Sports Roundup

UGA heads to tennis tourney

The 13th-ranked Georgia men’s tennis team will travel to Knoxville, Tenn. this weekend for the 2017 SEC Tournament.

The Bulldogs (15-7, 11-1 SEC) are the No. 2 seed after sharing the regular-season title with Texas A&M, and will play in the quarterfinals on Friday at noon ET in their first match of the tournament. 7th-seeded Arkansas and 10th-seeded LSU will play Thursday, and the winner between the Razorbacks and Tigers will represent Georgia’s opponent in the quarterfinals. The Bulldogs have won nine SEC Tournament titles in history, with the most recent crown coming in 2013.

In the regular season, the Bulldogs got the better of both Arkansas and LSU. On March 12, Georgia took down the Razorbacks 4-3 after facing a 3-2 deficit. Robert Loeb delivered the point that made it 3-3 with a win on the sixth singles court before Walker Duncan clinched the victory with a win at the No. 5 court. Against LSU, Georgia lost the doubles point and rallied for the win, the only time the Bulldogs have accomplished that feat this season. Nathan Ponwith made his debut at the first singles position and clinched the match.

Other top seeds at the tournament include No. 1 Texas A&M, No. 3 Florida and No. 4 South Carolina. The semifinals will be played Saturday and the championship match will be played Sunday at 1 p.m.

Phillies beat Marlins, win 6th sixth straight

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Phillies manager Pete Mackanin recalled a conversation he had last year with pitching coach Bob McClure. The subject was starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson and his use of changeups against right-handed batters.

Mackanin was against it, but deferred to McClure, who was convinced Hellickson needed to stay throwing the off-speed pitch.

Hellickson’s changeup continued to confuse Miami Marlins’ hitters and his Phillies came away with a 3-2 win at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday afternoon.

Hellickson (4-0) outdueled Edinson Volquez (0-3) to stay undefeated. The righty lasted six innings. He allowed one run on seven hits and struck out just one batter against zero walks, lowering his ERA to 1.80 and his WHIP to 0.80 in the process.

Hellickson has been dominant against the Marlins since becoming a member of the Phillies prior to the 2016 season. In six starts he’s now 4-1 with a 1.95 ERA in 46 1/3 innings pitched.

“That’s my go-to pitch against everybody,” Hellickson said of the changeup. “I’m just locating it well right now.”

Teheran gets support on Wednesday

NEW YORK — Tyler Flowers tied a career high with four RBIs Wednesday night, when six Atlanta Braves players collected at least two hits apiece in a 8-2 rout of the New York Mets in a battle of skidding teams at Citi Field.

The Braves (7-12) snapped a six-game losing streak. The Mets (8-12) have lost nine of 10.

Flowers’ three-run double capped a five-run first inning. He also had an RBI single in the fifth to cap his fourth career four-RBI game and his first since last Sept. 12.

Matt Kemp and Nick Markakis had RBI singles earlier in the first. Ender Inciarte (double) and Jace Peterson (single) added run-scoring hits in the seventh.

Markakis finished with three hits. Flowers, Kemp, Peterson, Freddie Freeman and Adonis Garcia had two hits each.

Right-hander Julio Teheran (2-1) picked up the win after allowing two runs, four hits and four walks while striking out four in 6 1/3 innings.

Field Set For NCAA Athens Regional

The 17 teams and six individuals that will compete along with the No. 8-ranked Georgia women’s golf team at the Athens Regional of the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships were announced by the NCAA on Thursday.

As expected, the Bulldogs will be the No. 2 seed for the Regional, which will be contested from May 8-10 at the University of Georgia Golf Course.

The field features six top-25 teams. No. 2 Alabama is the top seed, followed by the No. 8 Bulldogs, No. 11 Northwestern, No. 14 Arizona, No. 19 Baylor and No. 22 Wake Forest. The remainder of the competing teams are Auburn, Augusta, Clemson, Kansas State, Michigan State, North Carolina, North Florida, Princeton, Quinnipiac, Tennessee, Troy and UCF.

The six individual entrants are: Chieh Jessica Peng, Mississippi State; Laura Fuenfstueck, College of Charleston; Lisa Pettersson, East Carolina; Vanessa Ha, San Francisco; Alexandra Farnsworth, Vanderbilt; and Anna Redding, Virginia.

The top-six teams from the Regional and the low three individuals who are not members of those teams will advance to the NCAA Championships, which will be contested on May 19-24 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Hills, Ill., outside Chicago.

Red Sox prospect Steen injured in crash

Boston Red Sox pitching prospect Kevin Steen was seriously injured in a car accident on Wednesday night near Fort Myers, Fla.

Steen, 20, was taken to Lee Memorial Hospital after his SUV was hit by another vehicle that had went airborne after crossing the median on Lee Boulevard. The driver of that vehicle died at the scene, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Steen, who is a ninth-round selection of the 2014 amateur draft, was set to begin his fourth season with the Red Sox organization. The right-hander, who posted a 5.91 ERA last season with the Class-A Lowell Spinners, was in Florida for extended spring training.

“The thoughts and prayers of the entire Red Sox organization are with minor league player Kevin Steen, who sustained serious injuries in a car accident in Florida (Wednesday) night. The club will update his condition at the appropriate time,” the Red Sox said in a statement.

Bouchard blasts ‘cheater’ Sharapova

Maria Sharapova’s return to tennis didn’t sit well with Eugenie Bouchard.

Bouchard, a 2014 Wimbledon finalist from Canada, labeled Sharapova as a “cheater” upon the five-time Grand Slam champion’s return from a 15-month doping suspension for using the banned substance meldonium.

Bouchard also took issue with the 30-year-old Russian being handed wild-card entries into some tournaments — including this week’s Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, as well as upcoming events in Madrid and Rome.

“I don’t think that’s right,” the 59th-ranked Bouchard told Turkish broadcaster TRT World. “She is a cheater and so to me, I don’t think a cheater in any sport should be allowed to play that sport again. It’s so unfair to all the other players who do it the right way and are true.”

Bouchard previously had aimed her frustration toward the WTA Tour for allowing Sharapova to return to the court.

“I think from the WTA it sends the wrong message to young kids: ‘Cheat and we will welcome you back with open arms.’ I don’t think that’s right and definitely she is not someone I can say I look up to anymore,” Bouchard said last week.

Sharapova, who posted a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Italian Roberta Vinci in her first-round match Wednesday, wasn’t interested in getting into a war of words.

“I can’t control what people say and I never have,” Sharapova said. “The only thing I can control is what I do out there and those are my words. I’m always prepared to walk the walk and I have and I’ve done that by winning five Grand Slams and being No. 1 in the world.