UCLA softball is eliminated in NCAA stunner
Haney retains titles in decision
Liberty stunned No. 2 seed UCLA 2-1 at Easton Stadium in the NCAA softball tournament, eliminating the Bruins on Saturday.
Megan Grant drove in UCLA’s only run with a leadoff homer in the first inning. But Liberty’s Karlie Keeney avoided further damage, giving up seven hits and striking out two in pitching a complete game.
Brooke Yanez gave up two runs and three hits in 62⁄3 innings, striking out nine and earning the loss.
Aaliyah Jordan went three for three for the Bruins, who lost to Grand Canyon 3-2 on Friday. UCLA finishes the season at 52-7.
Undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney retained his titles by winning a controversial unanimous decision over former threedivision champion Vasiliy Lomachenko at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.
Lomachenko dominated the latter rounds and outpunched Haney, 124-110.
But all three judges had Haney winning. Tim Cheatham and David Sutherland scored the fight 115-113, while Dave Moretti had it 116-112.
“Lomachenko is a future Hall of Famer,” Haney said. “It was a blessing. He was my toughest opponent. He was very crafty. He turns it up in the championship rounds. [This fight] put me in the history books forever.”
Haney improved to 30-0. Lomachenko, 35, dropped to 17-3.
Now Haney has a decision to make, since he will be a free agent when he wakes up Sunday morning, as his three-fight deal with Top Rank is now expired.
The 24-year-old has plenty of options, as he could stay at 135 pounds for one final fight, where a highly anticipated match awaits against Shakur Stevenson, who was in attendance.
Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina won the Italian Open when Ukrainian opponent Anhelina Kalinina retired injured early in the second set of the rain-delayed final.
Rybakina was leading 6-4, 1-0 and up 15-love when Kalinina called for a trainer and grasped her left leg. Then she decided that she couldn’t continue.
“I can play good on all the surfaces,” Rybakina said.
Holger Rune followed his latest victory over Novak Djokovic with another impressive performance to reach the men’s final, rallying past Casper Ruud 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-2. Rune will face Daniil Medvedev on Sunday.
Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum both scored 23 points, and the Las Vegas Aces opened defense of their WNBA championship with a 105-64 win over the host Seattle Storm.
Daniel Suarez and Chris Buescher will start on the front row for Sunday night’s NASCAR Cup Series AllStar race at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway after winning their respective 60lap heats.
Suarez beat out Joey Logano in the first heat at the track on a night in which NASCAR experimented with its wet-weather tire package for the first time on the Cup Series cars after a light but steady rain. Buescher won the second heat after leading all 60 laps as drivers started on slick tires before NASCAR had them switch to the wetweather tires for the second half of the race after some drizzle.
Logano and Austin Dillon will start on the second row, while Chase Briscoe and William Byron will be on the third row.
Jonathan Gomez scored in injury time to give the United States a 1-0 win against Ecuador in its opening match of the Under-20 World Cup in Buenos Aires.
Alex Tuch scored one goal and added two assists as the United State shut out Denmark 3-0 in Tampere, Finland, to improve to 5-0 at the ice hockey world championship.