Triangle Sports Roundup: Bats, birdies, and kicks

Peter Koutroumpis, Triangle Sports Network

CPL: Holly Springs falls 4-3 to Wilson

WILSON, N.C. – The Holly Springs Salamanders suffered a 4-3 loss to the Wilson Tobs at Fleming Stadium on Wednesday.

After falling behind 4-1 in the fifth inning, the Salamanders posted two more runs in the top of the seventh, but couldn’t complete the comeback even while outhitting the Tobs.

Wilson (5-9) scored four runs on five hits in the bottom of the fifth, while Holly Springs (6-7) stranded runners in finishing with nine hits throughout.

Jared Janczak (1-1, 6 BB, 4 S) got the win for the Tobs, giving up three hits and one run in six innings, and wasn’t hurt by walking six batters and throwing two wild pitches.

Collin Thacker (1-2, 1 R, 3 RBI) and Francisco DeJesus (1-3, 1 RBI) powered the Tobs offense.

Salamanders starter Sam Mersing (0-1, 4 BB, 2 SO) took the loss as all of Wilson’s hits and runs came during his 4 2/3 innings on the mound.

Logan Porter (2-4, 1 R, 1 H, 1 RBI) and Collin Woody (0-3, 1 RBI) drove in Holly Springs’ runs as Brian Miller (3-5), Drew Butler (2-4), Xyruse Martinez (1-2, 1 R), and Shaquille Rolle (1-3, 1 R) all managed to get on base at some point.

However, the Salamanders were unable to capitalize on the opportunities they had and suffered their fifth consecutive road loss of the season.

Holly Springs travels to face the Petersburg Generals on Thursday, a team they lost to at home last week.

Maguire is medalist; three Blue Devils advance in Ladies British Open Amateur

NORTHERN IRELAND – Coming off being named National Player of the Year as a freshman at Duke, Leona Maguire kicked off her summer action this week as she shot 11-under-par through 36 holes of stroke play at the Ladies’ British Open Amateur Championship on her way to earning medalist honors at the Portstewart Golf Club.

Maguire claimed the No. 1 seed in match play by besting the field by six strokes with rounds of 67 and 68 for a two-day ledger of 135.

Her Duke Blue Devils teammates Celine Boutier and Lisa Maguire also advanced to match play with tied second and tied 47th finishes, respectively, in stroke play.

A native of Cavan, Ireland, Leona Maguire led the field with 13 birdies over the two days of play.

After opening round one with a one-over-par score through seven holes, Maguire posted 13 birdies and one eagle over her next 29 holes to finish at 11-under-par.

Boutier, who hails from Montrouge, France, turned in rounds of 69 and 72 to place tied second with a five-under-par 141.  She totaled five birdies in round one and then three in the second round.

Also product of Cavan, Ireland, Lisa Maguire rebounded from a 78 in round one to post a one-under-par, 72, on the second day to finish with a four-over-par 150.

She collected four birdies on the back nine on her way to turning in a two-under-par ledger to close her second round Wednesday.

In match play Thursday, Leona Maguire will face Martina Edberg, Boutier goes up against Ellinor Haag, and Lisa Maguire will take on Joanna Charlton.

Match play will be held from June 11-13.

FIFA Women’s World Cup openers attract bigger TV audiences than 2011

The 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada is attracting more television viewers in key markets than in 2011, with the first round of group stage matches drawing impressive audiences in North America, Europe and Asia.

A record number of Canadians tuned in to watch the host nation beat China in the opening match, with 1.8 million viewers watching on CTV, TSN and RDS.

That was the biggest television audience in Canada for any FIFA Women’s World Cup match on record.

U.S. broadcaster Fox Sports 1 attracted 3.3 million viewers to the game between the United States and Australia, more than three times higher than Team USA’s first group stage match in 2011.

In China, 2.3 million people enjoyed CCTV5’s coverage of the match, well above the highest live group stage audience from 2011 of 1.3 million.

Japanese broadcaster Fuji TV reached 4.2 million people during Japan’s match against Switzerland, more than the number of viewers that watched Japan’s semi-final match against Sweden in 2011.

England’s opener against France drew 1.5 million viewers to BBC2, a bigger audience than for any group stage match in 2011. A similar number of viewers watched the match in France on W9.

In the Netherlands, Ned 1’s round up of the first day attracted 1.0 million viewers – higher than any figures generated in 2011.

TV AUDIENCE REPORT MATCHDAY 1-4