runs

The Bruin Bombers struck again Friday night, capping an epic rally during the opening round of the Los Angeles NCAA Regional.

The No. 7 UCLA softball team has been dubbed the Bruin Bombers because of the record-setting home runs they’ve been hitting this season. That clutch hitting helped the Bruins avoid a painful loss to open postseason play.

Shortstop Aleena Garcia became the hero on Friday night at Easton Stadium, hitting a sacrifice fly to right field with one out to in the seventh inning bring in Rylee Slimp and seal a 12-11 win over California Baptist (43-18). The Lancers held an 11-7 lead going into the sixth inning before UCLA mounted a comeback.

“It’s a credit to [associate head] coach Lisa [Fernandez,]” first baseman Jordan Woolery said when asked about the team’s nickname. “Her offensive coaching style has changed how we’ve all played this year, and you can see it [batters] one through nine.”

The fifth inning was a disaster for UCLA, nearly costing the Bruins the win.

UCLA gave up 10 runs, with a combination of defensive errors and starting pitcher Taylor Tinsley miscues allowing California Baptist to score eight runs. Brynne Nally replaced Tinsley on the mound and gave up a two-run home run before the Bruins finally stopped the Lancers’ onslaught.

“That was not a typical Taylor Tinsley game, and I know she will bounce back,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said.

The Bruins scored two runs in the sixth before Joylna Lamar hit a two-run home run in the seventh.

Slimp hit a single and California Baptist walked UCLA batting stars Megan Grant and Woolery to set up the game-winning fly ball Garcia hit to right field.

Inouye-Perez said she doesn’t like talking about Woolery and Grant much because she gets emotional, but she noted they bring calm to the Bruins’ lineup and help every player contribute to game-changing rallies.

“We already had our senior banquet and had a lot of tears,” Inouye-Perez said. “But taking the responsibility to be the ones to carry the team and come through in big moments, these two have done it together.”

The Bruins (48-8) will play South Carolina on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Easton Stadium. UCLA played the Gamecocks in February and won 5-4 on a walk-off. California Baptist will play Cal State Fullerton at 4:30 p.m.

Inouye-Perez said Friday night she had not yet decided who would pitch against the Gamecocks.

UCLA’s Rylee Slimp, right, and Bri Alejandre react after scoring the winning run against California Baptist on Friday at Easton Stadium.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

Fullerton falls in opener

Cal State Fullerton held a one-run lead during the top of the the fifth inning, but South Carolina surged ahead and earned a 7-4 win on Friday to open NCAA regional play at UCLA’s Easton Stadium.

Left fielder Quincee Lilio hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth to give the Gamecocks a lead they didn’t surrender.

The Titans pulled ahead a 2-0 at the top of the second before the Gamecocks splashed a two-run home run in the bottom of the second to tie 2-2. Both teams scored on fielding errors and Cal State Fullerton scored off a single before South Carolina’s game-sealing home run.

Mark Vientos hit two homers and drove in four runs and right-hander Clay Holmes allowed one run in 6⅔ innings as the New York Mets beat the Angels 5-1 on Sunday.

Holmes (4-2) allowed four hits with three walks and six strikeouts as the Mets took two of three games from the Angels and won a series for just the second time since April 7. New York also won two of three against Minnesota (April 21-23).

The Mets used Bo Bichette at shortstop Sunday, one day after Ronny Mauricio fractured his left thumb and was placed on the injured list. Shortstop Francisco Lindor also is on the injured list with a calf strain.

Jorge Soler had an RBI single for the Angels and right-hander Jack Kochanowicz (2-1) gave up two runs on five hits over 6 1/3 innings with three walks and six strikeouts. Los Angeles had ended a season-high seven-game losing streak Saturday. The Angels are 2-12 since April 18.

The Angels took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Zach Neto and Mike Trout worked walks to open the game against Holmes and Soler hit a one-out run-scoring single to center.

As Holmes settled in, the Mets grabbed a 2-1 lead in the fourth when Vientos hit a towering two-run homer 427 feet, halfway up the rock pile beyond the center field fence.

The Angels were in the game until the eighth inning when Tayler Saucedo hit Brett Baty with his first pitch of the inning and was replaced by Nick Sandlin. Carson Benge had an RBI double to right for a 3-1 lead and Vientos followed with another two-run home run, this time to left.

The Mets’ outfield made a pair of spectacular plays, with left fielder MJ Melendez making a diving catch in the sixth inning and Benge making a diving catch in right for the second out of the ninth.

Up next for the Angels: RHP Jose Soriano (5-1, 0.84 ERA) will pitch in Monday’s series opener against White Sox RHP Davis Martin (4-1, 1.95 ERA).

THE London Marathon always sees a host of celebrities run alongside the general public, but it didn’t get off to a great start for Harry Judd.

The McFly star took to Instagram on Sunday morning to reveal he had forgotten some essentials.

He said: “Really great start to the marathon day, I was about four stops into my journey to Greenwich and realised I had forgotten my bib number, my race number… so that’s good!”

Thankfully wife Izzy came to the rescue, as Harry filmed her pulling up in the car with their kids in the back.

He captioned the clip: “Family to the rescue”.

Harry isn’t the only famous face taking part, as singer Alexandra Burke shared snaps ahead of the race on her Instagram page.

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She wrote: “I never take it for granted that I’m able to move my body and do things that challenge me!

“So grateful to be running for @melissabellfoundation & @parkinsonsuk today at the @londonmarath. wishing all the runners the best time out there today! #AllforyouMama #myangel.”

Alexandra’s run comes just hours after she performed on the first Britain’s Got Talent live semi-final.

Meanwhile chef Gordon Ramsay paid tribute to his daughter Tilly, who is running the 26.2 mile route around the capital.

Posing together with Tilly in her running gear, Gordon wrote: “Such a proud dad today watching my little girl @tillyramsay run her first ever marathon !!!! 

“Thx to @flora and everyone who supported @feeding_britain on her incredible journey. Go get em kiddo !!.”

Elsewhere, Joe Wicks was running alongside none other than Daddy Pig from Peppa Pig, having trained him for the event.

The pair are raising money and awareness for the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS), after Daddy Pig’s son George was diagnosed with moderate deafness.

Daddy Pig also ran the London Marathon in a special episode of Peppa Pig, which aired last week.

Earlier in the day, Sebastian Sawe and Yomif Kejelcha created sporting history as they became the first people to run a competitive marathon in under two hours.

Kenyan Sawe, 29, trod new ground in track and field as he crossed the finish line of the London Marathon along The Mall in an incredible time of one hour 59 minutes and 30 seconds.

It was an astonishing performance, achieving something that few thought was ever possible.

If that was not astonishing enough then second-placed Kejelcha of Ethiopia – running his first marathon – also dipped under the magical two-hour mark as he ran 1:59:41.

Now his playing days are done, Ramsey is aiming to make it as a coach.

He has most of his qualifications and has already had a taste of senior management, having taken charge of his boyhood club Cardiff City for three games at the end of last season as they were relegated from the Championship.

Having since been a part of Wales head coach Craig Bellamy’s staff in an unofficial capacity, Ramsey is being touted for a bright future.

“[I]100% want to go into coaching. That’s something that really excites me,” he says.

“I had that experience with Cardiff and loved it, even though the circumstances were difficult. I felt like I got a really good reaction from the team.

“I’ve been in the Welsh camps now with Bellers and his incredible staff as well, and I’ve worked with Cardiff’s Under-18s.

“We’ll just have to see which opportunities may arise soon and we’ll go from there.”

First, Ramsey has a marathon to run.

Ceri Menai-Davis, who has run the London Marathon before, reckons Ramsey has raised more than £25,000 for his charity – and that is before you count donations for Sunday’s race.

They have been friends for more than a decade and Ramsey’s shows of support for the charity – as well as his fundraising – include the butterfly symbol he used as a goal celebration during his career.

On Sunday, the most powerful reminder of Hugh’s life will be his father’s huge physical effort – and his son’s shoes draped around his shoulders.

“He was the most amazing, brave, courageous young boy,” Ceri says. “The reason I do marathons is, just before Hugh died, I stupidly put myself in for a marathon in 2021.

“I never thought I’d get in but I got in, started training for it and Hugh never got to see me run that marathon because I did it two weeks after he died, and we buried him the next day with my medal.

“Last year I carried a 22-kilo rucksack, which was the weight Hugh was when he passed away. That was to display what grief weighs on you as a parent.

“This year, with Hugh’s shoes, he walked into hospital in these shoes and sadly never came out. I wanted him to cheer me on when I did it in 2021 but sadly he never did.

“I did Paris with his shoes. He never got to see Paris so I showed him the Eiffel Tower and we had a chat all the way round. In London, he’ll be there with me on my shoulders and we’ll cross the finish line together.”

HOLIDAYS are at extreme risk of being cancelled this summer, experts have warned.

The ongoing war in Iran has already resulted in thousands of flights being cancelled around the world, due to jet fuel prices and shortages.

Ceasefire talks between the US and Iran are yet to end the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, after a previous ceasefire lasted just hours.

While UK airlines are yet to see any cancellations, Dan Jorgensen, the EU energy commissioner, said it was “very likely” holidays will be affected, according to Sky News.

This includes both cancelled flights and more expensive costs, he said, as Europe is in a “serious crisis”.

He explained: “Even if we do everything we can do, if the jet fuel is not there, then it’s not there.”

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“It is primarily a crisis of prices and not yet a crisis of supply, but unfortunately we cannot be sure to prevent a crisis of supply, especially on jet fuel in the future, if the crisis continues.”

Earlier this month, the International Energy Agency warned that supply issues could hit Europe in the next five to six weeks.

ACI Europe backed this up, saying: “If the passage through the Strait of Hormuz does not resume in any significant and stable way within the next three weeks, systemic jet fuel shortage is set to become a reality.”

Mr Jorgensen added that even if the Strait of Hormuz opened tomorrow, the “price crisis will still last for quite some time”.

It could even be years, he warned, to get down to price levels seen before the crisis.

UK airlines are yet to be affected by the fuel crisis, as many have ‘hedged’ fuel, meaning paying a set fee.

But Airlines UK, which represents a number of carriers, including BA, Virgin, easyJet, Jet2 and Ryanair, are now calling on the government for support to protect flights and holidays.

This would include temporary use of fuel type Jet A (not currently allowed in the UK) as well as relaxing the strict airport slot rules that would see airlines lose them if they don’t operate flights.

Easing night flight bans and “relieving the burden of Air Passenger Duty” have also been put forward.

A huge number of airlines have already cancelled flights in response to fears of jet fuel running out.

This includes:

• Lufthansa – 20,000 cancelled up to September
• United – around 250 a month cancelled
• Air New Zealand – around 1,000 cancelled
• Scandinavian Airlines – around 1,000 cancelled
• KLM – 160 cancelled
• Cathay Pacific – two per cent of flights up to June 30

Some flights routes have been axed entirely – this includes Norse Airways, London-Los Angeles route.

And flights and holidays have already gone up in price in recent months.

The Transport & Environment (T&E) said in a statement this week that long-haul flights are up to £77 more expensive – working out to more than £300 per family.

And easyJet warned people to book holidays sooner rather than later to avoid more price hikes.

For anyone worrying about their holiday, families are better to book package holidays rather than separate flight and hotels, as most packages offer ATOL protection (meaning you will get your money back if your trip is cancelled).

It is also worth checking your travel insurance, although most policies do not cover anything related to war.