OKLAHOMA CITY — At 5 feet tall and a slender 100 pounds, Jackie Vasquez wasn’t known for hitting home runs — until she put Arizona State in the Women’s College World Series finals with one swing.
Vasquez hit a three-run home run after slugger Kaitlin Cochran was hit with a pitch, leading the Sun Devils to a 3-1 win over Alabama on Sunday and its first chance to play for the national softball championship.
The Sun Devils (64-5) will face fifth-seeded Texas A&M (56-8) in the best-of-three championship beginning today. The Aggies beat top-seeded Florida 1-0 on Kelsey Spittler’s RBI triple down the right-field line in the ninth inning.
The Gators (70-5) had won three straight elimination games, including a 6-1 victory against Texas A&M to force a rematch.
Bird caps Storm’s surge
SEATTLE — Sue Bird scored on a fast-break layup with 6.4 seconds left and the Seattle Storm rallied to beat the Houston Comets 64-63 in the WNBA.
Bird finished with 17 points, and Swin Cash had 11 of her 19 in the fourth quarter as the Storm (5-1) established a franchise record for the best start to a season.
• Tamika Whitmore and Lindsay Whalen scored 19 points apiece to help the Connecticut Sun defeat the Chicago Sky 75-73.
Contador captures Giro
MILAN, Italy — Tour de France champion Alberto Contador wrapped up a victory in the Giro d’Italia, becoming the first non-Italian to win the three-week race since 1996.
Contador edged Italy’s Riccardo Ricco by 1 minute, 57 seconds over the 2,128-mile course. The Spaniard, who rides for the Astana team, entered the final stage with a four-second lead and managed the best overall time without winning a stage. Marzio Bruseghin was third, 2:54 behind Contador.
Pistorius continues quest
EMMELOORD, Netherlands — South African double-amputee Oscar Pistorius won the 100- and 400-meter races at the Dutch Open as he gears up for a bid to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.
Pistorius, who hopes to run the 400 at Beijing, won in 47.92 seconds at the paralympic meet, a day after coming in first in the 200. Pistorius must run the 400 under 45.55 seconds to qualify for Beijing.
Footnotes.
USA Pentathlon confirmed that Sheila Taormina is expected to receive a bid to the Beijing Games in modern pentathlon — making her the first woman to qualify in three Olympic sports. Taormina won gold in 1996 as part of a swim relay and competed in the triathlon in 2000 and 2004.
• LSU’s departing athletic director and former national championship baseball coach Skip Bertman, 70, could go home as early as today after being hospitalized with what doctors believed were early signs of a heart attack.
• Simon Wangai of Kenya broke away from fellow countryman Leonard Maina at mile 23 and breezed to victory in the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon. Yulia Gromova of Russia came from behind to win the women’s division.
The Associated Press
