CONWAY, S.C. (AP) — Wells Sykes singled leading off the eighth inning and scored on a sacrifice fly by Sebastian Alexander and No. 13 overall seed Coastal Carolina beat East Carolina 1-0 to win the Conway Regional on Sunday.

Coastal Carolina (51-11) is making its 21st NCAA Tournament appearance as it heads to the super regionals. The Chanticleers won the College World Series in their only appearance in the event in 2016.

Coastal Carolina starter Riley Eikhoff and East Carolina’s Bradley Zayac were locked in a scoreless duel into the eighth inning.

Eikhoff left with one out after issuing a walk on his 95th pitch. Dominick Carbone came in and struck out Dixon Williams and pinch-hitter Alex Bouche swinging to keep it tied. Eikhoff allowed five hits and walked three.

Zayac (1-4) threw a career-high 89 pitches in a career-best 7 1/3 innings. He left after Sykes reached, moved to second on a flyout and third on a wild pitch. Sean Jenkins allowed Alexander’s sac fly.

Carbone (6-0) struck out three in getting the last five outs for the win.

The Chanticleers, who beat the Pirates 18-7 on Saturday, are 34-2 when scoring first this season.

East Carolina has made 35 NCAA Tournament appearances and won seven regional championships but never advanced to the College World Series.

The Pirates (35-27) eliminated the Florida Gators 11-4 earlier Sunday.

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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

ERIN, Wis. – Nelly Korda came closer than ever to winning the championship she wants the most, taking a share of second at Erin Hills. Her relationship with the U.S. Women’s Open remains “complicated,” but she didn’t suffer this time like she has in the past, describing the 2024 episode where she made a 10 on her third hole, as a “dagger” in the heart.

“Maybe just a little bit of disappointment when like obviously golfers, a lot of us, are perfectionists,” said Korda. “So when I come out here and a golf course dominates you the way it does, it’s never a nice feeling.

“But it’s also super motivating.”

Korda made the turn on Sunday at Erin Hills one shot back of Maja Stark, the 25-year-old Swede who’d won only one time on the LPGA and came into the week with low expectations.

It was a stark contrast to world No. 1 Korda, who carries the weight of a tour on her statuesque frame every time she tees it up.

Korda’s putter went cold down the stretch at Erin Hills, as it has at times throughout this season, and a closing bogey on the par-5 18th basically ended her chances. She closed with a 1-under 71 to finish at 5 under for the tournament, two strokes shy of Stark.

Korda ended the week first in strokes gained off the tee, fifth in strokes gained approach and eighth in strokes gained short game. Her strokes gained putting rank was 52nd.

“I hit it so good off the tee,” said Korda. “I wasn’t in one bunker this week. I feel like that’s pretty impressive out here. I was thinking about that going into the round today. I was like, don’t think about it. It’s going to happen if you think about it.

“Yeah, I was just striking it really well. When you strike it really well and you give yourself so many opportunities, it does get at the end of the day frustrating it comes down to your putting, right? I wasn’t hitting bad putts. Not at all. I wasn’t pushing them. I wasn’t pulling them. They just weren’t falling … especially with it getting tougher every single day, like matching your speed with your line is very crucial on fast greens.”

Korda, still winless in 2025, now heads to the ShopRite LPGA Classic next week near Atlantic City.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Erin Hills ‘dominates’ world
No. 1 Nelly Korda at U.S. Women’s Open

Wisconsin football landed a commitment from class of 2026 defensive lineman Djidjou Bah on Sunday.

Bah announced his pledge at the conclusion of his official visit to the program over the weekend. He chose the Badgers over notable Big Ten programs Michigan State, Indiana, Iowa and Northwestern.

247Sports lists Bah as a three-star recruit. He’s specifically ranked as the No. 152 defensive lineman in the class of 2026 and No. 61 recruit from his home state of Tennessee. Wisconsin was the first stop on a busy June of official visits, with trips to Iowa, Indiana and Michigan State, respectively, scheduled for the next three weeks. That schedule may change after the defensive lineman’s commitment to the Badgers.

Bah is notably the program’s third commitment of the day, following defensive lineman Arthur Scott and linebacker Ben Wenzel. He is the 10th overall addition to the class and the third defensive lineman. That class already jumped from No. 45 in 247Sports’ national rankings up to No. 39 with Scott and Wenzel’s additions. That positive trajectory should continue with Bah now in the mix.

Badger Nation I’m 🏡🔴🦡⚪️ #OnWisconsin#GoBadgers#alhamdulillah@BadgerFootball@CoachWhit_UW@Coach_Mitch_@CoachFick@Badger247@AllenTrieu@SWiltfong_@adamgorney@TomLoy247@iamcoachgene@badgers_insider@johnvarlas@CSmithScoutpic.twitter.com/AfSdwKVi7v

— 3⭐️ Djidjou Bah 🇬🇳 (@9ninezer0) June 2, 2025

While Wisconsin is still looking for its first blue-chip addition to the class, the program now has significant momentum coming off a critical weekend of official visits. It’s now worth watching whether top players from that visit group, LB McHale Blade, WR Jayden Petit, RB Amari Latimer, OT Kamari Blair and athlete Jackson Ford, follow the trio of committed recruits.

For more on the Badgers’ class, bookmark our class of 2026 commitment tracker.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion

This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Wisconsin football recruiting class of 2026 Djidjou Bah commitment

When the Sparks faced the Phoenix Mercury last month, the game ended with a failed Sparks comeback.

There was another comeback Sunday — and it belonged to Phoenix.

Unable to stay ahead after building an 18-point lead, the Sparks fell 85-80 to the Mercury at Crypto.com Arena for their third consecutive loss.

The third quarter once again proved to be the Sparks undoing. After scoring just seven points in the third quarter in their loss to Phoenix on May 21, the Sparks were outscored 24-9 in the third on Sunday.

Read more:Sparks can’t stop A’ja Wilson and Aces in Kelsey Plum’s return to Las Vegas

Before the game, Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said consistency in transition defense, avoiding prolonged bad stretches and fluid ball movement would define a strong third quarter. None of that materialized against Phoenix.

After opening with their best first quarter of the season, the Sparks quickly became visibly frustrated in the second half. A three-pointer from Kathryn Westbeld with 2:11 left in the third gave the Mercury their first lead, 58–57, and capped a 21-5 run.

The shift in energy was palpable in what became a chippy, physical game. Momentum swung in Phoenix’s favor late in the third when Satou Sabally was fouled by Kelsey Plum while scoring on a layup, pointing and shouting to the Sparks bench as she celebrated.

Sabally finished as the Mercury’s leading scorer with 24 points. She also had nine rebounds.

The teams traded leads early in the fourth quarter. Trailing by two, with 25 seconds left, Plum turned over the ball while trying to pass to an open shooter. Plum then fouled Kitija Laksa, who made two free throws to make it a four-point game.

Plum was one for 13 in the second half, finishing with 15 points and six rebounds.

The Sparks were a different team in the first quarter behind a new starting lineup of Julie Allemand, Dearica Hamby, Azurá Stevens, Odyssey Sims, Plum. They scored 27 points and had a 10-point lead going into the second quarter. After struggling with flat starts all season, the team finally found an early rhythm — one they’ve shown in flashes, but haven’t sustained.

Standing at 5-foot-8, Sims — one of the Sparks’ fiercest competitors — helped keep the team in the game to the finish, scoring a game-high 32 points.

She relentlessly attacked the basket, giving Mercury defender Sami Whitcomb the “too small’ gesture in the process. She hit the floor multiple times on hard drives, fighting through contact, and getting in the faces of Mercury defenders to confront them about foul calls. At times, the toll of her effort showed, as she walked with a slight limp between plays.

Despite the effort it wasn’t enough to secure a much-needed win for a Sparks team that will play eight of its next 11 games on the road.

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Minnesota United have not backed down this evening against Western Conference rival Seattle Sounders, as the Loons currently enjoy a 3-1 lead at Lumen Field.

After a tepid first half that saw the two sides deadlocked at nil-nil by the halftime interval, the match sprung into life in the Pacific Northwest, with the match exploding for four goals in less than eight minutes.

First, Tani Oluwaseyi bagged the first of two goals on the day when he turned in a cut-back from Finnish wing-back Robin Lod.

Lod would then go on to convert from the penalty spot three minutes later after Bongokuhle Hlongwane was brought down, but Seattle instantly stormed back through Kalani Rienzi.

This game is nuts, y’all. 🥜

Tani AGAIN. 3-1. pic.twitter.com/wKK3LhI6bA

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) June 1, 2025

Oluwaseyi tapped home from close range to make it 3-1 three minutes later when Stefan Frei could only parry Joaquín Pereyra’s effort into the path of the Canadian frontman.

As things stand, this result would go down as the first-ever win Minnesota has picked up on their travels to Seattle.

📸 Editorial Photo Credit: © Joe Nicholson | 2025 Jun 1 – Imagn Images

SEATTLE (AP) — Tani Oluwaseyi scored two goals in the second half and Minnesota claimed its first-ever win in Seattle with a 3-2 victory over the Sounders on Sunday.

Minnesota (8-3-6) beat the Sounders (7-5-5) for just the second time in 16 meetings — and won in Seattle for the first time in nine tries. The Sounders also knocked out Minnesota in the 2020 Western Conference championship.

Seattle (7-5-5) dropped its first game at Lumen Field this season, moving to 5-1-2. FC Cincinnati is the only MLS team yet to lose at home.

Minnesota and Seattle combined for four goals in seven minutes, marking the ninth time in MLS history that two teams had four goals in eight-or-fewer minutes in a half.

Oluwaseyi opened the scoring in the 51st minute when he was left alone at the penalty spot for a redirection of Robin Lod’s back pass. Oluwaseyi scored again in the 58th on a rebound attempt for a 3-1 lead.

Lod scored on a penalty kick in the 54th for a two-goal advantage.

Kalani Kossa-Rienzi and Nicolás Romero scored for Seattle.

PROTEST

The Seattle players wore T-shirts before a match that read “Club World Cup Ca$h Grab” to demand a share of the prize money for participating in the upcoming international tournament.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer

First baseman Dom Smith is now a free agent after exercising his out clause with the Yankees after spending two months playing for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

Smith spent spring training with New York after the team signed him to a minor-league deal with an invite to major league camp.

With Giancarlo Stanton out to begin the season, Smith was hoping to make the roster as possibly a DH in Stanton’s absence or a backup first baseman. The 29-year-old had a strong spring, too, hitting .297 with three home runs and 12 RBI in 37 at-bats, but he was ultimately released.

A week later, he signed with the Yanks once again and was assigned to Triple-A.

After a rough April, Smith turned it on in May and slashed .317/.389/.622 with seven home runs and 22 RBI. He’s now hoping to turn that hot month into a major league contract somewhere else.

A former Met for six seasons, Smith last played in the majors in 2024, splitting time between the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds.

The lefty-swinging first baseman is a career .246 hitter and has 64 home runs across 693 games.

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Taylor Walls was livid on Sunday afternoon at Daikin Park.

Walls was thrown out of the Rays’ 1-0 loss to the Houston Astros after he got into it with home plate umpire Nick Lentz over what he thought was a missed call. Walls then tapped the top of his helmet just barely, which is what prompted Lentz to throw him out of the game.

Once Walls realized what had happened, he was furious. He had to be held back multiple times before finally making his way into the clubhouse.

“I said that ball’s down, and then I heard the dugout kind of yapping at him a little bit,” Walls said, via FanDuel’s Ryan Bass. “I may have reiterated that ball’s way down, but past that, I didn’t say anything. I was ticked off.”

The issue, it seemed, was that Walls tapped the top of his helmet — which was the same gesture that players used to call for a challenge throughout spring training. That, however, wasn’t carried over into the regular season.

That gesture, Walls insisted, was accidental.

“I have no recollection of it, but after seeing the video, it looks like I tapped my helmet,” he said. “But it was totally unintentional, something I was not consciously aware of at all. I’m looking right at him when I’m doing it with no sincere, at that point, maybe I was frustrated with the strike call, but there was no sincerity of trying to show the guy up. … He comes out, and he’s like, we’re not doing that. You’re out of here, and tosses me.”

But, regardless of his intent, Lentz wasn’t having it.

The Astros held on and closed out the half inning to grab the 1-0 win. They scored their only run of the night in the first inning after Christian Walker hit an RBI single.

The Rays, who now sit at 30-29 on the year, had just two hits in the game. They’ll be back in action on Tuesday when they kick off a three-game series against the Texas Rangers at home.

While Walls said he felt bad for his reaction, he’s not sure he was entirely in the wrong.

“I kind of want to apologize to him for if [tapping my helmet] is what he thought I did, but at the same time like, after missing a call, you kind of have to understand the situation,” he said. “You can’t just toss me for something that you’re not totally sure that I was doing it intentionally to disrespect.”

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Taylor Walls was livid on Sunday afternoon at Daikin Park.

Walls was thrown out of the Rays’ 1-0 loss to the Houston Astros after he got into it with home plate umpire Nick Lentz over what he thought was a missed call. Walls then tapped the top of his helmet just barely, which is what prompted Lentz to throw him out of the game.

Once Walls realized what had happened, he was furious. He had to be held back multiple times before finally making his way into the clubhouse.

“I said that ball’s down, and then I heard the dugout kind of yapping at him a little bit,” Walls said, via FanDuel’s Ryan Bass. “I may have reiterated that ball’s way down, but past that, I didn’t say anything. I was ticked off.”

The issue, it seemed, was that Walls tapped the top of his helmet — which was the same gesture that players used to call for a challenge throughout spring training. That, however, wasn’t carried over into the regular season.

That gesture, Walls insisted, was accidental.

“I have no recollection of it, but after seeing the video, it looks like I tapped my helmet,” he said. “But it was totally unintentional, something I was not consciously aware of at all. I’m looking right at him when I’m doing it with no sincere, at that point, maybe I was frustrated with the strike call, but there was no sincerity of trying to show the guy up. … He comes out, and he’s like, we’re not doing that. You’re out of here, and tosses me.”

But, regardless of his intent, Lentz wasn’t having it.

The Astros held on and closed out the half inning to grab the 1-0 win. They scored their only run of the night in the first inning after Christian Walker hit an RBI single.

The Rays, who now sit at 30-29 on the year, had just two hits in the game. They’ll be back in action on Tuesday when they kick off a three-game series against the Texas Rangers at home.

While Walls said he felt bad for his reaction, he’s not sure he was entirely in the wrong.

“I kind of want to apologize to him for if [tapping my helmet] is what he thought I did, but at the same time like, after missing a call, you kind of have to understand the situation,” he said. “You can’t just toss me for something that you’re not totally sure that I was doing it intentionally to disrespect.”