California, Oklahoma post softball victories Contract clock ticking for NFL referees
Frani Echavarria got her third RBI of the game during a three-run sixth inning for California, helping the top-seeded Golden Bears rally past LSU 5-3 on Thursday in the opening round of the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.
LSU jumped to a 2-0 lead in the second inning when Allison Falcon and Ashley Applegate each singled before both scored on Morgan Russell’s double to right.
Cal cut the deficit in half in the third. Britt Vonk reached on a fielder’s choice and advanced to second on a walk to Valerie Arioto. With two outs, Echavarria singled to right field to score Vonk. Echavarria then tied it 2-2 with a sacrifice fly in the fifth.
In the sixth, Jamia Reid drove in the go-ahead run, Vonk had an RBI single and stole a base and Echavarria added a run-scoring groundout.
Ashley Langoni hit an RBI double for the Lady Tigers in the seventh to complete the scoring.
Cal will take on Oklahoma today after the fourth-seeded Sooners beat South Florida 5-1 earlier Thursday. LSU will play USF in an elimination game Saturday.
Lauren Chamberlain hit a two-run homer and Keilani Ricketts struck out 11 to lead the Sooners. Ricketts struck out 10 or more for the 23rd time this season.
In another game, No. 2 seed Alabama scored four runs in the first inning and turned it over to sophomore pitcher Jackie Traina in a 5-3 win vs. Tennessee.
Alabama plays Arizona State today after the Sun Devils beat Oregon 3-1 on Thursday. The Lady Vols face the Ducks in an elimination game.
Thursday was the date of expiration for the contract between the NFL and its game officials. Preseason games don’t begin until August, so there’s time for negotiation on a deal. “The talks are continuing,” said Tim Millis, executive director of the NFL Referees Association. “We will continue to negotiate. About all you can do is just go try every day and know that eventually it’s going to get done.” The previous contract has a clause stipulating it could be renegotiated a year in advance of expiration. That didn’t happen last year because the NFL was in the midst of its player lockout. The contract before the latest one was to expire after the 2006 season. A new deal was struck a year in advance that extended through last season. In 2001, the officials were locked out for the final game of the preseason and the first game of the regular season, and the league used replacements. FoxSports.com reported in early May that the NFL has asked its officiating-scouting department to begin identifying potential replacement officials for 2012. “We know they’re going to think about that. I don’t know what they did or why they did it or if they did it even,” Millis said. — Gary Mihoces
Heat’s Bosh traveling with team
Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh, out indefinitely with a lower abdominal strain since Game 1 of the second-round series with the Indiana Pacers, is traveling with the team to Boston but will not play in Games 3 and 4 against the Celtics, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Thursday. Asked how close Bosh is to returning, Spoelstra said, “It’s too early to tell. We’re all encouraged that he’s actually able to do some work.”
-Basketball Hall of Famer Jack Twyman died Wednesday in Cincinnati of complications from an aggressive form of blood cancer. He was 78. Twyman was one of the NBA’s top scorers in the 1950s. Twyman played for the University of Cincinnati and spent 11 seasons in the NBA with the Rochester and Cincinnati Royals. He averaged a career-high 31.2 points a game in the 1959-60 season and played in six All-Star Games. In 1958, after teammate Maurice Stokes was left paralyzed after he suffered a head injury during a game, Twyman became his guardian to help Stokes receive medical benefits. Twyman later worked as a television analyst on NBA games.
Balanced scoring leads Dream
Sancho Lyttle and Cathrine Kraayeveld scored 12 points each to lead five Atlanta Dream players in double figures Thursday as the host Dream rolled to an 81-65 WNBA victory vs. the Phoenix Mercury, who played without guard Diana Taurasi. Taurasi, the defending scoring champion, is out indefinitely with a strained left hip flexor. She was injured during training camp and has played in two games. Angel McCoughtry, Armintie Price and Lindsey Harding each added 10 points for the Dream. DeWanna Bonner had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Mercury, and Candice Dupree added 14 points.
Briefly . . .
Illinois sophomore Thomas Pieters shot a final-round 71 to win the NCAA Division I men’s golf championship Thursday in Los Angeles. Pieters finished at 5-under-par 208, three shots better than TCU’s Julien Brun and Florida’s Tyler McCumber. ... Aritz Aduriz scored twice in the first half as Spain’s Valencia held on for a 2-1 win vs. the host Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer in an exhibition Thursday. Calen Carr scored for Houston.