Cal at the Olympics: Valerie Arioto Gets Key Hit in USA's Softball Win
Former Cal athletes Valerie Arioto and Ryan Murphy were the standouts in Olympics action Sunday night (Monday in Tokyo).
In softball, Arioto knocked in the tying run with a base hit in the sixth inning, and Kelsey Stewart delivered a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh to give the United States a 2-1 victory over Japan in what was really a meaningless game.
This was the Americans' fifth and final game of the round-robin portion of the softball competition. But USA and Japan had clinched the top two spots in the standings on Saturday, meaning the United State and Japan will meet again in the gold-medal game, scheduled for Tuesday at 4 a.m. California time.
The Americans wound up with a 5-0 round-robin record, and Arioto, who has hit cleanup in all five USA games, is 3-for-14 for the tournament.
Japan held a 1-0 lead until the the sixth inning, which is when Arioto laced a two-out single to left to drive in Haylie McCleney for her first RBI of the Olympics.
USA pitchers have given up just two runs in the five games, but the Americans have scored just nine runs, compared with 18 scored by Japan.
Valerie Arioto smacks an RBI single. Photo by Kareem Elgazzar, USAY TODAY Network
Two Cal swimmers reach finals of men's 100 backstroke
World-record holder and defending Olympic champion Ryan Murphy of the United States finished first in his 100 backstroke semifinal heat. His time of 52.24 seconds was the fastest of the two semifinal heats and he easily advanced to the finals on Monday at 7 p.m. (Pacific time).
Murphy won the NCAA title in both the 100 and 200 backstroke all four years he was at Cal (2014-17) and is hoping to pull off that double at the Olympics again after doing it in 2016.
Ryan Murphy. Photo by Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY Sports
He will be joined in the 100 backstroke finals by another former Cal swimmer, Hugo Gonzalez, who is representing Spain. Gonzalez finished fourth in the second semifinal heat in a time of 53.05, which was good enough to give him the seventh spot in the the eight-swimmer finals.
Lily Zhang wins table tennis opener
Lily Zhang, who enrolled at Cal in 2014, rallied from a slow start to win her first match in table tennis. She lost the first game to Offiong Edem of Nigeria, but then dominated the next four games to close out the match 4-1 (13-15, 11-2, 11-2, 11-8, 11-6).
A five-time U.S. champion, Zhang hopes to be the first American to medal in table tennis after reaching the third round in the 2016 Olympics.
Lily Zhang. Photo by Yukihito Taguchi-USA TODAY Sports
Danny Barrett helps USA win twice in rugby sevens
Danny Barrett, a three-time national champion during his time at Cal (2008-13), was a starter on the USA's rugby sevens team that won twice in ts first two games in Group C play.
The American first defeated Kenya 19-14 ithen knocked off Ireland 19-17.
The Americans took an early 12-0 lead in both games. They trailed 14-12 in the second half against Kenya before scoring a late try and conversion. USA held on through its game against Ireland, which got within 19-17 with three minute left.
Cover photo of Valerie Arioto is by Kareem Elgazzar, USAY TODAY Network
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