BASEBALL

Ryan Douglas pitched 8 1/3 scoreless innings and struck out eight as the Sanford Mainers evened their best-of-three NECBL semifinal series with the Vermont Mountaineers by winning 5-0 Wednesday night at Goodall Park in Sanford.

The final game of the series is at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Montpelier, Vermont.

Douglas allowed two hits and one walk. He was relieved by Brian Craven, who got the final two outs.

Sanford scored three runs in the fifth inning on three hits and three walks.

Kevin Skagerlind had a two-run single in the sixth.

EASTERN LEAGUE: Quincy Nieporte went 3 for 5 with a homer and three RBI as the Erie Seawolves handed the Portland Sea Dogs their fourth straight Eastern League loss, 9-5 at Hadlock Field.

Erie’s Andrew Navigato was 3 for 6 with three runs scored.

Izzy Wilson and Alex Binelas hit homers for Portland. David Hamilton stole his 50th base of the season.

COLLEGES

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: UConn women’s basketball star Paige Bueckers tore the ACL in her left knee and will miss the entire 2022-23 season, the school announced.

UConn said in a statement that Bueckers suffered the injury Monday during a pickup basketball game and underwent an MRI that evening. It did not say where Bueckers was playing when the injury occurred.

Bueckers was named the 2020-21 AP national Player of the Year, becoming the first freshman to earn that honor.

She missed 19 games last season after suffering a left knee tibia plateau fracture and torn meniscus in early December. But she returned to lead the Huskies to the Final Four, where the Huskies lost to South Carolina in the championship game.

UConn said Bueckers will undergo surgery on Friday at UConn Health in Farmington.

FOOTBALL: One-time Clemson starting safety Lannden Zanders is giving up football because of continuing problems with his injured right shoulder.

Zanders has had three surgeries to repair and rehab a torn labrum. He was cleared to compete at the Tigers’ fall camp, which opens Friday. However, Zanders said on social media he felt he was not “physically able” to be the player he had been and made the choice to step away from the game.

BASKETBALL

WNBA: Sabrina Ionescu scored eight of her 20 points in the final 2:18 and the New York Liberty rallied from a 15-point deficit in the third quarter to beat the visiting Los Angeles Sparks 64-61.

• Rhyne Howard scored 20 points, Cheyenne Parker added 17 and the host Atlanta Dream handed the Indiana Fever its 15th straight loss, 91-81.

HOCKEY

NHL: Milwaukee will host an NHL game for the first time in more than three decades when the Chicago Blackhawks face the Minnesota Wild at Fiserv Forum, the home of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks.

The Oct. 2 preseason matchup marks the first NHL game at Milwaukee since 1993. It’s the first time the Blackhawks have played at Milwaukee since facing the Los Angeles Kings at the Bradley Center on Dec. 1, 1992.

• The New Jersey Devils avoided arbitration with Jesper Bratt, signing the up-and-coming Swedish forward to a one-year, $5.45 million contract.

Bratt will be a restricted free agent at the end of the upcoming season and again have arbitration rights.

AUTO RACING

FORMULA ONE: Alex Albon signed a multi-year contract extension to continue driving for Formula One team Williams.

The 26-year-old Albon joined Williams this season as a replacement for George Russell, who moved to Mercedes.

INDYCAR: IndyCar fined Andretti Autosport $25,000 because the car that Alexander Rossi drove to end his 49-race losing streak was illegal.

Rossi’s car failed inspection following Saturday’s win on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway when it was discovered to be underweight. IndyCar said the team used a water bottle instead of ballast and failed to meet the minimum weight requirement.

Rossi was also docked 20 points in the standings but ranked eighth in the standings before the penalty. He’s long out of IndyCar’s title race. Rossi is leaving Andretti at the end of the season to drive for Arrow McLaren SP.

His win Saturday ended a three-year losing streak that dated to Road America in Wisconsin in 2019 and spanned 1,133 days. The victory also helped him leave his No. 27 team on a positive note; almost 70% of Rossi’s team has been with him for his seven seasons driving for Andretti.

NASCAR: Kurt Busch will miss his third consecutive race with concussion-like symptoms when he sits out Sunday at Michigan International Speedway.

Busch was injured after crashing in qualifying on July 23 at Pocono Raceway. Ty Gibbs will replace him in the Toyota for 23XI Racing for his third drive in the No. 45.

SOCCER

WOMENS: England’s women’s soccer team is continuing to generate unprecedented fan interest following its European Championship victory, with its planned game against the United States at Wembley Stadium in October selling out in less than a day.

The game pitting the European champion against the reigning world champion was announced on Tuesday by England’s Football Association and will be played Oct. 7, subject to England having secured World Cup qualification in September.

The Lionesses’ official Twitter account posted an update early Wednesday that read: “YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING. 65,000 tickets have already been sold for our October international against the United States!”

The team later said the game was sold out, but did not say how many tickets had been put up for general sale.

TENNIS

CITI OPEN: Top-seeded Jessica Pegula is out of the tournament after getting upset in straight sets by Australian Daria Saville at Washington.

Pegula, the defending champion of the tournament that serves as a hard-court tuneup for the U.S. Open, lost 7-5, 6-4, with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line.

Former No. 1 Simona Halep retired in the second set of her match against Anna Kalinskaya because of illness.

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