COLLEGES

St. Joseph’s loses opener in regional softball tourney, falling 2-0 to Springfield

Fourth-seeded Springfield took a 2-0 win over fifth-ranked St. Joseph’s in the opening round of the Division III New England Regional on Thursday afternoon at Babson Park, Mass.

Springfield (27-18) got both of its runs with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning.

For the Monks (33-12), Kayla Vannah scattered seven hits in four innings and Rae-Marie Copan closed out the game with two perfect innings.

Connie Grovo, Heather Tripp and Lindsay Moore each singled for the Monks, who did not have a runner advance past second base.

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St. Joseph’s will play eighth-ranked Lesley in an elimination game on Friday at 1 p.m.

TENNIS

MADRID OPEN: Second-ranked Roger Federer lost to Kei Nishikori 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 in the third round at Madrid, Spain.

Federer’s early exit leaves Rafael Nadal as the favorite after world No. 1 Novak Djokovic lost Tuesday.

On the women’s side, top-ranked Serena Williams dispatched Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-1, after Maria Sharapova put away Germany’s Sabine Lisicki, 6-2, 7-5.

CYCLING

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GIRO D’ITALIA: Briton Mark Cavendish dominated the sprint finish of the sixth stage at Margherita Di Savoia, Italy, while Luca Paolini continues to hold the overall lead.

SOCCER

EUROPE: American Jozy Altidore scored the decisive goal in the 14th minute, leading AZ Alkmaar over PSV Eindhoven 2-1 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, for its first Dutch Cup title in 31 years.

Altidore set the record for most goals by an American in a European club season, topping Clint Dempsey’s 23 for Fulham in 2011-12.

FOOTBALL

NFL: The New England Patriots signed veteran free agent receiver Lavelle Hawkins. Hawkins, 26, is a veteran of five NFL seasons with the Tennessee Titans (2008-12) after originally entering the NFL as a fourth-round draft pick (126th overall) of Tennessee out of California. The 5-foot- 11, 194-pounder, has played in 52 NFL games with four starts, and has 71 receptions for 771 yards and one touchdown.

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The Chicago Bears agreed to a four-year contract with second-round draft pick Jon Bostic.

A linebacker at Florida, Bostic started every game his final two years in the middle for the Gators and figures to compete with veteran free agent acquisition D.J. Williams for Brian Urlacher’s old job.

A Decatur, Ala., city judge dismissed a charge accusing Baltimore Ravens linebacker Rolando McClain of lying to police about his identity.

The charge stemmed from McClain writing profanity on a ticket for a window-tint violation on April 21 instead of signing his name.

But McClain is scheduled to appear in Circuit Court June 20 on reckless driving and no proof of insurance citations from May 2011. He also has a July 9 court date on charges of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

— From staff and news services


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