“THE SCOREBOARD”
INDIANA BOYS SEMI-STATE
CLASS 4A
NORTH (AT ELKHART)
SOUTH BEND RILEY (22-4) VS. FISHERS (28-0), 10 A.M.
HOMESTEAD (22-5) VS. CROWN POINT (22-2), NOON
CHAMPIONSHIP, 8 P.M.
SOUTH (AT NEW CASTLE)
TERRE HAUTE NORTH (21-5) VS. LAWRENCE NORTH (21-6), 10 A.M.
JEFFERSONVILLE (21-5) VS. MT. VERNON (21-5), NOON
CHAMPIONSHIP, 8 P.M.
CLASS 3A
NORTH (AT LOGANSPORT)
MACONAQUAH (21-5) VS. SOUTH BEND SAINT JOSEPH (24-3), 10 A.M.
EAST CHICAGO CENTRAL (20-8) VS. DELTA (17-7), NOON
CHAMPIONSHIP, 8 P.M.
SOUTH (AT SOUTHPORT)
PRINCETON (24-2) VS. CRISPUS ATTUCKS (20-6), 10 A.M.
NEW PALESTINE (25-3) VS. BROWNSTOWN CENTRAL (24-2), NOON
CHAMPIONSHIP, 8 P.M.
CLASS 2A
NORTH (AT MICHIGAN CITY)
GARY 21ST CENTURY (20-6) VS. WAPAHANI (26-1), 11 A.M.
MANCHESTER (23-2) VS. JIMTOWN (16-10), 1 P.M.
CHAMPIONSHIP, 8:30 P.M.
SOUTH (AT WASHINGTON)
PARKE HERITAGE (24-4) VS. FOREST PARK (19-6), 10:30 A.M.
UNIVERSITY (18-9) VS. LINTON-STOCKTON (21-6), 12:15 P.M.
CHAMPIONSHIP, 7:30 P.M.
CLASS A
NORTH (AT LAFAYETTE JEFF)
KOUTS (23-4) VS. MONROE CENTRAL (19-6), 10 A.M.
TRITON (23-4) VS. CLINTON PRAIRIE (24-2), NOON
CHAMPIONSHIP, 8 P.M.
SOUTH (AT SEYMOUR)
ORLEANS (22-4) VS. HAUSER (24-3), 10 A.M.
LIBERTY CHRISTIAN (18-8) VS. CLAY CITY (25-1), NOON
CHAMPIONSHIP, 8 P.M.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL TV SCHEDULE/RESULTS
BAYLOR 75 MISSISSIPPI STATE 72
ALABAMA 90 ROBERT MORRIS 81
IOWA STATE 82 LIPSCOMB 55
COLORADO STATE 78 MEMPHIS 70
DUKE 93 MOUNT ST. MARY’S 49
ST. MARY’S 59 VANDERBILT 56
OLE MISS 71 NORTH CAROLINA 64
MARYLAND 81 GRAND CANYON 49
FLORIDA 95 NORFOLK STATE 69
KENTUCKY 76 TROY 57
NEW MEXICO 75 MARQUETTE 66
ARIZONA 93 AKRON 65
CONNECTICUT 67 OKLAHOMA 59
ILLINOIS 86 XAVIER 73
MICHIGAN STATE 87 BRYANT 62
OREGON 81 LIBERTY 52
SATURDAY, MARCH 22 (SECOND ROUND/ROUND OF 32)
(4) PURDUE VS. (12) MCNEESE, 12:10 P.M. | CBS
(2) ST. JOHN’S VS. (10) ARKANSAS, 2:40 P.M. | CBS
(4) TEXAS A&M VS. (5) MICHIGAN, 5:15 P.M. | CBS
(3) TEXAS TECH VS. (11) DRAKE, 6:10 P.M. | TNT
(1) AUBURN VS. (9) CREIGHTON, 7:10 P.M. | TBS
(3) WISCONSIN VS. (6) BYU, 7:45 P.M. | CBS
(1) HOUSTON VS. (8) GONZAGA, 8:40 P.M. | TNT
(2) TENNESSEE VS. (7) UCLA, 9:40 P.M. | TBS
SUNDAY, MARCH 23 (SECOND ROUND/ROUND OF 32)
(1) FLORIDA VS. (8) UCONN, 12:10 P.M. | CBS
(1) DUKE VS. (9) BAYLOR, 2:40 P.M. | CBS
(3) KENTUCKY VS. (6) ILLINOIS, 5:15 P.M. | CBS
(2) ALABAMA VS. (7) SAINT MARY’S, 6:10 P.M. | TNT
(4) MARYLAND VS. (12) COLORADO STATE, 7:10 P.M. | TBS
(3) IOWA STATE VS. (6) OLE MISS, 7:45 P.M. | TRUTV
(2) MICHIGAN STATE VS. (10) NEW MEXICO, 8:40 P.M. | TNT
(4) ARIZONA VS. (5) OREGON, 9:40 P.M. | TBS
NIT SCORES
NO GAMES SCHEDULED
WOMEN’S NCAA TOURNAMENT TV SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, MARCH 21 (FIRST ROUND/ROUND OF 64)
MICHIGAN 80 IOWA STATE 74
KENTUCKY 79 LIBERTY 78
INDIANA 76 UTAH 68
NOTRE DAME 106 STEPHEN F AUSTIN 54
KANSAS STATE 85 FAIRFIELD 41
BAYLOR 73 GRAND CANYON 60
TCU 73 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 51
SOUTH CAROLINA 108 TENNESSEE TECH 48
OHIO STATE 71 MONTANA STATE 51
OREGON 77 VANDERBILT 73 OT
LOUISVILLE 63 NEBRASKA 58
OLE MISS 83 BALL STATE 65
RICHMOND 74 GEORGIA TECH 49
TENNESSEE 101 S. FLORIDA 66
DUKE 86 LEHIGH 25
UCLA 84 SOUTHERN 46
SATURDAY, MARCH 22 (FIRST ROUND/ROUND OF 64)
(6) IOWA VS. (11) MURRAY STATE, 12 P.M.| ESPN
(2) UCONN VS. (15) ARKANSAS STATE, 1 P.M. | ABC
(5) ALABAMA VS. (12) GREEN BAY, 1:30 P.M. | ESPN2
(2) NC STATE VS. (15) VERMONT, 2 P.M. | ESPN
(6) WEST VIRGINIA VS. (11) COLUMBIA/WASHINGTON, 2 P.M. | ESPNEWS
(3) OKLAHOMA VS. (14) FGCU, 2:30 P.M. | ESPNU
(1) SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA VS. (16) UNC GREENSBORO, 3 P.M. | ABC
(7) OKLAHOMA STATE VS. (10) SOUTH DAKOTA STATE, 3:30 P.M. | ESPN2
(4) MARYLAND VS. (13) NORFOLK STATE, 4 P.M. | ESPN
(3) NORTH CAROLINA VS. (14) OREGON STATE, 4:30 P.M. | ESPNU
(7) MICHIGAN STATE VS. (10) HARVARD, 4:30 P.M. | ESPNEWS
(8) CALIFORNIA VS. (9) MISSISSIPPI STATE, 5:30 P.M. | ESPN2
(8) ILLINOIS VS. (9) CREIGHTON, 7:15 P.M. | ESPNEWS
(6) FLORIDA STATE VS. (11) GEORGE MASON, 7:45 P.M. | ESPN2
(1) TEXAS VS. (16) HIGH POINT/WILLIAM & MARY, 9:45 P.M. | ESPN2
(3) LSU VS. (14) SAN DIEGO STATE, 10:15 P.M. | ESPN
SUNDAY, MARCH 23 (SECOND ROUND/ROUND OF 32)
(2) DUKE VS. (10) OREGON, NOON | ESPN
(3) NOTRE DAME VS. (6) MICHIGAN, 1 P.M. | ABC
(4) KENTUCKY VS. (5) KANSAS STATE, 2 P.M. | ESPN
(1) SOUTH CAROLINA VS (9) INDIANA, 3 P.M. | ABC
(4) BAYLOR VS. (5) OLE MISS, 4 P.M. | ESPN
(2) TCU VS. (7) LOUISVILLE, 6 P.M. | ESPN
(4) OHIO STATE VS. (5) TENNESSEE, 8 P.M. | ESPN
(1) UCLA VS. (8) RICHMOND, 10 P.M. | ESPN
INDIANA COLLEGE BASEBALL SCOREBOARD
GEORGIA TECH 18 NOTRE DAME 7
XAVIER 6 BALL STATE 5
MICHIGAN 13 PURDUE 3
INDIANA 5 UCLA 1
PURDUE FT. WAYNE 5 YOUNGSTOWN STATE 4
EVANSVILLE 6 MURRAY STATE 5
VALPO 8 INDIANA STATE 3
WESTERN ILLINOIS 15 SOUTHERN INDIANA 5
INDIANA COLLEGE SOFTBALL SCOREBOARD
STANFORD 10 NOTRE DAME 0
BUTLER 2 ST. JOHN’S 1
PENN STATE 14 INDIANA 13
WISCONSIN 8 PURDUE 4
CLEVELAND STATE 5 IU INDY 4
IU INDY 8 CLEVELAND STATE 4
BALL STATE 13 TOLEDO 8
INDIANA STATE 2 MURRAY STATE 0
MISSOURI STATE 2 EVANSVILE 1
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 10 VALPO 4
MOREHEAD STATE 9 SOUTHERN INDIANA 0
INDIANA COLLEGE MEN’S LAX
NO GAMES SCHEDULED
INDIANA COLLEGE WOMEN’S LAX
NO GAMES SCHEDULED
NBA SCOREBOARD
ORLANDO 120 WASHINGTON 105
MINNESOTA 134 NEW ORLEANS 93
OKLAHOMA CITY 141 CHARLOTTE 106
HOUSTON 102 MIAMI 98
SAN ANTONIO 128 PHILADELPHIA 120
DALLAS 123 DETROIT 117
BOSTON 121 UTAH 99
PHOENIX 123 CLEVELAND 112
PORTLAND 128 DENVER 109
LA CLIPPERS 128 MEMPHIS 108
NHL SCOREBOARD
PITTSBURGH 6 COLUMBUS 3
MLB SCOREBOARD
REGULAR SEASON
NO GAMES SCHEDULED
SPRING TRAINING
HOUSTON 5 ST. LOUIS 3
PHILADELPHIA 6 MINNESOTA 3
ATLANTA 7 TAMPA BAY 3
TORONTO 11 PHILADELPHIA 7
NY METS 3 ST. LOUIS 2
TEXAS 3 LA ANGELS 3
KANSAS CITY 8 SEATTLE 7
CHICAGO WHITE SOX 8 CINCINNATI 5
SAN FRANCISCO 5 CLEVELAND 4
SAN DIEGO 5 CHICAGO CUBS 1
LAS VEGAS 10 KANSAS CITY 1
CINCINNATI 5 SEATTLE 3
COLORADO 4 LA ANGELS 3
MIAMI 6 WASHINGTON 0
DETROIT 9 BALTIMORE 1
NY YANKEES 4 DETROIT 0
BOSTON 2 PITTSBURGH 1
ARIZONA 16 MILWAUKEE 9
MLS SCOREBOARD
NO GAMES SCHEDULED
TOP NATIONAL HEADLINES
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL-NCAA TOURNAMENT
NCAA TOURNAMENT ROUNDUP: NO. 12 COLORADO STATE STUNS NO. 5 MEMPHIS
Kyan Evans scored a game-high 23 points with six 3-pointers as No. 12 seed Colorado State increased its winning streak to 11 games with a 78-70 victory over fifth-seeded Memphis in an NCAA Tournament West Region first-round game Friday at Seattle.
Nique Clifford added 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Rams (26-9), who advanced to a second-round matchup Sunday against fourth-seeded Maryland. Jalen Lake also chipped in 14 points and Jaylen Crocker-Johnson tallied 12.
Colorado State went 11 of 30 from 3-point range and limited one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the country to 6 of 23 from behind the arc. The Rams also forced 16 turnovers to help overcome Memphis’ 41-34 rebounding advantage. Colorado State had 13 offensive rebounds.
Dain Dainja scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Tigers (29-6), who were eliminated in the first round for the second time in three seasons. Colby Rogers and PJ Haggerty each added 18 points. Haggerty, who averaged 21.8 points per game, made just 7 of 23 shots.
No. 1 Florida 95, No. 16 Norfolk State 69
Walter Clayton Jr. scored 23 points and the Gators built a big early lead on the way to dismissing the Spartans in Raleigh, N.C.
Alijah Martin added 17 points, Thomas Haugh had 13 and Alex Condon 12 for Florida (31-4), which pushed its winning streak to seven games. The Gators will meet UConn in the second round on Sunday.
Christian Ings posted 16 points, Jaylani Darden had 15 and reserve Chris Fields Jr. racked up 14 for Norfolk State (24-11). The Spartans shot 2-for-14 on 3-point attempts.
No. 4 Maryland 81, No. 13 Grand Canyon 49
Julian Reese had 18 points and nine rebounds and Derik Queen had 12 points and 15 rebounds as the Terrapins rolled past the Lopes in Seattle.
The Terrapins (26-8) have won 16 of their last 17 first-round NCAA Tournament games dating to 1997 and will meet No. 12 seed Colorado State (26-9) in the second round on Sunday.
Tyon Grant-Foster had 23 points, but the rest of the starters combined for only 15 points for WAC champion Grand Canyon (26-8), which was seeking a second consecutive first-round win after beating fifth seed Saint Mary’s 75-66 a year ago.
No. 8 UConn 67, No. 9 Oklahoma 59
Solo Ball scored 14 points and Alex Karaban provided 10 of his 13 points in the last 11 minutes to help the two-time defending champion Huskies survive against the Sooners in Raleigh, N.C.
It was a game-long tussle for UConn (24-10), but the Huskies won their 13th consecutive NCAA Tournament game spanning three seasons. Tarris Reed Jr. added 12 points and seven rebounds. Karaban also finished with seven boards.
Jeremiah Fears notched 20 points and Jalon Moore had 13 points and seven rebounds for Oklahoma (20-14). Fears, a freshman widely envisioned as a potential NBA draft selection, wasn’t talking about his future after the game.
Midwest Region
No. 3 Kentucky 76, No. 14 Troy 57
Otega Oweh had 20 points and three teammates scored in double figures as the Wildcats pulled away in the second half to defeat the Trojans in Milwaukee.
Kentucky (23-11) will face sixth-seeded Illinois (22-12) in the second round on Sunday in Milwaukee. The Wildcats led 35-27 at the half, then took control with a 16-point run midway through the second half.
Koby Brea, Andrew Carr and Brandon Garrison each had 13 points for Kentucky. Marcus Rigsby had 17 points, and Sun Belt Player of the Year Tayton Conerway added 12 for Troy (23-11), which was appearing in the tournament for the first time since being a No. 15 seed in 2017.
No. 6 Illinois 86, No. 11 Xavier 73
Will Riley scored 22 points and Tomislav Ivisic added 20 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Illini to a victory over the Musketeers in Milwaukee.
Illinois (22-12) advances to a Sunday second-round game against third-seeded Kentucky. Kasparis Jakucionis added 16 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds and Kylan Boswell put up 15 points for the Illini, who had a 45-25 edge on the boards.
Dailyn Swain had 27 points and eight rebounds while Ryan Conwell and Dayvion McKnight had 12 points apiece for the Musketeers (22-12).
South Region
No. 2 Michigan State 87, No. 15 Bryant 62
Coen Carr came off the bench to produce 18 points and nine rebounds as the Spartans defeated the Bulldogs in Cleveland. Michigan State will face No. 10 seed New Mexico in the second round on Sunday.
Jase Richardson supplied 15 points and Tre Holloman contributed 14 for Michigan State (28-6). The Spartans controlled the boards, outrebounding the Bulldogs 54-29, and had a 31-6 advantage on second-chance points.
Rafael Pinzon led Bryant (23-12) with 21 points, and Earl Timberlake tossed in 14.
No. 3 Iowa State 82, No. 14 Lipscomb 55
Milan Momcilovic had 20 points, Curtis Jones added 17 and Iowa State rolled past Lipscomb in Milwaukee.
Iowa State (25-9) will face sixth-seeded Ole Miss in the second round Sunday. Joshua Jefferson and Tamin Lipsey each added 10 points for Iowa State, which played without starting guard Keshon Gilbert, who was declared out for the tournament with a groin injury.
Jacob Ognacevic, the Atlantic Sun Conference player of the year, had 18 points for Lipscomb (25-10), whose only other NCAA Tournament appearance was in 2018. Gyasi Powell added 11 points for the Bisons.
No. 6 Ole Miss 71, No. 11 North Carolina 64
Sean Pedulla had 20 points and Dre Davis added 15 as the Rebels staved off the Tar Heels’ second-half rally for a victory in Milwaukee.
Ole Miss (23-11) advanced to the second round Sunday against third-seeded Iowa State (25-9), which rolled past 14th-seeded Lipscomb. North Carolina, which trailed by 22 early in the second half, closed within 66-64 on RJ Davis’ three-point play with 1:09 left. Pedulla countered with a 3-pointer from the top left to make it 69-64.
On their next possession, the Tar Heels missed a 3-pointer and Pedulla hit a pair of free throws to push the lead to 71-64 with 34 seconds left. RJ Davis had 15 points and Ven-Allen Lubin 14 for the Tar Heels (23-14), who shot 38.1 percent from the field and made just 5 of 24 attempts from 3-point range (20.8 percent).
No. 10 New Mexico 75, No. 7 Marquette 66
Donovan Dent scored 21 points to lead four Lobos in double figures as New Mexico eliminated the Golden Eagles in Cleveland.
Nelly Junior Joseph added 19 points and seven rebounds for the Lobos (27-7). Tru Washington contributed 12 points, and CJ Noland came off the bench to chip in 11.
David Joplin starred in defeat for the Golden Eagles (23-11), pumping in a game-high 28 points and going 6 of 10 from the 3-point arc. Marquette converted just 24 of 59 shots from the field (40.7 percent) and was outrebounded 36-30.
East Region
No. 1 Duke 93, No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s 49
Star freshman Cooper Flagg scored 14 points in his return to action after missing two-plus games and the Blue Devils blew out the Mountaineers in Raleigh, N.C.
Tyrese Proctor scored 13 of his 19 points in the first half, Caleb Foster bagged 12 points off the bench and Khaman Maluach added 11 points for Duke (32-3).
Arlandus Keyes came off the bench to score 15 points for Mount St. Mary’s (23-13), which won a First Four matchup against American on Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio.
No. 2 Alabama 90, No. 15 Robert Morris 81
Mark Sears scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half to help the Crimson Tide hold off the Colonials at Cleveland.
Mouhamed Dioubate finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds and Clifford Omoruyi had 17 points for Alabama (26-8), which advanced to Sunday’s second round to face No. 7 seed Saint Mary’s.
Sears, who also dished out 10 assists, made 11 of 13 free throws and sparked a late 11-1 surge by the Crimson Tide after the Colonials briefly took the lead late in the second half. Amarion Dickerson scored a game-high 25 points and added nine rebounds for 15th-seeded Robert Morris (26-9).
No. 4 Arizona 93, No. 13 Akron 65
Jaden Bradley recorded 19 points and six rebounds to help the Wildcats roll to a victory over the Zips at Seattle.
Trey Townsend added 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting and collected eight rebounds, and Carter Bryant had 12 points and three blocked shots for the Wildcats (23-12), who will play fifth-seeded Oregon in Saturday’s second round. Caleb Love registered 10 points and seven rebounds and KJ Lewis also scored 10 points for the Wildcats.
Tavari Johnson scored all 13 of his points in the first half for Akron (28-7), which lost in the first round of the NCAA tourney for the third time in four seasons. The Zips are winless in seven all-time attempts. Nate Johnson also scored 13 points for the Zips, but he was just 1 of 9 from the field. Shammah Scott added 11 points for Akron, which saw a seven-game winning streak come to an end.
No. 5 Oregon 81, No. 12 Liberty 52
Jackson Shelstad scored 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting to help the Ducks douse the Flames in Seattle.
Nate Bittle contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds and Keeshawn Barthelemy added 10 points for Oregon (25-9), which never trailed while winning for the ninth time in the past 10 games. Oregon will play fourth-seeded Arizona on Sunday for a spot in the Sweet 16.
Zach Cleveland had 10 points, six rebounds and six assists for Liberty (28-7), which lost for just the second time in the past 13 games.
No. 7 Saint Mary’s 59, No. 10 Vanderbilt 56
The Gaels rallied from a sluggish offensive start and a second-half deficit of 12 points to upend the Commodores in Cleveland.
The Gaels (29-5) fell behind 39-27 just before the first media timeout of the second half when Vanderbilt’s Tyler Tanner connected on a 3-pointer. Saint Mary’s chipped away at the deficit over the ensuing eight minutes, however, embarking on a 16-4 run. Jordan Ross led the Gaels with 15 points, while both Mitchell Saxen and Luke Barrett finished with double-doubles.
Vanderbilt (20-13) went 8-of-26 from 3-point range on the day. Jason Edwards, who finished with a game-high 18 points, finished just 2-of-9 from beyond the arc.
No. 9 Baylor 75, No. 8 Mississippi State 72
Robert Wright III scored 19 points as the Bears got rolling late in the first half and held on to defeat the Bulldogs in Raleigh, N.C.
VJ Edgecombe provided 14 points in his first NCAA Tournament game, Langston Love posted 15 points on 7-for-12 shooting and Norchad Omier collected 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Bears. Ninth-seeded Baylor (20-14) will meet top-seeded Duke in the second round on Sunday.
Josh Hubbard sank four 3-pointers and pumped in 26 points to keep eighth-seeded Mississippi State (21-13) in contention. Claudell Harris Jr. had 13 points, Riley Kugel supplied 11 and KeShawn Murphy added 10.
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL-NCAA TOURNAMENT
WOMEN’S NCAA ROUNDUP: NO. 4 BAYLOR, NO. 5 OLE MISS WIN OPENERS
The 1-2 punch of Antoinette Vonleh and Jada Walker carried 4th-seeded Baylor to a 73-60 win Friday over 13th-seeded Grand Canyon in the first round of the Spokane 1 Region of the NCAA Women’s Tournament in Waco, Texas.
Vonleh scored 25 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds before fouling out, while Walker added 17 points and four assists. Yaya Felder contributed 12 points as the Bears (28-7) hit 50 percent of their field goal attempts and earned a 44-33 rebounding advantage.
Trinity San Antonio poured in a game-high 27 points to pace the Lopes (32-3) but was limited to 26 minutes due to foul trouble. Laura Erikstrup added 11 for Grand Canyon, which made just 23 of 67 attempts (34.3 percent) from the field.
Baylor trailed 18-13 late in the first quarter but rallied to grab a 31-28 edge at halftime and steadily pulled away in the second half.
After the game, On3sports reported that Grand Canyon coach Molly Miller resigned to take the same position at Arizona State.
No. 5 Ole Miss 83, No. 12 Ball State 65
Starr Jacobs and Kennedy Todd-Williams each collected double-doubles as the Rebels cruised to a win over the Cardinals in Waco, Texas.
Jacobs scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Rebels (21-10), who led by as many as 29 points in the third quarter. Todd-Williams added 14 points and 11 boards, while Madison Scott chipped in 15 points.
Ole Miss earned a 51-32 advantage on the boards, turning 17 offensive caroms into 22 second-chance points. It also boasted a 46-28 advantage in paint points. Ally Becki scored a game-high 19 points for the Cardinals (27-8), while Lachelle Austin added 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
###No. 1 seed South Carolina began its pursuit of a third national championship in four seasons on Friday afternoon with a 108-48 rout of No. 16-seeded Tennessee Tech in Columbia, S.C.
The Gamecocks (31-3) allowed the game’s first two points, then proceeded to outscore the Ohio Valley Conference champion Eagles 33-10 for the remainder of the first quarter. South Carolina coach Dawn Staley used the mismatch to give nine players floor time through the opening 10 minutes, and seven of them made at least one field goal.
The Gamecock lead swelled to 33 points by halftime, with seven South Carolina scorers going into intermission having produced at least six points. Freshman Joyce Edwards, making her NCAA Tournament debut, scored 14 of her game-high 22 points before the break.
Tessa Johnson added another 11 points off the bench to go with six assists, and Chloe Kitts finished with 10 points, six rebounds and three assists.
Taris Thornton led Tennessee Tech (26-6) with 13 points before fouling out.
With the win, South Carolina advances to face Indiana in the second round Sunday of the Birmingham Region 1. The Gamecocks look to become the first repeat national championship winner in the Women’s NCAA Tournament since Connecticut claimed four straight from 2013-16.
No. 9 Indiana 76, No. 8 Utah 68
Shea Ciezki scored nine of her 16 points in a pivotal third quarter to help lead ninth-seeded Indiana past eighth-seeded Utah in Friday’s first game in Columbia.
The Hoosiers (20-12) broke a 31-31 halftime stalemate with 27 third-quarter points, building a lead that reached as many as 13 points early in the fourth quarter. Ciezki’s 3-of-3 shooting from the floor in the third period paced Indiana to a red-hot 10-of-12 performance as a team.
Five Hoosiers scored in double figures for the game, led by Yarden Garzon’s 17 points. Garzon hit two clutch free throws in the closing seconds to hold off a late Utah rally.
The Utes (22-9) battled back to pull within four points multiple times over the final three minutes. Gianna Kneepkens hit a pair of fourth-quarter 3-pointers, part of her game-high 24 points, but Utah could get no closer down the stretch.
Chloe Moore-McNeil scored 12 points for Indiana and dished eight assists, while Lilly Meister shot 5-of-5 from the floor for 11 points off the bench.
###Georgia Amoore scored 34 points and dished eight assists as No. 4 seed Kentucky escaped with a 79-78 win over No. 13 seed Liberty in the first round of the Women’s NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon in Lexington, Ky.
Dazia Lawrence added 16 points for Kentucky (23-7), which will face No. 5 seed Kansas State in the second round. Clara Strack notched a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Emmy Stout scored 20 points on 6-for-7 shooting off the bench to lead Liberty (26-7). Emma Hess scored 17 points, and Bella Smuda recorded a double-double with 14 points and 12 boards.
Liberty trailed 64-50 at the end of the third quarter and nearly completed a wild comeback.
Amoore made one of two free-throw attempts to nudge Kentucky’s lead to 79-75 with seven seconds to go.
Hess banked in a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to one point with two seconds left, but time expired before the Flames could finish their rally.
No. 5 Kansas State 85, No. 12 Fairfield 41
Serena Sundell scored 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting to lead the Wildcats to a lopsided win over the Stags on Friday afternoon in Lexington, Ky.
Ayoka Lee finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds for Kansas State (27-7), which advanced to face No. 4 seed Kentucky in the second round. Taryn Sides added 14 points off the bench for the Wildcats, which led 21-9 at the end of the first quarter to set the tone for the rest of the game.
Kaety L’Amoreaux scored 11 points to lead Fairfield (28-5). The Stags shot 29.4 percent (15 of 51) from the field and 16.1 percent (5 of 31) from beyond the arc.
###Hannah Hidalgo and Sonia Citron scored 24 points apiece as Notre Dame, the third seed in the Birmingham 3 bracket of the NCAA Women’s Championship, easily dispatched No. 14 Stephen F. Austin 106-54 on Friday afternoon in South Bend, Indiana.
The Fighting Irish (27-5) advance to face No. 6 Michigan in the Round of 32 on Sunday in South Bend, with tipoff time to be determined.
Lisa Karlen added 13 points for Notre Dame, with Maddy Westbeld scoring 12 and Liatu King hitting for 10 points. The Fighting Irish outshot Stephen F. Austin 56.3 percent to 32.8 percent from the floor, forced 28 turnovers that they converted into 38 points and forged a 44-30 rebounding edge in the easy win.
Notre Dame shrugged off a slow start to tie the game at 8-8 on Hidalgo’s layup at the 6:43 mark of the opening quarter. The Fighting Irish eventually led 26-13 after one period, by 46-25 at the break and had a 37-point advantage heading into the fourth.
Trinity Moore’s 14 points led Stephen F. Austin (29-6), the Southland Conference champion, in the loss. Avery VanSickle and Ashlyn Traylor-Walker finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
No. 6 Michigan 80, No. 11 Iowa State 75
Michigan got past Iowa State behind 28 points from Jordan Hobbs and 16 from Olivia Olson. Hobbs canned five 3-pointers in the victory and nine of Olson’s points came in the fourth quarter, including a jumper with 20 seconds remaining that pushed the Wolverines’ lead to five points.
Michigan trailed by five points at halftime and by three heading to the final period before an Olson three-point play to begin the quarter tied the game at 56-56. The Wolverines never trailed again as Greta Kampschroeder added 13 points, Mila Holloway scored 12 and Syla Swords hit for 11 points. All of Michigan’s points were scored by its starting five.
Audi Crooks led Iowa State (23-12) with 28 points while Arianna Jackson added 12 for the Cyclones, who beat Princeton in a First Four game on Wednesday to earn a spot in the 64-team Tournament field.
NBA NEWS
NBA ROUNDUP: ROCKETS GET BY HEAT FOR 9TH STRAIGHT WIN
Fred VanVleet scored 13 of his game-high 37 points in the fourth quarter as the Houston Rockets won their ninth straight game, defeating the host Miami Heat 102-98 on Friday night.
After scoring just three points in the first quarter, VanVleet scored nine in the second and 12 in the third to get going.
He made 13-of-17 shots from the floor, including 9-of-11 on 3-pointers. He added 2-of-4 on free throws, and he had three assists.
Houston (46-25) has the longest active win streak in the NBA.
Miami (29-41), which has lost 10 straight games, was led by Andrew Wiggins, who scored 20 of his team-high 30 points in the second quarter. It was the best-scoring quarter of his 11-year NBA career.
Suns 123, Cavaliers 112
Kevin Durant scored 42 points, including a clutch 3-pointer that helped snuff out a late Cleveland rally, as host Phoenix won its third straight game.
Durant’s 3-pointer with 70 seconds remaining in regulation came as Cleveland was threatening after trailing by as many as 21 points. Devin Booker scored 17 points and Collin Gillespie adding 13 for the Suns.
Darius Garland led Cleveland with 18 points, De’Andre Hunter scored 17 off the bench, and Evan Mobley registered 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Timberwolves 134, Pelicans 93
Julius Randle scored 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the floor as Minnesota cruised to a win over New Orleans in Minneapolis.
Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels added 17 points apiece for the Timberwolves, who bounced back from a home loss against the Pelicans two nights earlier. Rudy Gobert registered 15 points and 11 rebounds.
C.J. McCollum scored 15 points to lead the Pelicans, who have lost eight of the past 10. Bruce Brown scored 14 points.
Thunder 141, Hornets 106
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points to lead Oklahoma City to a home win over Charlotte.
A night after the Thunder clinched the top spot in the Western Conference, Oklahoma City poured it on early to leave little doubt about the outcome. Eight Thunder players scored 10 or more points, the fourth time since the franchise moved to Oklahoma City that the team achieved that feat.
Miles Bridges led the Hornets with 20 points, while Nick Smith Jr. added 14. They each hit four 3-pointers.
Celtics 121, Jazz 99
Kristaps Porzingis compiled 27 points, 10 rebounds and six assists as Boston defeated Utah in Salt Lake City for its ninth win in its last 10 games.
Jayson Tatum added 26 points for Boston, which has won four games in a row. Reserves Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser scored 18 and 14 points, respectively.
Collin Sexton led Utah with 30 points, while Keyonte George followed with 19 and Johnny Juzang put up 11. Walker Kessler tallied eight points, 11 rebounds and six assists for the Jazz, who have dropped 11 of 12.
Clippers 128, Grizzlies 108
James Harden recorded 30 points and nine assists and Kawhi Leonard added 23 points and 10 rebounds as Los Angeles extended its winning streak to five games with a victory over Memphis at Inglewood, Calif.
Ivica Zubac produced 17 points and 10 rebounds, Bogdan Bogdanovic had 16 points off the bench and Norman Powell added 14 as the Clippers improved to 8-1 since March 5 while extending their home winning streak to eight games. The Clippers won without head coach Tyronn Lue.
Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 23 points and Santi Aldama added 16 for the Grizzlies, who were without star Ja Morant for the fourth consecutive game because of shoulder and hamstring injuries.
Traill Blazers 128, Nuggets 109
Deni Avdija scored a season-high 36 points on 12-of-16 shooting to lead Portland to a convincing victory over visiting Denver.
Shaedon Sharpe added 23 points as Portland won its fourth straight game. Avdija made four 3-pointers and also had eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals during his fourth 30-point effort of the month. Dalano Banton added 19 points and five assists off the bench.
Aaron Gordon scored 23 points for the Nuggets, who were without three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic (ankle) for the third straight game. Denver is in fourth place in the Western Conference, three percentage points behind the Los Angeles Lakers. Russell Westbrook had 18 points, Michael Porter Jr. tallied 17 and Christian Braun had 15 points for Denver.
Spurs 128, 76ers 120
Jeremy Sochan racked up 23 points and Stephon Castle amassed 17 points and 14 assists as host San Antonio defeated depleted Philadelphia.
Devin Vassell added 20 points while Chris Paul had 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc. Keldon Johnson also had 18 points and Barnes finished with 14 for San Antonio.
Quentin Grimes led the 76ers with 25 points and 10 assists. Edwards also scored 25 points, Guerschon Yabusele had 23 and Ricky Council IV hit for 20 as Philadelphia lost for the sixth time in its past seven games.
Magic 120, Wizards 105
Paolo Banchero posted 30 points and eight rebounds in three quarters as visiting Orlando downed Washington.
Six Magic players scored in double figures. Franz Wagner had 21 points while Wendell Carter Jr. had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Orlando, which has alternated losses and wins for eight games.
Rookie Alex Sarr had 19 points and 10 boards to lead the Wizards, who took their third loss in a row.
Mavericks 123, Pistons 117
Spencer Dinwiddie scored a season-high 31 points and P.J. Washington added 27 as Dallas snapped a four-game losing streak with a win over visiting Detroit.
Klay Thompson finished with 20 points and Naji Marshall amassed 19 points and 11 rebounds for the injury-plagued Mavericks, who had only nine available players.
Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 35 points and added seven rebounds and six assists. Malik Beasley scored 16 points as Detroit’s two-game winning streak ended.
NHL NEWS
PENGUINS HAND BLUE JACKETS SIXTH STRAIGHT LOSS
Alex Nedeljkovic made 44 saves to backstop the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 6-3 win over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night.
Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell each had a goal and an assist and Evgeni Malkin, Noel Acciari and Bokondji Imama also scored for the Penguins (29-32-10, 68 points), who have won five of their last six. Crosby stretched his point streak to six games (six goals, four assists).
Captain Boone Jenner, Justin Danforth and Kent Johnson supplied the goals for the Blue Jackets (31-29-9, 71 points), who lost their sixth straight (0-5-1). Elvis Merzlikins stopped 28 shots.
Malkin opened the scoring 5:28 into the game when, while on his backhand, he knocked a loose puck off the stick of Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski and into the net from just outside the crease.
The two teams then combined to score three goals in 1:02.
Acciari made it 2-0 with 6:09 left in the first when he won the faceoff in the Blue Jackets’ zone and then put in a rebound.
Jenner made it 2-1 16 seconds later when he tipped in a shot by defenseman Denton Mateychuk. It was Jenner’s first goal of the season after missing all but the last 13 games because of shoulder surgery during the preseason.
Rakell restored the Penguins’ two-goal lead with 5:07 left in the first period when he tipped in a pass from linemate Rust.
Columbus again halved the deficit when Danforth was credited with the goal after Pittsburgh defenseman Conor Timmins put the puck into his own net during a goalmouth scramble 1:35 into the second period.
Imama restored the lead to two once again on a one-timer from the inside edge of the left circle 8:15 into the middle period. Crosby made it 5-2 with 4:29 left in the second on a tip-in.
Johnson made it 5-3 3:45 into the third period on a shot from the bottom of the right circle after he walked from behind the net.
Rust added an empty-net goal with 1:57 left.
GOLF NEWS
BRENDAN JONES GRABS HOAG LEAD IN SECOND CHAMPIONS START
Australia’s Brendan Jones, making just his second PGA Tour Champions start after turning 50 earlier this month, grabbed the first-round lead at the Hoag Classic in Newport Beach, Calif., on Friday.
Jones shot a 7-under-par 64 at Newport Beach Country Club to establish a one-shot edge over both Michael Allen and Sweden’s Freddie Jacobson.
Germany’s Alex Cejka, South Africa’s Ernie Els and Australia’s Steve Allan are tied for fourth at 66. Fred Couples, England’s Paul Broadhurst, Australia’s Cameron Percy, Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez, New Zealand’s Steven Alker and Koreans Y.E. Yang, Charlie Wi and K.J. Choi share seventh place at 67.
Jones had a brief PGA Tour career 20 years but played mostly on the Japanese tour, where he won 15 times.
He started his Friday round by birdieing five of his first six holes, on the back nine.
“Got off to a fantastic start,” Jones said. “… My head was buzzing at that stage, I couldn’t in my wildest dreams (have) imagined getting off to that start that I did, but I felt calm and I felt that I could have gone on with it, too.”
After the turn, Jones sank a 30-foot eagle putt on the par-5 No. 3, then made his lone bogey of the day on the par-3 No. 4. He bounced back with another birdie at No. 7.
Jones said of getting started on the Champions circuit, “After playing Tucson a couple weeks ago, I feel that I can actually, you know, let it go out here. My strength is my length and I feel that I can hit it and there’s a little bit of space here if you do miss it.
“Having said that, the greens are firming up and it’s important to be in the right spots around the green. I’ve had to think a little bit more than I have in the past just to get those numbers where I want to land the ball and where I want it to finish. There weren’t too many bad shots out there. Very, very excited with the start.
Jacobson, like Jones, got off to a hot start on the back nine, producing four birdies in the first six holes. He added two birdies on the front nine to cap a bogey-free round.
“I think I played pretty solid from tee to green,” Jacobson said. “Gave myself a lot of chances today and had good pace on the putts, made a few. So maybe a couple of times I putted from off the green that worked out well. Yeah, it was a nice, solid round, good opening round.”
JACOB BRIDGEMAN EKES AHEAD AT VALSPAR CHAMPIONSHIP
Jacob Bridgeman shot a 2-under-par 69 to carve out a one-shot lead over Viktor Hovland and two others at the Valspar Championship on Friday in Palm Harbor, Fla.
Bridgeman, a 25-year-old in just his 40th career start on the PGA Tour, is at 6-under 136 with a narrow edge over Norwegian star Hovland (67 on Friday), Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune (66) and Byeong Hun An of South Korea (67).
The highlight of Bridgeman’s round was an eagle at the par-5 11th hole at the Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course, where he reached the green in two and sank a 10-foot putt. Bridgeman reached 7 under with a birdie at No. 14 but bogeyed his final hole, shrinking his cushion.
Hovland, 27, had missed three straight cuts before this week but found better results Friday, when he birdied five holes with a single bogey. The six-time PGA Tour champion is trying to get his game back on track, as is another notable player in the Valspar field, Xander Schauffele.
The World No. 3 shot a 68 on Friday and moved into a tie for fifth at 4 under with Ireland’s Shane Lowry (67), Kevin Velo (70) and Germany’s Jeremy Paul (69). Schauffele made his 60th consecutive cut one week after saying his game felt “pretty gross” at The Players Championship.
Davis Riley (70), Ricky Castillo (72), Harry Hall of England (70), Emiliano Grillo of Argentina (68) and Victor Perez of France (70) are tied at 3 under.
The cut line was at 2 over par. Notable names who’ll miss the weekend include Zach Johnson (3 over), Webb Simpson (3 over), two-time Valspar winner Sam Burns (3 over), Jake Knapp (9 over) and Cameron Young (9 over).
TOP INDIANA HEADLINES
INDY FUEL
FUEL HOST WHEELING IN FINAL SUNDAY HOME GAME OF SEASON
INDIANAPOLIS– The Fuel will host the Wheeling Nailers on Sunday to finish out their weekend before heading to Adirondack for a three-game set against the Thunder. This will be Indy’s last game against Wheeling this season.
LAST TIME OUT
The last time these two teams met was February 7 when the Nailers visited the Fishers Event Center and took a 6-3 victory over the Fuel. With three shorthanded goals and two power play goals in the game, special teams played a huge role in the outcome. Matt Koopman and Gabe Klassen had back-to-back shorthanded goals for Wheeling in the second period while a late-game rally by the Fuel saw a shorty from Darby Llewellyn and a power play goal from Colin Bilek in the final minutes.
NAILED DOWN
Since making the switch to the North division this season, the Nailers have found success and find themselves in a very good position to make the playoffs as it stands. They are in second place, ten points behind the Trois-Rivieres Lions and three points ahead of the Norfolk Admirals, who sit nine points ahead of Reading and Worcester who will battle for the fourth playoff spot.
INDY ELEVEN
#LEXVIND PREVIEW
- Indy Eleven at Lexington SC
Sat., Mar. 22, 2025 – 7 p.m. ET - Lexington SC Stadium – Lexington, Ky.
- Follow Live
- Stream: ESPN+
- In-game updates: IndyEleven
Stats: #LEXvIND MatchCenter at USLChampionship.com - 2025 USL Championships Records
- Indy Eleven: 1-0-0 (+2), 3 pts; #4 in Eastern Conference
- Lexington SC: 1-0-1 (+2), 4 pts; #4 in Western Conference
Series vs. Lexington
First meeting.
| IND | LEX | |
| 1 | Games | 2 |
| 3 | Goals | 4 |
| 1 | Goals Conceded | 2 |
| 2 | Assists | 3 |
| 8 | Shots on Target | 8 |
| 5 | Shots Faced | 8 |
| 0 | Clean Sheets | 1 |
Setting the Scene
Indy Eleven continues its season-opening two-match road stint at USLC expansion franchise Lexington SC on Saturday at 7 pm on ESPN+. The Boys in Blue began the campaign with a 3-1 victory at Miami FC on Saturday, while Lexington has started its USL Championship era 1-0-1, in addition to a U.S. Open Cup victory on Wednesday.
Blake & Hogan Earn USLC “Team of the Week” Honors
Indy Eleven midfielder Jack Blake and defender Pat Hogan have been named to the USL Championship “Team of the Week” for Week 2 of the regular season after they both scored goals in the Boys in Blue’s 3-1 road victory at Miami FC in the season opener last Saturday.
Blake converted a penalty in the third minute for his 32nd career USLC goal to give Indy Eleven a 1-0 lead. Blake has made seven consecutive penalties, going 6-6 last season on his way to a career-high 10 goals. He earned “Team of the Week” recognition eight times in 2024, including following the opening match of the campaign.
Blake recorded the 12th multi-goal-contribution match of his pro career with a goal and an assist. In the match, Blake totaled nine duels won, five fouls won, four shots on target, three chances created, and three completed long passes.
In the 35th minute at Miami, Blake took a free kick in the deep left corner, curling it into the six, where Hogan flicked it into the far side of the net to score in his debut for Indy Eleven. The goal was the fourth of Hogan’s pro career. In his first match with the Boys in Blue, Hogan recorded 13 clearances, nine completed passes, and eight duels won.
Hogan earned “Team of the Week” accolades twice last season when he played for Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC.
Captain Quinn Does It Again
Midfielder and team captain Aodhan Quinn scored his 55th USLC career goal in the 18th minute at Miami off an assist from forward Edward Kizza in his Indy Eleven debut.
Quinn, who ranks 24th on the league all-time list in goals, is sixth all-time in goal contributions with 105 (50 assists).
The San Diego native has scored in back-to-back matches after being one of only three players in the USLC to record a goal and an assist in the first round of the 2024 Playoffs with his performance vs. Rhode Island.
Quinn will celebrate his 33rd birthday on Saturday.
- USLC Regular Season Goal Contributions
- 1. Dane Kelly – 132 (106 goals, 26 assists)
- 2. Enzo Martinez (BHM) – 126 (75 goals, 51 assists) *
- 3. Solomon Asante – 110 (52 goals, 58 assists)
- 4. Neco Brett – 107 (81 goals, 26 assists)
- Jorge Herrera – 107 (72 goals, 35 assists)
- 6. Aodhan Quinn (IND) – 105 (55 goals & 50 assists) *
- *Denotes active player
- Aodhan Quinn USLC All-Time Rankings
- Minutes | 21,859 | 3rd
- Assists | 50 | 5th
- Games Started | 249 | 4th
- Appearances | 263 | T6th
Opener Recap
Miami, Fla.- Indy Eleven scored three first-half goals off set pieces on its way to a 3-1 victory at Miami in its USL Championship season opener.
The Boys in Blue started quickly, with defender James Musa earning a penalty in the second minute. Off a set piece, captain Aodhan Quinn volleyed the ball with the side of his foot into the area to Musa, who was taken down. Midfielder Jack Blake converted the penalty in the third minute for his 32nd career USLC goal to give Indy Eleven a 1-0 lead. Blake has made seven consecutive penalties, going 6-6 last season on his way to a career-high 10 goals.
The visitors earned another set piece in the 18th minute, with defender Aedan Stanley delivering the ball into the area to forward Edward Kizza, who laid it back to captain Aodhan Quinn. Quinn blasted it into the top left corner for his 55th career USLC goal, ranking 24th on the all-time list. Quinn is sixth all-time in goal contributions with 105 (50 assists). Kizza earned the assist in his Indy Eleven debut.
The Boys in Blue struck again off another set piece in the 35th minute. Blake took a free kick in the deep left corner, curling it into the six, where 6’4 defender Pat Hogan flicked it into the far side of the net to score in his debut for Indy Eleven.
In addition to his goal and assist, Blake led Indy in shots (4), shots on target (4), chances created (3), crosses attempted (4) and passes completed in the final third (17).
Six players made their debuts for the Boys in Blue—Elvis Amoh, Hogan, Kizza, James Murphy, Bruno Rendon, and Oliver Brynéus. Rendon tied for team highs with six recoveries (with Maalique Foster) and three tackles won (with Aedan Stanley).
- Scoring Summary
- IND – Jack Blake (Penalty) 3’
- IND – Aodhan Quinn (Edward Kizza) 18’
- IND – Pat Hogan (Jack Blake) 35’
- MIA – Kevin Hoyos 65’
- Discipline Summary
- MIA – Francesco Celeste (caution) 68’
- MIA – Matías Romero (caution) 90’+1
Indy Eleven line-up: Hunter Sulte, Aedan Stanley, James Musa, Pat Hogan, Hayden White (Logan Neidlinger 45’), Aodhan Quinn (captain) (Elvis Amoh 71’), James Murphy, Maalique Foster, Jack Blake (Cam Lindley 71’), Bruno Rendon (Oliver Brynéus 58’), Edward Kizza (Josh O’Brien 82’).
Indy Eleven Subs not used: Reice Charles-Cook, Ben Ofeimu.
Coach Sean McAuley
Head coach Sean McAuley earned the USLC “Coach of the Month” honor last May and he was a nominee for USLC Midseason “Coach of the Year” after leading his team to a 12-match unbeaten streak in a two-month span from April-June.
The Sheffield, England, native led Indy Eleven to the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinals with four straight wins, including a 2-1 victory at MLS-side Atlanta United.
McAuley got his first career USL Championship win on March 16, 2024, a 2-1 road victory at Memphis 901 FC.
McAuley is in his second season in Indy after previously serving as interim head coach/assistant at MLS-side Minnesota United FC. McAuley helped Minnesota to playoff appearances in each of his first three seasons, including a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2020.
In 2015, he hoisted the MLS Cup with the Portland Timbers. McAuley opened his playing career with Manchester United and played for the Portland Timbers and the U-21 Scottish National Team, among others.
USLC: 15-11-9 | USOC: 4-1-0 | OVERALL: 19-13-9 (.573)
| Team Leaders | ||
| Stat | Player | Number |
| Goals | Jack Blake, Pat Hogan, Aodhan Quinn | 1 |
| Game-Winning Goals | Aodhan Quinn | 1 |
| Assists | Jack Blake, Edward Kizza | 1 |
| Shots | Jack Blake | 4 |
| Shots on Target | Jack Blake | 4 |
| Chances Created | Jack Blake | 3 |
| Fouls Won | Jack Blake | 5 |
| Duels Won | Jack Blake | 9 |
| Aerial Duels Won | Pat Hogan | 5 |
| Clearances | Pat Hogan | 13 |
| Interceptions | Logan Neidlinger | 4 |
| Tackles Won | Bruno Rendon, Aedan Stanley | 3 |
| Passes | Aedan Stanley | 45 |
| Minutes | Foster, Hogan, Murphy, Musa, Stanley | 90 |
- USLC Regular-Season Player Milestones
- 20,000 Minutes
- Aodhan Quinn – 21,859
- 15,000 Minutes
- James Musa – 16,736
- 10,000 Minutes
- Cam Lindley – 12,449
- Jack Blake – 12,108
Aedan Stanley – 11,435 - James Murphy – 9,764
- Romario Williams – 9,642
- Ben Ofeimu – 9,632
- 250 Appearances
Aodhan Quinn – 263 - 200 Appearances
- James Musa – 203
- 150 Appearances
Jack Blake – 171
Cam Lindley – 163 - Romario Williams – 151
- 100 Appearances
- Aedan Stanley – 131
- Ben Ofeimu – 128
Elliot Collier 111 - 200 Games Started
- Aodhan Quinn – 249
- 150 Games Started
- James Musa – 191
- 100 Games Started
- Cam Lindley – 143
- Jack Blake – 141
- Aedan Stanley – 127
- Romario Williams – 115
- 60 Goals
- Romario Williams – 60 (19th in USLC history)
- 50 Goals
- Aodhan Quinn – 55 (24th in USLC history)
- 30 Goals
- Jack Blake – 32
50 Assists - Aodhan Quinn – 50
30 Assists - Cam Lindley (28)
- 100 Goals/Assists
- Aodhan Quinn – 105 (55 goals, 50 assists)
- 10 Penalties Converted (attempted)
- Aodhan Quinn – 25 (28)
- Jack Blake – 11 (13)
- Romario Williams – 8 (10)
INDIANA SWIMMING
PEPLOWSKI CAPTURES 200-YARD FREESTYLE NATIONAL TITLE
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – Indiana senior Anna Peplowski captured her first-career NCAA national championship in the 200-yard freestyle Friday (March 21) at the 2025 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships inside the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.
Peplowski out-touched USC senior Minna Abraham by six hundredths of a second with a time of 1:40.50. That time ranks No. 7 all-time, as Peplowski broke her own Big Ten and program record (1:40.69).
Peplowski’s title comes as Indiana’s first-ever women’s freestyle championship. It’s also Indiana’s first women’s title since Tarrin Gilliland repeated as platform champion in 2022 as well as its first women’s swimming title since Lilly King captured four straight in both the 100 and 200 breast from 2016-19. The IU women’s program has won 19 championships overall.
Michigan sophomore Stephanie Balduccini led the race through 150 yards with Peplowski and Abraham even at a 1:14.94 split. The senior – who finished third to Balduccini and Abraham at the Big Ten Championships – wouldn’t be denied her first NCAA title, splitting 25.56 in the final 50 to Abraham’s 25.62 and Balduccini’s 26.22.
Peplowski’s title was Indiana’s first of three medals and four program records Friday night. The Hoosiers jumped into fourth place with 209 points going into the final day of competition Saturday. Indiana has never finished better than seventh at a women’s NCAA Championships.
“What a fantastic evening for the Hoosiers,” IU head swimming coach Ray Looze said. “I am so proud of our courageous women. From Anna Peplowski’s first national title to Miranda Grana’s amazing triple, our team is digging deep for ‘Hoosier Nation.’ We loved the way the team finished off the session with an outstanding 400 medley relay! More fun to come tomorrow!”
Sophomore Miranda Grana put together one of the more miraculous feats of the night, swimming three different events in which she finished top four and established a program record in all three. Individually, Grana took on the 100-yard butterfly, 100-yard backstroke double with great success:
Grana’s fourth-place finish in the 100 fly is the best in program history as she broke Gia Dalesandro’s eight-year-old program record (prev. 50.45) with a 50.01, dropping her personal best time by 78 hundredths of a second.
Grana then became the first Hoosier to break the 50-second barrier in the 100-yard backstroke, taking bronze with a program record 49.62, 61 hundredths better than her prelim 50.23 that tied teammate Kacey McKenna’s previous school standard.
Prior to February 2024, no IU women’s swimmer had ever recorded a sub-51-second 100-yard backstroke. On March 21, 2025, Grana (49.62), McKenna (50.23) and junior Mya DeWitt (50.78) all have personal best times under 51 seconds.
DeWitt’s best time came in prelims as all three Hoosiers qualified for 100 back finals Friday, but she nearly matched it with a 50.79 leadoff for Indiana’s historic 400-yard medley relay that ended the evening. The Hoosiers finished fourth with a program record 3:25.83 from DeWitt, senior Brearna Crawford (58.08), Grana’s third swim of the night (49.62) and junior Kristina Paegle (47.34). Indiana has finished top 10 nationally in every relay this week, with only the 400-yard freestyle relay awaiting Saturday.
Senior Skyler Liu earned Indiana’s eighth diving medal since 2019 – Hoosier divers have medaled at six consecutive NCAA Championships – with her bronze medal performance on the 3-meter springboard. Liu executed five 3.00 degree-of-difficulty (or harder) dives for at least 60 points and finished with a score of 382.35, just five points out of second and seven points away from a title. The senior is also a two-time Big Ten Champion in the event.
RESULTS
100 BUTTERFLY
4. Miranda Grana – 50.01 (All-America, Program Record, Career Best)
200 FREESTYLE
1. Anna Peplowski – 1:40.50 (NCAA Champion, All-America, Big Ten Record, Program Record, Career Best)
100 BACKSTROKE
3. Miranda Grana – 49.62 (NCAA Bronze, All-America, Program Record, Career Best)
13. Kacey McKenna – 50.92 (Second-team All-America)
14. Mya DeWitt – 51.18 (Second-team All-America)
3-METER DIVING
3. Skyler Liu – 382.35 (NCAA Bronze, All-America)
14. Lily Witte – 324.45 (Second-team All-America)
400 MEDLEY RELAY
4. Mya DeWitt, Brearna Crawford, Miranda Grana, Kristina Paegle – 3:25.83 (All-America, Program Record)
HOOSIER ALL-AMERICANS
Brearna Crawford – 200 medley relay*, 400 medley relay
Mya DeWitt – 200 freestyle relay, 100 backstroke*, 400 medley relay
Ching Hwee Gan – 500 freestyle
Miranda Grana – 200 medley relay*, 800 freestyle relay, 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 400 medley relay
Skyler Liu – 3-meter
Kacey McKenna – 200 medley relay*, 200 freestyle relay, 100 backstroke*
Kristina Paegle – 200 medley relay*, 800 freestyle relay, 50 freestyle*, 200 freestyle relay, 400 medley relay
Anna Peplowski – 800 freestyle relay, 500 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay, 200 freestyle
Ella Roselli – 1-meter*
Reese Tiltmann – 800 freestyle
Lily Witte – 3-meter*
* – Denotes second-team honoree
UP NEXT
Saturday marks the final day of the 2025 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships as the Hoosiers look to lock down a program record finish.
INDIANA BASEBALL
PITCHING PUSHES WINNING STREAK TO SIX GAMES
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Senior left-handed pitcher Ryan Kraft and graduate student right-handed pitcher Cole Gilley had their best outings of the season on Friday (March 21) at Jackie Robinson Stadium, combining on nine innings of one-run ball in a 5-1 win over UCLA for the Indiana Baseball team (13-9, 5-2 B1G).
The Hoosiers scored all five of their runs via the long ball. Junior outfielder Devin Taylor smoked a first-inning, two-run home run to dead center. Not to be outdone in the chase for the team lead in home runs, redshirt sophomore Korbyn Dickerson smashed a solo home run in the third. IU got its necessary insurance in the fourth via a two-run blast from Tyler Cerny.
IU pitching coach Dustin Glant called a tremendous game and his veterans delivered on the mound. Kraft’s first start of the season was a brilliant outing. He tossed 4.1 innings of scoreless work before being replaced by Gilley (W, 3-1) in the fifth inning. Gilley worked the final 14 outs of the contest while allowing just one run – a solo home run in the sixth.
Despite making a pair of errors, IU’s defense turned up at the right moments. The Hoosiers turned a double play to end the seventh inning and got fantastic flashes from Dickerson and freshman third baseman Cooper Malamazian. IU held the Bruins to just one run, the fewest they’ve scored in a game since May 12, 2024 (1 – at Oregon State).
Redshirt senior Jake Stadler – who is batting .476 in Big Ten play – had the lone multi-hit game for the Hoosiers. He was also fantastic behind the plate and helped the IU pitching staff to eight strikeouts. Taylor’s first-inning home run helped him extend his hitting streak to 12 games.
After picking up a Friday victory, the Hoosiers have two chances to pick up a massive series win in Los Angeles. The Hoosiers’ ace, right-handed veteran Ben Grable, will take the mound tomorrow afternoon. First pitch is slated for 5:00 p.m. ET/2:00 p.m. PT on B1G+.
Scoring Recap
Top First
Devin Taylor got the Hoosiers off to a great start with a two-run blast to dead center. It was his eighth home run of the season and the 44th of his career.
Indiana 2, UCLA 0
Top Third
Korbyn Dickerson extended his team lead in home runs with a solo blast to straightaway center. It was his 11th of the season.
Indiana 3, UCLA 0
Top Fourth
It felt like Tyler Cerny was due for a big blast. He got his pitch to hit in the fourth inning and smashed a two-run home run to left field.
Indiana 5, UCLA 0
Bottom Sixth
UCLA finally broke through on the scoreboard with a solo home run from Mulivai Levu.
Indiana 5, UCLA 1
Top Hoosier Performers
#29 Kraft, Ryan
4.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 K
#32 Gilley, Cole
4.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 6 K
#5 Taylor, Devin
1-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Inside the Box Score
• The IU pitching staff allowed just two walks all night in comparison to eight strikeouts.
• All five runs for IU were scored via the home run.
• Five of IU’s seven hits were for extra bases.
• For the second time this year, IU’s pitchers held opponents to one run or less.
Notes to Know
• Junior outfielder Devin Taylor hit his eighth home run of the season and the 44th of his illustrious career. He moved into sole possession of fourth place in IU history. Three different players are tied for the program record of 47 long balls. Taylor needs just four more to break the all-time record.
• Senior southpaw Ryan Kraft went 4.1 innings of work while allowing zero runs. It was his first outing of at least four innings – while allowing zero earned runs – in nearly two years. He last did it in a brilliant outing against Northwestern on May 6, 2023 (7.1 IP, 0 ER).
• Graduate student pitcher Cole Gilley was fantastic in relief on Friday night. Part of his success has come by limiting free passes. He’s now thrown 11-consecutive innings without allowing a walk. In this week alone, he threw 6.2 innings and recorded nine strikeouts to zero walks.
• The Hoosiers have won six-straight games for the first time since a stretch of six wins from Feb. 17 – Feb. 25, 2024. In this stretch, IU’s pitching staff is allowing just 3.5 runs per game. Five of those six games have featured four-or-fewer runs allowed.
Up Next
IU will take its first crack at the series win tomorrow in Los Angeles. First pitch on Saturday (March 23) is set for 5:00 p.m. ET/2:00 p.m. PT at Jackie Robinson Stadium. It will be streamed on B1G+ while Ben Haller will have the call on the Indiana Sports Radio Network via IUHoosiers.com/Audio.
INDIANA SOFTBALL
INDIANA FALLS TO PENN STATE, 14-13
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. ––– Indiana and Penn State played in a barnburner of a Friday series opener at Andy Mohr Field with Penn State coming away with the win 14-13.
The nearly three-hour contest put Indiana’s season record at 20-8 and 0-3 in the Big Ten.
PENN STATE 14, INDIANA 13
KEY MOMENTS
• Penn State jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first two innings off of three home runs, including a grand slam. The grand slam and first home run were both hit by Maddie Gordon.
• Indiana got back in the game by scoring nine unanswered runs from the second through fourth inning to take the lead back. 9-7 in the bottom of the fourth.
• Melina Wilkison’s 3-run home run in the bottom of the second started Indiana’s come back.
• Penn State used a huge fifth inning to take the lead back, scoring four runs on two errors, a groundout and a single to go up 11-9.
• Brianna Copeland hit an inside the park home run off the right center field wall, scoring her and Taylor Minnick to make it 11-11 in the bottom of the fifth.
• The sixth inning was calm before the seventh inning became eventful. Penn State racked up three more runs in the top half of the frame on three base hits to go up 14-11.
• Indiana responded again in the bottom of the inning. After Taylor Minnick and Avery Parker each walked, Copeland hit a double down the left field line to bring them home and make it 14-13.
• With Copeland on third and two outs, Cassidy Kettleman hit a line drive but it was caught at second base for the final out.
NOTABLES
• Wilkison and Copeland each had four RBI in the game.
• Seven Hoosiers registered a run.
• Wilkison’s home run was her fourth of the season while Copeland charted her fifth of the year.
• Jasmine Reyes and Copeland each saw time pitching in the circle.
UP NEXT
Indiana will return to Andy Mohr Field for a doubleheader against Penn State tomorrow. The first game will begin at 2 p.m. and the second will start 30 minutes following the conclusion of the first.
INDIANA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
9-SEED INDIANA UPENDS 8-SEED UTAH, 76-68, IN NCAA OPENING ROUND
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Five players scored in double figures as the ninth-seeded Indiana Women’s Basketball team defeated eighth-seeded Utah, 76-68, in the opening round of the 2025 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on Friday afternoon.
KEY MOMENTS
Junior forward Lilly Meister scored eight early points off the bench to help bring Indiana to a 15-15 tie at the opening media timeout. The two teams exchanged the lead on 11 occasions before the first break of the game (45.8 seconds in the first quarter).
The Hoosiers shot 50.0% from the floor in the first quarter. The opening 10 minutes ended in a 17-all tie with two prolific three-point shooting teams combining on just two made field goals from beyond the arc.
Senior forward Karoline Striplin hit a mid-range jumper to break at the 7:01 mark in the second quarter to break a 9-0 Utah run and halt a scoring drought of nearly three minutes.
IU held Utah scoreless for almost minutes in the second quarter. During that stretch, the Utes (22-9) missed six-straight shots, two free throws and committed a turnover.
Veterans Sydney Parrish and Chloe Moore-McNeil sparked a late 5-0 surge to tie the game at 31-all heading into the break. Parrish nailed a three before Moore-McNeil hit a contested field goal in the final seconds of the half.
Junior guard Shay Ciezki hit a corner three early in the third quarter to give IU its first lead since the 9:43 mark of the second quarter. Junior guard Yarden Garzon added a layup to give the Hoosiers their biggest lead of the game (40-36).
The Hoosiers went on a 11-6 run out of the break and into the media timeout. Meister’s layup with 5:03 on the clock in the third quarter made her the first IU player to reach double figures.
Moore-McNeil found Ciezki on the breakaway for a contested layup to extend IU’s lead to nine points late in the third quarter. Utah used its first timeout of the game as the IU momentum continued to grow.
IU scored 27 points in the third quarter and connected on 83.3% of its field goals to take a commanding 11-point lead into the fourth frame. Ciezki scored nine points without missing any shot (field goal or free throw) in the third quarter.
Ciezki hit a big bucket just outside the paint to break a 7-0 run from Utah. It extended IU’s lead back to eight points with just under five minutes to play.
Moore-McNeil got the lead back to six with under two minutes to play. She came off a screen from Striplin and buried the much-needed mid-range jump shot.
Garzon buried a pair of clutch free throws with 11 seconds on the clock. Those freebies put IU’s lead back to six. The Hoosiers finished off the 76-68 win to advance to the second round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
NOTABLE
The victory ensured head coach Teri Moren and the Hoosiers their 10th-consecutive 20-win season. The head ball coach moves to 7-0 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament during her IU career.
Indiana improved to 12-10 overall in the NCAA Tournament in school history
Five players scored in double figures led by 16 points from Ciezki. It was the first time IU has had five players score in double figures in an NCAA Tournament game since 2021 vs. NC State.
Moore-McNeil recorded her 500th career assist, the fifth player in school history to reach that mark. She finished just shy of a triple double with 12 points, a team-high eight rebounds and a team-high eight assists.
Indiana had 19 assists on 29 made shots in the victory.
Garzon led her team with 17 points with seven rebounds and three assists. Ciezki added 16 points while Moore-McNeil had 12 and Striplin scored 10.
The Hoosiers shot 58 percent from the floor in the win and 86.7 percent from the free throw line.
This is the first win over Utah in program history.
UP NEXT
IU advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament where it will face the winner of (1) South Carolina and (16) Tennessee Tech on Sunday (March 23) afternoon.
INDIANA WRESTLING
DJ WASHINGTON BECOMES PROGRAM’S FIRST ALL-AMERICAN SINCE 2017
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. –––– The 2025 NCAA Championships continued to be a great one for the Indiana program on day two at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Friday action included all six Hoosiers competing, three reaching the Blood Round and one earning All-American status.
Graduate student and No. 22 seed DJ Washington (184) continued his fight all the way through the wrestlebacks, winning four in a row on the backside of the bracket after dropping his opening match on Thursday to claim his spot on the podium.
He defeated No. 10 Edmond Ruth (Illinois) in the Blood Round in an 8-4 decision to break through and be an All-American for the first time in his career. Washington scored on two takedowns and didn’t allow one in the win.
It was a rematch from the regular season, when Ruth won in a 4-2 decision in Indianapolis at the Big Ten Takedown (Dec. 6).
Washington is the program’s first All-American since 2017 when Nate Jackson took 8th place at 184 lbs.
He will compete in the seventh-place match tomorrow against No. 12 Silas Allred (Nebraska) in Session V, starting at 11 a.m.
No. 21 Angelo Rini (133) and No. 24 Gabe Sollars (197) each reached the quarterfinals after two wins on day one of the championships. Both lost in their quarterfinal match by decision which dropped them to the Blood Round in the consolations.
Rini lost to No. 4 Zeth Romney (Cal Poly), 8-2, and Sollars lost to No. 1 Jacob Cardenas (Michigan) in a 10-5 decision.
With those losses, Rini and Sollars competed in the Blood Round. Rini lost to No. 17 Jacob Van Dee (Nebraska) in an 8-0 major decision and Sollars lost to No. 20 Camden McDanel (Nebraska) in a 7-3 decision.
Rini, Sollars and Washington marked the program’s first wrestlers to reach the Blood Round since Graham Rooks did so in 2023 at 149 lbs.
No. 18 Jacob Moran (125) and No. 21 Jacob Bullock (285) each won their first match of the day before losing in close fashion in the third round of consolations.
FULL RESULTS
125 – No. 18 Jacob Moran:
-Round 1: No. 18 Jacob Moran (IU) def. No. 15 Maximo Renteria (Oregon State): Dec. 7-6
-Round of 16: No. 2 Matt Ramos (Purdue) def. No. 18 Jacob Moran (IU): MD, 8-0
-Cons. R2: No. 18 Jacob Moran (IU) def. No. 17 Max Gallagher (Penn): Dec. 10-4
-Cons. R3: No. 10 Stevo Poulin (N. Colorado) def. No. 18 Jacob Moran (IU): Dec. 1-0
133 – No. 21 Angelo Rini:
-Round 1: No. 21 Angelo Rini (IU) def. No. 12 Ethan Oakley (North Carolina): Dec. 7-1
-Round of 16: No. 21 Angelo Rini (IU) def. No. 5 Dominick Serrano (N. Colorado): MD, 15-7
-Quarterfinal: No. 4 Zeth Romney (Cal Poly) def. No. 21 Angelo Rini (IU): Dec. 8-2
-Round of 12: No. 17 Jacob Van Dee (Nebraska) def. No. 21 Angelo Rini (IU): MD, 8-0
165 – No. 27 Tyler Lillard:
-Round 1: No. 6 Beau Mantanona (Michigan) def. No. 27 Tyler Lillard (IU): Dec. 7-3
-Cons. R1: No. 27 Tyler Lillard (IU) def. No. 22 Enrique Mungia (Rider): Fall (3:45)
-Cons. R2: No. 5 Julian Ramirez (Cornell) def. No. 27 Tyler Lillard (IU): Dec. 6-1
184 – No. 22 DJ Washington:
-Round 1: No. 22 DJ Washington (IU) def. No. 11 Gabe Arnold (Iowa): Dec. 4-1
-Cons. R1: No. 22 DJ Washington (IU) def. No. 27 Ross McFarland (Hofstra): Dec. 10-8
-Cons. R2: No. 22 DJ Washington (IU) def. No. 5 Bennett Berge (South Dakota St.): MD, 12-0
-Cons. R3: No. 22 DJ Washington (IU) def. No. 19 Eddie Neitenbach (Wyoming): TF, 19-4 (2:41)
-Round of 12: No. 22 DJ Washington (IU) def. No. 10 Edmond Ruth (Illinois): Dec. 8-4
-Cons. R5: No. 6 Chris Foca (Cornell) def. No. 22 DJ Washington (IU): TF, 20-4 (4:32)
197 – No. 24 Gabe Sollars:
-Round 1: No. 24 Gabe Sollars (IU) def. No. 9 Zac Braunagel (Illinois): Dec. 6-5
-Round of 16: No. 24 Gabe Sollars (IU) def. No. 25 Patrick Brophy (Citadel): MD, 14-4
-Quarterfinal: No. 1 Jacob Cardenas (Michigan) def. No. 24 Gabe Sollars (IU): Dec. 10-5
-Round of 12: No. 20 Camden McDanel (Nebraska) def. No. 24 Gabe Sollars (IU): Dec. 7-3
285 – No. 21 Jacob Bullock:
-Round 1: No. 12 Nick Feldman (Ohio State) def. No. 21 Jacob Bullock (IU): Dec. 4-2
-Cons. R1: No. 21 Jacob Bullock (IU) def. No. 28 Daniel Herrera (Iowa State): Dec. 7-1
-Cons. R2: No. 21 Jacob Bullock (IU) def. No. 22 Brady Colbert (Army): Dec. 8-1
-Cons. R3: No. 14 Gavin Hoffman (Lock Haven) def. No. 21 Jacob Bullock (IU): Dec. 4-1
TEAM STANDINGS UPDATE (THROUGH DAY TWO)
Penn State (135.5)
Nebraska (101.5)
Oklahoma State (91.0)
Iowa (73.5)
Minnesota (47.0)
PURDUE MEN’S BASKETBALL
NO. 4 SEED PURDUE BATTLES MCNEESE FOR SPOT IN THE SWEET 16
GAMEDAY INFORMATION — GAME 35
[4 seed] Purdue (23-11) vs. [12 seed] McNeese (28-6)
Saturday, March 22, 2025 | 12:10 p.m. ET
Providence, Rhode Island | Amica Mutual Pavilion (11,648)
TELEVISION: CBS (Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas, Evan Washburn)
RADIO: Purdue Global Radio Network (Rob Blackman, Bobby Riddell)
ABOUT GAMEDAY
• The fourth-seeded Boilermakers look for another appearance in the Sweet 16 when it battles McNeese in the Round of 32 on Saturday in Providence, Rhode Island. Purdue is looking for its sixth Sweet 16 appearance in its last eight seasons. A win over McNeese will bring Purdue back to Indianapolis and Lucas Oil Stadium for the Midwest Regional rounds, starting on Friday.
THE NOTES TO KNOW
MOVING ON: Purdue advanced to the NCAA Tournament second round with a 75-63 victory over 13th-seeded High Point in Thursday’s opening round in Providence.
• The Boilermakers took control of the game with a 17-7 run over the last nine minutes of the first half and never trailed in the second half for their 23rd win of the season.
GOOD NEWS IN ROUND TWO: The last five times that Purdue has advanced to the second round, the Boilermakers reached at least the Sweet 16 (2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2024). Purdue hasn’t lost a round-two game since a 63-60 loss to No. 2-seed Kansas in the 2012 Tournament.
ONE OF ONE: Braden Smith has become the first player in NCAA history to have scored at least 1,300 points, dish out 700 assists and grab 500 rebounds by the end of his junior campaign.
• In the win over High Point, Smith became just the second player in NCAA history (Ga. Tech’s Kenny Anderson, 1989-90). to have at least 500 points, 275 assists, 150 rebounds and 75 steals in a season.
• With seven more assists, Smith will become the second player in NCAA history with 500 points, 300 assists and 150 rebounds in a season (Murray State’s Ja Morant).
THE WINNING WAYS: Since the 2016-17 season, Purdue has won 15 NCAA Tournament games, tied for the fifth most nationally.
HOW SWEET IT IS: Purdue is aiming for its sixth Sweet-16 appearance in the last eight seasons, advancing the second weekend in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2024.
PAINTER AMONG ELITE: Matt Painter is one of five coaches in America to have at least 16 NCAA Tournament berths in the last 18 tournaments (Few, Self, Izzo, Calipari, Painter).
ALL-AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: With Braden Smith garnering first-team All-America honors this season, Purdue has had an All-American in seven of the last nine seasons.
BIG MAN U IS ALSO GUARD U: Purdue has long been called “Big Man U”, but it also has a legitimate claim to “Guard U” as well.
• Purdue has had three different consensus All-American guards since the 2018-19 seasons (Carsen Edwards, Jaden Ivey, Braden Smith), being one-of-two schools to accomplish that.
THE OTHER NOTABLES: Purdue won its 50th game all-time in the NCAA Tournament, now owning a 50-35 record all-time. Matt Painter is 23-15 at Purdue during the NCAA Tournament.
• Purdue outrebounded High Point by a 45-24 advantage, the fourth time in the last two NCAA Tournaments (seven games) that Purdue had a plus-21 (or larger) rebound margin (+25 vs. Grambling; +23 vs. Utah State; +21 vs. Tennessee; +21 vs. High Point).
• Purdue’s 19 offensive rebounds were the fifth most in an NCAA Tournament game in school history. The Boilermakers had 20 second-chance points.
• Purdue’s seven turnovers tied for its fewest in an NCAA Tournament game in school history.
• Purdue had two players score at least 20 points in an NCAA Tournament for the first time since Carsen Edwards (29) and Ryan Cline (27) surpassed 20 points each against Tennessee in the 2019 Sweet 16. Trey Kaufman-Renn (21) and Braden Smith (20) each had at least 20 points.
• Trey Kaufman-Renn tallied his 18th, 20-point game of the season with a 21-point, eight-rebound effort. He is now tied for the Big Ten lead in 20-point games.
• Trey Kaufman-Renn now has 687 points, moving past Carsen Edwards (2018; 686 points) into 13th place on the school’s single-season points list.
• Over his last
• Camden Heide recorded his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Heide went 2-of-4 from 3-point range, and is now 11-of-18 (.611) from long distance in the last nine games.
• When Purdue holds foes to 69 or fewer points this season, the Boilermakers are 13-0. When foes score 70 or more points, Purdue is just 10-11. Purdue has won 34 straight games when holding foes under 70 points (last loss: Fairleigh Dickinson — 2023 NCAA 1st rd.).
• The senior class, consisting of Caleb Furst, won its 115th career game against High Point, tied for fourth-most wins by a senior class in Big Ten history (2013 Ohio State – 123; 2014 Ohio State – 119; 2012 Ohio State – 116).
PURDUE WRESTLING
BLAZE BLITZES TO NCAA FINAL; RAMOS STILL IN RACE FOR BRONZE
PHILADELPHIA — Sophomore Joey Blaze and redshirt-senior Matt Ramos will continue their quests into Day 3 at the NCAA Championships after a dominant Session IV Friday night in Wells Fargo Center.
Wrestling in the national semifinal, Blaze grinded out a 4-2 decision to beat No. 20 Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern) and advance to Saturday night’s national championship match.
“I just kind of accepted, the last couple weeks, just being grateful for everything that I get,” Blaze said after the win. “Coach (Tony) Ersland talks about it a lot, the fun part is competing… Last year, I put a lot of pressure because I had a lot of expectations on myself. But lately I’ve just been free as a bird and just having fun. I’m grateful to be here and embrace every moment.”
The 157-pounder from Perrysburg, Ohio, faced Chumbley for the first time this season after they split a pair of matches when Blaze was a freshman.
Blaze went on the attack early and scored the match’s first points, winning a scramble late in the first period for what ended up being the only takedown.
Chumbley escaped early in the second frame, but Blaze fended off his desperate shots and ultimately won 4-2 after a third-period escape.
The underclassman is set for the NCAA Final with a familiar foe in Nebraska’s No. 3 Antrell Taylor. It will be the fourth time the duo has thrown down this season.
All three previous matches came down to the end as close decisions. Taylor won the first two before Blaze got his revenge and beat his conference rival in the third-place match at the 2025 Big Ten Championships.
Blaze will have the chance to win Purdue’s fifth national championship and would be the first Boilermaker to win it all since Charles Jones in 1992.
He is one of just two wrestlers seeded outside the top-four who made it to the national finals. After everything he has shown at Big Tens and in Philadelphia, sleeping on Blaze would be unwise.
After falling in heartbreaking fashion earlier in the day to end his final run at a national title, Ramos kept his collegiate career alive with two big wins on Friday night and will fight into day three.
The Lockport, Illinois, star responded with an 8-2 decision over Northern Iowa’s No. 22 Trever Anderson in the Blood Round to clinch All-American status for the second time.
Ramos is Purdue’s first two-time All-American since Ben Wissel in 2005-06, joining an elite list of Boilermakers to achieve the honor twice.
PURDUE SOFTBALL
BOILERS FALL 8-4 TO WISCONSIN
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The Boilers fell 8-3 in the second game of the series against Wisconsin (19-10, 3-2 Big Ten) on Friday night. Purdue (16-13, 1-4 Big Ten) will shift gears to take on Wisconsin for another two-game series over the weekend.
Khloe Banks hit her first home run of the year, a solo shot, which was the third of her career. Julia Gossett added a solo shot in the top of the sixth.
BOILER BITS (vs Wisconsin)
Offensive Highlights:
Khloe Banks: 2-for-3, HR, 3B, RBI, 2 R
Moriah Polar: 4-for-4, RBI, 2B
Delaney Reefe: 2-for-4, RBI
Julia Gossett: 1-for-3, HR, RBI, R
Pitching Breakdown:
Julia Gossett: 4.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, 21, BF
Madi Elish (L, 6-4) : 0.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 BF
Kendall Klochack: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 BF
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Badgers and the Boilermakers remained scoreless through two innings. Purdue put up two hits in the first two innings, while Gossett held the Badgers without a hit, picking up two strike outs.
In the top of the third, Banks hit her first home run of the year, a solo shot, which was the third of her career. The Boilers maintained the one-run lead in the top of the fourth, but Wisconsin tied it up in the bottom of the inning on a single up the middle.
Purdue took the lead in the top of the fifth after Banks earned her second extra-base hit of the day, a triple to the right-center gap. In the bottom of the inning, Wisconsin earned the lead for the first time in the game on a three-run homer. The Badgers continued to add run support, plating another four runs on back-to-back doubles off two different Purdue pitchers.
The Boilers did not give up fighting, scoring one run in the top of the sixth on a solo home run from Gossett. In the top of the seventh, the Boilers pushed one more after a walk from Banks, and a double from Polar. Reefe singled in Banks, but the Boilers were unable to make up the deficit.
UP NEXT
After finishing the two-game series with Wisconsin, the Boilers will take on Maryland in another two-game series over the weekend. The Boilers will then take on the No. 21 Huskers of Nebraska.
NOTRE DAME BASEBALL
IRISH DOWNED BY YELLOW JACKETS
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame baseball team fell in an 18-7 (7 innings) final against Georgia Tech at Frank Eck Stadium on Friday night.
The Yellow Jackets took an early lead with a 3-0 advantage through the first half inning of play. Parker Brzustewicz continued to have the hot bat for the Irish and punched a single through the left side with two outs, but the freshman was unable to advance any further as the game rolled over to the second inning. Georgia Tech added a pair of runs in the top of the second and three in the third to go up 8-0.
Jared Zimbardo got things going in the bottom of the third for the Irish with a hard-hit infield single, and Bino Watters punched a single through the right side of the infield to put a pair on base with one out. Zimbardo tagged up to third on a deep fly ball by Brzustewicz. Estevan Moreno laced a triple down the left field line to drive in both Zimbardo and Watters to get the Irish on the scoreboard and make it an 8-2 game through three.
The Yellow Jackets plated a pair in the top of the fourth, but Justin Mayes Jr. came in to chalk up back-to-back strikeouts to close the inning defensively. Noah Coy drilled a solo home run to straight-away center field for the Irish in the bottom of the inning to make it a 10-3 score.
Georgia Tech countered with three runs in the top half of the fifth to extend their lead. Xavier Hirsch and the Irish defense forced the Yellow Jackets into stranding a runner on third after a one-out triple in the top of the sixth. The Irish then posted three runs in the bottom of the inning. Estevan Moreno was hit by a pitch before Davis Johnson singled to left field. Carson Tinney hit a no-doubt-about-it home run over the left field wall to make it a 13-6 game.
The visiting side plated three runs in the top of the seventh to gain a 16-6 advantage. Bino Watters led off the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run the opposite way to keep the game alive as the Irish continued to fight. Georgia Tech, however, plated two runs in the top of the eighth to take an 18-7 decision on Friday night.
Jack Radel shouldered the loss on the mound after going 2.2 with a strikeout. Kellan Klosterman, Justin Mayes Jr., Xavier Hirsch, Sammy Cooper, and Jack Walker all combined to close out the game on the hill for the Irish. Cooper did not allow a hit in two-thirds of an inning, and Mayes struck out three.
Bino Watters went 2-for-4 with a home run, an RBI, and two runs scored. Carson Tinney had a three-run home run to drive in three and score a run. Noah Coy belted his first collegiate home run for the Irish. Estevan Moreno had a triple, drove in a pair, and scored once. Parker Brzustewicz collected a pair of hits on the night. Jared Zimbardo and Davis Johnson each added a hit and a run, and Nick DeMarco tallied a hit.
The Irish (12-7, 1-6 ACC) face off against the Yellow Jackets for game two of the series on Saturday starting at 2:00 p.m.
NOTRE DAME SOFTBALL
IRISH FALL TO #17 STANFORD
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame Softball team dropped Friday’s conference home opener to Stanford 10-0 in five innings at Melissa Cook Stadium. The Irish are now 13-17 on the year and 2-5 in conference play.
Addison Amaral extended her on base streak to 12 with her double to left in the second inning, her sixth two-bagger of the season. Emily Tran also recorded a hit.
Alexis Laudenslager made her first appearance since February 28th against LSU. The graduate student only allowed one run over two innings, notching a strikeout to go along with it
Game two of the series is set for a 4:30 pm first pitch tomorrow and is ‘Irish Wear Green’ themed. It will be aired nationally on ACC Network.
NOTRE DAME WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
NO. 3 IRISH DOMINATE NO. 14 LADYJACKS IN FIRST ROUND, 106-54
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — No. 3 Notre Dame (27-5) opened up NCAA Tournament play with a bang on Friday, turning its first round matchup against No. 14 Stephen F. Austin (29-6) into a track meet and earning a 106-54 victory. It’s just the second time in program history the Irish have eclipsed the century mark in the Big Dance (2022 at Oklahoma).
It was a balanced offensive effort for an Irish team that had recently struggled to create scoring opportunities across the board. Five players finished with 10+ points — Sonia Citron (24), Hannah Hidalgo (24), Liza Karlen (13), Maddy Westbeld (12) and Liatu King (10). It is Citron’s fourth 20-point NCAA Tournament game of her storied career. She went 4-6 from deep on Friday.
Additionally, Karlen had her first double-double of the year with 10 boards, and Olivia Miles had 8 assists. Kate Koval had 4 blocks, and Hidalgo had 5 swipes.
To start the game, the LadyJacks hit back-to-back treys before Notre Dame rattled off 10 consecutive points and went on a 24-5 run. Karlen came in off of the bench with a relentless persistence, notching 7 points and 5 rebounds in the first quarter. Hidalgo led the Irish with 8 points, and Miles had 4 assists. Notre Dame had Stephen F. Austin doubled up after the first frame, 26-13.
It was more of the same for an Irish team that kept its foot on the gas with 20 points in the second quarter, 8 of which came from Citron. Notre Dame took a 45-26 lead into the locker room after shooting 50 percent from the floor in the first half and notching 10 offensive rebounds.
The defense took it up a notch in the third quarter. Steals by Citron, Hidalgo and Koval led to back-to-back-to-back buckets for Notre Dame, who expanded the lead to 37 at the end of the Q3. That lead stretched as high as 55 points with 2:35 left after walk-on Luci Jensen hit a triple with a defender in her face for the first points of her collegiate career. Both Sarah Cernugel and Bella Tehrani also scored for Notre Dame, giving every Irish player in uniform at least one bucket on the afternoon.
The Irish finished with 18 steals, topping the previous season-high of 13 at Syracuse.
Notre Dame will play No. 6 Michigan in the second round on Sunday. The Wolverines beat 11th-seeded Iowa State 80-74 on Friday afternoon at Purcell Pavilion.
BUTLER SOFTBALL
BUTLER’S WALK-OFF SINGLE SINKS ST. JOHN’S
INDIANAPOLIS – The Butler softball team and visiting St. John’s sit atop the early BIG EAST standings, and the teams were scoreless after five innings in the opening game of a three-game conference series. The Bulldogs (17-8, 6-1 BIG EAST) plated one in the sixth, but the Red Storm (21-9-1, 3-1 BIG EAST) matched it in the top of the seventh. An RBI single in Butler’s final at bat gave the Dawgs a walk-off, 2-1, victory.
Game 1: Butler 2, St. John’s 1 (7 innings)
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Makenna Alexander hit a solo shot, just inside the right field pole, giving Butler a 1-0 lead with one inning to play.
In the top of the seventh, St. John’s scored an unearned run to tie the game. The Red Storm still had one on with only one out, but two strikeouts ended the rally.
In the bottom of the seventh, with two outs, Cate Lehner singled over the shortstop. One batter later, she stole second and then Hailey Conger hit a hard single to right center field, allowing Lehner to score and sealing the walk-off win.
Gwen Baker (8-2) started in the circle for Butler and picked up the complete-game victory. In 7.0 innings, she allowed five hits and a walk, striking out eight as only one unearned run came across.
Bulldog Bits
Makena Alexander’s home run was her eighth this season and the 11th of her career.
Cate Lehner’s three stolen bases give her 23 this season and 66 in her career.
Up Next
Butler and St. John’s will play both game two and game three of the series on Saturday, March 22, as a doubleheader. First pitch for the contests here in Indianapolis is scheduled for 1 p.m.
IU INDY SOFTBALL
JAGS TAKE ONE IN FRIDAY DOUBLEHEADER
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The IU Indy softball team took one game against Cleveland State in a doubleheader on the road, securing a late comeback victory in the second game after falling in a tightly contested first game.
The first game was a back-and-forth battle, with Cleveland State having the final answer in a 5-4 walk-off win.
The Vikings took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning with a solo home run from Delaney Ellis. IU Indy grabbed the lead in the sixth as Paige McPhearson doubled to drive in two runs, making it 2-1.
Cleveland State responded in the bottom of the sixth inning with a three-run homer by Peyton Mueller Stenz, reclaiming a 4-2 advantage. IU Indy showed resilience once again in the seventh as Alexa Holman came through with a clutch two-run single to tie the game at 4-4.
In the bottom of the seventh, Sophie Spellman knocked a walk-off home run to center field, giving Cleveland State the final 5-4 win.
Holman (L, 4-5) took the loss despite a strong performance in the circle, allowing five runs on five hits in six innings of work while striking out three.
In game two, IU Indy rallied from an early deficit to earn a decisive 8-4 victory over Cleveland State. The Vikings jumped ahead in the second inning with a three-run homer by Haley West and a solo shot from Kylie Gorsuch to take a 4-0 lead.
IU Indy responded in the third inning as Pallas Dominion stole home to get the Jaguars on the board. Later in the inning, Kendal Calvert’s RBI single brought the score to 4-2.
The Jaguars broke the game open in the fourth inning, capitalizing on Cleveland State miscues. A key RBI single from Dominion tied the game at four before Kennedy Cowan scored on a wild pitch to give IU Indy the lead. Morgan Gilbert delivered the biggest hit of the inning with a two-run double to extend the advantage to 7-4.
Tori Candler added an insurance run in the seventh with an RBI single to seal the 8-4 victory.
Lilly Roush (W, 2-6) was stellar in relief, tossing 5.1 shutout innings while allowing just two hits and striking out one.
With the split, IU Indy moves to 9-17 overall and 3-2 in conference play. The Jaguars and Vikings will finish out the three-game series with a single game tomorrow, Saturday, March 22. First pitch is set for 1:00 PM.
BALL STATE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
CARDINALS END HISTORIC SEASON WITH FIRST-ROUND LOSS TO NO. 5 OLE MISS IN NCAA TOURNAMENT
WACO, Texas – No. 12-seed Ball State saw its historic season come to an close Friday evening with a loss to fifth-seeded Ole Miss, 83-65, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Foster Pavilion.
With the loss, the Cardinals ended their season with an overall record of 27-8 while the Rebels improve to 21-10 and advance to the second round of the tournament against host No. 4-seed Baylor on Sunday.
This was only the second time in program history that the Cardinals earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, the first since 2009.
The Cardinals opened the ball game with a 7-0 run after baskets from Lachelle Austin and Ally Becki. The fast-paced scoring spree stunned the Ole Miss Rebels. Ole Miss finally scored a basket at the 7:39 mark. Both squads went back and forth until the media timeout which had the Cardinals still leading by one, 10-9. After the timeout, the Rebels outpaced BSU 11-3 to take a 21-12 advantage into the second 10 minutes of play.
Ball State put up a good fight, but the Rebels’ athleticism and defense was too much for the Cardinals to handle. Turnovers also began to plague BSU. Lachelle Austin scored Ball State’s first field goal of the second frame with a fast break layup to make it a 27-14 contest. A Becki bucket just under the four-minute mark put BSU within single digits of Ole Miss (29-20). Ole Miss led by as many as 17 (37-20) with 35 seconds on the clock but Becki threw up a last-second 3-pointer to make it 37-23 at intermission.
After the break, the Cardinals couldn’t comeback from their first half shooting woes. The Rebels continued to control the tempo and eventually built a 22-point cushion, 66-44, with 7:49 left in the contest.
The Cardinals ended another historic season under 13th-year head coach Brady Sallee. Led by Mid-American Conference Player of the Year and Tournament MVP Ally Becki, the Cardinals captured their second MAC tournament championship in program history, defeating the Toledo Rockets in the title game last Saturday, 65-58. Becki paced Ball State against the Rebels, finishing with 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting with three 3-pointers.
Becki ended her career as the all-time program leader in assists (721) and assists in a single season (216). MAC Defensive Player of the Year Marie Kiefer closed her Ball State career as the program’s all-time blocks leader in a career (197) and single season (60).
BALL STATE BASEBALL
BASEBALL FALLS LATE IN SERIES OPENER AT XAVIER
CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Ball State baseball team got early home runs from Nick Husovsky and Clay Jacobs to build a 5-1 lead but fell 6-5 to Xavier on Friday afternoon at Hayden Field.
The Cardinals (16-7) held a 5-3 edge entering the ninth inning before the Musketeers (9-13) rallied for three runs in the frame as Clay Burdette hit a game-winning RBI single up the middle to give the hosts the series-opening decision.
Husovsky drilled a two-run homer to left field in the first frame that scored Alex Richter for a 2-0 Ball State lead. After the hosts plated a run in the third, Ball State put up a three-run fourth inning on a two-run blast by Clay Jacobs and an RBI double from Dylan Grego to go ahead 5-1.
Xavier, who entered the game with the No. 3 RPI ranking nationally, scored the game’s final five tallies to win its home opener.
Grego went 3-for-4 on the day with a walk as Ball State’s only player with multiple hits.
“We had our opportunities offensively, defensively and on the mound but didn’t finish in any of those areas,” Ball State head coach Rich Maloney said. “Back at it tomorrow.”
Ball State starting pitcher Keegan Johnson struck out four in five innings of two-run ball, while Garrett Harker (1-1) allowed three runs in two innings of work to suffer the loss. Xavier’s Jack Detienne (1-1) worked a scoreless ninth to be credited with the win.
The Cardinals and Musketeers are set to play a doubleheader starting at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday to wrap up the series.
INDIANA STATE BASEBALL
VALPARAISO RALLIES PAST SYCAMORES IN MISSOURI VALLEY OPENER
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Valparaiso took advantage of an Indiana State error in the top of the third inning to break the game open and the Beacons plated four insurances runs late as the Sycamores fell in the 2025 Missouri Valley Conference opener at Bob Warn Field, 8-3.
The Sycamores (9-13, 0-1) took the lead in the top of the first inning courtesy of a Valparaiso (5-12, 1-0) error and Eli Gipson’s RBI ground out as Carter Beck came around to score to put Indiana State ahead early.
Valparaiso starter Connor Lockwood (2-3) took over from there as the Beacons’ starting pitcher was efficient throughout the game going 7.0 innings allowing five hits and three unearned runs, while striking out 10 in the win.
The Beacons took the 4-1 lead in the top of the third inning courtesy of a Sycamore error on a Valpo sacrifice bunt attempt allowing Bryan Hatch to score and tie the game up. Case Sullivan followed with a two-run single, while Thomas Cooper added a sacrifice fly later in the inning to give the visitors the three-run lead.
Lockwood and Indiana State starter Max McEwen (2-2) settled into a pitcher’s duel over the middle frames with McEwen retiring eight in a row at one point, while Lockwood pitched around Jackson Taylor and Carlos Pena singles in the fifth and the sixth innings.
The Sycamores loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh as Jorge Cartagena sparked the rally beating out an infield single. A Valparaiso error put two runners on base, before Beck walked to load the bases with two outs. Gipson singled through the right side of the infield to beat the Valpo shift scoring Cartagena and Taylor to narrow the gap to 4-3, before Lockwood retired Carlos Pena on strikes to end the Indiana State rally.
The Beacons responded with four runs in the top of the eighth off Aaron Moss and Zac Laird as Spencer Warfield provided the big hit in the inning with a two-run bases-loaded single to left field giving Valpo the 8-3 lead.
Indiana State put runners on base in the eighth and ninth innings against Valparaiso reliever Ryan Kruse, but the Sycamores were unable to string together the rally to keep the game alive in falling in the conference opener.
Thomas Emerich doubled to highlight Indiana State’s five hits in the contest. Gipson added three RBIs and a stolen base, while Taylor added a steal in the loss.
McEwen went 5.0 innings allowing two hits and four runs (three earned) in taking the Friday night loss. The redshirt sophomore added two walks and two hits-batsmen while striking out six. Carson Seeman was effective with 2.0 shutout innings in relief, while Moss, Laird, Gavin Morris, and Breyllin Suriel went the final 2.0 innings to close out the contest.
Ryan Maka had two of Valparaiso’s seven hits in the win and added the Beacons’ lone extra-base hit with a double to highlight the visitors’ offensive. Sullivan and Warfield finished with two RBIs apiece.
How They Scored
Indiana State took the early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as Carter Beck reached on a dropped fly ball by the Valparaiso centerfielder, before coming around to score on Eli Gipson’s RBI ground out.
The Beacons took advantage of an Indiana State error in the top of the third inning to plate four runs in the frame. Kade Reinertson’s sacrifice bunt was fielded by Indiana State pitcher Max McEwen, but the ball was thrown down the right field line allowing Bryan Hatch to score the first run and tie it up at 1-1.
Valparaiso added two more runs on Case Sullivan’s RBI single through the left side scoring Reinertson and Connor Giusti, while Thomas Cooper connected on a sacrifice fly scoring Sullivan to provide the 4-1 margin.
Gipson drove in two more Indiana State runs in the bottom of the seventh as the junior infielder connected on a bases-loaded single through the right side of the infield scoring Jorge Cartagena and Jackson Taylor to cut the deficit down to 4-3.
Valparaiso responded with four runs in the top of the eighth with Kevin Denty (RBI single), Spencer Warfield (two-run single), and Hatch (RBI sacrifice fly) providing insurance and the final 8-3 result on the scoreboard.
News & Notes
Carlos Pena ran his on-base streak to 16 consecutive games after singling in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Keegan Garis’ on-base streak reached 12 consecutive games after getting hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the eighth.
Indiana State’s winning streak against Valparaiso was halted at 25 consecutive games dating back to March 31, 2007, when Valpo last topped the Sycamores, 11-2.
The Sycamores have posted a 46-9 record in Missouri Valley play dating back to the start of the 2023 conference season. Eight of the nine losses have come in the opening game of the series.
Indiana State will look to keep its conference series winning streak alive tomorrow as the Sycamores have won 19 consecutive MVC series dating back to the end of the 2022 season.
Up Next
Indiana State continues Missouri Valley play tomorrow afternoon with a doubleheader against Valparaiso set to start at 1 p.m. ET. The games will be carried live on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
INDIANA STATE SOFTBALL
WELCH, ESPOSITO HOMER AS SYCAMORES TAKE SERIES OPENER OVER MURRAY STATE
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State opened its three-game series against Murray State with a 2-0 victory, powered by home runs from Hannah Welch and Sophie Esposito, along with a dominant performance in the circle from Hailey Griffin.
Griffin (5-5) was nearly untouchable, tossing a complete-game one-hitter while striking out seven and allowing just one walk.
She set the tone early, retiring the first nine batters she faced and holding the Racers hitless until the fourth inning, when Minor recorded their lone hit of the game.
Welch put the Sycamores on the board in the bottom of the second, launching her second home run of the season—and her career—to give Indiana State a 1-0 lead.
Her solo shot also forced a Murray State pitching change. The Sycamores continued to threaten in the inning, loading the bases after a Brailey Mills single and walks from Bri Marx and Madison Poulson, but the Racers escaped with a strikeout to limit the damage.
Esposito kept the offensive momentum going in the third, leading off with a deep shot over the center fielder’s head for her second triple of the season. She later added to Indiana State’s lead in the fifth, crushing her second home run of the season—and her career—to make it 2-0.
With Griffin dealing in the circle and the defense behind her holding strong, the Sycamores secured the shutout win to take the series opener.
Up Next:
The Sycamores will continue their series against Murray State tomorrow with a doubleheader. The first game will start at noon, followed by the second game at 2:30 PM.
PURDUE FT. WAYNE VOLLEYBALL
LOGAN MUIR’S CAREER-HIGH 26 KILLS LEAD ‘DONS OVER QUINCY
QUINCY, Ill. – The Purdue Fort Wayne men’s volleyball team fended off Quincy in a five-set contest (25-23, 22-25, 25-16, 23-25, 16-14) on Friday (March 21). Logan Muir contributed a career-high 26 kills and added in seven solo blocks, tying the second-highest mark in program history.
Donny Gleason notched his 100th win as a head coach following the victory.
The teams found themselves neck-and-neck to start the third set, after both sides split the opening sets. The Mastodons took the lead at 8-6 following a kill from setter Andrej Polomac and back-to-back service aces from Kaden Fosdick. The ‘Dons added on a 7-1 run to extend their lead to 16-9. Purdue Fort Wayne’s momentum continued on through the remainder of the set, ending on a 6-2 run to win the third 25-16. The ‘Dons hit a match-high .412 hitting percentage in the set and held Quincy to a match-low -.037.
The Hawks responded in the fourth set, jumping out to a 4-1 lead and adding an 8-3 run shortly after for a 12-6 lead. The Mastodons had an answer, springing out on their own 7-2 run to cut into Quincy’s lead. Purdue Fort Wayne managed to tie the set at 23-23 after a 4-1 surge late in the fourth. The Hawks finished the set at 25-23 with a service ace, sending the match to a fifth set.
Both sides opened the fifth set by trading several two point swings, resulting in Quincy leading 8-6 when the teams switched sides. Purdue Fort Wayne found themselves facing defeat at a 14-13 Hawks lead, but the Mastodons strung together a 3-0 run to take the victory.
Muir impressed in the first set, putting away an early eight kills to aid the ‘Dons in taking the set one. Quincy’s blazing match-high .480 hitting percentage in the second set proved too much for the Mastodons to handle, evening the set score 1-1.
Polomac assisted on 51 kills and added eight digs on the night. Fosdick added 10 kills, eight digs and three assists in the contest. Axel Melendez Watts finished with 12 kills and seven digs.
Purdue Fort Wayne climbs to 9-10, 2-8 in MIVA play. Quincy falls to 7-11, 1-8 in the MIVA. The Mastodons travel to Lindenwood on March 22.
PURDUE FT. WAYNE BASEBALL
THREE-RUN NINTH IGNITES WIN AT YSU
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Purdue Fort Wayne scored three runs in the ninth inning with two outs to defeat Youngstown State 5-4 in Horizon League baseball action on Friday (March 21) afternoon.
The Mastodons had runners on second and third with two outs trailing YSU 3-2 in the ninth. Drew Helton singled on a 2-0 pitch to score Ryan Jenkins to tie the game. Grant Sawa followed with a walk and back-to-back hit by pitch batters put the Mastodons up 5-3.
Rex Stills calmed a YSU threat in the ninth by allowing just one inherited runner to score. Stills got the save for an inning of work.
Kevin Hall tripled in the third inning and scored on a Camden Karczewski sacrifice fly. Later on in the game, it was Karczewski starting the rally in the ninth with a leadoff four-pitch walk. Hall finished with a pair of hits in the game.
Freshman Aidan Pearson threw three scoreless innings out of the pen to get his first collegiate win. He struck out a pair and his infield turned a double play in the seventh to ensure he only faced the minimum.
Tommy Rover hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning to put YSU up 3-1. The Penguins held the lead until two outs in the ninth. Mike Rodriques got a blown save and the loss for YSU.
The Penguins fall to 3-17 (1-3 Horizon League). The ‘Dons improve to 2-18 (1-3 Horizon League).
The three-game series will continue on Saturday.
EVANSVILLE SOFTBALL
RIDGWAY’S GEM NOT ENOUGH AS ACES DROP OPENER TO BEARS
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Freshman Kate Ridgway allowed just two runs on five hits in six innings of work on Friday, but two late runs saw Missouri State defeat the University of Evansville softball team by a final score of 2-0 in the series opener.
A pitcher’s duel ensued as Ridgway and McKenzie Vaughan held the opposing offenses in check through the first 5 ½ innings. The Bears plated two runs in the bottom of the sixth before completing the shutout.
Niki Bode recorded a hit for the Purple Aces in the top of the first while Brooke Voss reached on a hit in the second. Missouri State registered its first hit of the day in the bottom of the fourth. In the top of the fifth, UE looked to break the scoreless tie as Miriah Powell reached on a 1-out walk before Kynadee Warner singled with two outs. A foul out ended the threat.
Morgan Adams led the top of the sixth off with a double, but a fly out and two groundouts kept things scoreless. The Bears capitalized in the bottom of the frame as two RBI singles gave them the lead.
Vaughan allowed just four UE hits while Ridgway held the Bears to five hits.
The squads will decide the series with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 2 p.m.
EVANSVILLE BASEBALL
UE BASEBALL OPENS MVC PLAY WITH 6-5 WIN OVER MURRAY STATE
MURRAY, Ky. – The University of Evansville baseball team returned to the win column on Friday afternoon with its first Missouri Valley Conference victory of 2025.
The Purple Aces were able to overcome a three-run deficit for their first win in almost two weeks and start MVC play with a 1-0 record. UE’s defense helped power Evansville to the victory by only allowing one runner in scoring position make it home on 11 chances for the Murray State Racers. At the plate infielder Cal McGinnis (Kimberly, Wis. / Bradley) led the way with his third three-hit game of the season while scoring two runs and adding two RBIs.
For the second game this week it was all defense early at Johnny Reagan Field. Aces starter Kenton Deverman (Dardenne Prairie, Mo. / Fort Zumwalt West HS) didn’t allow a run in his first two innings of work while striking out a Murray State batter and drawing a double play. But it was the Racers who scored first in the bottom of the third with four hits. Murray State scored three in the half inning to put UE down early.
Evansville started to answer in the fourth inning as McGinnis connected on his first hit of the day. The Aces soon had the bases loaded with two singles and a walk and were able to capitalize with a sacrifice fly. UE only brought the one run home in the top of the fourth but held the Racers scoreless in the bottom of the inning to only trail by two runs.
The top of the fifth inning was big for Evansville as its first three batters reached base to load them with no outs. McGinnis added his two RBIs on Friday with the bases loaded putting the ball into left field on a double and tying the game at three runs each. The Aces took the lead on their next at-bat as sophomore utility Brodie Peart (Markham, Ontario) ground out to short for the fourth run.
Relief pitcher Max Hansmann (Elmhurst, Ill. / York HS) shut down the Racers in the fifth with two strikeouts in four batters. He also worked his way out of a bases loaded jam in the sixth inning with a strikeout looking and a ground out to the mound. UE added its insurance runs in the top of the seventh with two hits and two walks in four at-bats.
Murray State walked in a run for Evansville making it a 5-3 game. On the next at-bat infielder Drew McConnell (Blue Springs, Mo. / Blue Springs HS) hit a sacrifice fly to left field scoring the Aces sixth and final run of the game. The Racers didn’t go down without a fight as they added a run in the eighth and the ninth innings with only a hit. But UE shut the door as Peart moved onto the mound with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. Peart threw a strikeout while also drawing three putouts to earn his first collegiate save and give Evansville a 6-5 win to begin conference play.
Left fielder Charlie Longmeier (Seymour, Ind. / Seymour HS) was the other Ace with multiple hits against Murray State. Longmeier connected in two at-bats and walked twice. Catcher Matt Flaherty (Lake Zurich, Ill. / Bellarmine) brought in two runs on two separate at-bats to help with UE’s six RBIs. Hansmann earned his first win of the season while Peart picked up his first collegiate save in the victory.
Evansville gets right back to work tomorrow afternoon with a doubleheader against the Racers starting at noon.
SOUTHERN INDIANA SOFTBALL
USI DROPS SERIES OPENER AT MOREHEAD STATE
MOREHEAD, Ky. – University of Southern Indiana Softball dropped its series opener at Morehead State University Friday afternoon, 9-0 in five innings, to begin a road series in Ohio Valley Conference play.
Following two and a half scoreless innings on Friday, Morehead State (2-25, 1-6 OVC) quickly took hold of momentum and exploded for a big frame in the bottom of the third inning. The home Eagles tallied nine runs on nine hits in the inning, including a three-run home run.
Trailing 9-0, Southern Indiana (5-16, 2-4 OVC) sought to respond in the top of the fourth. Freshman catcher Jordan Mackey led off with a double, and after a walk, senior third baseman Whitley Hunter singled to load the bases. However, a double play and a strikeout ended the USI threat, and Morehead State went on to close out the game in five innings.
Junior outfielder Caroline Stapleton had two of USI’s four hits in the game. Senior pitcher Josie Newman (3-10) tossed four innings and struck out five in the start.
Morehead State totaled 12 hits with every player in the batting order recording at least one hit. Junior pitcher Rylie Burney (1-12) picked up her first win of the season in the five-inning shutout.
Southern Indiana and Morehead State conclude the series Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. CT. The twin bill can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+ and heard on The Spin 95.7 FM. Additional coverage can be found at usiscreamingeagles.com.
SOUTHERN INDIANA BASEBALL
SCREAMING EAGLES DROP OVC OPENER AT WIU
MACOMB, Ill. – University of Southern Indiana Baseball allowed three big innings to Western Illinois University, falling 15-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference 2025 opener Friday afternoon in Macomb, Illinois. USI is 8-13 overall and 0-1 in the OVC after today’s game, while WIU goes 6-12, 1-0 OVC this year.
The Screaming Eagles found themselves in a hole after the first frame as the Leathernecks scored five times in the first to lead 5-0. USI would cut the deficit to three with a pair of runs in the third inning to make the score 5-2.
USI junior first baseman Kannon Coakley drove in the first run with an RBI double to right center to score senior centerfielder Khi Holiday, who had walked and advanced to second on a ground out. Coakley would cross the plate with USI’s second run when sophomore rightfielder Cameron Boyd doubled off the right center wall for the RBI.
The Leathernecks responded by scoring 10 unanswered runs, four in the fifth, two in the sixth, and four in the seventh to lead 15-2. USI answered with three runs in the top of the ninth on an RBI single by junior catcher Micajah Wall and a two-run double by Holiday before WIU closed out the 15-5 final.
On the mound for USI, junior right-hander Andres Gonzalez started and took the loss. Gonzalez (0-3) allowed seven runs on five hits and four walks, while striking out five in 4.1 innings of work.
Up Next for the Eagles:
The Eagles and the Leathernecks continue the series Saturday and conclude Sunday. Both games are scheduled for 1 p.m.
USI returns home to the USI Baseball Field March 28-30 when the Eagles host the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for a three-game OVC series.
VALPO BASEBALL
VALPO BEATS INDIANA STATE FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2007, SNAPS 25-GAME HEAD-TO-HEAD SKID
The Valparaiso University baseball team is 1-0 in Missouri Valley Conference play.
A gem from starting pitcher Connor Lockwood (Libertyville, Ill. / Libertyville) and four runs apiece in the third and eighth innings helped the Beacons beat defending Missouri Valley Conference regular-season champion Indiana State 8-3 on Friday night at Bob Warn Field in Terre Haute. In the process, Valpo captured its first win over the Sycamores since 2007, snapping a 25-game head-to-head losing streak including 20 straight since joining the MVC.
How It Happened
Indiana State picked up an unearned run in the opening inning to inch out to a 1-0 lead.
With two on and nobody out in the top of the third, Kade Reinertson (Huxley, Iowa / Ballard Community) laid down a bunt, and a wild throw to first on the sacrifice allowed a run to come in and score, tying the game at one. Redshirt freshman Case Sullivan (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) followed with a two-run single to left, putting the Beacons ahead 3-1.
Valpo extended the lead to 4-1 as Thomas Cooper (Brentwood, Tenn. / Ravenwood) lifted a sacrifice fly, capping a four-run third inning. In the bottom of the third, Valpo starter Connor Lockwood (Libertyville, Ill. / Libertyville) struck out three and pitched around an error to put a zero on the board for the second straight frame.
Lockwood retired the side in order in the fourth, then added zeroes in the fifth and sixth. In the seventh, Indiana State got two unearned runs as the inning was extended by an error, but Lockwood fanned two more including a looking strikeout to end the frame with the potential tying run stranded at third.
Lockwood, who finished with 120 pitches, walked just one and that did not occur until his final inning of work. He racked up 10 strikeouts while scattering five hits and allowing no earned runs as all three runs that crossed the plate against him were unearned.
Valpo tacked on four insurance runs in the top of the eighth, expanding the lead to 8-3. Sophomore Kevin Denty (Tinley Park, Ill. / Marian Catholic) singled to drive in one, then a two-run single by Spencer Warfield (Fullerton, Calif. / Servite) widened the gap to four. Valpo got one more as Bryan Hatch (Des Plaines, Ill. / St. Viator) lifted a sacrifice fly to make it 8-3.
Valpo went to the bullpen in the top of the eighth, and Ryan Kruse (Detroit, Mich. / U of D Jesuit) put a zero on the board to keep Valpo in front 8-3. He delivered another scoreless frame in the bottom of the ninth to finish out the triumph.
Inside the Game
Lockwood’s 10 strikeouts were one shy of a career high set on Feb. 22 of this season at Memphis, when he struck out 11. This marked the third time this season that he had seven or more strikeouts and one or fewer walks.
This marked the first time Valpo opened conference play with a win since joining The Valley prior to the 2018 season. Valpo had lost seven straight league lid-lifters dating back to a March 18, 2016 Horizon League win over Northern Kentucky.
Valpo’s last win over Indiana State was March 31, 2007, an 11-2 triumph in the first game of a doubleheader. Valpo had lost eight straight head-to-head matchups prior to 2007, so dating back to 1998 Valpo owned a 1-33 record against Indiana State before Friday.
Maka had two hits including a double for the team’s only extra-base knock and one of two extra-base hits total in the game. He extended his on-base streak to 16, while Cooper stretched his hitting streak to eight.
Valpo owned a 7-5 edge in the hit column and survived three errors. The five hits allowed tied a season best for the Valpo pitching staff with Feb. 23 at Memphis.
Valpo scored eight runs or more for the fourth time in the last five games.
The victory came over an Indiana State team that went 44-15 (22-5 MVC) and won the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season crown last year. Valpo has wins over the defending Big Ten and Missouri Valley Conference regular-season champions within the last week.
Up Next
The Beacons (5-12, 1-0 MVC) and Sycamores will play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at noon CT / 1 p.m. ET. Please note the schedule change due to Sunday’s weather forecast. The games will air on ESPN+ with links to live video and stats available on ValpoAthletics.com.
VALPO SOFTBALL
SOFTBALL FALLS IN HOME OPENER TO SIU FRIDAY
The Valpo softball team lifted the lid on its 2025 home schedule Friday afternoon at the Valpo Softball Complex, but a seven-run top of the first from visiting Southern Illinois proved too big a deficit to overcome as the Beacons fell in MVC action to the Salukis, 10-4.
How It Happened
The Salukis sent 12 batters to the plate in the top of the first to jump out to a 7-0 lead. Valpo was actually one strike away from getting out of the frame down just 2-0, but Mikaela Coburn connected on a 3-run homer and SIU added two more runs later in the inning.
The Beacons responded immediately in their first turn at the plate. Marissa Jackson (Willis, Mich./Huron) reached on an infield single with one out and Mack Gallagher (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East [MSU Moorhead]) drew a walk behind her to put two on base for Azalya Lopez (Corona, Calif./Eleanor Roosevelt [MSU Moorhead]). The junior worked a full count and then drilled the 3-2 pitch over the fence in left-center to bring Valpo within 7-3.
Valpo had an opportunity to cut further into the deficit as the inning continued, with a two-out double from Kim Rodas (San Bernardino, Calif./Cajon) putting two runners into scoring position. But a groundout ended the frame, holding the Beacons to the three runs.
For as much offense as the opening inning featured, the next few frames were diametrically opposed to the first. A one-out double for SIU in the top of the third was the only baserunner for either team from the second through the fourth inning, as the pitchers and defense settled in. Jackson made a diving catch in center field on a shallow line drive to close out a 1-2-3 top of the fourth.
A one-out walk in the top of the fifth was erased on the back half of a strike ’em out, throw ’em out double play as Madison Vrastil (Oak Forest, Ill./Andrew) cut the runner down trying to steal.
The Beacons put together a mini two-out rally in the fifth as a single from Jackson and a walk by Gallagher put two on before a grounder ended the inning.
Valpo’s best chance at cutting further into the deficit came in the bottom of the sixth. The Beacons loaded the bases on a trio of singles from Lexi Szostak (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park), Rodas and Sophia Leitzen (Orfordville, Wis./Brodhead), and following an SIU pitching chance, a grounder off the bat of Kayden Krug (Milford, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) was misplayed by the Saluki shortstop, allowing all runners to advance safely, making it a 7-4 game and bringing the potential go-ahead run to the plate with just one out. Back-to-back strikeouts kept the Beacons from adding to their ledger, however.
Consecutive homers for SIU in the top of the seventh pushed the Salukis’ lead to 10-4. Valpo got two runners on base in its last turn at the plate, but was unable to put together a comeback.
Inside the Game
Friday’s game, played on March 21, is tied for the third-earliest home opener in program history by calendar date and is Valpo’s earliest home debut since 2015.
Lopez’s home run was her first as a Beacon. She previously went deep twice in her two seasons at MSU Moorhead.
Lopez’s three RBIs matched her season high as well.
Jackson and Rodas both posted multi-hit games, for both players their respective third-such game of the season.
Jackson was kept busy in center field as well, recording a season-high seven putouts.
Lopez took the loss for the Beacons in the circle, falling to 6-6 as she started and was unable to get out of the first inning.
Erin Metz (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) did some strong work in relief, throwing five consecutive shutout innings after surrendering a pair of tallies in the first.
Caitlyn Quickle (Leesburg, Ohio/Fairfield Local) made her fourth relief appearance of the season and her first without allowing a run, as she tallied a trio of outs in the seventh.
Vrastil did not reach base on Friday, snapping her 22-game on-base streak to start her collegiate career. It also broke the freshman’s 13-game hitting streak.
Next Up
Valpo (12-11, 1-2 MVC) will attempt to play a doubleheader with SIU on Saturday afternoon to conclude the three-game MVC series. First pitch of game one is slated for 2 p.m.
LL COLLEGE WEB SITES
UINDY ATHLETICS: https://athletics.uindy.edu/
MARIAN ATHLETICS: https://muknights.com/
INDIANA WESLEYAN ATHLETICS: https://iwuwildcats.com/
EARLHAM ATHLETICS: https://goearlham.com/
WABASH ATHLETICS: https://sports.wabash.edu/
FRANKLIN ATHLETICS: https://franklingrizzlies.com/
ROSE-HULMAN ATHLETICS: https://athletics.rose-hulman.edu/
ANDERSON ATHLETICS: https://athletics.anderson.edu/landing/index
TRINE ATHLETICS: https://trinethunder.com/landing/index
BETHEL ATHLETICS: https://bupilots.com/
DEPAUW ATHLETICS: https://depauwtigers.com/
HANOVER ATHLETICS: https://athletics.hanover.edu/
MANCHESTER ATHLETICS: https://muspartans.com/
HUNTINGTON ATHLETICS: https://www.huathletics.com/
OAKLAND CITY ATHLETICS: https://gomightyoaks.com/index.aspx
ST. FRANCIS ATHLETICS: https://www.saintfranciscougars.com/landing/index
IU KOKOMO ATHLETICS: https://iukcougars.com/
IU EAST ATHLETICS: https://www.iueredwolves.com/
IU SOUTH BEND ATHLETICS: https://iusbtitans.com/
PURDUE NORTHWEST ATHLETICS: https://pnwathletics.com/
INDIANA TECH ATHLETICS: https://indianatechwarriors.com/index.aspx
GRACE COLLEGE ATHLETICS: https://gclancers.com/
ST. MARY OF THE WOODS ATHLETICS: https://smwcathletics.com/
GOSHEN COLLEGE ATHLETICS: https://goleafs.net/
HOLY CROSS ATHLETICS: https://www.hcsaints.com/index.php
TAYLOR ATHLETICS: https://www.taylortrojans.com/
VINCENNES ATHLETICS: https://govutrailblazers.com/landing/index
“SPORTS EXTRA”
TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1939 The 20-year-old injury-plagued Pete Reiser homers in his first at-bat during the Dodgers’ second spring training game, beginning a streak of ten consecutive hits. ‘Pistol Pete,’ one of 74 minor-leaguer free agents when Commissioner Landis ruled the Cardinals signed too many players to play on multiple teams in the same leagues, hits .301 in 38 games with the Elmira Pioneers, the team’s Eastern League Single-A affiliate.
1962 In the first meeting between the two New York clubs, the Mets defeated the World Champion Yankees in a spring training game with a dramatic walk-off 4-3 victory at Al Lang Field. Casey Stengel, the former skipper of the Bronx Bombers, now the expansion team’s manager, clearly wanting to beat his old club, calls upon veteran Richie Ashburn, who delivers a ninth-inning pinch-hit single for the Amazins’.
1962 Roger Maris declines to pose with Mets coach Rogers Hornsby because the veteran had criticized him in the recently published autobiography, My Wars with Baseball. In the book, the 65-year-old Hall of Famer dismisses the Yankees slugger as a mediocre hitter who couldn’t bat .400 even with all of his averages added up.
1972 The Yankees trade first baseman Danny Cater to the Red Sox for lefty reliever Albert Walter Lyle. Sparky will pitch in 420 games in relief over the next seven years with a 57-40 record and a 2.41 ERA, notching 141 saves as he helps the Bronx Bombers appear in three World Series.
1986 The Yankees announce Britt Burns, an 18-game winner with the White Sox last season, will miss the entire season due to a degenerative hip condition. The 26-year-old southpaw will never throw another major league pitch, ending his eight-year career, played entirely with Chicago, with a 70-60 (.538) won-loss record.
2002 After a miserable spring trying to make the Dodgers as a bench player, 38-year-old Dante Bichette (.299, 274, 1,141) announces his retirement. The four-time affable All-Star, who played with the Angels, Brewers, Rockies, Reds, and Red Sox during his 14-year major league career, will have a brief stint as the Rockies’ batting coach in 2009.
2005 Giants’ slugger Barry Bonds, who is 11 home runs shy of passing Babe Ruth on the all-time list, indicates he may not play this season. Implicated in the sport’s steroids scandal, the 40-year-old National League MVP, who has had two knee operations, cites being physically and mentally “done,” blaming the media for his unhappiness.
2010 With the same pen he used to sign his rookie contract in 2001, Twins catcher Joe Mauer (.365, 28, 96) signs a $184 million, eight-year contract extension, keeping him with the small-market team through 2018. Last year, the 26-year-old backstop, after starting the season on the DL as a result of back surgery the previous year, captured his third batting crown and was named the American League’s Most Valuable Player.
2014 🇦🇺 At Sydney Cricket Grounds, the Dodgers defeat the Diamondbacks, 3-1, to open the Major League Baseball season. The contest marks the first regular season game played in Australia.
(Ed. Note: MLB has previously opened seasons in Mexico (1999), Japan (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012), and Puerto Rico (2001).- LP)
2016 In a game attended by Barack Obama, the first sitting United States president on Cuban soil since 1928, the Rays beat the Cuban National team, 4-1, marking the first time in 17 years a major league team has visited the island nation. In 1999 at Havana’s Estadio, the Orioles edge the home team, 3-2, thanks to Harold Baines’ eventual game-winning hit in the 11th inning.
TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
March 22
1932 — The blue lines are eliminated with the center red line used to determine offsides in an experiment by the NHL. With both teams out of playoff contention, the league tries it in the New York Americans’ 8-6 victory over Boston.
1952 — The St. John’s Redmen avenge an earlier 41-point loss, beating top-ranked Kentucky 64-57 in the East Regional championship game of the NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament. St. John’s, led by Bob Zawoluk’s NCAA tournament record 32 points, advances to its first Final Four.
1953 — The United States beats host Chile, 49-36 to win the first FIBA World Championship for Women basketball tournament.
1958 — Vern Hatton and Johnny Cox combine for 54 points to give Kentucky an 84-72 victory over Seattle in the NCAA basketball championship.
1959 — Montreal Canadiens forward Dickie Moore sets an NHL record for most points in a season with 96. He scores a goal and an assist in a 4-2 win at New York.
1969 — Lew Alcindor scores 37 points to lead UCLA to the NCAA men’s basketball title with a 97-72 win over Purdue. Alcindor is chosen as MVP for the third straight year.
1969 — West Chester State beats Western Carolina 65-39 to win the first women’s collegiate national championship. The game is played using the six-player format.
1986 — Trevor Berbick wins a unanimous 15-round decision over Pinklon Thomas in Las Vegas for the WBC heavyweight title.
1994 — The NFL announces the addition of the 2-point conversion, the league’s first scoring change in 75 seasons.
1997 — Tara Lipinski’s jumps, the cleanest and the surest in women’s figure skating, lift the 14-year-old into history as the youngest women’s world champion.
2000 — Pat Verbeek of the Detroit Red Wings scores twice in a 2-2 tie with Calgary to become the 28th player in NHL history with 500 career goals.
2007 — Kobe Bryant becomes the fourth player in NBA history to score at least 50 points in three straight games. Bryant scores 60 points in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 121-119 win over Memphis. Bryant joins Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan.
2008 — The first of two assists Colorado captain Joe Sakic has in a 7-5 loss to Edmonton are the 1,000th of his career. He is the 11th player in NHL history to reach the milestone.
2011 — The NFL owners vote to make all scoring plays subject to review by the replay official and referee.
2013 — Florida Gulf Coast, a school so new it wasn’t eligible for the NCAA men’s tournament until last year, upsets second-seeded Georgetown 78-68 in the second round of the South Regional. The Eagles used a 21-2 second-half run to pull away from the Hoyas and hold on in the final minute to become the seventh No. 15 seed to beat a No. 2.
2015 — Oklahoma advances in the NCAA Tournament with a 72-66 victory over Dayton. Sooners coach Lon Kruger becomes the second coach to take four schools to the round of 16.
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March 23
1939 — Long Island University finishes the season undefeated after a 44-32 victory over Loyola of Chicago in the NIT championship.
1944 — Maurice Richard, playing in his second Stanley Cup Playoff game, scores five goals in a 5-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup semifinals. Toe Blake has five assists.
1948 — Kentucky, behind Alex Groza and Ralph Beard, defeats Baylor 58-42 for the NCAA basketball championship.
1956 — Bill Russell leads San Francisco to an 83-71 victory over Iowa in the NCAA basketball championship.
1957 — North Carolina defeats Wilt Chamberlain and Kansas in triple-overtime to win the NCAA men’s championship. The Tar Heels win 54-53 to finish the season with a 32-0 record.
1968 — Lew Alcindor scores 34 points to carry UCLA to a 78-55 win over North Carolina in the NCAA basketball championship.
1974 — N.C. State ends UCLA’s streak of seven national championships with an 80-77 victory in double overtime of the NCAA tournament semifinals. David Thompson leads the Wolfpack with 28 points and 10 rebounds while teammate Tom Burleson scores 20 and pulls down 14 rebounds.
1991 — London beats Frankfurt 24-11 in the first World League of American Football game.
1994 — Wayne Gretzky scores his 802nd goal, passing Gordie Howe as the top goal scorer in NHL history. The Los Angeles Kings center scores in the second period for his 62nd NHL record.
1996 — Michelle Kwan caps a nearly perfect season by winning the women’s title at figure skating’s world championships for the United States’ first singles sweep since 1986.
2002 — Brendan Shanahan of the Red Wings scores his 500th career goal, breaking a scoreless tie at 7:48 of the third period. Detroit beats Colorado 2-0.
2002 — Iowa State’s Cael Sanderson becomes the first undefeated four-time NCAA wrestling champion at the NCAA championships. Sanderson beats Lehigh’s Jon Trenge 12-4 to win at 197 pounds and finish his career with a 159-0 record.
2007 — Kobe Bryant becomes the second NBA player to score at least 50 points in four straight games when he has 50 in the Lakers’ 111-105 win at New Orleans. Only Wilt Chamberlain has more, scoring at least 50 points in seven consecutive games during the 1961-62 season.
2010 — The NFL changes its overtime rules for playoff games to give both teams an opportunity to get the ball.
2014 — Quardell Young drives the length of the court for a go-ahead layup with 0.9 seconds left and Wisconsin-Whitewater holds off Williams to win the NCAA Division III men’s championship 75-73. The Warhawks (29-4), whose football team took the national championship in December, win the basketball championship for the second time in three years and fourth time in four trips to the final.
2016 — Guard Russ Smith of the Delaware 87ers scores an NBA D-League-record 65 points in a 140-129 loss to the Canton Charge.
2022 — After 114 consecutive weeks as world #1 female tennis player, 25 year old Australian Ash Barty makes unexpected retirement announcement.
2023 — Harry Kane overtakes Wayne Rooney’s record to become England’s all-time greatest goalscorer in 2-1 victory over Italy with his 54th goal.
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March 24
1936 — Detroit’s Mud Bruneteau ends the longest game in NHL history with a goal after 116 minutes and 30 seconds (six overtimes) to edge the Montreal Maroons 1-0 in the semifinals of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
1941 — Long Island University wins the NIT championship with a 56-42 victory over Ohio.
1945 — NYU battles back from a ten-point deficit with two minutes to go to send the NCAA Tournament national semifinal game into overtime. NYU wins 70-65. At the time, a team got one free throw when fouled near end of game, but could elect instead to inbound the ball. Ohio State is fouled three times, opts to shoot the foul shot and misses each time.
1956 — San Francisco’s Bill Russell has 26 points and 27 rebounds to lead the Dons to an 83-71 win over Iowa and their second-straight national title and 55th consecutive victory, then an NCAA record.
1962 — Paul Hogue scores 22 points and grabs 19 rebounds and Tom Thacker adds 21 to lead Cincinnati to a 71-59 victory over Ohio State for its second NCAA basketball championship.
1970 — Jerry West of the Los Angeles Lakers wins his only NBA scoring title, accumulating 2,309 points in 74 games for a 31.2 ppg. average.
1973 — Kansas City-Omaha’s Nate “Tiny” Archibald becomes the first player in NBA history to lead the NBA in both scoring (34.0 ppg.) and assists (11.4 apg.) in the same season.
1975 — Muhammad Ali knocks out Chuck Wepner in the 15th round to retain the world heavyweight title in Cleveland.
1975 — Princeton becomes the first Ivy League school to win the NIT title with an 80-69 win over Providence.
1979 — Indiana State, led by Larry Bird, advances to the NCAA Championship game by squeezing past DePaul 76-74. Bird has 35 points, 16 rebounds and 9 assists.
1980 — Louisville beats UCLA 59-54 to win the NCAA basketball title.
1992 — Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux becomes the 36th player in NHL history with 1,000 points, getting an assist in the second period of the Penguins’ 4-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
1994 — Kansas State’s Askia Jones scores 62 points in 28 minutes in a 115-77 victory over Fresno State in the NIT quarterfinals. Jones shoots 18-for-25 from the floor, including 14-of-18 on three-pointers, and 12-for-16 from the line.
2013 — Florida Gulf Coast goes from shocking the men’s college basketball world to downright impressing it. The Eagles beat San Diego State 81-71 to become the first No. 15 seed to reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.
2017 — Devin Booker scores 70 points, becoming the sixth different player in NBA history to reach that total, but the Boston Celtics get 34 points from Isaiah Thomas and outlast the Phoenix Suns 130-120.
2018 — Nathan Chen completes six quadruple jumps in the free program to become the first U.S. winner of the men’s world figure skating title since 2009.
2018 — Loyola Chicago romps to a 78-62 victory over Kansas State to cap off a stunning run through the bracket-busting South Regional. The Ramblers (32-5) match the lowest-seeded team ever to reach the Final Four, joining LSU (1986), George Mason (2006) and VCU (2011). The South is the first regional in tournament history to have the top four seeds — including overall No. 1 Virginia — knocked out on the opening weekend.
March 25
1934 — Horton Smith wins the first Masters golf tournament by one stroke over Craig Wood.
1947 — Holy Cross, led by George Kaftan, beats Oklahoma 58-47 in the NCAA basketball championship.
1958 — Sugar Ray Robinson regains the middleweight title for a record fifth time with a 15-round decision over Carmen Basilio.
1961 — Cincinnati ends Ohio State’s 32-game winning streak with a 70-65 win in the NCAA basketball championship. In the third-place game, St. Joseph’s beats Utah 127-120 in quadruple-overtime.
1967 — UCLA, led by sophomore Lew Alcindor’s 20 points, beats Dayton 79-64 for the NCAA basketball championship.
1972 — Bill Walton scores 24 points to lead UCLA to an 81-76 victory over Florida State and the NCAA basketball title.
1972 — Maryland beats Niagara 100-69 in the NIT championship, becoming the first team to score 100 points in the finals of the tournament.
1973 — The Philadelphia 76ers post the worst mark in NBA history at 9-73 under coaches Roy Rubin (4-47) and Kevin Loughery (5-26).
1982 — Wayne Gretzky becomes 1st NHL to score 200 points in a season.
1995 — Scotty Bowman gets his 900th regular-season coaching victory as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Canucks 2-1 in Vancouver.
2006 — Following the tradition of teenage American women pulling off big upsets, 16-year-old Kimmie Meissner uses the performance of her life to soar to the World Figure Skating Championships title.
2008 — Tennessee gives coach Pat Summitt her 100th NCAA tournament win, a 78-52 rout of host Purdue. The win sends the Lady Vols to the NCAA regional semifinals.
2011 — The Southwest regional is the first in NCAA men’s basketball history with three double-digit seeded teams in the semifinals. Virginia Commonwealth, an 11th seed beats 10th seed Florida State 72-71 in overtime and the top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks beat No. 12 seed Richmond 77-57 in the region’s other semifinal.
2012 — In the NBA’s first quadruple-overtime game since 1997, Joe Johnson scores 37 points and Josh Smith adds 22 as the Atlanta Hawks beat Utah 139-133. The four overtimes tie for the third-longest game in NBA history.
2016 — Klay Thompson scores 40 points and Stephen Curry adds 33 to help the Golden State Warriors become the second team to post back-to-back 65-win seasons with a 128-120 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. The Warriors improve their record to 65-7 following a 67-win season a year ago. The only other team to win at least 65 games in consecutive seasons was Chicago in 1995-96 and 1996-97.
2017 — Arrogate shows his class again in the $10 million Dubai World Cup as he comes from last place to win by an impressive 2 1/4 lengths.
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March 26
1944 — St. John’s, coached by Joe Lapchick, cruises by DePaul 47-39 to become the first back-to-back winner of the National Invitation Tournament.
1946 — Hank Iba’s Oklahoma A&M Aggies beat North Carolina 43-40 for their second straight NCAA men’s basketball title. Bob Kurland scores 23 points, including the first two dunks in NCAA tournament history.
1949 — Alex Groza leads Kentucky to a 46-36 victory over Oklahoma State for the NCAA championship.
1952 — Kansas’ Clyde Lovelette scores 33 points to lead the Jayhawks to a 80-63 win over St. John’s for the NCAA basketball title.
1972 — The Los Angeles Lakers beat Seattle 124-98 to finish the season at 69-13, the best record in NBA history, until the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls finish at 72-10.
1973 — Bill Walton scores 44 points to help UCLA win its record seventh NCAA basketball championship with an 87-66 triumph over Memphis State.
1974 — George Foreman knocks out Ken Norton in the second round in Caracas, Venezuela, to retain the world heavyweight title.
1994 — Utah’s John Stockton becomes the second player in NBA history to collect 2,000 career steals. Stockton gets a pair of steals during a 98-83 loss at Houston to join Maurice Cheeks, who finished his career with 2,310 steals.
2005 — In the NCAA men’s basketball regional finals, Louisville and Illinois make tremendous comebacks to force overtime and advance. Louisville, trailing by 20 to a West Virginia, complete an amazing come-from-behind 93-85 win. Illinois, trailing by 15 with just four minutes to play, went on a dazzling 20-5 run to send Arizona to a crushing 90-89 defeat.
2006 — George Mason stuns No. 1 seed Connecticut 86-84 in overtime to become the first No. 11 seed to reach the men’s Final Four since LSU in 1986.
2011 — Shelvin Mack scores 27 points, including five in overtime, as Butler returns to the Final Four with a 74-71 victory over Florida in the Southeast regional.
2012 — Jaime Alas scores in stoppage time and El Salvador forges a 3-3 tie that ousts the United States from Olympic qualifying. The Americans miss the Olympics for the second time since 1976.
2016 — Breanna Stewart has 22 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks to lead No. 1 UConn to a 98-38 record rout of fifth-seeded Mississippi State in the Bridgeport regional semifinals. The victory supplants the record 51-point win the Huskies had over Texas in the regional semifinals last year that set the NCAA record for margin of victory in the regional rounds and beyond.
2017 — Luke Maye hits a jumper with 0.3 seconds left, and top-seeded North Carolina holds off Kentucky 75-73 in the South Regional to earn a second straight trip to the Final Four and 20th all-time.
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March 27
1939 — Oregon beats Ohio State 46-33 in the NCAA’s first national basketball tournament.
1942 — Joe Louis knocks out Abe Simon in the sixth round at Madison Square Garden to retain his world heavyweight title.
1945 — Oklahoma A&M beats New York University 49-45 for the NCAA basketball championship.
1951 — Bill Spivey scores 22 points to lead Kentucky to a 68-58 win over Kansas State for the NCAA basketball title.
1960 — The Boston Celtics score a then NBA Finals record 76 points in the first half a 140-122 win over the St. Louis Hawks. Tom Heinsohn (24), Bill Sharman (23), Frank Ramsey (22) and Bob Cousy (20) each score 20-or-more points to win the series opener.
1971 — UCLA beats Villanova 68-62 for its fifth NCAA basketball title.
1978 — Jack Givens scores 41 points to lead Kentucky to a 94-88 victory over Duke for the NCAA basketball title.
1983 — Larry Holmes wins a unanimous 12-round decision over Lucien Rodriguez to retain his world heavyweight title in his hometown of Scranton, Pa.
2005 — Annika Sorenstam shoots a final-round 68 to finish at 15-under to win the Nabisco Championship by eight shots over Rosie Jones. It’s he 59th victory of the Swedish star’s LPGA Tour career — and her eighth major championship win.
2010 — Long shot Al Shemali wins the $5 million Dubai Duty Free, pulling away from a crowded field to pull off a surprisingly easy win in the Dubai World Cup. Al Shemali, at 40-1, starts slow then duels it out with Bankable before taking the lead for good.
2011 — Jamie Skeen scores 26 points as Virginia Commonwealth delivers the biggest upset of the NCAA tournament, a 71-61 win over No. 1 seed Kansas in the Southwest Regional final.
2014 — The Philadelphia 76ers tie the NBA record for futility with their 26th straight loss, falling 120-98 to the Houston Rockets. Philadelphia matches the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers for the NBA’s worst skid.
2017 — UConn’s women’s basketball team advance to its 10th consecutive Final Four with a 90-52 victory against Oregon. The victory moves coach Geno Auriemma past Pat Summitt for the most NCAA Tournament victories at 113.
TV SPORTS SATURDAY
| MLB SPRING TRAINING | TIME ET | TV |
| Cincinnati vs San Diego | 4:10pm | MLBN |
| NBA REGULAR SEASON | TIME ET | TV |
| Brooklyn Nets vs Indiana Pacers | 5:00pm | YES FanDuel Sports IND |
| Golden State Warriors vs Atlanta Hawks | 7:00pm | NBCS-BAY FanDuel Sports ATL |
| Washington Wizards vs New York Knicks | 8:00pm | MNMT2 MSG |
| Milwaukee Bucks vs Sacramento Kings | 10:00pm | NBATV FanDuel Sports WI NBCS-CA |
| Chicago Bulls vs Los Angeles Lakers | 10:30pm | CHSN Spectrum |
| NHL REGULAR SEASON | TIME ET | TV |
| Vancouver Canucks vs New York Rangers | 1:00pm | NHLN MSG Sportsnet |
| Philadelphia Flyers vs Dallas Stars | 2:00pm | ESPN+ Victory+ NBCS-PHI |
| Buffalo Sabres vs Minnesota Wild | 2:00pm | ESPN+ FanDuel Sports North MSG-BUF |
| Chicago Blackhawks vs St. Louis Blues | 3:00pm | ESPN+ FanDuel Sports MW CHSN |
| Calgary Flames vs New York Islanders | 4:00pm | ESPN+ MSGSN Sportsnet |
| Carolina Hurricanes vs Los Angeles Kings | 4:00pm | ESPN+ FanDuel Sports South FanDuel Sports West |
| Florida Panthers vs Washington Capitals | 5:00pm | ESPN+ MNMT Scripps |
| Tampa Bay Lightning vs Utah Hockey Club | 5:00pm | ESPN+ FanDuel Sports Sun Utah16 |
| Colorado Avalanche vs Montreal Canadiens | 7:00pm | ESPN+ ALT Sportsnet |
| Ottawa Senators vs New Jersey Devils | 7:00pm | ESPN+ MSGSN2 Sportsnet |
| Toronto Maple Leafs vs Nashville Predators | 7:00pm | ESPN+ FanDuel Sports South Sportsnet |
| Detroit Red Wings vs Vegas Golden Knights | 8:00pm | ABC ESPN+ |
| Seattle Kraken vs Edmonton Oilers | 10:00pm | ESPN+ KONG Sportsnet |
| Boston Bruins vs San Jose Sharks | 10:30pm | ESPN+ NESN NBCS-CA |
| MEN’S NCAA BASKETBALL | TIME ET | TV |
| NCAA Second Round | – | – |
| NCAA Second Round | – | – |
| NCAA Second Round | – | – |
| NCAA Second Round | – | – |
| NCAA Second Round | – | – |
| NCAA Second Round | – | – |
| NCAA Second Round | – | – |
| NCAA Second Round | – | – |
| NIT Second Round | – | – |
| NIT Second Round | – | – |
| NIT Second Round | – | – |
| NIT Second Round | – | – |
| MOTORSPORTS | TIME ET | TV |
| Xfinity: NASCAR Xfinity S Race at Homestead-Miami | 4:00pm | CW |
| GOLF | TIME ET | TV |
| PGA Tour: Valspar Championship | 1:00pm | GOLF |
| PGA Tour: Valspar Championship | 3:00pm | NBC |
| BOWLING | TIME ET | TV |
| PBA Tour: WSOB XVI World Championship | 3:00pm | FS1 |
| FISHING | TIME ET | TV |
| Bassmaster Classic | 12:00pm | FOX |
| SOCCER | TIME ET | TV |
| World Cup Qualifying: Liechtenstein vs North Macedonia | 10:00am | FS1 fuboTV |
| World Cup Qualifying: Moldova vs Norway | 1:00pm | FS2 fuboTV |
| World Cup Qualifying: Montenegro vs Gibraltar | 1:00pm | Tubi fuboTV |
| MLS: Cincinnati vs Atlanta United | 2:30pm | MLS Season Pass |
| World Cup Qualifying: Israel vs Estonia | 3:45pm | Tubi fuboTV |
| World Cup Qualifying: Wales vs Kazakhstan | 3:45pm | fuboTV |
| World Cup Qualifying: Czech Republic vs Faroe Islands | 3:45pm | fuboTV |
| MLS: Minnesota United vs LA Galaxy | 4:30pm | MLS Season Pass |
| MLS: Charlotte vs SJ Earthquakes | 7:30pm | MLS Season Pass |
| MLS: Columbus Crew vs New York City | 7:30pm | MLS Season Pass |
| MLS: New York RB vs Toronto FC | 7:30pm | MLS Season Pass |
| MLS: Orlando City SC vs DC United | 7:30pm | MLS Season Pass |
| MLS: Philadelphia Union vs St. Louis City | 7:30pm | MLS Season Pass |
| NWSL: Washington Spirit vs Kansas City Current | 7:30pm | Tubi ION |
| MLS: Nashville SC vs CF Montréal | 8:30pm | MLS Season Pass |
| MLS: Sporting KC vs Los Angeles FC | 8:30pm | MLS Season Pass |
| NWSL: Colorado Rapids vs Portland Timbers | 9:30pm | Tubi ION |
| NWSL: Real Salt Lake vs Dallas | 9:30pm | Tubi ION |
| MLS: Seattle Sounders FC vs Houston Dynamo | 10:30pm | MLS Season Pass |
| MLS: Vancouver Whitecaps vs Chicago Fire | 10:30pm | MLS Season Pass |