
Walsh home, Rothrock 3-hitter carry third seed Florida over Georgia 6-1 in Super Regional
GAINSVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Regan Walsh smashed a three-run home run in the first inning and Keagan Rothrock threw a two-hitter to carry third-seeded Florida to a 6-1 win in the opening game of the Gainsville NCAA Super Regional on Friday.
Game 2 in the best-of-3 series is Saturday morning as Florida tries to completely erase the memory of the last two times the teams met in a Super Regional, both at Florida. The underdog Bulldogs knocked off the overall top-seed in two games in 2016 and blanked the Gators twice in 2021.
Walsh's one-out drive, her 14th, to leftfield on a 3-2 pitch came after Randi Roelling (11-9) walked Taylor Shumaker and hit Jocelyn Erickson.
That was all Rothrock (15-5) needed. She took a no-hitter into the sixth, facing just one batter over the minimum. Emma Castorri doubled leading off the sixth, went to third on a single by Dallis Goodnight and scored on a throwing error by Erickson, the catcher, on a pickoff attempt. Rothrock struck out seven, walked two and hit one batter.
Florida's Ava Brown had a two-run home run, her in seventh in the last 11 games and 11th overall, and Kendra Falby had an RBI double in the fifth inning.
___
AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
South Africa wins toss and bowling first against Australia in WTC final
LONDON (AP) — South Africa won the toss and chose to bowl first against defending champion Australia at Lord's in the World Test Championship final on Wednesday. Cloud cover decided the call. 'Massive (occasion),' South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said. 'You can hear the South African accents as well in the stands. Should be a spectacle.' Unlike South Africa, Australia didn't have a warmup game, but captain Pat Cummins said they were ready. 'Preparation has been unreal. All the guys in the team are ready to go,' Cummins said. 'We have had about 10 days of preparation. I don't think there's any extra pressure. We've been here before and won it. So it's just about going out and enjoying it.' The teams were named on Tuesday. Australia has gone with a new top order by pushing up Marnus Labuschagne to open in a test for the first time, and placing Cameron Green at No. 3 for his first test in 15 months. Josh Hazlewood has displaced Scott Boland in the pace attack. South Africa brought back Lungi Ngidi as the third seamer in the only change to the team from its last test in January in Cape Town, a four-day win over Pakistan. ___ Lineups: South Africa: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma (captain), Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi. Australia: Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (captain), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood. ___ AP cricket:


Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
What to know about the 2026 World Cup one year out
The World Cup kicks off one year from now and will be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. The 23rd edition of soccer's most prestigious tournament, which has been running since 1930, will be the biggest yet with 48 teams taking part. Here's what to know about the 2026 FIFA World Cup. When is the 2026 World Cup The tournament will be played through June and July. It kicks off at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on June 11, with the final held July 19 at MetLife Stadium, which will be referred to as the New York New Jersey Stadium during FIFA's tournament. How to get tickets for the 2026 World Cup Fans can register their interest in tickets through FIFA. Who will play in the 2026 World Cup So far, more than a dozen countries have booked their place in the 48-team tournament, including co-hosts the United States, Canada and Mexico, as well as defending champion Argentina. Japan, Iran, Jordan, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and Ecuador are also through. Sixteen teams will qualify from Europe — more than any other region. Africa will have nine teams and Asia eight, with both also getting a place in the playoffs. South America will have six teams qualifying directly and a playoff place. North and Central America and the Caribbean will also have six direct qualifiers and two playoff places. Oceania will only have one direct qualifier and a playoff place. Which cities will be hosting the 2026 World Cup The United States will host games in Arlington, Texas; Atlanta; East Rutherford, New Jersey; Foxborough, Massachusetts; Houston; Inglewood, California; Kansas City, Missouri; Miami Gardens, Florida; Philadelphia, Seattle; and San Jose, California. Two Canadian cities will have World Cup games: Toronto and Vancouver, British Columbia. In Mexico, games will be played in Guadalajara, Monterrey and Mexico City. What is the format of the 2026 World Cup The tournament will follow the same format as in recent years, just with a bigger field. There will be 12 groups of four teams. The teams in each group play each other and the top two will advance to a knockout stage. The eight best third-place teams will also advance. The knockouts will be played from the round of 32 to the final. Who won the last World Cup? Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. The previous World Cup was held in 2022 at Qatar, where Argentina defeated France in a penalty shootout in the final. Which country has won the most World Cup titles? Brazil holds that record, having won the tournament five times: 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. Germany and Italy have each won four titles. Argentina has three. ___ AP soccer:


CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
Oilers look to turn page after devastating Game 3 loss
The Oilers were keen to turn the page. Then they had to pivot. Edmonton was filtering out for practice Tuesday afternoon — less than 24 hours after getting thumped 6-1 by Florida in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final — when ice quality concerns forced the team onto a different pad at the Panthers' training facility. With that brief hiccup out of the way, a group looking to move past a night where they not only lost on the scoreboard to fall behind 2-1 in a rematch of last season's title series, but were also second-best on both the discipline and composure fronts, got down to business on what had initially been pencilled in as a day off. "It was not the game we wanted to bring," Oilers centre Leon Draisaitl said. "It was certainly far away from our best. Just flush it out a little bit and start getting ready." Draisaitl, Connor McDavid and Co. will need a lot more for Thursday night back in Sunrise, Fla., following a 48-hour break in the action. "You can't dwell on things," Oilers winger Corey Perry said of moving past Monday's debacle. "The next one's the biggest one. That's how we think about it, get ready for the next one. Move on." Edmonton got into the gamesmanship weeds against a Florida group that does it better than anyone, with the likes of Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand leading the way. The Oilers took four penalties in the opening 20 minutes — three in the offensive zone and another for too many men. Edmonton didn't like some of the officiating decisions, but the defending Cup champions, as they so often do, put the referees in a position to make a judgment call. The Panthers, it should be noted, also went to the box four times in the first period. Unlike the visitors, however, they capitalized on one of their chances in a start that lacked flow and rhythm. After a pair of lightning-quick games ended in overtime to open the series, Game 3 was more Florida's style. Draisaitl went back and forth with Bennett on one shift, while Evander Kane took two minors inside the game's first eight minutes. There were also numerous scrums after whistles — not something Edmonton is known for and a hallmark of Florida's approach. Things then got out of hand in the third period with the score 5-1 in a line brawl that included a long fight between Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse and Panthers winger Jonah Gadjovich. "It's an emotional time," Draisaitl said, pushing back against a question about Edmonton coming unglued. "It's two teams that want to win, two teams doing it their own way, but I don't think anybody is going crazy here. They're good at what they do." WATCH | Oilers fans react to Game 3 loss: Oilers fans react to 6-1 Game 3 loss 1 day ago Duration 1:53 Edmonton Oilers fans who watched Game 3 downtown say they're disappointed but still hopeful the team can turn things around. The Oilers have found themselves in worse spots. They were down 2-0 to the Los Angeles Kings in the first round earlier this spring after falling behind the Panthers 3-0 in last year's Cup final before rallying to force Game 7. "Our team is really good at reacting and answering performances like [Monday]," Draisaitl said. "We've always been a good team at coming back out with a strong effort." "We have a great chance in two days to show what our team is all about." Missing in action Edmonton forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who was a game-time decision Monday with an undisclosed injury, missed practice after also skipping Sunday's session. A key member of the power play, penalty kill and a winger on McDavid's line, the 32-year-old has five goals and 13 assists in 19 post-season games this spring for a team that's been without grinding, heart-and-soul winger Zach Hyman (dislocated wrist) since Game 4 of the Western Conference final. Crease question Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch declined to name his starting goaltender for Thursday. He pulled Stuart Skinner in the third period after Florida's fifth goal on 23 shots, but was quick not to lay blame Tuesday. "Stu maybe wasn't on his 'A' game, our team wasn't on it's 'A' game in front of him," Knoblauch said. "I don't think there are any bad goals." However, Skinner has a .886 save percentage in the series compared to a .928 mark from Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky. Calvin Pickard, who won six straight decisions after replacing a shaky Skinner in the first round of the playoffs against the Los Angeles Kings before getting hurt, allowed one goal on eight shots in mop-up duty Monday. "Maybe an extra save," Knoblauch added of Skinner's Game 3 showing. "But it doesn't matter how well Stu played, it wouldn't have made any difference in the game most likely. I'm not holding anything against Stu on that performance."