Mims the Word for UCLA

Tairia Mims hit a walkoff home run in the eighth inning and top-ranked UCLA defeated Georgia, 2-1, in the third round of the NCAA regional softball playoffs Saturday at Columbia, S.C.

Mims, a junior first baseman, led off the inning and drove a 2-0 pitch over the right-field fence. She also had a run-scoring double in the sixth to tie the score, 1-1.

If the Bruins (53-6) defeat South Carolina today, they win the regional and advance to the College World Series. If UCLA loses to South Carolina (45-19), the teams will play an elimination game.

In Fresno, Yasmin Mossadeghi had two hits and Cal State Fullerton avoided elimination with a 4-1 victory over Stanford.

The Titans (53-12) recovered from a 4-2 loss to California earlier, but must defeat California (51-19) twice today to win the regional.

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USC gave retiring men’s tennis Coach Dick Leach at least one more victory by upsetting No. 4 Baylor, 4-2, in a third-round NCAA match at College Station, Texas. Leach is completing his 23rd season at USC. The Trojans (22-5), ranked No. 11, face Illinois in the quarterfinals today.

Also at College Station, Diego Acuna scored an important victory at No. 4 singles to help No. 8 Pepperdine defeat Mississippi, 4-3. The Waves (25-5) play top-ranked Georgia (26-3) today.

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Four golfers shot an even-par 72 for Pepperdine, which advanced to the NCAA men’s championships by finishing fifth at the West Regional in Albuquerque.... Eric Verbryke drove in four runs for host Cal State Northridge, which defeated UC Irvine, 11-6, to win the Big West Conference.