Wheaton sweeps into title contention

Wheaton stayed alive in the NCAA Division 3 baseball tournament, winning a pair of elimination games at Grand Chute, Wis., to earn a shot at the national championship today against Marietta College. Sophomore right fielder Pat O'Connor of Mattapoisett slammed a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to lift the Lyons (42-9) to a 4-3 victory over Chapman University of California. Earlier, Wheaton routed Montclair State, 13-4, behind the slugging of sophomore Scott Guillerault, who had a three-run homer and six RBIs. Wheaton will have to beat Marietta twice today to capture its first national title in the double-elimination tournament . . . Clemson's players and coaches showed little emotion when the Tigers were picked as the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division 1 baseball tournament. No cheers, no wild celebrations. ``What it tells you is that this team is focused on the whole deal," coach Jack Leggett said. That means getting to the College World Series, and winning it -- as some have predicted for Clemson (47-14), which has won 19 of its last 20 games. The Tigers will host one of 16 four-team, double-elimination regionals that begin Friday. The other national seeds, in order, are: Rice (50-10), Texas (40-19), Alabama (41-19), Cal State Fullerton (43-13), Nebraska (42-15), Georgia (41-19) and Georgia Tech (45-16). America East Tournament champion Maine (35-20-1) was placed in the North Carolina Regional and begins play Friday at 6 p.m. against the host Tar Heels. UNC-Wilmington and Winthrop are also in the regional. Sacred Heart (26-28), the only other New England entry, opens against host Georgia.

Benjamin Kohlloeffel became UCLA's first men's NCAA singles tennis champion in 31 years, beating Virginia's Somdev Devvarman, 6-1, 6-4, at Stanford, Calif. ``This is an incredible feeling," said Kohlloeffel, also the fourth straight German winner. Kohlloeffel, who has been ranked first in the nation since April 4, also became just the second player ever to win the ITA National Indoor Championship and the NCAA title in the same year . . . In the women's final, California's Suzi Babos beat Southern California's Lindsey Nelson, 6-4, 6-1, to become Cal's first women's singles champion.

The St. Louis Cardinals expect to place pitcher Chris Carpenter on the 15-day disabled list today, and are preparing to call up righthander Anthony Reyes from the minors to take his spot in the rotation. Carpenter was scratched from his last scheduled start because of inflammation under his right shoulder blade, an injury the team described as bursitis. He has not thrown a bullpen session since then. Manager Tony La Russa said the team is hopeful Carpenter, the NL Cy Young winner last year after a 21-5 season, would be able to return to the rotation after missing today's start. The team would make the move retroactive to May 20, the day after Carpenter's last appearance . . . A day after his first major league start ended with four home runs by the first 10 Atlanta Braves batters he faced, Chicago Cubs righthander Jae Kuk Ryu was sent to Triple A Iowa . . . Philadelphia Phillies lefthander Randy Wolf struck out five of seven batters at Clearwater, Fla., in his first extended spring training game since undergoing elbow surgery last summer . . . Cubs pitcher Mark Prior struggled to get out of the second inning of his rehab appearance for the Single A Peoria Chiefs. The 25-year-old righthander threw 44 pitches in two innings, giving up four hits and three runs. He's been on the disabled list all season with a sore shoulder . . . It wasn't a memorable Memorial Day for the host Pawtucket Red Sox. The PawSox were routed, 11-1, by the Norfolk Tides who had 17 hits in handing Matt Ginter (2-6) the loss . . . The Red Sox Double A Portland Sea Dogs had a better holiday, routing the New Britain Rock Cats, 9-5, in Portland as Chad Spann had a two-run homer and Jeremy West a solo shot.

Jockey Edgar Prado plans to visit Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro today for the first time since the horse's devastating injury at the Preakness. Barbaro continued to rest peacefully at the University of Pennsylvania's George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals. His appetite and vital signs remain strong, officials said. Surgeon Dean Richardson expects this week to remove Barbaro's cast long enough to examine the colt's shattered right hind leg, which is being held together with a plate and 27 screws . . . Prado, who says he is still devastated by what happened to Barbaro, rode Silver Train to victory yesterday in the $600,000 Met Mile, holding off Sun King by a head at Belmont Park in New York . . . Aragorn sat behind pacesetter Willow O Wisp most of the way before charging to victory in the $321,000 Shoemaker Breeders' Cup Mile at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, Calif. It was jockey Corey Nakatani's 2,999th career victory. He followed up by winning No. 3,000 aboard Shakin N Dancin in the next race, giving him four winners on the 10-race card . . . Bohemian Rain, one of the more promising fillies in New England, won her second straight race at Suffolk Downs, taking the featured mile in 1:46 3/5 under Rafael Medina Jr.

Ricky Williams is already hard at work with the Toronto Argonauts. The suspended Miami Dolphins running back attended his first practice with the Canadian Football League team. The 5-foot-10-inch, 220-pound Williams appeared to be in great shape . . . Tony Sardisco, a lineman who captained the American Football League's Boston Patriots in the early 1960s, died Sunday of a heart attack in Shreveport, La. He was 73. . . . Canadiens star Saku Koivu's eye injury is improving and he has been cleared to fly home to Finland . . . Berhanu Adane of Ethiopia won the Bolder Boulder 10-kilometer race. Sara Flattery of Colorado won the women's race in 33:42 . . . His thrilling come-from-behind victory on the final lap of Sunday's Indianapolis 500 was worth $1,744,855 to Sam Hornish Jr. The race's purse was a record $10.5 million.