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2B Daily News – Saturday, June 22, 2013 COLLEGE WORLD SERIES WIMBLEDON Mississippi St. ousts Ore. St. Federer, Nadal OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Oregon State's season ended with the Beavers waiting for the big hit that never came. The Beavers were eliminated from the College World Series in a 4-1 loss to Mississippi State on Friday. The Bulldogs advanced to the CWS finals with the victory. Oregon State advanced runners to second base in six innings but could get only one home. The Beavers were 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position and hit into three double plays. ''This certainly isn't the way we planned it, and it wasn't for a lack of effort,'' coach Pat Casey said. ''We couldn't get a hit when we needed one. I think that's happened before to all teams. Obviously we were facing very good pitching. Mississippi State got here with their pitching, and the starter was good.'' The Beavers were down 1-0 in the fifth when Hunter Renfroe delivered the key blow for the Bulldogs, a three-run homer off the back wall of the left-field bullpen. The Bulldogs (51-18) beat the Beavers for the second time in the CWS. Oregon State (52-13) went 2-2 in its first CWS appearance since winning back-to-back national titles in 2006-07. ''Omaha's a crazy place,'' left fielder Michael Conforto said. ''We had a lot of fun while we're here. It's just frustrating the way we ended it. There's a lot of positives we can take from this. We're going to grow as a team next year. We've got a lot of guys coming back.'' Renfroe's homer off freshman left-hander Andrew Moore (14-2) was only the third in 11 CWS games. Mississippi State's Kendall Graveman (7-5) worked the first 5 2-3 innings, allowing one run on four hits. Ross Mitchell and Jonathan Holder finished, with Holder getting the last two outs for his 21st save of the season and school-record 30th of his career. It's the sixth straight year a team from the South- eastern Conference has reached the finals. The Bulldogs built on a 1-0 lead after Moore retired their first two batters in the fifth. Adam Frazier and Alex Detz singled before Renfroe, the No. 13 overall pick by San Diego in this month's draft, drove Moore's 3-1 breaking ball for his 16th home run of the season but first since May 4. Moore gave up four runs on nine hits in 4 2-3 innings, his shortest outing of the season. Jace Fry pitched 3 1-3 innings of two-hit shutout relief, but the Beavers' offense couldn't crack Mitchell and Holder. Mississippi State had beaten the Beavers 5-4 in the CWS opener, with Danny Hayes' deep fly to right dying on the warning track in the bottom of the ninth inning. There was no such drama this time. The Bulldogs' Brett Pirtle extended his streak of reaching base to 42 games, and Renfroe extended his hitting streak to 10 games. Graveman also started the first game against the Beavers, but he allowed four runs in 4 2-3 innings that day and was let off the hook when Wes Rea doubled in the winning runs in the eighth. Conforto turned in perhaps the best defensive play of the CWS when he robbed Wes Rea of extra bases in the second inning. Conforto retreated to the warning track on Rea's fly, jumped to make the catch and held on as he slammed against the wall. Beavers shortstop Tyler Smith was so impressed that he went out to left to give Conforto a hug. Conforto later threw out Rea at the plate after catching a ball in foul territory. Casey said the play on Rea brought energy to the dugout. ''We've been talking all yearlong about how good a defender he is,'' Casey said. ''It gets overlooked, but he gets great jumps on the ball. It was an inspiration to our club.'' GOAL Chants of ''Ab-bee, Abbee, Ab-bee,'' cascaded through the stadium as officials got the ball and brought it to the U.S. bench. The four goals in the friendly were the secondmost by Wambach in an international game, and will allow the spotlight that has followed her in her chase of Hamm's record to finally dissolve. Her first goal Thursday came on a shot in the box past South Korean goalkeeper Kim Jung-mi in the 10th minute. The second came nine minutes later on a flicking header. Lauren Cheney set up the first two goals on crossing passes on plays in which Wambach eluded Korean defender Shim Seo-yeon. Wambach's fourth goal was an easy tap-in after Alex Morgan made a run down the right side and centered the ball to the onrushing 2012 FIFA Women's World Player of the Year. blocked him and tried to run high, the way my car was driving, his car would have passed me halfway through the corner like no problem. I knew my best chance was try to come off the corner as good as I could. That's all I could do. ''I'm like 'I can either wreck here trying to protect that when I know I'm not good enough right now and take second and go home happy, or I can finish 30th with two laps to go,' '' Montoya continued. ''I decided to take the smarter way.'' That doesn't mean Montoya doesn't want to win. He admitted Friday he's starving for a victory — the last of his two career Sprint Cup wins was in 2010 at Watkins Glen — but is focusing on making the 12-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup championship field. ''It's hard because I think we're still in a position where we can make it on points, top 10,'' Montoya said. ''I want to win badly, but I want to make the Chase even more badly. We've got to take chances to win, but we've got to take more chances to score big.'' Toews back on the same line with Patrick Kane ahead of Game 4. Toews responded with his second goal of the playoffs, and Kane had a goal and an assist. The Blackhawks' defensemen also were more active in the offensive zone, with Brent Seabrook scoring the winning goal. Shortly after the seriestying victory, Quenneville still managed to poke fun at himself when asked about putting Toews and Kane together again. ''Maybe it looks like I didn't know what I was doing,'' he said with a chuckle. The moment of levity in the middle of a taut series was a prime example of why Quenneville has been so successful in his third stint as a head coach in the NHL. ''I think he's always been the same guy,'' defenseman Duncan Keith said. ''I think you always know what you're going to get with him and I think that's probably the biggest thing for us, why we have success. He's level-headed, brings that even-keel attitude to the team.'' The Bruins were struggling on the second night of the series when Julien put Chris Kelly, Daniel Paille and Tyler Seguin together on the same line, and they were responsible for both of Boston's goals in a victory that gave the Bruins a split of the first two games in Chicago. ''I think Claude has always been leading the same way and kind of coaching the same way,'' center Patrice Bergeron said. ''I think a little adjustment during the series is a little different because you're playing the same team over and over again. So it's about little tweaks here and there and I think the whole coaching staff is good at that.'' Boston has made it to the playoffs in each of Julien's six seasons in charge, and two more victories would make it two Stanley Cup titles in three seasons. It also won it all in 2011, coming back to beat Vancouver in seven games after losing the first two of the series. The same relentless approach that helped the Bruins overcome the Canucks two years ago popped up again when they staged an improbable rally in the third period of a 5-4 victory over Toronto in Game 7 of the first round of this year's postseason. It's no coincidence that the occasionally feisty Julien was behind the bench for each victory. (Continued from page 1B) stands and blew a kiss toward her parents, Judy and Peter. ''My teammates know me super well, and at halftime they said: 'You're such an extremist. You are all or nothing. When you want to do something, you just go do it,''' Wambach said of getting the record. ''I am very much like my father in that way.'' Other than ''perfect ball,'' Rapinoe quipped, the only thing she said after the goal was, ''YESSSS!'' ''I'm just so happy for her,'' Rapinoe said. ''This was an amazing, amazing accomplishment in way less games, the way she has done it. It's incredible to be a part of it.'' NASCAR (Continued from page 1B) ''All I can do is go by what I know. Yeah, I could have been more aggressive maybe for a corner. But I know if I would have moved up, with the way my car was driving, he would have cleared me on the bottom. If I would have CUP (Continued from page 1B) franchises. The Blackhawks' 6-5 overtime victory in Boston on Wednesday made it a split of the first four games. The series resumes on Saturday night in Chicago, with the rest of league's coaching fraternity enjoying the chess match between two of its most accomplished members. ''What has been fun to watch is, neither guy is hoping for chemistry to develop,'' St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. ''They're not sitting on a combination. They're moving guys around to try to find something and their proactive approaches have been one of the great things about the series.'' Quenneville's team appeared to be in trouble heading into Game 4. The Bruins controlled the last part of a 2-1 overtime victory in Game 2, stealing home-ice advantage from Chicago, and shut down the Blackhawks in a 2-0 victory Monday night that put Boston up 2-1 in the finals. Looking for an offensive spark, Quenneville put captain Jonathan Wambach, who was stopped on a first-half breakaway shortly after her first goal, had a chance for a fifth, which would have tied her single-game record, but she could not get her head on a cross early in the second half. Wambach was given a standing ovation by many in the crowd when she was replaced in the 58th minute by Christen Press. Before leaving the field, she exchanged hugs with long-time teammates Rapinoe, Heather O'Reilly and Carli Lloyd and a few others. As she got to the sideline she applauded the crowd and then hugged her coaches and teammates. The crowd chanted ''Abby ''She had her mind set,'' Wambach'' in return. U.S. captain Christie Ram''It's fantastic, a fairypone said. ''She wanted to tale night,'' US coach Tom do it tonight and you could Sermanni said. ''She could see it. Three goals in less not have done it any better, than 30 minutes, an amaz- just fantastic. She is a great ing performance by her. It professional. She is in was the best of both great shape and she was worlds, she got to score really determined tonight four goals and then watch to go out there and break the rest of the game and that record, and she did it enjoy the day.'' in great style.'' ''I've always said I've got to be comfortable; in order to be comfortable, I've got to be myself,'' the 53-year-old Julien said. ''As a player, I felt things. As a coach, I kind of remember those things. At the same time, when you are the coach, you are the guy that gives the direction so it's a fine line.'' Quenneville, who turns 55 in September, coached the Blackhawks to the best record in the NHL in his fifth season in Chicago. Under his leadership, the Blackhawks ended a 49year drought when they won the Cup in 2010. Like Julien, Quenneville's coaching style also is influenced by his playing career. ''As a player, it's way more fun being a player than a coach,'' he said. ''But at the same time, really enjoyed coaching in the different places I've been as a coach. I just think I've been fortunate to work with some great people, some great organizations. I've learned from some great people along the way.'' could meet in quarterfinals LONDON (AP) — Seven-time champion Roger Federer could face Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Friday's draw for the grass-court Grand Slam placed the third-seeded Federer and No. 5 Nadal in the same half. Federer is the defending champion at the All England Club, while Nadal is a two-time winner. Home favorite Andy Murray, who is seeded No. 2, is also in the same bottom half and could meet Nadal or Federer in the semifinal. Top-seeded Novak Djokovic is in the top half and has a much easier path to the final, facing a possible semifinal against No. 4 David Ferrer. Last year, Federer won his record-tying seventh Wimbledon title by beating Murray in final. Murray, who beat Federer in the Olympic final at Wimbledon, will be bidding to become the first British player to win the men's title since Fred Perry in 1936. The other possible men's quarterfinals are: Djokovic against No.7 Tomas Berdych; Ferrer vs. No. 8 Juan Martin Del Potro and Murray against No.6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Wimbledon's seeding order is determined using the ATP rankings and points are added for achievements in grass-court tournaments in the past 12 months. Nadal, coming off his eighth French Open victory, has been seeded No. 5 after being sidelined for about seven months with a left knee injury following his surprise loss in the second round at Wimbledon last year. Federer, Nadal and Murray will all play on Monday's opening day at Wimbledon. Federer will open the defense of his title against Victor Hanescu of Romania, while Nadal will take on Steve Darcis of Belgium and Murray plays Benjamin Becker of Germany. Djokovic will start on Tuesday against Florian Mayer of Germany. In the women's draw, five-time champion and topseeded Serena Williams will open against Mandy Minella of Luxembourg. Second-seeded Victoria Azarenka has a first-round match against Maria Joao Koehler of Portugal. NFL Goodell watching Hernandez case developments NEW YORK (AP) — Roger Goodell is doing what any commissioner or president of a sports league would when one of his players is being investigated in a criminal case. He's waiting for the legal process to take its course. No charges have been filed in what has been termed by Massachusetts authorities as a homicide in the death of a man connected to New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez. Police have searched Hernandez's house and the area around it after 27-year-old semi-pro player Odin Lloyd was found dead in an industrial park near the Patriot's North Attleborough home. Hernandez also was sued Wednesday in Florida by a man claiming Hernandez shot him in the face after they argued at a strip club in February. As he has done in recent cases, be they high profile — Michael Vick and his dogfighting, for example — or less publicized, Goodell is sitting tight. Innocent before proven guilty. Should Hernandez be arrested — no charges have been brought in either case — Goodell could punish him under the NFL's personal conduct policy. But he generally prefers to await the outcome of all legal proceedings. When Vick admitted to financing a dogfighting operation, Goodell suspended him indefinitely in August 2007. Vick served 18 months in a federal penitentiary, and was reinstated in 2009 when Goodell said the quarterback had shown remorse for his actions. Vick has stayed out of trouble since and has played for the Philadelphia Eagles the last four years. Goodell suspended cornerback Adam ''Pacman'' Jones for the 2007 season under the personal conduct policy after Jones was arrested multiple times. A 2005 first-round draft pick by the Titans who now is with Cincinnati, Jones has been in and out of legal trouble, with at least seven arrests over the years and involvement in about a dozen incidents that included police intervention. He recently pleaded not guilty to an assault charge after police say he hit a woman at a nightclub. If he is found guilty or accepts a plea bargain, he would be subject to another NFL suspension, perhaps an indefinite one. ''We must protect the integrity of the NFL,'' Goodell has said. ''The highest standards of conduct must be met by everyone in the NFL because it is a privilege to represent the NFL, not a right. These players, and all members of our league, have to make the right choices and decisions in their conduct on a consistent basis.'' Packers defensive lineman Johnny Jolly was suspended indefinitely by the NFL before the 2010 season for violating the league's substance abuse policy. Two years earlier, in April 2008, he'd been arrested outside a club in his hometown of Houston for possession of codeine, a controlled substance. He pleaded guilty and was given probation, with the understanding that another misstep would mean significant jail time. He was arrested again in October 2010, and went to jail for violating probation. Goodell suspended him indefinitely and he has missed the last three NFL seasons, but attended Green Bay's minicamp earlier this month after being reinstated in March.