Barnhill leads Florida to softball series win
Florida ace Kelly Barnhill was named espnW softball player of the year and proved she earned it with a shutout over four innings in a 8-0 win against No. 9 seeded Texas A&M in the opening game of the Women’s College World Series held at ASA Hall Of Fame Stadium, in Oklahoma City.
Barnhill entered the tournament as the ace of No. 1 seed Florida staff with a 24-3 record, 0.36 ERA and 333 strikeouts in 173 innings (she walked just 34 batters).
No pitcher in more than a decade finished a season with an ERA better than 0.50.
The most recent to do so was Cat Osterman, another pitcher who made the national team out of high school and went on to do well for herself.
“It’s so much fun being out there when you know no matter what the batter is doing, they’re not going to hit the ball,” Barnhill said.
More college softball
• First baseman Kirstyn Thomas went 2 for 3 (including a home run) with two RBIs and Sis Bates went 1 for 3 with a triple to lead No. 6 seeded Washington to a 3-1 win against No. 3 Oregon.
• Second baseman Constance Quinn went 2 for 3 scoring a run and starting pitcher Allie Walljasper went seven strong innings as No. 13 seed LSU pulled the upset on No. 5 UCLA with a 2-1 victory.
• Centerfielder Nicole Pendley went 1 for 3 wth a three-run homer to lead No. 10 seed Oklahoma to a 6-3 victory against No. 15 seed Baylor. Macey Hatfield went 2 for 3 for the Sooners.
• Monica Harrison, a Pittsburgh native who spent the past two years as an assistant at Arcadia University, was hired as the first softball coach in Carnegie Mellon University history. Softball will debut with the 2019 spring season.
Skiing
Chasing the record for ski World Cup wins next season, Lindsey Vonn will have a chance to master a rare race challenge: A tworun downhill. The International Ski Federation (FIS) after meeting in Geneva has scheduled a double downhill — two runs down a shorter course — at Garmisch-Partenkirschen, Germany, on Feb. 3 just before the Olympics to test a fresh format in a prime Saturday slot. The FIS is following a trend in sports of using shorter formats to lure new fans.
Soccer
Just three months past his 17th birthday, Josh Sargent tied the American scoring record at the Under-20 World Cup as the United States routed New Zealand, 6-0, at Incheon, South Korea, and advanced to a quarterfinal against Venezuela.