Roundup: Dawgs to take on Florida State for WCWS title
How ‘bout dem Huskies?! Washington softball is off to the WCWS championship series after knocking off two-time defending national champion Oklahoma 3-0 Sunday in Oklahoma City thanks to the 11th shutout this year by pitcher Taran Alvelo and a home run from Julia DePonte.
It looked like it was going to be an all-Pac-12 final for a bit, but UCLA lost twice to Florida State on Sunday and was eliminated to set up the Dawgs-Noles championship series beginning Monday. Thuc Nhi Nguyen has the story on the Bruin perspective.
Earlier in the weekend, Arizona State softball was eliminated by Oklahoma at the WCWS, losing 2-0 to the Sooners. Michael Kinney has the rundown for The Arizona Republic.
Regional play is in the books for Pac-12 baseball, and Ron Richmond writes that Kevin Abel pitched Oregon State into the Super Regionals by leading the Beavs to a 12-0 triumph over LSU (The Oregonian/OregonLive).
‘Twas a quick exit for the No. 2 national seed, as Stanford baseball was eliminated by Cal State Fullerton, losing twice to the Titans in two days. Tom FitzGerald has the particulars in the link. Washington joins Oregon State in the Super Regionals, while UCLA is done.
That was quick – on the same day Chris Hill retired, Utah announced that it has hired Mark Harlan as its new AD. The current South Florida AD will begin his tenure at Utah on July 1.
It was expected, but impressive all the same – USC women’s water polo goalkeeper Amanda Longan was named the Cutino Award winner Saturday night in San Francisco. Cal’s Luca Cupido won it on the men’s side.
Pat Rooney gives us the story of Colorado distance runner Elissa Mann and her road to qualifying for the NCAA Championships. She’ll be competing in the 10K two years after missing out on qualifying for nationals by .08 seconds in the 800.
Josh Dubow of the Associated Press writes that Klay Thompson played through pain in his left ankle to help lead the Golden State Warriors to a 122-103 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2 of the NBA Finals Sunday night in Oakland. The former Coug scored 20 points three days after J.R. Smith fell into his left leg during the first half of Game 1.
Here’s a feature on new Cal AD Jim Knowlton courtesy of Rusty Simmons.
Former Wildcat Rob Gronkowski said he will attend New England Patriots mini-camp this week (Yahoo Sports). There has been a lot of uncertainty surrounding Gronk and his football future.
Barrett Sallee of CBS Sports believes that Oregon football is a sleeper to win the Pac-12 in 2018.