U.S. softball blanks Canada

ATHENS, Greece — Jennie Finch pitched a one-hitter with eight strikeouts and Lisa Fernandez went 3-for-4 with a home run as the United States won its fifth straight shutout, beating Canada 7-0 to clinch a spot in this weekend's semifinals.

Crystl Bustos and Lisa Fernandez homered for the two-time defending gold medal-winning U.S. squad, which has outscored its opponents 31-0.

Hua Su Lin pitched a five-hitter to lead Taiwan to its second straight win after three opening losses. Fen Yan Weng drove in the game's only run while Italy lost for the fourth time in five games.

Australia won its fourth game in five tries, with the only loss to the unbeaten United States. The Australians scored all their runs in the eighth.

Japan's Hiroko Sakai shut out Greece allowing just two hits and striking out three in seven innings.

TRACK — Greek sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou withdrew from the Athens Games on Wednesday, nearly a week after missing a drug test and being hospitalized following a suspicious motorcycle crash.

Kenteris, the reigning 200-meter Olympic champion, is the country's most celebrated athlete and was Greece's best hope for gold in track at the Athens Games.

SHOT PUT — Ukrainian Yuriy Bilonog took a flag-draped victory lap while American Adam Nelson stood in the shot put ring for three minutes, pointing at officials and pleading.

Nelson led the entire competition, but Bilonog's final throw tied Nelson for the best of the day at 69 feet, 5 1/4 inches. Nelson had one last chance to win and unleashed a great toss, but was called for his fifth consecutive foul.

BASEBALL — Peter Orr went 2-for-3 and knocked in a run, and Canada won its fourth straight game at the Olympic baseball tournament, beating Greece, 2-0.

Cuba kept pace with a victory over Taiwan.

The Netherlands beat Italy to improve to 3-1. The Italians remain winless.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL — The U.S. team of Elaine Youngs and Holly McPeak were perfect through pool play with a 22-24, 21-17, 15-12 win over Swiss pair Simone Kuhn and Nicole Schnyder.

The American men's team of Dain Blanton and Jeff Nygaard ended a dismal Olympics with a 21-16, 13-21, 15-13 loss to Swiss pair Stefan Kobel and Patrick Heuscher.

BOXING — American super heavyweight Jason Estrada and heavyweight Devin Vargas advanced to the quarterfinals, capping an impressive 6-1 run through the preliminaries for a lightly regarded U.S. team.