GOLF

Sweet, Bickford top seeds as play begins today for MSGA Junior Championships

Seth Sweet of Madison earned the top seed among 15- 17-year-old boys for today’s match play in the MSGA Junior Championships after shooting a 2-under 68 in a stroke-play qualifying round Tuesday at Val Halla Golf Course in Cumberland.

Sweet will face 16th-ranked John Gagliano in the first match at 7:30 a.m.

Reese McFarlane of Cape Elizabeth also shot a 68 and will be No. 1 for 13- 14-year-old boys.

McFarlane is paired against 16th-ranked Julian Starbird of Hope at 8:34 a.m.

Meghan Bickford of Cumberland earned a top seed and a first-round bye in the girls’ division.

Bickford and Karli Soracco of Turner each shot an 84 and Bickford won the tiebreaker according to USGA rules. Six other girls will pair for three first-round matches with the first tee-off at 9:38 a.m.

In the 12-and-under boys’ division, Drew Powell of Bangor shot a 5-over 41 on the back nine holes to take the top spot.

Powell, Ryan Chasse of Fort Kent, Robbie Watson of Fort Fairfield and Eric Dugas of Pittsfield each received first-round byes, and the bottom eight golfers will play early-morning matches for a spot in the quarterfinals, which begin at 10 a.m.

BASEBALL

BABE RUTH 13-15: Jeff Cortese singled home two runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to give Stamford, Conn., a 3-2 win over Portland in the Babe Ruth regional tournament for 13- 15-year-olds at Quincy, Mass.

Kyle Reichert hit an RBI double and Portland got its other run from Tim Rovnak, who stole home after Stamford failed to call a timeout during a meeting on the pitcher’s mound.

Caleb Fraser allowed five hits and three walks while striking out five for Portland. Nick Volger had two hits.

BASKETBALL

WNBA: Nicole Powell scored 20 points and the visiting New York Liberty beat the Indiana Fever 82-72 for a fourth straight win.

Powell went 6 of 7 from 3-point range, including 4 of 5 in the second half. Cappie Pondexter scored 19 points, and Janel McCarville had 11 points and 10 rebounds for New York.

• Scholanda Robinson scored 12 of her 21 points in the third quarter to lead the host Tulsa Shock to a surprising 84-75 victory over the Seattle Storm.

Sue Bird scored 19 points for Seattle. Lauren Jackson had 18, Tanisha Wright 15 and Swin Cash added 13.

• Candice Dupree scored 24 points and the visiting Phoenix Mercury used a big second-half run to beat the San Antonio Silver Stars, 103-92.

• Katie Smith had 18 points and the Washington Mystics rallied to beat the Dream 86-78 in Atlanta.

COLLEGES

BASEBALL: The University of Maine said Jason Spaulding has been named the pitching coach for the baseball team. Spaulding joins the Black Bears after spending the past two seasons as an assistant at Manhattan College.

WOMEN’S LACROSSE: Elizabeth Ghilardi, a 2006 graduate of Colby College, has been named the head coach at Skidmore College.

MEN’S SOCCER: Peter Mills, a 2009 Bowdoin College graduate, has been named an assistant for the Polar Bears.

TENNIS

LEGG MASON CLASSIC: Mardy Fish extended his win streak to 11 matches, beating Viktor Troicki 6-4, 6-3 in the second round in Washington.

Xavier Malisse upset No. 12-seeded Julien Benneteau 7-5, 6-4 in their second-round match.

MERCURY INSURANCE OPEN: Vera Zvonareva beat Dominika Cibulkova 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 in Carlsbad, Calif.