UCLA to host Long Beach, two others in NCAA softball regional

UCLA and Long Beach State play opening-round games Friday in the Los Angeles Regional of the NCAA softball playoffs.

Long Beach State (38-17) plays Notre Dame (39-11) at 3 p.m. UCLA (48-6) plays Southern Utah (23-20) at 6 p.m. Both games are at UCLA’s Easton Stadium.

The first-round winners play Saturday at noon. The losers of Friday’s games play in an elimination game at 3 p.m. A semifinal game is scheduled at 6 p.m.

The championship game is at noon Sunday, with a rematch at 3 p.m. if necessary.

The winner of the regional advances to a best-two-of-three-games Super Regional against the winner of the Kentucky Regional, where James Madison (44-13), DePaul (41-9), Ohio (32-24) and Kentucky (44-15) are playing this weekend.

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USC and UCLA will continue NCAA men’s tennis team playoff action Friday with third-round matches at the Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.

Top-seeded USC (28-3) faces Columbia (22-1) at 2 p.m. PDT. The Trojans had a string of four consecutive national titles broken last year with a loss to Ohio State in a quarterfinal. USC has three top players back from its 2012 championship team: Yannick Hanfmann, Ray Sarmiento and Roberto Quiroz. Hanfmann and Sarmiento form the nation’s top-ranked doubles team.

UCLA (24-3) meets Tennessee (19-10) at 4 p.m. The Bruins are led by Marco Giron, who is the nation’s No. 2-ranked singles player.

The winning teams advance to quarterfinal action on Sunday. The semifinal round is the following day and the championship match May 20.

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USC is tied for fifth place after the first round of the NCAA men’s golf regional at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill. The Trojans combined for a 14-over 302 score and are 10 shots behind leader Alabama Birmingham. Cal State Fullerton (319) is in 13th place.

UCLA is in a fifth-place tie at a regional at Briggs Ranch Golf Club in San Antonio. The Bruins (two-over 290) trail leader Georgia by nine shots.