Roundup: Oregon, Washington, UCLA start off winners at WCWS
A 3-1 record is the best the Pac-12 can be at this point in the Women's College World Series (and that's what it is), and the fun in OKC started with Oregon beating Arizona State 11-6. Here's the recap of Oregon's win over Arizona State courtesy of The Oregonian.
Great defense helped Washington beat Oklahoma 2-0, writes Michael Kinney for The Seattle Times. Impressive stuff from the Dawgs to take down the two-time defending national champions practically on their home turf.
In large thanks to a three-run homer from Kylee Perez, UCLA rallied to beat Florida State 7-4, notes Thuc Nhi Nguyen of the Los Angeles Daily News. The Bruins trailed 4-1 in the sixth inning before mounting themselves on the comeback trail.
Christopher Kamrani has the story of Utah AD Chris Hill leaving campus and heading into retirement Friday morning, catching the bus home.
Theo Lawson reports that Washington State athletics has outlined a plan to balance its budget by the end of the 2023 fiscal year. The Cougs will need to get more donations to the Cougar Athletic Fund and improve ticket sales to get there, among other things.
The Pac-12 year-end awards were handed out Thursday, and Cal's Andrew Vaughn was named Pac-12 Player of the Year after a season in which he went all Ted Williams on us and hit .402 with 23 home runs and 63 RBI.
Meanwhile, Arizona State's Spencer Torkelson was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in addition to being named an All-American by Collegiate Baseball News and Baseball America.
Pac-12 Coach of the Year David Esquer will lead the Cardinal on its NCAA postseason run as the No. 2 national seed beginning Friday against Wright State, and Tom FitzGerald writes that shortstop Nico Hoerner is vital to Stanford's success in the regionals and beyond.
Oregon State is the No. 3 national seed, and Ron Richmond believes that pitching depth could be the key to winning the Corvallis Regional. The Beavs will do battle with Northwestern State, LSU and San Diego State this weekend for the right to advance to the Super Regionals.
Joey Kaufman reports that USC's Coliseum renovation is over budget by about $30 million. They're trying to get the thing ready by the start of the football season.
Arizona's Rawle Alkins and Allonzo Trier are working out with the Phoenix Suns on Friday, notes the Arizona Daily Star. Phoenix is potentially taking at least one Wildcat in the 2018 NBA Draft (Deandre Ayton), maybe the Suns swoop up another later in the draft?
Here are the times and TV assignments for five Colorado football games next season (BuffZone.com). The conference announced some kickoff times and networks on Thursday.