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Sports Briefs: Oklahoma eliminates Oregon from softball tourney
By The Associated Press
Monday, May 19, 2008 | No comments posted.
NORMAN, Okla. — Susan Ogden and Savannah Long each had four RBIs as Oklahoma routed Oregon 11-0 in six innings on Sunday in the title round of an NCAA regional softball tournament.
Oklahoma (46-12) advanced to face perennial power Arizona in a super regional that will be held in Tucson, Ariz. The super regional winner will qualify for the Women’s College World Series, which will be in Oklahoma City.
It will be Oklahoma’s second straight appearance in a super regional and the Sooners’ third in the past four seasons.
The Sooners went undefeated during the regional and had little problem with Oregon (35-29) on Sunday. Oklahoma recorded 13 hits against three Oregon pitchers, including starter Alicia Cook (17-14).
Long hit her 12th home run of the season, a 3-run shot, in the first inning as Oklahoma jumped ahead 4-0. Lindsey Vandever had two RBIs for the Sooners, including a bloop single in the third inning as Oklahoma scored two more runs.
GOLF
Ochoa gets another victory
CLIFTON, N.J. — Lorena Ochoa overcame a balky putter to shoot a 1-under 71 for a one-stroke victory over five players for her third straight victory in the rain-shortened Sybase Classic.
The victory was Ochoa’s 23rd overall and 20th since April 2006. The $300,000 prize pushed her career earnings past the $12 million mark, making her the fastest player on the LPGA Tour to reach that plateau.
Ochoa accomplished it in just over five years, more than four years faster than the previous mark set by Annika Sorenstam, who played herself out of contention with a second-round 73.
Morgan Pressel (66), Catriona Matthew (67), Brittany Lang (68), Na Yeon Choi (69) and Sophie Gustafson (70) tied for second. Sorenstam (71) tied for 11th at 5 under.
AT&T Classic
DULUTH, Ga. — Ryuji Imada claimed his first PGA Tour victory, beating Kenny Perry in a playoff at the AT&T Classic after losing the tournament a year ago on the 73rd hole.
The two finished regulation at 15-under 273, but Perry’s ball wound up in the water on the first playoff hole even though his second shot easily cleared the pond in front of the green.
Unfortunately for Perry, he struck a pine tree behind the green about 10 feet up the trunk. The ball ricocheted straight back across the putting surface and didn’t stop rolling until it was in the water.
Imada, who had driven into the rough, played it safe with an iron on the par-5 hole and wound up two-putting for the winning par.
A year ago, Imada got into a playoff with Zach Johnson at the TPC Sugarloaf, only to lose when he knocked his second shot into the same pond that claimed Perry’s ball.
Regions Charity Classic
HOOVER, Ala. — Andy Bean managed to save par on No. 18 after hooking his drive left and bogeying the previous hole, holding on for a 2-under 70 and a one-stroke victory over Loren Roberts in the Champions Tour’s Regions Charity Classic.
Bean finished at 13-under 203. Roberts closed with a 69.
AUTO RACING
Kahne wins All-Star race
CONCORD, N.C. — Kasey Kahne technically wasn’t eligible to run the All-Star race. He didn’t let that stop him from stealing the $1 million prize.
Kahne earned his berth in Saturday night’s show not through accomplishment on the track, but in a popularity contest that permitted one driver voted on by the fans to compete in the main event.
It gave Kahne a chance to run in the 100-lap shootout, which was intermittently dominated by Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
With a gamble on the final pit stop, Kahne put the field in his rearview mirror to become the first driver ever voted in by the fans to win, and just the third driver in All-Star history to advance from the preliminary race and claim the final trophy.
Foyt qualifies for Indy 500
INDIANAPOLIS — A.J. Foyt IV had to deal with wind and then fire Sunday before his starting spot in the 92nd Indianapolis 500 was secure.
At least it didn’t rain.
The grandson of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt began the final day of qualifying for the May 25 race as a non-qualifier, needing to bump his way into the 33-car field.
The biggest obstacle was the howling wind, blowing at a steady 20 mph and also gusting at times at least 10 mph harder.
But Foyt, who tried twice Saturday to qualify — getting caught by the wind and nearly hitting the wall on his first attempt and having the second try aborted before he even began by a broken gearbox — persevered. Moments after the 2.5-mile oval was opened for qualifying at noon, the 23-year-old driver gritted his teeth and made a solid, four-lap qualifying run averaging 219.184 mph.
That was easily good enough to bump Marty Roth, the slowest of the first 33 qualifiers at 215.506, from the tentative field.
About 90 minutes later, Roth, a 49-year-old Canadian land developer and father of five, bounced back into the lineup with a four-lap run of 218.965 that knocked 1996 Indy winner Buddy Lazier’s 217.939 out of the field and put the 218.010 of Roger Yasukawa “on the bubble” as the slowest qualifying speed. Lazier later qualified and will start in the middle of the last of 11 three-car rows.
TENNIS
Nadal beats Federer on clay
HAMBURG, Germany — Rafael Nadal beat defending champion Roger Federer 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-3 to win the Hamburg Masters and add the only major clay-court title missing from his impressive collection.
It was the reverse of last year’s final, when Federer won his fourth title in Hamburg and snapped Nadal’s 81-match winning streak on clay.
Nadal rallied from big deficits in the first two sets, although he lost the tiebreaker in the second. He led 4-1 in the third and held on to raise his record against the top-ranked player to 8-1 on clay and 10-6 overall.
Jankovic defends title
ROME — Jelena Jankovic won her second straight Italian Open title, defeating French qualifier Alize Cornet 6-2, 6-2.
The fourth-seeded Serb took control early against the 18-year-old Cornet, who hurt herself with repeated unforced errors and converted only three of 12 break points. Cornet, the first female qualifier to reach the final of the Italian Open in several decades, broke into tears during a second-set changeover.
Roddick will miss French Open
DUESSELDORF, Germany — Andy Roddick, the highest-ranked American man, withdrew from the French Open on Monday because of a right shoulder injury.
The sixth-ranked Roddick, who lost in the first round at Roland Garros the last two years, pulled out of the semifinals of the Rome Masters on May 10. He then skipped the Hamburg Masters last week, but had been expected to play this week at the World Team Cup in Duesseldorf.
“Andy is pulling out with an upper back shoulder injury, the same thing that he had in Rome,” said John Roddick, Andy’s brother and the U.S. captain at the World Team Cup. “He’s pulling out of here and he’s also going to miss the French Open, too.”
HOCKEY
Russia wins world title
QUEBEC CITY — Ilya Kovalchuk scored his second goal of the game in overtime, giving Russia its first world hockey title since 1993 with a 5-4 win over Canada.
Canada took a 4-2 lead into the third period, but couldn’t hold off the Russians. Alexei Tereshchenko and Kovalchuk scored to tie it, setting the stage for the overtime winner.
Penguins reach finals
PITTSBURGH — Ryan Malone, the one Penguins player with firsthand memories of the team’s two previous Stanley Cup appearances, scored twice and set up a third goal and Pittsburgh routed rival Philadelphia 6-0 to win the Eastern Conference championship and a trip to the NHL finals.
Oklahoma (46-12) advanced to face perennial power Arizona in a super regional that will be held in Tucson, Ariz. The super regional winner will qualify for the Women’s College World Series, which will be in Oklahoma City.
It will be Oklahoma’s second straight appearance in a super regional and the Sooners’ third in the past four seasons.
The Sooners went undefeated during the regional and had little problem with Oregon (35-29) on Sunday. Oklahoma recorded 13 hits against three Oregon pitchers, including starter Alicia Cook (17-14).
Long hit her 12th home run of the season, a 3-run shot, in the first inning as Oklahoma jumped ahead 4-0. Lindsey Vandever had two RBIs for the Sooners, including a bloop single in the third inning as Oklahoma scored two more runs.
GOLF
Ochoa gets another victory
CLIFTON, N.J. — Lorena Ochoa overcame a balky putter to shoot a 1-under 71 for a one-stroke victory over five players for her third straight victory in the rain-shortened Sybase Classic.
The victory was Ochoa’s 23rd overall and 20th since April 2006. The $300,000 prize pushed her career earnings past the $12 million mark, making her the fastest player on the LPGA Tour to reach that plateau.
Ochoa accomplished it in just over five years, more than four years faster than the previous mark set by Annika Sorenstam, who played herself out of contention with a second-round 73.
Morgan Pressel (66), Catriona Matthew (67), Brittany Lang (68), Na Yeon Choi (69) and Sophie Gustafson (70) tied for second. Sorenstam (71) tied for 11th at 5 under.
AT&T Classic
DULUTH, Ga. — Ryuji Imada claimed his first PGA Tour victory, beating Kenny Perry in a playoff at the AT&T Classic after losing the tournament a year ago on the 73rd hole.
The two finished regulation at 15-under 273, but Perry’s ball wound up in the water on the first playoff hole even though his second shot easily cleared the pond in front of the green.
Unfortunately for Perry, he struck a pine tree behind the green about 10 feet up the trunk. The ball ricocheted straight back across the putting surface and didn’t stop rolling until it was in the water.
Imada, who had driven into the rough, played it safe with an iron on the par-5 hole and wound up two-putting for the winning par.
A year ago, Imada got into a playoff with Zach Johnson at the TPC Sugarloaf, only to lose when he knocked his second shot into the same pond that claimed Perry’s ball.
Regions Charity Classic
HOOVER, Ala. — Andy Bean managed to save par on No. 18 after hooking his drive left and bogeying the previous hole, holding on for a 2-under 70 and a one-stroke victory over Loren Roberts in the Champions Tour’s Regions Charity Classic.
Bean finished at 13-under 203. Roberts closed with a 69.
AUTO RACING
Kahne wins All-Star race
CONCORD, N.C. — Kasey Kahne technically wasn’t eligible to run the All-Star race. He didn’t let that stop him from stealing the $1 million prize.
Kahne earned his berth in Saturday night’s show not through accomplishment on the track, but in a popularity contest that permitted one driver voted on by the fans to compete in the main event.
It gave Kahne a chance to run in the 100-lap shootout, which was intermittently dominated by Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
With a gamble on the final pit stop, Kahne put the field in his rearview mirror to become the first driver ever voted in by the fans to win, and just the third driver in All-Star history to advance from the preliminary race and claim the final trophy.
Foyt qualifies for Indy 500
INDIANAPOLIS — A.J. Foyt IV had to deal with wind and then fire Sunday before his starting spot in the 92nd Indianapolis 500 was secure.
At least it didn’t rain.
The grandson of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt began the final day of qualifying for the May 25 race as a non-qualifier, needing to bump his way into the 33-car field.
The biggest obstacle was the howling wind, blowing at a steady 20 mph and also gusting at times at least 10 mph harder.
But Foyt, who tried twice Saturday to qualify — getting caught by the wind and nearly hitting the wall on his first attempt and having the second try aborted before he even began by a broken gearbox — persevered. Moments after the 2.5-mile oval was opened for qualifying at noon, the 23-year-old driver gritted his teeth and made a solid, four-lap qualifying run averaging 219.184 mph.
That was easily good enough to bump Marty Roth, the slowest of the first 33 qualifiers at 215.506, from the tentative field.
About 90 minutes later, Roth, a 49-year-old Canadian land developer and father of five, bounced back into the lineup with a four-lap run of 218.965 that knocked 1996 Indy winner Buddy Lazier’s 217.939 out of the field and put the 218.010 of Roger Yasukawa “on the bubble” as the slowest qualifying speed. Lazier later qualified and will start in the middle of the last of 11 three-car rows.
TENNIS
Nadal beats Federer on clay
HAMBURG, Germany — Rafael Nadal beat defending champion Roger Federer 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-3 to win the Hamburg Masters and add the only major clay-court title missing from his impressive collection.
It was the reverse of last year’s final, when Federer won his fourth title in Hamburg and snapped Nadal’s 81-match winning streak on clay.
Nadal rallied from big deficits in the first two sets, although he lost the tiebreaker in the second. He led 4-1 in the third and held on to raise his record against the top-ranked player to 8-1 on clay and 10-6 overall.
Jankovic defends title
ROME — Jelena Jankovic won her second straight Italian Open title, defeating French qualifier Alize Cornet 6-2, 6-2.
The fourth-seeded Serb took control early against the 18-year-old Cornet, who hurt herself with repeated unforced errors and converted only three of 12 break points. Cornet, the first female qualifier to reach the final of the Italian Open in several decades, broke into tears during a second-set changeover.
Roddick will miss French Open
DUESSELDORF, Germany — Andy Roddick, the highest-ranked American man, withdrew from the French Open on Monday because of a right shoulder injury.
The sixth-ranked Roddick, who lost in the first round at Roland Garros the last two years, pulled out of the semifinals of the Rome Masters on May 10. He then skipped the Hamburg Masters last week, but had been expected to play this week at the World Team Cup in Duesseldorf.
“Andy is pulling out with an upper back shoulder injury, the same thing that he had in Rome,” said John Roddick, Andy’s brother and the U.S. captain at the World Team Cup. “He’s pulling out of here and he’s also going to miss the French Open, too.”
HOCKEY
Russia wins world title
QUEBEC CITY — Ilya Kovalchuk scored his second goal of the game in overtime, giving Russia its first world hockey title since 1993 with a 5-4 win over Canada.
Canada took a 4-2 lead into the third period, but couldn’t hold off the Russians. Alexei Tereshchenko and Kovalchuk scored to tie it, setting the stage for the overtime winner.
Penguins reach finals
PITTSBURGH — Ryan Malone, the one Penguins player with firsthand memories of the team’s two previous Stanley Cup appearances, scored twice and set up a third goal and Pittsburgh routed rival Philadelphia 6-0 to win the Eastern Conference championship and a trip to the NHL finals.
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