SOFTBALL

Finch propels USA past Japan in World Cup final, ends international career as champion

Caitlin Lowe had a two-run triple, and the United States beat Japan 5-1 Monday night to win its fourth straight World Cup of Softball title in Oklahoma City, in Jennie Finch’s final game for Team USA.

Finch was pulled with two outs in the seventh and received a standing ovation as she headed into the dugout, stopping momentarily to wave to the crowd.

At 29, Finch decided to give up softball so she could spend more time with her family despite still being able to play at the highest level. She didn’t allow a run in 182/3 innings at the World Cup, although she wasn’t much of a factor in her final game.

TENNIS

FARMERS CLASSIC: Ernests Gulbis, at 21 the youngest player in the 28-man field, was a 7-5, 7-5 winner over 22-year-old Lukas Lacko and Rainer Schuettler, at 34 the oldest player in the event, was leading No. 7 seed Horacio Zeballos, 6-3, 3-0, when the Argentine retired with a left shoulder injury in first-round matches in Los Angeles.

ISTANBUL CUP: Vera Dushevina rallied past Petra Martic 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 win in the first round in Istanbul.

CROATIA OPEN: Alexandr Dolgopolov struggled to beat Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (3) to reach the second round in Umag, Croatia.

BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC: Agnieszka Radwanska beat Chanelle Scheepers, 7-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the first round in Stanford, Calif.

COLLEGES

MEN’S BASKETBALL: The University of Maine will go on an exhibition tour of Quebec and Ontario, Canada, from Aug. 24–29. The team will play five games over six days beginning with a game against Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, Quebec, on Aug. 24. The Black Bears then meet McGill University in Montreal on Aug. 25 and the University of Quebec at Montreal on Aug. 26. Maine will then travel to take on Carleton University in Ottawa on Aug. 28 and finish the tour with a game at Laval University in Quebec on Aug. 29.

BASEBALL

NECBL: The New Bedford Bay Sox scored in each of the first four innings and went on to a 7-5 win over the Sanford Mainers at New Bedford, Mass.

New Bedford (16-20) went ahead for good on a single by Michael Johnson in the fourth.

Michael Roth hit an RBI double in the first and Mike McCann added a two-run double in the fifth for Sanford (21-17).

BASKETBALL

WNBA: The last-place Tulsa Shock sent guard Alexis Hornbuckle to the Minnesota Lynx for forward Rashanda McCants, completing an overhaul of the team’s roster in the months since it relocated from Detroit.

GOLF

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Paul Azinger (foot) and Nick Price (toe) have pulled out of this week’s U.S. Senior Open in Sammamish, Wash., with injuries.