Home run in the 17th inning lifts Oklahoma
Shay Knighten's three-run homer against Kelly Barnhill in the top of the 17th inning Monday night gave Oklahoma a 7-5 victory over Florida in Game 1 of the best-of-three Women’s College World Series championship series at Oklahoma City.
The matchup between programs that have split the last four national titles was the longest championship series game in NCAA history. It lasted 51⁄2 hours, and all four pitchers threw more than 100 pitches.
Oklahoma (60-9) can clinch a repeat Tuesday in Game 2.
Paige Lowary (16-3) got the start, was replaced, then re-entered to claim the win. Cam Newton is ahead of schedule in his rehab from shoulder surgery and is expected to begin throwing next week at minicamp, Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. Newton is not expected to participate in team drills until the Panthers report to training camp in late July . ... The 49ers bolstered their pass rush by signing 33-year-old Elvis Dumervil, who had 99 sacks in 10 seasons with the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens but had a career-low three with the Ravens last fall before an Achilles injury cut short his season.
The Chargers’ plan to “Fight for LA” got a new narrator, the team naming Los Angeles sports-talk mainstay Matt Smith as its new radio play-byplay announcer. He’ll be joined in the booth by former Chargers center Nick Hardwick on KFIAM (640)’s broadcasts.
A federal judge in Chicago dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents of former NHL player Derek Boogard, who blamed the league for their son's brain damage and addiction to prescription painkillers. Boogard, an enforcer during six seasons with the Minnesota Wild and the New York Rangers, died of an accidental overdose of pain medications and alcohol in 2011.
Backup receiver Roger Lewis Jr. of the New York Giants was arrested last weekend in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, for operating a vehicle under the influence . ... Three Michigan State football players are being charged in an alleged sexual assault on campus in January, an attorney said. Ingham County prosecutor Carol Siemon said only that three people were being charged in the incident, but she didn't release details or names. Karen Truszkowski, an attorney for the accuser, told the Associated Press that the three are football players.
Darrell Wallace Jr. will replace injured teammate Aric Almirola this weekend at Pocono Raceway, becoming the first black driver to race at NASCAR’s top level since 2006. Wallace, 23, is only the fourth black driver in one of NASCAR’s top national series. Wendell Scott raced from 1961-73 in Cup, Willy T. Ribbs did three Cup races in 1986 and Bill Lester raced sporadically from 19992007 at all three national levels.
Arrogate, the all-time richest horse in purse money in North America, will spend the summer at Del Mar in potentially three races. Trainer Bob Baffert announced that he is pointing the 4-year-old gray first to the San Diego on July 22, then the Pacific Classic and, if things go well, the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Arrogate last raced March 25, when he won the $10-million Dubai World Cup to up his winnings to more than $17 million.
Ben Ainslie’s troubles in the America’s Cup trials mounted when the British sailing star was forced to retire from the opening race of the challenger semifinals against New Zealand because of serious damage to the wing sail on his catamaran. Ainslie’s crew pulled up on the third of seven legs on Bermuda’s Great Sound after the camber arm in the hightech wing sail broke.
An oversight by the women’s world golf ranking means Lydia Ko is still No. 1. The LPGA Tour said last week that projections from the world ranking showed Ariya Jutanugarn going to No. 1 because Ko didn’t play the ShopRite LPGA Classic and So Yeon Ryu missed the cut. But the tour said that the projections were based on the day they were calculated, instead of the day when the ranking is released.