Sunday's sports briefs

Eftink plans to leave Southeast program

Former Notre Dame High School standout Josh Eftink is planning to leave the Southeast Missouri State University baseball program and transfer to Jefferson College, a junior college in Hillsboro, Mo.

Eftink has been at Southeast two years. He redshirted his first season and saw limited playing time this year, batting .250 (6-for-24), with two home runs and five runs batted in.

Eftink, who said he is transferring in order to receive more playing time, will have one season of eligibility remaining at Jefferson College.

Cape Legion team advances in Arkansas tournament

JONESBORO, Ark. -- The Ford & Sons Cape American Legion baseball team advanced into pool play Saturday with a 13-4, six-inning victory over the Memphis (Tenn.) Tigers in the Pepsi One Classic.

John Thies recorded the win, allowing four hits in five innings. He struck out four and walked four. Seth Hudson pitched one hitless inning of relief, striking out two.

Shane Kistner, who went 2-for-4, led the offense with a two-run home run. Matt Wulfers added two hits for Cape (3-2), which had eight overall.

Ford & Sons, 2-1 in the tournament, competed in a bracket game later in the evening. Results were not available.

Chaffee and Jackson did not advance out of pool play.

Jackson (3-5) suffered a 9-1 loss to Jonesboro and finished the tournament with a 1-2 record in pool play. Trevor Thompson had two of Jackson's six hits. Austin McDowell suffered the loss.

Jackson Jr. Legion sweeps doubleheader

DE SOTO, Mo. -- Jackson Junior Legion improved to 7-2 with a 20-2, 11-5 sweep of De Soto.

Tyler Beussink pitched three hitless inning to pick up the win in the opener, which lasted just five innings.

Luke McClellan and Tyler Profilet, who had four RBIs, each went 4-for-4 for Jackson. McClellan's hits included a double and home run. Brandon Gendron added two hits as Jackson had 14 as a team.

Tony Longman recorded the win in the second game, allowing seven hits in five innings.

Neil Briner had a double among his two hits for Jackson, which had 10 overall, while Trey Busch had a triple.

ELSEWHERE

Beth Daniel showed the youngsters how to get it done in the LPGA Championship in Wilmington, Del., and was one round away from becoming the oldest woman to win a major title.

Daniel, 45 and without a victory in seven years, kept her distance with three straight birdies and closed out her round of 3-under 68 with a 25-foot birdie putt that expanded her lead to four strokes over Se Ri Pak.

The oldest woman to win a major was the late Babe Zaharias, who was 42 years, 11 months when she captured the 1954 U.S. Women's Open.

Pak, the 24-year-old Korean, had only one bogey in a round of 68, sticking to her plan of hitting fairways and greens.

Karrie Webb, the defending champion, managed to scrape out a 72 and was at 211 along with Kim Saiki (69). They were the only players who remained under par going into the final round.

Bobby Wadkins shot a 1-under-par 69 -- one of only five subpar rounds -- to take a one-shot lead over Fuzzy Zoeller, Larry Nelson and Roy Vucinich at the 63rd Senior PGA Championship at Akron, Ohio.

Wadkins is the only player in the field with a red number next to his name. He stands at 1-under 209.

The field played to an average score of 73.5 on the par-70 Firestone Country Club and had twice as many bogeys (346) as birdies (172).

It was the first time since the tournament went to a 72-hole format in 1958 that only one player was under par through three rounds.

Walter Hall and Jay Overton were at 1-over 211. At 212 and three shots behind Wadkins were three-time Senior PGA winner Hale Irwin, Wayne Levi, John Schroeder, Bob Gilder and Jim Thorpe, who won the year's first major for seniors, The Countrywide Tradition.

Jack Nicklaus withdrew from the field shortly before he was scheduled to tee off, citing back problems he encountered while hitting shots on the practice range.

Chris Smith crashed David Gossett and Loren Roberts' Tennessee reunion, shooting a 4-under 67 to take the third-round lead in the Buick Classic at Harrison, N.Y.

Smith, a five-time winner on the Buy.com Tour, was a stroke ahead of the neighbors from Germantown, Tenn., at 11-under 202 on the Westchester Country Club's West Course.

The 23-year-old Gossett, with sister Joni caddying, shot a 70, and Roberts, three weeks short of his 47th birthday, had a 71. Pat Perez and Canadian Ian Leggatt were two strokes behind, and Jerry Kelly followed at 8-under.

Perez and Leggatt shot 67s.