UCLA Reaches Regional Final

Taira Mims hit her 17th home run of the season and Keira Goerl pitched a three-hitter Saturday to lead UCLA to a 3-1 victory over San Diego State in an NCAA softball regional at UCLA.

The Bruins (58-5) and Aztecs (41-24) will play again in the regional final today at 12:30 p.m. San Diego State scored six runs in the seventh inning and defeated Wisconsin, 6-1, later Saturday in an elimination game. The Aztecs must beat UCLA twice today to reach the College World Series.

UCLA’s Stephanie Ramos broke a 1-1 tie in the fifth inning with a run-scoring single to right field, pinch-runner Erin Rahn narrowly avoiding the tag of San Diego State catcher Brooke Johnson.

At a regional in Tucson, Cal State Fullerton’s season ended with a 4-3 loss to Southwest Texas State. Earlier, the Titans lost to Arizona, 5-4.

Alex Kim, Stanford’s No. 1 player, retired because of leg cramps during a rain delay, but the Cardinal still defeated Pepperdine, 4-1, to advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA men’s tennis tournament at Athens, Ga.

Kim, who earlier teamed with K.J. Hippensteel for an 8-6 victory over Sebastien Graeff and Stefan Suter at No. 1 doubles, led against the Waves’ Al Garland, 6-4, 2-3, before retiring.

Stanford (24-1) is aiming for its 18th NCAA team championship.

Pepperdine ended the season with a 19-8 record. USC (15-9) also lost in the round of 16. Texas Christian (23-3) was a 4-2 winner over the Trojans. UCLA’s match against Washington was postponed until today because of rain.

Play in the semifinal round of the NCAA Division I women’s team tennis championships at Stone Mountain, Ga., was suspended because of rain.

USC’s hopes of unseating UCLA as the Pacific 10 Conference women’s track and field champion were dealt a blow at Berkeley when Angela Williams, the two-time defending NCAA 100-meter champion, false-started for the first time in her career.

The Trojans are second after six events with 41 points, seven behind Stanford. UCLA is ninth.

UCLA leads a tight men’s competition with 53 points. USC is fifth.

The Oregon State baseball team defeated USC, 6-0, at Corvallis, Ore., preventing the Trojans from clinching the Pac-10 title outright.

USC, 38-17 overall and 17-6 in the Pac-10 after having a nine-game winning streak ended, can clinch the title with a victory over the Beavers in its conference finale today, or a Stanford loss at Washington State.