FORT MYERS, Fla. – The St. Joseph’s softball team opened its season Monday with back-to-back wins on the first day of the Gene Cusick Collegiate Classic.

The Monks scored nine runs in the third and fourth innings on the way to a 12-3 victory over Ohio Wesleyan (1-1) in their opener, then rallied for a 4-2 win over Wartburg (1-3).

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Madina Ali of West Virginia tries to put up a shot while facing double-team pressure from Rutgers during the Big East semifinals Monday night at Hartford, Conn. No. 9 West Virginia advanced with a 56-49 victory. The Associated Press

Kiera Walsh pitched a four-hitter with four strikeouts in Game 1. Anna Willis had three hits and three RBI, and Ellen Neff was 2 for 3 with two runs and two RBI for the Monks.

St. Joseph’s broke a 2-2 tie against Wartburg when Emily Leverone doubled to score Willis in the third inning. Leverone was 3 for 3, and Liddy van der Linden had a home run and three RBI to support Christy Wezowicz, who pitched a seven-hitter.

BASEBALL

WPI SWEEPS ST. JOSEPH’S: Matt Moreau homered in each game and was 4 for 8 with six RBI to help the Engineers (4-0) beat the Monks (2-2) twice, 13-12 and 9-8, at Winter Haven, Fla.

St. Joseph’s lost the opener despite taking a 12-1 lead in the third inning.

Todd Keneborus was 5 for 7 with two triples, three runs and four RBI on the day for St. Joseph’s, and Chris Campbell was 5 for 8 with a double, four runs and two RBI.

MAINE 17, PENN 8: Taylor Lewis and Justin Leisenheimer each drove in two runs in the first three innings as the Black Bears (5-6) grabbed a 9-0 lead and cruised past the Quakers (1-2) at Winter Park, Fla.

Tony Patane added a three-run homer in the sixth to help Maine extend its lead to 16-1. Lewis was 3 for 3 with three runs and Joe Mercurio was 3 for 6 with a homer and four RBI. A.J. Bazdanes allowed a run on six hits in six innings with eight strikeouts.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

(5) XAVIER 57, TEMPLE 55: Tournament MVP Amber Harris tied a season high with 23 points and Ta’Shia Phillips had a season-high 21 rebounds, leading Xavier (27-3) over Temple (24-8) in the Atlantic 10 final at Upper Marlboro, Md.

(9) WEST VIRGINIA 56, RUTGERS 49: Sarah Miles scored 18 points to lead West Virginia (28-4) over Rutgers (19-14) in the Big East semifinals at Hartford, Conn.

Asya Bussie added 10 points for the Mountaineers, who face top-ranked Connecticut in today’s final.

(18) GONZAGA 76, PEPPERDINE 48: Courtney Vandersloot scored 19 points, Heather Bowman added 14 and Gonzaga (27-4) raced past Pepperdine (20-11) in the West Coast Conference final at Las Vegas.

AP POLL: Connecticut was No. 1 in the national poll for the 42nd straight week over a two-year span after receiving all 40 first-place votes from the media panel.

Stanford, Nebraska, Tennessee and Xavier rounded out the top five.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

ST. MARY’S 81, (18) GONZAGA 62: Mickey McConnell scored 26 points, Ben Allen added 20 and St. Mary’s (26-5) upset top-seeded Gonzaga (26-6) in the West Coast Conference final at Las Vegas.

OLD DOMINION 60, WILLIAM & MARY 53: Darius James had 12 points and Kent Basemore scored 10 as top-seeded Old Dominion (26-8) beat William & Mary (22-10) in the Colonial Athletic Association final at Richmond, Va., to earn the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.

PURDUE: Forward Robbie Hummel had reconstructive surgery on the ACL in his right knee. Coach Matt Painter said the standard recovery time is four to six months.

HAWAII: Bob Nash was fired as head coach after posting a 34-56 record over three seasons, university officials announced.

AP POLL: Kansas moved back into the top spot in the media poll, its 14th week at No. 1 this season. The Jayhawks received 63 of 65 first-place votes.

Kentucky moved up one place to No. 2 and Syracuse fell to third from No. 1.

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