SOFTBALL

U.S. defeats Japan to reach championship final — Pitcher Rachel Garcia drove in the winning run in the eighth inning Saturday to lift the United States to a 4-3 win over Japan and into the final of the women’s world softball championship. It also gave the Americans a chance to qualify for the Olympics. With a runner on third base, Garcia hit a line drive to the gap in left-center field to seal the win. The defending champions will face either Japan or Canada in Sunday’s final of a tournament that doubles as a qualifier for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The winner of the tournament will be awarded an Olympic spot. If Japan wins, the second-place finisher will get the Olympic spot because Japan has an automatic berth as host. Canada beat Puerto Rico 10-4 and Australia 12-0 in four innings and will face Japan tomorrow with a chance to advance to the final.

Football

Herman denies being source of Smith allegations — Texas coach Tom Herman said Saturday that a report on Facebook that he was the one who alerted sports reporter Brett McMurphy about domestic violence allegations against fired Ohio State assistant coach Zach Smith was “absolutely untrue.” In a story posted Saturday on the social media site, Jeff Snook, a published author with deep Ohio State ties, claimed that Herman was the one who told McMurphy about Smith’s past. “It is absolutely untrue,” Herman said via a spokesman Saturday afternoon. “Neither I nor anybody in my family has ever communicated with Brett McMurphy about the situation at Ohio State.” McMurphy tweeted that Herman was not his source.

Michigan investigating possible rules violation — The University of Michigan’s athletics compliance office is investigating whether any student-athletes violated NCAA rules with regard to shoe resales. North Carolina suspended 13 football players after the school found that they committed secondary violations by selling team-issued Nike shoes. Per reports, a retailer who obtained the shoes said it also bought team-issued shoes from Michigan, Cal and Marquette. Michigan athletics spokesman Dave Ablauf said via a statement Friday night the school is aware of the situation and is investigating the matter. ESPN reported Friday that shoe-marketplace site “StockX” found 23 pairs of Michigan team-issued shoes on its exchange. This does not necessarily mean those shoes were sold by players, Ablauf said, Michigan gives team-issued shoes to executives, celebrities and to charity. Former players who are no longer with the program may also still be in possession of team-issued shoes. Staffers are also issued team shoes.

MOTOR SPORTS

Allgaier wins Xfinity Series race at Mid-Ohio — Justin Allgaier passed rookie Austin Cindric with four laps left and held on Saturday to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Allgaier used the sixth restart of the race to squeeze by Cindric, then held off a challenge on the 72nd lap for his third series win of the year. He also won at Dover and Iowa for JR Motorsport. Cindric, the pole-sitter for Team Penske, finished 2.05 seconds back after leading 59 of the 75 laps on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course. Daniel Hemric was third, followed by Matt Tifft and Ryan Truex. Series leader Christopher Bell was 11th.

— From wire reports