BASEBALL

Bill Buckner to make Hadlock Field appearance

Former Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner will appear at Hadlock Field on June 9 when the Portland Sea Dogs play the Bowie Baysox.

Buckner’s appearance is part of the Sea Dogs’ Throwback Thursday Series and will honor the 30th anniversary of the 1986 American League champion Red Sox.

Buckner will throw out the ceremonial first pitch and be available to sign autographs from 7-8 p.m.

Buckner spent 22 seasons in the major leagues and posted a career average of .289 with 2,715 hits, 174 home runs, 1,208 RBI and 1,077 runs.

He was traded to the Red Sox in May of 1984 and spent parts of five seasons with Boston (1984-87, 90). In 526 games with the Red Sox, Buckner hit .279 with 48 home runs and 324 RBI. He hit 18 home runs and drove in 102 runs in 1986.

BOWLING

CANDLEPIN STATE CHAMPIONSHIP: Chip Carson of the Bangor-Brewer Lanes and Amanda Carroll of the Big 20 in Scarborough won state titles in the stepladder finals at the Big 20.

Carson defeated Jeff Lapierre of the Big 20 in the 10-string men’s final, 1,231 to 1,174. Carroll won the women’s title by beating Brooke Anton of the Big 20, 1,237 to 1,089.

In the handicap division, held in Belfast, Chris DesJardins of Vacationland in Saco beat Matt Corbeau of Colonial in Westbrook in the men’s final, 1,382 to 1,308. Kristy Hapworth of Newport won the women’s title by defeating Brenna Hoffman of the Big 20, 1,458 to 1,382.

TENNIS

PRAGUE OPEN: Top-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova rallied to defeat Monica Puig of Puerto Rico 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 and advance to the semifinals.

The Russian, seeking her second title of the year, will play fourth-seeded Sam Stosur of Australia, who beat fifth-seeded Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4).

Second-seeded Lucie Safarova fought past unseeded Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan 7-6 (3), 7-5 and will face defending champion Karolina Pliskova, who cruised past Camila Giorgi of Italy 6-2, 6-1.

BMW OPEN: Top-seeded David Goffin of Belgium advanced to the quarterfinals at Munich by beating Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday.

ISTANBUL OPEN: Top-seeded Bernard Tomic lost to unseeded Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-2, 6-2, a week after losing his opening match at the Nastase Tiriac Trophy, also as the top seed.

Third-seeded Ivo Karlovic hit 13 aces to beat Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 7-6 (11), 7-6 (7), recording his 300th career win.

GRAND PRIX SAR: Top-seeded Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland advanced to the semifinals at Rabat, Morocco, saving all four break-points she faced against Johanna Larsson of Sweden in a 6-4, 6-1 win.

CYCLING

LAWSUIT: Lance Armstrong has asked a federal judge to end a lawsuit against him by the U.S. government that seeks to recover millions of dollars in sponsorship money the U.S. Postal Service paid to his cycling teams.

Armstrong’s motion for summary judgment filed Wednesday in federal court in Washington says the case is “long on speculation and hyperbole–but short on evidence and viable legal theories.”

The suit alleges violations of the federal False Claims Act. It was initially filed by Armstrong’s former teammate Floyd Landis. The government joined in 2013, seeking to recover more than $30 million it paid to sponsor Armstrong’s teams from 1998-2004.