Once again, it’s Oklahoma on top
The Sooners repeat as NCAA softball champs with a 5-4 victory over Florida.
Shay Knighten hit a three-run double in the second inning and Oklahoma defeated Florida 5-4 Tuesday night in Oklahoma City to win its second consecutive NCAA softball title.
Knighten, who hit a three-run home run in the 17th inning to help win Game 1 on Monday, was selected the World Series’ most outstanding player.
The Sooners (61-9) took both games from the Gators (58-10) in the best-of-three series to earn their third NCAA title in five years.
Oklahoma freshman Mariah Lopez (18-1) got the win in relief of Paige Parker. Paige Lowary retired Florida in order in the seventh inning.
The University of Mississippi disputed the NCAA’s charges of lack of institutional control and failure to monitor by football coach Hugh Freeze, along with allegations of a $10,000 cash payment to a recruit. The Ole Miss football program released its response to a second NCAA Notice of Allegations in less than two years. The first notice alleged 13 violations and the second added eight more, bringing the total to 21. Fifteen of them are classified by the NCAA as Level I, which the governing body deems most serious. Ole Miss, which disputes several of the new allegations, said no “reasonable compliance or monitoring system” could have caught or prevented the Level I violations.
Long Beach State will host Cal State Fullerton in a best-ofthree super regional beginning Friday at 3 p.m., with the winner of the series earning a berth to the College World Series in Omaha. The second game will be played Saturday at noon, with a third game, if needed, to be held Sunday at noon. Long Beach State has won five of the six games this season between the Big West rivals.
The New York Jets released linebacker David Harris, the second-leading tackler in franchise history, and said they planned to trade or cut wide receiver Eric Decker.
Tom Meusborn, who had directed Chatsworth’s baseball program to eight City Section championships since his arrival in 1990, resigned, athletic director Jonathan Sheriff said. — Eric Sondheimer
The Ducks signed center Sam Carrick to a two-year, two-way contract extension through the 2018-19 season. Carrick, 25, has one goal and one assist in 19 career games with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
David Beckham is a big step closer to bringing Major League Soccer back to Miami. In a 9-4 vote, Miami-Dade County commissioners decided to allow Miami Beckham United to buy three acres of county land, the final piece in a nine-acre plot on which a 25,000-seat soccer stadium is planned.
Emirates Team New Zealand capsized at the start of an America’s Cup challenger semifinal race against Britain on Bermuda’s stormy Great Sound, throwing three crewmen into the water and extensively damaging its 50-foot catamaran. Chase boats immediately converged on the catamaran and confirmed that all six crew members were accounted for, including three who remained in the cockpit in the starboard hull. Skipper Peter Burling said there were no major injuries.