Aztec Softball Team Wins 1st Tournament

San Diego State’s women’s softball team won its first tournament in the history of the program with an 8-0 victory over Detroit in the finals of the Penn State Invitational Sunday.

Karen McCormick pitched a three-hit shutout with five strikeouts in the championship game. Sue Campbell went four for four with two RBIs and Shannon Fitzgerald had two hits and two RBIs for the Aztecs (23-15-1).

To reach the finals, the Aztecs defeated Detroit 3-2 in nine innings behind Debbie Burford’s three-for-four performance. Michelle Wesson threw 7 2/3 innings of shutout relief to pick up the victory. The Aztecs went undefeated in the tournament and have won eight consecutive games.

BASEBALL

Takaaki Sugiyama went three for five with a homer and four RBIs and Mike Murphy went two for four with two homers and three RBIs to lead U.S. International to a 10-9 victory over Grand Canyon in a nonconference game. USIU improved to 13-35. Grand Canyon fell to 22-27.

RUNNING

Jose Luiz Barbosa of Brazil broke the meet record for 800 meters at the UC Irvine Invitational, winning the race in 1 minute 48.78 seconds. Barbosa, who lives and trains in San Diego, broke the mark of 1:51.22 set by Canada’s Neil Chomos in 1988. Gilmar Santos, also of Brazil, finished second in 1:49.9 Sunday.

Barbosa set a fast pace from the start, finishing 400 meters in 51.8 seconds. Santos trailed him and the rest of the field was already out of contention. Barbosa easily out-kicked Santos for the victory.

The race marked the first outdoor competition of the year for Barbosa, a 1988 Olympian who was ranked ninth in the world at 800 meters last year by Track and Field News.

“I went out as hard as I could,” said Barbosa, who is coached by Luiz Oliveira and competed Sunday for the Oliveira Track Club.

“It was a battle between me and the clock and basically I’m happy with the performance, especially since it is my first competition,” Barbosa said.

YACHTING

Dennis Conner and his Stars & Stripes boat led from start to finish in the Newport-to-Ensenada race. Pyewacket from the Coronado Yacht Club won the IOR-A Class. Of the 536 boats that started the race, 376 of them finished.

AUTO RACING

Three Vintage car drivers scored their second consecutive San Diego Historic Grand Prix victories Sunday over a 1.3-mile course in the west parking lot of San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.