylan to Omaha. Moylan went 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA in 6 relief appearances. The Royals will try to go with 12 pitchers until Perez returns.
“If I get in a pitching jam, I’m going to have to do something,” Yost said. “But we’re right now we’re trying to stay away from that and go with 12 pitchers. I’m hoping we can.”
Perez was calling for the ball when Cuthbert barreled into him.
“We’ve been kidding him about it,” Yost said. “I told him [Chiefs Coach] Andy Reid called and wants him to be on the special teams, but Andy was afraid he was going to tackle the guy when he’s giving the fair catch sign. I kind of dropped that one on him.”