SPORTS digest

Dockery’s goal lifts Phantoms in shootout

BLOOMINGTOn, IND.

Dominic Dockery’s shootout goal gave the Youngstown Phantoms a 3-2 victory over the Bloomington Thunder on Sunday night.

The Phantoms’ Austin Pooley scored twice in the second period after the Thunder’s Tarek Baker had given Bloomington a 1-0 first-period lead.

Ethan Somoza added a second-period goal and the teams went to overtime tied at 2.

The game went to a shootout after a scoreless OT period.

Williams uses Plan B to reach quarterfinals

MELBOURNE, Australia

With her serve misfiring and the ball coming back at her from some irregular angles, it was time for Serena Williams to go to Plan B.

Williams knuckled down and just scrapped her way to a 7-5, 6-4 win over No. 16-seeded Barbora Strycova today to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the 11th time.

Despite the four service breaks — two in the first four games — and 46 unforced errors, and with the fluky net cord and the off-balance, scrunched-shoulder backhand that bounced flatly and clinched her the first set on her eighth set point, she ground down Strycova.

That keeps Williams on track in her bid for an Open-era record 23rd Grand Slam title. If she gets there, the 35-year-old American will regain the No. 1 ranking as well from Angelique Kerber.

Next up, she’ll face No. 9 Johanna Konta, who beat Ekaterina Makarova for the second straight year in the fourth round.

The 2016 semifinalist was only broken once and broke Makarova four times in the 6-1, 6-4 win.

YSU bowlers place 12th in KU Invitational

KUTZTOWN, PA.

The Youngstown State women’s bowling team closed out its first tournament of the spring with a 2-1 record in bracket play to finish in 12th place at the KU Invitational.

The tournament was hosted by Kutztown University at Hiester Lanes.

YSU beat No. 18 Adelphi 4-2 to start the morning in the best-of-seven Baker format. The match was highlighted by a 250 game for the Penguins in game four that tied the match at 2-2. YSU went on to win the final three games of the match.

The Penguins then lost in six games to No. 13 LIU Brooklyn in the second round, but they bounced back to beat No. 22 North Carolina A&T 4-1 to finish the day exactly where it started in 12th place.

YSU freshman Rachel Darrow was named to the All-Tournament Second-Team for her performance on Saturday. Darrow averaged 206.83 in the six team matches to finish 11th in the individual standings. It was the first time in program history that a Penguins bowler earned all-tournament honors.

Hudson Swafford wins first PGA Tour event

LA QUINTA, Calif.

Hudson Swafford won the fittingly named CareerBuilder Challenge on Sunday for his first PGA Tour title, following three straight birdies with a closing par for a one-stroke victory.

Swafford shot a 5-under 67 on the Stadium Course at PGA West to finish the pro-am event at 20-under 268. The 29-year-old former Georgia player earned $1,044,000 and his first spot in the Masters.

Adam Hadwin came back with a 70 after his third-round 59 to finish second.

Brian Harman and Bud Cauley each shot 69 to tie for third at 18 under.

Swafford tied Cauley for the lead with a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-4 15th, then pulled away on the 16th and 17th — a day after he dropped three strokes on the holes.

On the par-5 16th, he hit a 4-iron 230 yards to 12 feet — staying out of the 18-foot deep bunker that he hit into Saturday en route to a double bogey — and two-putted to take the outright lead.

He hit to 11/2 feet on the par-3 17th, with the rock-lined island green called Alcatraz.

Hadwin birdied the 16th and made a 25-footer on 17 to stay within a stroke.

From staff and wire reports