1st Down: The Oklahoma Sooners have gone back-to-back as Women’s College Softball World Series champions. That was confirmed on Thursday night as they swept Texas thanks to a 10-5 win in Game 2, handing yet another blow to a Longhorns team that had dealt them one of just three losses over the course of a historic season. Texas, much like in Game 1, jumped out to an early lead, this time a 2-0 edge, and they held it until the fourth inning. It was in the fifth sixth, however, when the levy broke and the Sooners pressed home their dominance. The title is the fourth in seven years and goes a long way to declaring that this was the greatest college softball team ever.
2nd Down: After 14 games of downright futility, the Los Angeles Angels have righted the ship a bit thanks in large part to a stunning performance from Shohei Ohtani on Thursday evening. Taking on the streaking Boston Red Sox at home, Ohtani did a bit of everything to lead his team to a 5-2 victory. He pitched seven innings in which he gave up just one run while also hitting a two-run homer in the fifth inning. That won’t fix all of their problems, but it will go a long way toward restoring confidence.
3rd Down: In other action on the diamond on Thursday, the Atlanta Braves kept on racking up wins as they took down the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1. Max Fried worked around the Bucs for six innings while three RBI hits in the second and third inning proved to be enough to get the job done and land the defending WS champs an eighth consecutive win. On the opposite end of things, the Oakland A’s dropped a ninth straight decision, falling 8-4 in Cleveland to the Guardians. The loss leaves the Athletics at 20-39, 17 games off the pace of Houston in the division.
4th Down: The PGA Tour officially made a move in regards to the new LIV Golf Invitational Series on Thursday, announcing that it had suspended the 17 current Tour members that teed up for the inaugural tournament in London. Among the names to be suspended are Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and Sergio Garcia, so it now looks like anyone that moves across the fence to greener grass will indeed be punished.
