Baseball

Wildcats pummel Beavers — Cameron Cannon’s grand slam capped an eight-run eighth inning as Arizona routed No. 4 Oregon State 15-4 at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, Arizona, on Saturday night. Cannon’s blast was one of 15 Wildcat hits. Arizona jumped on Beavers starter Luke Heimlich early, tagging the left-hander for six runs on nine hits in 31⁄3 innings. Cadyn Grenier was 2-for-3 with two doubles and three RBIs for the Beavers, who dropped to 7-4 in the Pac-12 and to 24-5 overall. Arizona (3-5, 18-11) and Oregon State conclude their three-game series in Tucson on Sunday.

Oregon-Washington State postponed — Saturday’s Pac-12 game between Oregon and Washington State in Eugene was postponed because of inclement weather and has been rescheduled for Sunday at noon.

Softball

Play suspended in Ducks-Wildcats game — Heavy rain forced the postponement of Saturday’s Pac-12 game between Oregon and Arizona at Jane Sanders Stadium in Eugene. The game will resume at 1 p.m. Sunday with the Ducks leading the Wildcats 5-0 in the top of the sixth inning. The three-game series’ finale follows at 3 p.m.

Motor sports

Josef Newgarden reels in rookie for Phoenix win — Josef Newgarden used four new tires to catch rookie Robert Wickens and win the IndyCar race Saturday night at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. Newgarden started fourth on a restart with eight laps left, and got around Wickens with three laps to go on the 1.022-mile oval. The defending series champion raced to his eighth IndyCar victory and third on an oval, finishing 2.994 seconds ahead of Wickens. Wickens was making his first second career start — and first on an oval — for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Alexander Rossi was third, followed by Scott Dixon and James Hinchcliffe as Honda swept the first five spots in the first oval race of the season. Ed Jones, running second when he hit the wall in Turn 4 with 20 laps left to bring out the final caution, finished 20th.

Ryan Blaney takes Texas Xfinity race — Ryan Blaney became the third different Team Penske driver in as many NASCAR Xfinity Series races to win in the No. 22 Ford when he took the checkered flag on a chilly Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway. Blaney was the pole sitter and led 132 of 200 laps. The Xfinity Series was back on the track after a two-week break since Joey Logano won in the No. 22 car at California. That was a week after Brad Keselowski drove that Team Penske entry to Victory Lane in Phoenix.

Football

Steve Spurrier hired as new league’s first head coach — Steve Spurrier plans to be back on the sideline if a proposed new professional league gets off the ground. The Orlando Alliance announced Saturday that it has hired Spurrier as its first head coach. Spurrier will coach in the planned Alliance of American Football. The Alliance is the creation of Pro Football Hall of Famer Bill Polian and longtime TV and film producer Charlie Ebersol. The league plans to have eight teams and will play a 12-week season Feb. 9, 2019, and will be broadcast on CBS. Orlando is the first planned team site, and Spurrier is the first coach. The 72-year-old Spurrier says he’s “fired up and ready to go.” Orlando has never had much success with startup football leagues.

Johnny Manziel attempts comeback in Spring League — Johnny Manziel’s attempt to restart his football career brought him to a game on Saturday in a high school stadium in Austin, Texas, that was largely empty. Manziel, 25, and two seasons removed from the sport, prefers a return to the NFL, would settle for the Canadian Football League but has landed for now in The Spring League. It is a four-team showcase of practices and two games designed as an audition for pro scouts. On Saturday, Manziel played about two quarters, completing 8 of 16 passes for 79 yards and a touchdown with a few hundred fans watching, many of them cheering for him.

— From staff and wire reports