In brief: Sun Devils, Gators move on to finals

Softball: Dallas Escobedo threw a five-hit shutout, Mandy Urfer hit a two-run homer and top-seeded Arizona State beat Baylor 4-0 Sunday to reach the finals of the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.

Annie Lockwood added an RBI double and Lesley Rogers a run-scoring single for the Sun Devils (58-6), who will face Florida in the best-of-three series starting tonight.

• Florida wins two to advance: Kelsey Bruder and Brittany Schutte hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning, sending Florida to a 9-2 victory over Alabama and into the finals.

The Gators needed to beat the second-seeded Crimson Tide twice to reach the championship round.

Florida scored a World Series record 11 runs in the first inning of a 16-2 rout in the first game, then Bruder and Schutte provided a quick 3-0 lead in the rematch.

Moore successful in Lynx home debut

WNBA: Maya Moore scored 14 of her 16 points in the second half and the Minnesota Lynx defeated the Los Angeles Sparks 86-69 in Minneapolis.

Seimone Augustus led the Lynx with 17.

In the first half, Moore hit only 1 of 5 shots while playing just over 7 minutes after picking up two quick fouls.

• Liberty escape Dream in overtime: Sidney Spencer hit a tying basket on her only shot of the game with 0.2 seconds left in regulation, Leilani Mitchell made a clinching 3-pointer in overtime and the New York Liberty rallied to beat the Dream 94-88 in Atlanta.

Mitchell, a former Idaho Vandal, finished with 13 points.

U.S. women win final World Cup tuneup

Soccer: The United States women’s national team made a statement in a 1-0 win over Mexico in its final World Cup tuneup in Harrison, N.J.

Lauren Cheney proved the American women have great depth when she scored her third international goal of the year on a 25-yard shot past Mexico goalkeeper Ceci Santiage in the first minute of stoppage time. The forward had entered the game in the 61st minute in place of Amy Rodriguez.

U.S. coach Pia Sundhage said that kind of depth is going to come into play when her team begins the World Cup on June 28 against North Korea in Dresden, Germany.

The 2011 field is one of the deepest ever, and fresh, effective legs will be the key to any success.

Negari, Deba sound at Rock ’n’ Roll

Running: Terfa Negari of Kenya won the men’s Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon in San Diego and Buzunesh Deba of Ethiopia took the women’s event.

Negari pulled away at mile 19 to breeze to victory in 2 hours, 11 minutes, 18 seconds, kissing the ground after winning his first title at 26.2 miles in his San Diego debut.

Deba set a personal record of 2:23:31 in her Rock ’n’ Roll debut, beating fellow Ethiopian Misiker Mekonnen, who finished in 2:25:21.

Dartmouth earns USA Sevens rugby title

Miscellany: Dartmouth used speed and finesse to run over Army 32-10 in the final of the USA Sevens Collegiate Rugby Championship in Philadelphia.

Tied at 5-5, the Big Green scored 17 unanswered points to end the half with a 22-5 lead and all of the momentum was clearly on their side.

Army won the women’s tournament, beating Penn State 14-5.

• Piston fire Kuester: The Detroit Pistons fired coach John Kuester.

The move came four days after Tom Gores completed an agreement to purchase the Pistons from Karen Davidson.

Kuester was 57-107 over two years with Detroit, which failed to make the postseason in consecutive seasons for the first time since missing it three straight times from 1993-95.

• Alouettes cut Green: Former NFL running back Ahman Green was cut by the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes after he showed up to training camp with a hamstring injury.

• Boom wins Dauphine prologue: Dutch rider Lars Boom won the prologue of the Criterium du Dauphine.

Boom completed the 3.4-mile time trial around Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, France, in 6 minutes, 18 seconds.

Riders often use the Dauphine as preparation for the Tour de France.

• World medalist wrester dies: Wrestling officials say 2006 Greco-Roman World Bronze medalist Lindsey Durlacher has died.

USA Wrestling announced Durlacher’s death, saying he died Saturday at his Denver home. Details weren’t released. His brother Dave Durlacher, an Illinois high school coach, confirmed the death.