No. 1 UCLA welcomes top foes
Three World Series teams from 2022 set for Nutter Classic
The UCLA softball team let out a collective yell as players jogged across the field during Wednesday morning's warmups.
“It's a stress day,” coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said.
The No. 1 Bruins (12-0) are at a challenging point in the season. They're playing 18 games in 18 days across three tournaments with midterms going on, too.
This weekend's tournament is the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic at Big League Dreams Sports Park in Cathedral City. Three teams from last season's Women's College World Series will be there in No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Florida and No. 19 Northwestern.
There's a winter storm in this weekend's forecast, too, and it's unclear what the contingency plan is for weather, according to UCLA athletics staff.
“I 1,000% prefer 110 degrees over cold because I feel like my fingers freeze up,” redshirt-senior pitcher Megan Faraimo said. “But
I'm excited. The Mary Nutter's always a really good tournament so I'm happy we get to go.”
Faraimo (7-0, 69 strikeouts) said she'll be keeping her hands dry with plenty of chalk and a towel. Freshman Jordan Woolery said she'll be taking a similar approach at the plate, keeping her hands dry with dirt.
Woolery hit her first home run as a Bruin with a grand slam in the first inning against Alabama and had two RBI doubles against Nebraska during the Clearwater Invitational. She's one of 11 new players on the team this season.
Megan Grant has 15 RBIs and Woolery has 14, which ranks them first and second in the country in the category among all freshmen. Redshirt-junior Maya Brady leads UCLA with 15 RBIs.
“I feel like the pressure's not on me or the other freshmen in general because no one really knows who we are,” Woolery said. “So I think that having that mindset of having to just prove ourselves is one of the biggest things.”
Faraimo said Woolery reminds her of the color yellow because of her “light spirit,” even in high-pressure situations, but also added that all the freshmen work hard.
“Their character is the embodiment of UCLA softball in that they work hard and they're good people,” she said. “So it's just really fun to have them on the team and to see them show out for the whole nation.”
UCLA will play No. 3 Florida at 7:30 today to begin the Mary Nutter Collegiate Challenge. The Bruins see No. 2 Oklahoma, the team that eliminated them from the WCWS last season, at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday.
In addition to UCLA, four other local schools will be participating:
The Titans are 6-4 and coming off of the Puerto Vallarta Challenge. They went 3-2 in the Mexicobased tournament with wins over Ole Miss, Tennessee and Liberty.
CSUN is at the .500 mark heading into the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. The Matadors won the first three games of the CBU Classic before getting shut out in the final two games of the tournament for a 5-5 start to the season.
Head coach Kim Sowder achieved her 500th career win when Long Beach State (4-6) closed out the Wilson Invitational against Louisiana-Monroe.
The Lions head into the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic with a 4-8 record and are coming off a 1-0 loss to Kentucky.
BASEBALL
Major League Baseball American League
BOSTON RED SOX: Named Brad Pearson vice president, sports medicine & performance, Paul Tobani vice president, amateur scouting and player development, Brandon Henry head athletic trainer, Andrew Mack director, baseball strategy/personnel, Alberto Mejia director, Latin American operations, Devin Pearson director, amateur scouting, Alex Gimenez manager, operations and professional scouting, May Peckham operations learning & development manager, David Herrera assistant athletic trainer, Anna Clemson assistant, major league operations and Matt Sauers assistant, baseball operations.
National League
CHICAGO CUBS:
Named Sr. Stephen Gryzlo head team physician, Dr. Christopher Hogrefe head team internist,
P.J. Mainville director of medical services, Nick Frangella head athletic trainer, Neil Rampe and German Suncin assistant athletic trainers, Brittany Jones performance nutrition and food service manager, Danny Mueller home clubhouse and equipment manager and Matt Zaruba assistant home clubhouse and equipment manager.
Claimed LHP Bennett Sousa off waivers from Chicago White Sox.
CINCINNATI REDS:
BASKETBALL
National Basketball Association
MILWAUKEE BUCKS:
Signed F Meyers Leonard to a 10-day contract.
Signed G Kris Dunn and G Frank Jackson to 10-day contracts.
UTAH JAZZ:
FOOTBALL
National Football League
ATLANTA FALCONS:
Signed LS Liam McCullough to a contract extension.
Named Tee Martin quarterbacks coach and Willie Taggart running backs coach and Scott Elliott strength and conditioning coordinator.
Re-signed LS Cal Adomitis to a contract extension.
Re-signed K Tristan
BALTIMORE RAVENS:
CINCINNATI BENGALS:
DALLAS COWBOYS:
Vizcaino.
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS:
Re-signed OL Calvin Throckmorton to a one-year contract extension.
PITTSBURGH STEELERS:
Re-signed LS Christian Kuntz to a one-year contract.
Released LT Taylor Lewan, K Randy Bullock, LB Zach Cunningham and WR Robert Woods.
TENNESSEE TITANS:
HOCKEY
National Hockey League
ARIZONA COYOTES:
Acquired D Shea Weber and a 2023 fifth-round draft choice from Vegas in exchange for D Dysin Mayo.
DALLAS STARS:
Recalled G Matthew Murray and LW Fredrik Olofsson from Texas (AHL).
DETROIT RED WINGS:
Recalled D Seth Barton from Toledo (ECHL) to Grand Rapids (AHL).
MINNESOTA WILD:
Recalled D Dakota Mermis from Iowa (AHL).
Recalled C Otto Koivula from Bridgeport (AHL).
Recalled G Colton Ellis from Tulsa (ECHL) to Springfield (AHL).
Recalled RW Jesper Froden from Coachella Valley (AHL).
Recalled D Guillaume Brisebois and C Aatu Raty from Abbotsford (AHL). Returned LW Phil Di Giuseppe to Abbotsford.
NEW YORK ISLANDERS:
ST. LOUIS BLUES:
SEATTLE KRAKEN:
VANCOUVER CANUCKS:
SOCCER
Major League Soccer
AUSTIN FC:
Signed M Diego Fagundez to a three-year contract.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION:
Signed D Victor Souza to an MLS Next Pro contract.
SPORTING KC:
Signed manager and sporting director Peter Vermes to a fiveyear contract.
COLLEGE
ALABAMA A&M:
Named Prince Borde head coach of the women's soccer program.
WASHINGTON:
Named Mike Gange as baseball volunteer assistant coach.
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK
College Basketball
Favorite
UCLA 71/2 at Utah at Colorado 21/2 USC at UC Irvine 131/2 UC San Diego at UCSB 51/2 Long Beach St. at Santa Clara 101/2 Pepperdine at Sam Houston 61/2 Cal Baptist at CS Northridge 1 CS Bakersfield at Hawaii 31/2 UC Riverside at North Dakota 31/2 Western Illinois at Ohio State 1/2 Penn State at Unc Wilmington 11 Stony Brook at William & Mary 11/2 Elon Memphis 31/2 at Wichita State at Sacred Heart 71/2 Saint Francis at Charleston (SC) 71/2 Towson at Drexel 51/2 Northeastern at Florida Int. 1/2 UTEP Delaware 21/2 at N.C. A&T at Florida Atlantic 20 UTSA at Detroit Mercy 11/2 No. Kentucky Wright State 2 at Oakland North Texas 21/2 at Charlotte Utah Tech 1 at Ut Rio Grande Vly. Robert Morris 101/2 at IUPUI at UAB 121/2 Rice at So. Dakota St. 101/2 Umkc at SIU-Edwardsville 8 Little Rock Oral Roberts 14 at So. Dakota Utah Valley 4 at Tarleton State at North Dakota St. 3 St. Thomas Southern Utah 5 at UT-Arlington at Rutgers 51/2 Michigan at Milwaukee 31/2 Purdue Ft. Wayne at So. Indiana 51/2 Tennessee Tech at Montana 7 Portland State at Idaho State 4 Idaho at W. Kentucky 41/2 Louisiana Tech SE Missouri State 4 at Lindenwood Washington 71/2 at Cal at Illinois 51/2 N'western at Montana State 10 Sacramento State E. Washington 21/2 at Weber State at UT Martin 4 Tennessee State Cleveland State 14 at Green Bay at St. Mary's 181/2 Pacific at Stanford 11/2 Wash. State at San Francisco 71/2 Portland at Gonzaga 201/2 San Diego
NBA
Favorite
at Lakers at Cleveland Boston at Orlando at Toronto at Philadelphia at Dallas at Utah at Sacramento
NBA
Favorite
at New Jersey at Washington at Tampa Bay New York Minnesota Edmonton at St. Louis Boston at Vegas Nashville
Line
Line (O/U)
5 (238) Golden State 21/2 (223) Denver 81/2 (234) at Indiana 61/2 (2261/2) Detroit 51/2 (2251/2) New Orleans 4 (229) Memphis 131/2 (235) San Antonio 2 (2391/2) Oklahoma City 5 (2391/2) Portland
Line
-146/+122 -275/+220 -230/+188 -162/+134 -196/+160 -115/-105 -120/+100 -172/+142 -156/+130 -134/+112
Underdog
Underdog
Underdog
Kings Ducks Buffalo at Detroit at Columbus at Pittsburgh Vancouver at Seattle
Calgary at San Jose
At Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex
Doha, Qatar
Purse:
$1,377,025
MEN'S SINGLES
Round of 16
Felix Auger-Aliassime (2), Canada, def. Jason Kubler, Australia, 4-6, 6-1,
6-4 Jiri Lehecka, Czech Republic, def. Emil Ruusuvuori, Finland, 6-2, 7-6 (2). Alexandre Muller, France, def. Botic Van de Zandschulp (8), Netherlands, 6-2, 6-4. Andrey Rublev (1), Russia, def. Tallon Griekspoor, Netherlands, 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (6). Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (7), Spain, def. Kwon Soon Woo, South Korea, 6-3, 6-2. Andy Murray, Britain, def. Alexander Zverev (4), Germany, 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-5. Christopher O'Connell, Australia, def. Roberto Bautista Agut (5), Spain, 3-6,
7-6 (5), 6-4.
At Palais des Sports Marseille, France Purse:
€707,510
MEN'S SINGLES
Round of 32
Mikael Ymer, Sweden, def. Radu Albot, Moldova, 6-3, 7-6 (5). Arthur Fils, France, def. Roman Safiullin, Russia, 6-4, 6-3.
MEN'S SINGLES
Round of 16
Benjamin Bonzi, France, def. Maxime Cressy (5), United States, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3. Alexander Bublik, Kazakhstan, def. Gregoire Barrere, France, 6-4, 6-2.