HOCKEY
Mike Szmatula scored the winner with eight minutes remaining, and the Adirondack Thunder rallied to a 4-2 win over the Maine Mariners on Saturday in an ECHL game in Glens Falls, New York.
Blake Thompson added an empty-net goal for the Thunder (36-24-5-3).
The Mariners (35-28-2-1) took a 2-0 lead on first-period goals by Nick Master and Zeb Knutson.
AUTO RACING
XFINITY: Kyle Busch rocketed ahead of Tyler Reddick on the final restart with six laps remaining to win the NASCAR Xfinity race Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway, setting up the possibility of a tripleheader weekend sweep in Fort Worth.
While Busch will be going for his third career NASCAR tripleheader sweep – he did it at Bristol in 2010 and 2017 – he missed out on the chance for one at his home track in Las Vegas four weeks ago with a third-place Cup finish after winning the Xfinity and Truck Series races. He missed sweep chances at Texas in 2009 and 2014.
Busch led 33 of the 200 laps, won for the third time in four Xfinity starts this season and got his 95th career victory in the series. He extended his NASCAR record to 203 wins overall, nine coming in 14 NASCAR starts this year.
FORMULA ONE: Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc confirmed he is a driver to be reckoned with by taking his first career pole position at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday.
The 21-year-old from Monaco topped all three sections of qualifying, having already been quickest in two of the three practice sessions over the weekend.
Ferrari secured a 1-2 on the grid as four-time Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel qualified in second place. Defending champion Lewis Hamilton was third, ahead of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.
TENNIS
MIAMI OPEN: Ashleigh Barty had 15 aces and became the 33rd player to win a title in as many ATP and WTA tournaments this year when she beat Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (1), 6-3 in the final at Miami Gardens.
The 22-year-old Australian, who was seeded 12th, won her fourth title and the biggest of her career. She improved to 18-3 this year and will rise to a career-high ranking of No. 9 next week.
Barty won with a dominating serve and wide variety of shots from the baseline, repeatedly extending rallies with scrambling defense. She was broken just one and won 86 percent of her first-service points.
Barty became the fifth different Miami Open women’s champion in the past five years.
GOLF
PGA: Graeme McDowell one-putted the first 15 greens and shot his second straight 8-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead in the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship in the Dominican Republic.
Winless since 2016, the 39-year-old major champion from Northern Ireland had a 15-under 201 total. He opened with a 73. Chris Stoud was second, also shooting 64.
CHAMPIONS: Kevin Sutherland made a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th for a 3-under 69 and a three-stroke lead in the Rapiscan Systems Classic at Biloxi, Mississippi.
Tied for the first-round lead with Marco Dawson after a 65, Sutherland had a 10-under 134 total at Fallen Oak. Dawson was second after a 72.
EUROPEAN: Julian Suri and Callum Shinkwin shared a two-shot lead at the Indian Open in New Delhi after a dramatic finish to the third round.
Shinkwin shot a 4-under 68 before Suri (71) sent a terrible tee shot into a hazard on the par-5 18th, leading to a double bogey for the American. That left both players with an overall 11-under-par 205.
LPGA: Inbee Park curled in an 18-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th for her second straight 5-under 67 and the third-round lead in the Kia Classic, the final event before the major ANA Inspiration.
Winless in a full calendar year, the seven-time major champion from South Korea had a one-stroke advantage over Nasa Hataoka (64) after a low-scoring day in Carlsbad, California.
COLLEGES
MEN’S BASKETBALL: Joey Witthus scored 24 points and Northwest Missouri State capped an undefeated season with a 64-58 victory over Point Loma (Calif.) in Evansville, Indiana for its second Division II championship in three seasons.
Northwest Missouri State (38-0) became just the fifth team in Division II history to go undefeated with a national title, most recently accomplished by Findlay in 2009. The Bearcats also tied last season’s champion Ferris State (38-1) for the most wins in Division II history.
– News service report
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