TAMPA, Fla. — Slippery Rock University graduate Jeremy Deighton capped his first season in professional soccer by earning Rookie of the Year honors in the United Soccer League Second Division.

Deighton, who graduated from SRU in May, scored five goals in 13 games to help the Pittsburgh Riverhounds into the USL playoffs. He missed a month of the season due to a head injury.

CRANBERRY TWP— Malcolm Spatz and Jonathan Thomas carded a 14-under-par 126 to win the 36-hole West Penn Golf Association Four-Ball event Monday at Cranberry Highlands.Jeff Dyer and Chad Kittle finished second, two strokes off the pace.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Butler Country Club professional Rob McClellan teamed with Ryan Sikora of Pittsburgh Field Club to win the pro-pro portion of the Edgewood Pro-Pro-Am-Am Championship Tuesday at Edgewood Country Club.The duo carded a 121 to win the 36-hole event by six strokes. Their foursome finished second with a 257, two strokes off the pace.

NEW YORK — Overcoming a deficit and a big-hitting opponent to avoid a significant upset, Maria Sharapova put together a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory over 60th-ranked Jarmila Groth of Australia at the U.S. Open Tuesday.More than a dozen women's matches went three sets, and seven men's matches lasted the full five sets, including 2007 runner-up Novak Djokovic's 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over his friend and Serbian Davis Cup teammate Viktor Troicki.Top-seeded Rafael Nadal found himself in a surprisingly competitive match but still won in straight sets, getting past 93rd-ranked Teymuraz Gabashvili 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-3 at night.The No. 1-seeded woman, Caroline Wozniacki, is bidding for her first major title. Wozniacki opened her bid for that title by defeating NCAA singles champion Chelsey Gullickson 6-1, 6-1.Mardy Fish, an American seeded 19th, also won in five sets, but fan favorite James Blake needed only three to reach the second round.

Mark Ingram's run for a second Heisman Trophy has been put on hold and possibly even derailed, before the Alabama tailback had a chance to gain a single yard.Ingram will miss No. 1 Alabama's opener against San Jose State after injuring his left knee late in practice Monday, coach Nick Saban said.Saban said in a statement the star tailback had an arthroscopic procedure Tuesday and should make a full recovery in a "relatively short time."If the absence proves short-lived, it figures to have more of an impact on Ingram's bid to join Ohio State running back Archie Griffin as the only two-time Heisman winners than it does on Alabama's hopes for a repeat national title.

PROVO, Utah — BYU is going independent in football after all.BYU said Tuesday it is leaving the Mountain West Conference and will go independent in football while joining the West Coast Conference in all other sports in the 2011-2012 school year.