Stanford romps to second straight super regional
For the second year in a row, the Stanford softball team is on to the super regionals.
Hosting a regional for the first time since 2011, the Cardinal swept their regional by blasting Florida for the second straight day, winning 11-2 on Sunday in the regional final.
Known for its pitching prowess, Stanford's offense woke up late against the Gators, tallying four runs in both the fifth and seventh innings to run away with the win on Sunday.
The No. 9 seed Cardinal beat the Gators 8-0 in six innings on Saturday after a 1-0 win over Long Beach State on Friday.
Stanford will head across the country to face No. 8 seed Duke in the super regionals. The Blue Devils also swept their regional, beating George Mason on Friday and winning back-to-back games against Charlotte on Saturday and Sunday.
The Cardinal (43-13) will be seeking their third-ever Women's College World Series appearance and first since 2004. Stanford will need to win two games in Durham to head to Oklahoma City for the WCWS.
It'll be the seventh time Stanford has reached the super regionals since the NCAA softball tournament adopted the super regional system in 2005. Stanford has never won a super regional, including losing at home last year to Oregon State.
CAL'S SEASON ENDS WITH LOSS TO OKLAHOMA >>
Cal's softball team won two straight win-or-go-home games on Saturday to advance to the regional finals.
But the nation's top team proved too much for the Golden Bears, as Oklahoma blasted their way to an 16-3 win in five innings.
After Cal beat Hofstra and Missouri on Saturday to keep their season going one more day, the Sooners opened up a 14-0 lead after three innings at bat, thanks to six in the first and seven in the third. The Bears added three in the bottom of the third when Zobac knocked in a run with a single and Halajian followed with a two-run single.
But then Oklahoma pitcher Nicole May, a Pleasanton native and Foothill alum, ended the rally in the third and pitched a clean fourth against the East Bay school, finishing with one strikeout in 1 1/3 innings.
Cal finishes its season with a record of 35-21-1. The Sooners improved to 54-1. — Alex Simon
Soccer LATE PENALTY DOOMS EARTHQUAKES AT LAFC >>
Carlos Vela scored on a penalty kick in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time and as the San Jose Earthquakes dropped a 2-1 result to Los Angeles FC on Saturday night.
LAFC jumped out to a lead in the third minute of the match on goal by Stipe Biuk. José Cifuentes and Ryan Hollingshead had assists on Biuk's second goal this season.
San Jose (5-5-3) pulled even seven minutes into the second half on an unassisted goal by defender Miguel Trauco. It was the first career goal for Trauco, who has made 12 appearances over the past two seasons.
It looked like the Quakes might be able to at least take a point, but a video review showed a handball in the box and gave LAFC a penalty. While goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski had five saves for San Jose, he wasn't able to deny Vela from the spot in the
dying moments.
The Earthquakes entered play with six wins in the last eight matchups with LAFC. San Jose handed LAFC its only loss this season — 2-1 at home earlier this month.
San Jose falls to 1-18-8 on the road in all competitions since the start of last season. San Jose returns home to host FC Dallas on Saturday.
Motorsports LARSON DOMINATES NASCAR ALLSTAR RACE TO WIN $1 MILLION >>
Kyle Larson turned in a dominating effort to win his third All-Star race and earn $1 million Sunday night in the Cup Series' return to North Wilkesboro Speedway following a 27-year absence.
Larson became only the fourth driver to win the All-Star race at least three times. Jimmie Johnson has the most with four victories, while Larson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt have three.
Larson is the first to win the AllStar race at three different tracks, also having won in Charlotte in 2019 and Texas in 2021.
He celebrated with a full lap of burnouts around the .625-mile track as Hendrick Motorsports won its 11th All-Star race.
Bubba Wallace finished second in the 200-lap non-points exhibition race, followed by Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe and Chase Elliott.
But only Larson collected prize money in the winner-take-all event. PALOU'S RECORD RUN EARNS INDY 500 POLE POSITION >> Alex Palou will lead the field to green in the Indianapolis 500 after the young Spaniard put together the fastest four-lap pole run in history, edging Rinus VeeKay and Felix Rosenqvist to give Chip Ganassi Racing its third consecutive pole in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
Palou, who won on the road course race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last weekend, whipped four laps around the historic 2.5-mile speedway at an average of 234.217 mph. That was a mere 0.007 mph faster than VeeKay, who still gave Ed Carpenter Racing a front-row starting spot for the ninth time in the last 11 years.
“It means the world to me now, to the boys, to everybody,” said Palou, who is likely moving to Arrow McLaren next year.
He roared when Rosenqvist missed out on the pole for Arrow McLaren in the last run of the day.
Palou surpassed the record pole run of 234.046 mph that Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon put up last year. It also was the second-fastest qualifying effort, trailing only Arie
Luyendyk's 236.986, which he set the day after pole qualifying in 1996.
Tennis MURRAY PULLS OUT OF FRENCH OPEN >>
Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray has withdrawn from the clay-court French Open, organizers said.
The 36-year-old British player lost in the 2016 final to Novak Djokovic and reached four other semifinals at Roland Garros in western Paris.
Play begins there May 28 and the tournament will also be without record 14-time champion Rafael Nadal. The 36-year-old Spaniard announced on Thursday that his lingering hip injury still has not healed properly.
An earlier report from British broadcaster BBC said Murray is skipping the French Open to prioritize Wimbledon, where he was won two of his majors on grass.
Murray lost in the first round of the Italian Open last week and was then beaten 6-3, 6-0 by fellow veteran Stan Wawrinka at an ATP Challenger event in Bordeaux on Wednesday.
Wimbledon begins on July 3.
MEDVEDEV MAKES HIS MARK ON CLAY, WINS IN ROME >>
Daniil Medvedev hadn't won a single match in his three previous appearances at the Italian Open.
Now he's won the tournament. The Russian beat rising 20-yearold Danish player Holger Rune 7-5, 7-5 for the first clay-court trophy of a career that includes the 2021 U.S. Open title and a period at No. 1 in the rankings.
Medvedev was previously known almost exclusively for his prowess on hard courts, with 18 of his previous 19 titles coming on that surface — the other was on grass in Mallorca. But he now must be considered a contender at the French Open — the clay-court Grand Slam — which starts next Sunday.
Hockey U.S. ROUTS FRANCE TO STAY PERFECT AT WORLDS >>
The United States routed France 9-0 to keep its perfect record at the ice hockey world championship.
Cutter Gauthier led with a hat trick, Drew O'Connor got two goals and Scott Perunovich, T. J. Tynan, Rocco Grimaldi and Conor Garland added one apiece at Nokia Arena for the Americans to dominate Group A with six wins from six games.
Goaltender Cal Petersen made 13 saves for the shutout.
In other Group A action, Sharks forward Nico Sturm scored twice to help Germany thrash Hungary 7-2 and keep its hopes of advancing alive.