BASEBALL

Samad Taylor and Otto Lopez each drove in two runs and Demi Orimoloye added a home run Friday night to lead the New Hampshire Fisher Cats to a 5-3 win over the Portland Sea Dogs at Hadlock Field.

Portland fell behind 2-0 on an RBI groundout by Lopez in the first inning and Orimoloye’s homer in the second.

The Sea Dogs got an RBI single from Jeisson Rosario in the second inning, but Taylor made it 4-1 with a two-run single in the fourth.

Pedro Castellanos singled home two runs in the seventh for Portland.

Josh Winckowski (5-2) took the loss, allowing six hits and four runs in six innings.

Advertisement

NECBL: Dominic Freeberger and Shane Paradine each tallied two RBI as the Sanford Mainers rolled to a 9-4 win over the Vermont Mountaineers at Goodall Park.

Trevor LaBonte got the win in relief with 2 2/3 perfect innings.

COLLEGES

SEC: Oklahoma and Texas accepted invitations to join the Southeastern Conference in July 2025, worried that their storied athletic programs were in danger of losing ground if they stayed in the Big 12.

A whirlwind week of official moves – after who knows exactly how long the schools worked behind the scenes – came to a conclusion when regents at both Texas and Oklahoma unanimously jumped at the chance to join the SEC.

Texas and Oklahoma are bound to the Big 12 and its other eight members by a grant of media rights that runs through the 2024-25 school year, concurrent with the conference’s television contracts.

Advertisement

• The NCAA Board of Governors called for a constitutional convention in November, the first step toward launching dramatic reform in how the sprawling, multibillion-dollar enterprise of college sports is governed for years to come.

In the wake of a stinging loss in the Supreme Court and radical changes to the way athletes can be compensated – and with College Football Playoff expansion and major conference realignment already in motion – the NCAA said it wants to “reimagine” how it manages the needs of its more than 450,000 athletes.

SOCCER

SUPER LEAGUE: Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid vowed to press on with the European Super League project after a court ruled against what the clubs called “UEFA’s threats.”

A Spanish court threw out an appeal by UEFA against the decision this month to unwind the actions taken against all of the 12 Super League founding clubs.

The three remaining clubs who haven’t abandoned the Super League plan released a joint statement welcoming the court’s decision against “UEFA’s monopolistic position over European football” and reiterated their stance to continue planning a breakaway competition.

Advertisement

ENGLAND: Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford will undergo shoulder surgery and is expected to be sidelined for an extended period.

The Premier League club, which kicks off the new season in just over two weeks, did not specify how long the 23-year-old Rashford would be out.

GOLF

U.S. SENIOR WOMEN’S OPEN: Annika Sorenstam, a three-time U.S. Women’s Open champion making her first appearance in the senior event, shot a 3-under 69 to take a three-stroke lead in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Another former U.S. Women’s Open champion from Sweden, Liselotte Neumann, was second after birdieing the final two holes for a 69.

Fifteen players were unable to finish the second round. The first round was completed Friday morning after rain prevented half the field from finishing Thursday.

WORLD INVITATIONAL: New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier claimed the halfway lead in Balleymena, Northern Ireland.

Hillier carded nine birdies and one bogey in a second round of 62 to reach 11 under, a shot ahead of overnight leader Jordan Smith (68).

In the women’s event, American Emma Talley shot a 65 and opened a three-shot lead over compatriot Jennifer Kupcho and South Korea’s Chella Choi.

Comments are not available on this story.