The Sports Report: UCLA softball advances to Women's College World Series

Los Angeles Times

26-05-2025

Oklahoma City bound.
UCLA softball is heading to its 33rd Women's College World Series after rallying from a game down to win the Columbia Super Regional, defeating South Carolina 5-0 in the series decider at Beckham Field on Sunday.
'I couldn't be more proud,' UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. 'To be able to be a final eight [team] is a goal, and the ability to overcome day one is because they [players] were so committed to the process and allowed them to take a trip back to OKC.'
After Jordan Woolery kept UCLA's (54-11) season alive with a walk-off home run in Game 2, she picked up right where she left off with a first-inning RBI single off South Carolina (44-17) starting pitcher Sam Gress. The Bruins failed to tack on runs with the bases loaded, but Kaitlyn Terry made sure the early tally was enough.
Terry threw 5 ⅔ innings of two-hit shutout ball with four strikeouts before giving way to Saturday's starting pitcher, Taylor Tinsley. She allowed only one runner into scoring position through the first five innings, handcuffing South Carolina's powerful offense all day. Between Terry and Tinsley over the last two days, the Bruins only allowed four runs and 12 hits, all singles, across their two victories.
'I think honestly it was just spinning the ball and trusting my stuff,' Terry said.
From nine runs given up on Friday to four Saturday and a shutout in the rubber game, UCLA's pitching only improved as the series went on.
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All Times Pacific
Conference finals
Western Conference
No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. No. 6 Minnesotaat Oklahoma City 114, Minnesota 88 (box score)at Oklahoma City 118, Minnesota 103 (box score)at Minnesota 143, Oklahoma City 101 (box score)Monday at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m., ESPNWednesday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ESPNFriday at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m., ESPN*Sunday at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ESPN*
Eastern Conference
No. 3 New York vs. No. 4 IndianaIndiana 138, at New York 135 (OT) (box score)Indiana 114, at New York 109 (box score)New York 106, at Indiana 100 (box score)Tuesday at Indiana, 5 p.m., TNTThursday at New York, 5 p.m., TNTSaturday at Indiana, 5 p.m., TNT*Monday, June 2 at New York, 5 p.m., TNT*
*if necessary
From Jack Harris: Shohei Ohtani provided the Dodgers some temporary reprieve on Sunday.
Before the game, he faced hitters for the first time since undergoing Tommy John revision surgery in 2023, drawing a large crowd in the visitor's dugout at Citi Field as he touched 97 mph with his fastball and struck out two batters in five at-bats.
Four and a half hours later, the two-way star dazzled with his bat, as well, belting a second-deck leadoff blast in the first inning against Mets ace and fellow Japanese star Kodai Senga to tie the major league lead with 18 home runs on the season.
'I thought that infused some life into us,' manager Dave Roberts said.
Alas, it wouldn't last, the Dodgers instead going quiet the rest of the night in a 3-1 rubber-match loss to the New York Mets.
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Shohei Ohtani throws live batting practice session 19 months after Tommy John surgery
Dodgers box score
MLB scores
MLB standings
From Benjamin Royer: Angels manager Ron Washington knew his team needed cultural adjustments.
It wasn't just handling the 40-man roster general manager Perry Minasian assembled. The 73-year-old skipper, in his second season leading the Halos, identified a characteristic missing from last year's Angels. Washington said his goal was for the Angels to become a family.
Looking back on two weeks ago, when the Angels stumbled to a 17-25 record after a hot start to begin the season, Washington said he felt the buy-in to the family ideology already seeped into the walls of the clubhouse — featuring a roster makeup mixing veterans with postseason success along his young starters across his infield. The results, however, were yet to come.
'My clubhouse was already jelled,' Washington said. 'We just had to start playing good baseball.'
The Angels didn't just play good baseball. They were the best in baseball across the last two weeks. With seven of eight victories coming on the road — a three-game sweep of the Dodgers and a four-game sweep of the Athletics — the Angels riddled off an eight-game winning streak.
After dropping Saturday's game to the Marlins (21-30) in 6-2 fashion, the Angels (25-27) couldn't respond Sunday, falling 3-0 to Miami to lose the weekend series. Marlins right-hander Edward Cabrera sailed through 5 2/3 shutout innings, striking out 10 as the Angels' offense struggled to produce for back-to-back days and tallied just three hits.
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Angels box score
MLB scores
MLB standings
From Anthony De Leon: Against the Chicago Sky, the Sparks found themselves in a must-win situation, not in the grand scheme of the standings, but for peace of mind. A win to help with confidence and morale.
After a week riddled with injuries and a three-game skid, Sunday's matchup carried weight beyond the court — it mattered in the locker room. The pressure was starting to show, with visible signs of frustration from head coach Lynne Roberts down to the end of the bench.
The Sparks were a team searching for anything to swing the momentum back in their favor.
That shift came in the form of their superstar, Kelsey Plum, who took it upon herself to ignite the turnaround with a shooting clinic in the third quarter. Her flurry helped lift L.A. to a much-needed 91-78 win over the Sky at Crypto.com Arena.
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Sparks box score
WNBA standings
Alex Palou took the ceremonial swig of milk in victory lane at the Indianapolis 500. His wife had a sip, she in turn gave a sip to their baby, and team owner Chip Ganassi ended up with the bottle and took a drink, as well.
'Whole milk,' he said before switching to Spanish. 'Esta muy, muy buena.'
Then, the first Spaniard to win 'The Greatest Spectacle in Racing' took a victory lap with them around Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the back of a pickup truck. At one point, Palou climbed onto its roof and raised his arms in triumph, the winning wreath draped around his neck. He briefly lost his balance and Ganassi instinctively reached out to grab his star driver.
No need.
Palou rarely makes a wrong move.
'All my family around, it's amazing, honestly,' he said, smiling. 'All the team around, they make me look really good on the track.'
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All times Pacific
Conference finals
Western Conference
Central 2 Dallas vs. Pacific 3 Edmontonat Dallas 6, Edmonton 3 (summary)Edmonton 3, at Dallas 0 (summary)at Edmonton 6, Dallas 1 (summary)Tuesday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., ESPNThursday at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPNSaturday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., ABC*Monday, June 2 at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN*
Eastern Conference
Metro 2 Carolina vs. Atlantic 3 FloridaFlorida 5, at Carolina 2 (summary)Florida 5, at Carolina 0 (summary)at Florida 6, Carolina 2 (summary)Monday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNTWednesday at Carolina, 5 p.m., TNT*Friday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT*Sunday at Carolina, 5 p.m., TNT*
* If necessary
1963 — French Championships Men's Tennis: Australian Roy Emerson beats home favorite Pierre Darmon 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.
1963 — French Championships Women's Tennis: Australian Lesley Turner wins the first of 2 French titles; beats England's Ann Jones 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.
1972 — Joe Frazier TKOs Ron Stander in 5 for heavyweight boxing title.
1982 — 26th European Cup: Aston Villa beats Bayern Munich 1-0 at Rotterdam.
1985 — Danny Sullivan misses almost certain disaster and holds off Mario Andretti and the rest of the fastest field in auto racing to win the Indianapolis 500. On the 119th lap, Sullivan spins his racer 360 degrees, narrowly avoiding both the wall and Andretti.
1987 — Boston's Larry Bird steals an inbounds pass from Detroit's Isiah Thomas and feeds over his shoulder to a cutting Dennis Johnson for the winning basket as the Celtics pulls out an improbable 108-107 win over Detroit in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
1988 — The Edmonton Oilers, with MVP Wayne Gretzky leading the way, beat the Boston Bruins 6-3 to complete a four-game sweep and win their fourth Stanley Cup in five years.
1991 — Rick Mears passes Michael Andretti with 12 laps to go and wins his fourth Indianapolis 500, by 3.1 seconds. Mears joins A.J. Foyt and Al Unser as the only four-time winners.
1993 — 1st UEFA Champions League Final: Marseille beats Milan 1-0 at Munich.
1994 — Haiti's Ronald Agenor wins the longest match since the French Open adopted the tiebreaker. Agenor takes the 71st and final game of a second-round match with David Prinosil of Germany. His five-hour, 6-7 (4-7), 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-4, 14-12 victory involves the most games in a French Open match since 1973.
1999 — 7th UEFA Champions League Final: Manchester United beats Bayern Munich 2-1 at Barcelona.
2000 — New Jersey finishes the greatest comeback in a conference final when the Devils win the last three games of the series, beating the Flyers 2-1 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final. Patrik Elias scores his second goal of the game with 2:32 to play for the win.
2004 — Andy Roddick loses at the French Open — to Frenchman Olivier Mutis, who is ranked 125th. With the five-set loss, Roddick joins Andre Agassi and eight other compatriots on the way home, making it the first Grand Slam tournament in more than 30 years without a U.S. man in the third round.
2005 — Americans Andy Roddick, James Blake and Vince Spadea fail to make it through the opening week at the French Open. For the second year in a row — and the second time at a Grand Slam event in more than 30 years — no American man makes it out of the second round.
2008 — Syracuse wins its 10th NCAA men's lacrosse championship, beating defending champion Johns Hopkins 13-10 behind three goals from Dan Hardy. The crowd of 48,970 at Foxborough, Mass., is the largest to see an NCAA championship outdoors in any sport — the BCS football championship game isn't an NCAA event.
2009 — NHL Eastern Conference Final: Pittsburgh Penguins beat Carolina Hurricanes, 4 games to 0.
2012 — Toronto FC ends its MLS record nine-game losing streak to open a season with a 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Union on a late goal by Danny Koevermans.
2013 — Tony Kanaan ends years of frustration by finally winning the Indianapolis 500. Kanaan drives past Ryan Hunter-Reay on a restart with three laps to go, then coasts across the finish line under yellow when defending race winner Dario Franchitti crashes far back in the field. The Brazilian finished second in 2004 and twice finished third.
2013 — Senior PGA Championship, Bellerive CC: Kōki Idoki of Japan wins his lone PGA event by 2 strokes from Jay Haas and Kenny Perry.
2015 — Cleveland Cavaliers win the NBA Eastern Conference.
2018 — UEFA Champions League Final, Kiev: Real Madrid beats Liverpool, 3-1 for third straight title. Zinédine Zidane first manager to win 3 consecutive titles.
2019 — Indianapolis 500: 2016 IndyCar Series champion Simon Pagenaud of France finishes just two-tenths of a second ahead of Alexander Rossi for Team Penske's record-extending 18th victory in the event.
2019 — Senior PGA Championship, Oak Hill CC: American Ken Tanigawa wins his first career major title by 1 stroke ahead of Scott McCarron.
1916 — Benny Kauff of the Giants was picked off first base three times by Boston's Lefty Tyler. The miscues didn't hurt as New York won its 14th consecutive road victory beating the Braves, 12-1.
1925 — In Detroit's 8-1 win over the Chicago White Sox, Ty Cobb became the first to collect 1,000 career extra-base hits. He finished his career with 1,139.
1929 — Pinch-hitters Pat Crawford of the Giants and Les Bell of the Boston Braves hit grand slams in New York's 15-9 victory.
1930 — Joe Sewell of the Cleveland Indians, who fanned only three times in 353 at-bats during the season, was struck out twice in the same game by Pat Caraway of the White Sox.
1937 — Billy Sullivan and Bruce Campbell appeared for the Cleveland Indians as pinch hitters. Each hit a home run, making this the first time two American League pinch hitters hit home runs in the same game. The Indians beat the Athletics, 8-6.
1956 — Cincinnati Reds pitchers John Klippstein, Hershell Freeman and Joe Black combined for 9 2-3 hitless innings, but lost 2-1 in 11 innings to the Philadelphia Phillies.
1959 — Harvey Haddix of Pittsburgh pitched 12 perfect innings before losing to Milwaukee 1-0 in the 13th on an error, a sacrifice and Joe Adcock's double.
1962 — Sandy Koufax struck out 16 Phillies to lead the Dodgers to a 6-3 victory.
1969 — Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hits his 500th career double, becoming only the third major leaguer to reach 500 doubles and 500 home runs.
1995 — USC and Fresno State combined for an NCAA postseason baseball record of 39 runs in the Trojans' 22-17 win in the West Regional. USC scored three runs in the top of the ninth to break the record of 37 set by the Trojans and Houston in 1990.
1996 — The Chicago White Sox became the 16th team in AL history to hit four homers in one inning in their 12-1 win over Milwaukee. Frank Thomas, Harold Baines and Robin Ventura hit consecutive homers and Chad Kreuter added another in Chicago's seven-run eighth.
1997 — Chicago's Sammy Sosa and the Pirates' Tony Womack hit inside-the-park homers in the sixth inning of the Cubs' 2-1 win. It was the first time two inside-the-park homers had been hit in the same inning in 20 years.
2004 — Daryle Ward hit for the cycle and tied his career best with six RBIs in Pittsburgh's 11-8 win over St. Louis.
2006 — Derek Jeter gets his 2,000th career hit, becoming the eighth player in Yankees history to reach the milestone.
2008 — Chase Utley tied the National League lead with his 16th homer and drove in six runs as Philadelphia routed Colorado 20-5. The Phillies batted around three times and had season-highs in hits (19) and runs.
2011 — The hot-hitting Boston Red Sox routed the Detroit Tigers 14-1 in an eight-inning, rain-shortened game. The Red Sox, who beat Cleveland 14-2 the previous day, scored at least 14 runs in back-to-back games for the first time since 1998.
2016 — Major League Baseball hands out a suspension of 82 games to Braves OF Hector Olivera, following a domestic violence incident in April. It is by far the most severe penalty yet handed out under baseball's new domestic violence policy.
2018 — Mike Trout has the first five-hit game of his career and drives in 4 runs to lead the Angels to an 11-4 win over the Yankees.
2021 — Commissioner Rob Manfred issues his ruling following the completion of the investigation of allegations of improper behavior towards a number of women against former manager and coach Mickey Callaway. Callaway is found guilty of violating Major League Baseball policies and is declared ineligible for the remainder of this season and all of 2022, after which he may apply for reinstatement. For their part, the Angels fire him from his position of pitching coach, from which he has been suspended since the allegations surfaced in February, and the Indians, who were Callaway's employer when some of the offensive incidents took place, state that they will take steps to ensure a more respectful environment in which employees feel empowered to denounce workplace harassement in the future.
2023 — Craig Kimbrel becomes the eighth pitcher to record 400 career saves in Philadelphia's 6 - 4 win over the Braves, barely two weeks after Kenley Jansen became the seventh.
Compiled by the Associated Press
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