Oklahoma seeks third straight NCAA softball title

OKLAHOMA CITY » The twotime defending national softball champion Oklahoma Sooners might be better than ever.

The Sooners blew through the competition to post a 55-3 record and return to the Women’s College World Series. The offense, led by freshman power hitter Jocelyn Alo and junior infielder Sydney Romero, led the nation in scoring. Star pitchers Paige Parker and Paige Lowary were exceptional again, helping the Sooners rank second nationally in ERA. Oklahoma backs up its pitchers by leading the nation in fielding percentage.

Now, the fourth-seeded Sooners are trying to join UCLA (1988-90) as the only programs to win three straight. Oklahoma will open World Series play Thursday against No. 5 Washington (49-8).

The Sooners want to approach the tourney as if they are chasing their first title.

“I think the key is not feeling like you’re marked,” Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso said. “We don’t think that way. We don’t play that way, because there’s a lot of teams out there that could say just with the tradition that they have that X on their back. But we just try to go out and give it our best every day.”

Racist, anti-gay chants on rise in Russia ahead of Cup

MOSCOW » Racist and antigay chants have become more common in Russian soccer as the country prepares to host the World Cup, even as overall incidents of discrimination declined.

Nineteen incidents of abusive chants were recorded this season, according to an annual report from the anti-discrimination Fare Network and the Moscow-based Sova Center released Wednesday. That compares to two cases the season before, and 10 the year before that.

Victims included players from the French national team, who were targeted with monkey chants during a game against Russia in March, and Liverpool youth player Bobby Adekanye, who was racially abused by Spartak Moscow supporters.

Russian national team goalkeeper Guilherme Marinato, a naturalized citizen who was born in Brazil, was twice targeted by Spartak fans calling him a monkey.

Mother of G League player who died sues NBA, Pistons

DETROIT » The mother of a G League player who died in March after collapsing on the court during a game has filed a federal lawsuit accusing the NBA and the Detroit Pistons of negligence.

Zeke Upshaw played for the Grand Rapids Drive, a G League affiliate of the Pistons. He collapsed during a game at Grand Rapids on March 24 and died two days later .

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The NBA and Pistons are named as defendants, along with SSJ Group and The DeltaPlex Arena.

The lawsuit alleges medical personnel at the game failed to attempt lifesaving measures in a timely fashion.