Julia Clukey of Augusta was named to the U.S. luge national team for the sixth time Thursday.

Clukey, who turned 30 on April 29, competed in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, then missed qualifying for the Sochi Olympics in 2014 by 0.013 seconds. She was at her best in the 2012-13 season when she ranked sixth in the world, best among U.S. lugers.

Her best finish on the World Cup tour last year was eighth in Lake Placid.

COLLEGES

SOFTBALL: Amber Kelly singled home two runs and scored a third as fifth-seeded Southern Maine (23-16) used four runs in the top of the seventh to rally to an 8-7 win over No. 2 Western Connecticut State (24-13) in the Little East Conference tournament at Mansfield, Connecticut.

The Huskies will face No. 3 Keene State in a winner’s bracket game Friday.

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 Lauren Zambrano struck out nine in a two-hitter to lead No. 1 Western New England (28-7) to a 3-0 win over No. 6 University of New England in Commonwealth Coast Conference tournament play at Springfield, Massachusetts.

UNE (20-19) plays No. 3 Endicott in an elimination game Saturday.

WOMEN’S LACROSSE: Megan Tingley had five goals and two assists, Caroline Vonach also scored five, and top-seeded Plymouth State (13-3) defeated No. 4 Southern Maine 19-13 in a Little East semifinal.

Heather Everett scored six goals for the Huskies (7-12).

BASEBALL: Steven Adam drove in three runs on three hits and scored twice as the Black Bears (17-22) outslugged Lafayette (11-24-1) for an 18-10 win at Easton, Pennsylvania.

 Brendon Joyce hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning to spark Southern Maine (25-10) to a 6-2 nonconference victory over Bowdoin (14-18) at Brunswick.

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FOOTBALL

NFL: The New England Patriots have picked up their fifth-year options on the rookie contracts of linebacker Dont’a Hightower and defensive end Chandler Jones, each worth about $7.8 million, according to reports from Pro Football Talk and CBS Sports.

Hightower has 149 tackles and 11 sacks in 42 games. Jones has 94 tackles and 231/2 sacks in 40 games.

 The Miami Dolphins exercised their fifth-year, $16.2 million option on quarterback Ryan Tannehill’s rookie contract for 2016.

GOLF

WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS: Rickie Fowler made three big putts in a row and won his second straight match to secure his spot in the Round of 16 at the Match Play Championship in San Francisco.

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Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth also won two matches but still could be going home Friday. McIlroy plays Billy Horschel and Spieth plays Lee Westwood, both also 2-0, to determine who advances.

LPGA: Lydia Ko had a triple bogey after losing a ball in a pine tree and dropped three more strokes on the next two holes to finish nine back, putting her career-long LPGA Tour cuts streak in jeopardy in the North Texas Shootout.

Ko said Wednesday that she will donate her earnings this week to the earthquake relief effort in Nepal.

TENNIS

BMW OPEN: Top-seeded Andy Murray began his clay-court season with a routine 6-2, 6-2 victory over local qualifier Mischa Zverev to reach the quarterfinals at Munich.

PRAGUE OPEN: Top-seeded Karolina Pliskova advanced to the semifinals with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 victory over wild-card entry Denisa Allertova.

– From staff and news services


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