BASEBALL
Aaron Schunk drove in three runs, two with a double in the sixth inning, as the Hartford Yard Goats shut out the Portland Sea Dogs 4-0 in an Eastern League game Wednesday night at Hadlock Field.
Schunk also drove in a run in the first inning on a sacrifice fly after an RBI single by Michael Toglia.
Nick Bush (5-3) pitched seven innings and allowed two hits. He struck out four without a walk. Reliever Riley Pint allowed two hits in two innings, striking out two.
Portland’s Chris Murphy (2-4), pitched six innings and allowed four runs and five hits. He walked two and struck out 11.
OLYMPICS
Most basketball games at the Paris Olympics could be played a three-hour journey outside the host city, a plan criticized Wednesday by the sport’s governing body trying to get a better deal for players.
Paris organizers have struggled to find agreement on a suitable basketball venue for games before the medal rounds at the 2024 Summer Games, and the latest proposal is the soccer stadium in Lille – about 130 miles from Paris.
The previous plan was to use an arena in the capital, but that venue was dropped in March amid a backlash by NBA players from France who said the ceiling was too low for basketball.
“We don’t feel that our athletes should be subject to the conditions we currently have on the table,” Andreas Zagklis, secretary general of world basketball body FIBA, told Paris officials Wednesday stressing “serious concerns” and citing three changes of venue plans in five years.
If Lille is approved, the men’s and women’s basketball tournament would not come to Paris until the final few days of the July 26-Aug. 11 Olympics. The sport is expected to be among the biggest draws at the Paris Games to see NBA and WNBA stars.
Playing in Lille, a northeast city close to the border with Belgium, would leave players unable to stay in the Athlete Village in Paris or facing three-hour transport times, Zagklis said at a meeting of the umbrella group of Summer Games sports in Lausanne.
BASKETBALL
WNBA: Brionna Jones scored 18 points and Jonquel Jones added 16 to help the host Connecticut Sun beat the Indiana Fever 88-69 for their fourth straight victory.
DeWanna Bonner added 12 points and Alyssa Thomas had 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists for Connecticut. DiJonai Carrington went 5 of 5 from the floor for the second straight game and finished with 12 points.
Bonner moved into a tie for 17th in WNBA history for 3-pointers after a make early in the third quarter.
Rookie NaLyssa Smith led Indiana with a season-high 19 points.
• Ariel Atkins scored 19 points, Natasha Cloud made two free throws with six seconds left and the Washington Mystics held off the visiting Chicago Sky 84-82 to avenge a loss Sunday.
Washington closed the first half on an 11-3 run to take a 45-40 lead and extended it to 57-42 after scoring 12 of the opening 14 points of the third. But the Mystics were held to just 15 points in the fourth as Chicago battled back.
Chicago’s Candace Parker had a shot blocked but got her own rebound and converted a three-point play with 27.9 to tie it at 82. Cloud dribbled down the clock, drove to the basket and was fouled before making two free throws. After a timeout, Chicago got it inside to Parker, but her left-handed layup didn’t hit the rim as time expired.
Alysha Clark added a season-high 18 points, Shakira Austin scored 14 and Cloud finished with 11 for Washington.
Tianna Hawkins started the second half for Washington’s Elena Delle Donne, who played just seven minutes before leaving with lower back tightness.
Parker had 16 points and nine rebounds for Chicago, which beat the Mystics 91-82 on Sunday.
SOCCER
REAL MADRID: Real Madrid extended Luka Modric’s contract for another year, keeping intact the midfield that helped the club win a record-extending 14th European title this season.
The 36-year-old Croatian signed a new deal with the Spanish club until June 2023 and will return to play alongside Toni Kroos and Casemiro, the trio that helped Madrid win five Champions League titles in the last nine seasons.
AUGSBURG: Augsburg has hired Enrico Maaßen as its coach ahead of the new season after coaxing him from Bundesliga rival Borussia Dortmund’s under-23s.
Augsburg said Maaßen had agreed to succeed Markus Weinzierl, who quit unexpectedly at the end of last season, and that it had reached an agreement with Dortmund over his move.
TENNIS
STUTTGART OPEN: Matteo Berrettini marked his injury comeback with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win over Radu Albot in the second round in Germany.
The second-seeded Berrettini was playing in his first match since undergoing surgery on his right hand in March.
Berrettini next plays either compatriot Lorenzo Sonego or home favorite Jan-Lennard Struff in the quarterfinals at the grass-court tournament.
Also, Benjamin Bonzi defeated fellow French player Arthur Rinderknech 7-6 (3), 6-2 to set up a quarterfinal against either fourth-seeded Denis Shapovalov or German player Oscar Otte.
Nikoloz Basilashvili defeated Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 6-3 in the last first-round match to be completed. Their match was suspended on Tuesday due to rain.
SPECIAL OLYMPICS
USA GAMES: Six men who came to central Florida as part of the Haitian delegation for the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games have gone missing, according to a sheriff’s office.
No foul play is suspected and detectives are investigating their disappearance as an isolated event, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office said.
The men, ranging in age from 18 to 32, were involved with a soccer team. They were last seen Monday near the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, where some of the competitions are being held, the sheriff’s office said.
They had turned in the room keys for their lodging and left behind their belongings and personal bags, according to the sheriff’s office.
According to Special Olympics organizers, five of the men are not Special Olympics athletes, and one is an adult with an intellectual disability, WKMG reported.
SWIMMING
COLLEGES: Jack Bauerle, who won seven NCAA women’s team championships in his 43 years as Georgia’s swimming coach, announced his retirement.
Bauerle, 70, is the longest-tenured coach of any sport in Georgia history. He coached the 2008 U.S. Olympic women’s team to 14 medals. He also served as an assistant on the U.S. team in 2000 and the men’s team in 2016 and 2020.
Bauerle has been involved in Georgia athletics for 50 years as an athlete and coach. He was named the women’s coach in 1979 and added the title of men’s coach in 1983.
Bauerle’s 43-year career matched former Louisiana State gymnastics coach Sara “D-D” Breaux for the longest tenure of any coach in Southeastern Conference history.
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