Eriksen leads US into World Cup

USF softball fans will get a chance to see coach Ken Eriksen on TV this week as he leads his other team, the U.S. Women’s National Team, into the marquee event of its summer schedule.

Eriksen has been on national team duty since he opened training camp in early June, but the summer schedule culminates with the World Cup of Softball VI, which begins today in Oklahoma City.

The World Cup of Softball is a five-day, six-team event that also features Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Great Britain and Japan. The U.S. opens play at 8 p.m. against the Czech Republic. All U.S. games will be televised live on ESPN or ESPN2, along with Monday night’s first-place game.

Since training camp in Chula Vista, Calif., Eriksen and the national team have made stops in Plant City, Salem, Va., and Bowie, Md., for exhibition games in preparation for two major tournaments this summer.

The U.S.’s competitive schedule began July 9 at the Canadian Open FastPitch International Championship tournament in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. Eriksen led the U.S. to the championship game of that tournament, but lost 7-0 to Japan. The Americans also lost 4-3 to the Japanese in the preliminary rounds of that tournament.

The U.S. gets its next chance to beat 2008 Summer Olympic gold medalists Japan on Saturday at 9 p.m., with another potential matchup looming in the championship game.

Football adds affiliate

A 1-yard touchdown run by Demetris Murray in overtime in November helped the USF football team pick up a big win in Miami.

A new contract announced Wednesday helped the football program pick up another.

Miami-based radio station WHIM 1080 AM is now the 11th USF radio affiliate in the state and the first south of Fort Myers, adding the state’s most populous county to the USF football radio network.

The length of the contract is three years and will see WHIM carry one hour of pregame show, all live games and the full postgame show on its network. It will also offer live coverage of the Skip Holtz Radio Show on sister station WZAB-AM 880 Wednesday evenings.