THE INDIANA SRN “SPORTSPAGE” MONDAY APRIL 24, 2023

NBA PLAYOFFS

NEW YORK 102 CLEVELAND 93

GOLDEN STATE 126 SACRAMENTO 125

BOSTON 129 ATLANTA 121

MINNESOTA 114 DENVER 108 OT 

NBA PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

EASTERN CONFERENCE

MILWAUKEE BUCKS (1) VS. MIAMI HEAT (8)

• GAME 1: HEAT 130, BUCKS 117

• GAME 2: BUCKS 138, HEAT 122

• GAME 3: HEAT 121, BUCKS 99

• GAME 4: BUCKS VS. HEAT | MON., APRIL 24 | 7:30 ET (TNT)

• GAME 5: HEAT VS. BUCKS | WED., APRIL 26 | 9:30 ET (NBA TV)

• *GAME 6: BUCKS VS. HEAT | FRI., APRIL 28 | TBD

• *GAME 7: HEAT VS. BUCKS | SUN., APRIL 30 | TBD

HEAT LEAD SERIES 2-1

BOSTON CELTICS (2) VS. ATLANTA HAWKS (7)

• GAME 1: CELTICS 112, HAWKS 99

• GAME 2: CELTICS 119, HAWKS 106

• GAME 3: HAWKS 130, CELTICS 122

• GAME 4: CELTICS 129, HAWKS 121

• GAME 5: HAWKS VS. CELTICS | TUES., APRIL 25 | 7:30 ET (TNT)

• *GAME 6: CELTICS VS. HAWKS | THURS., APRIL 27 | TBD

• *GAME 7: HAWKS VS. CELTICS | SAT., APRIL 29 | TBD

CELTICS LEAD SERIES 2-1

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS (3) VS. BROOKLYN NETS (6)

• GAME 1: 76ERS 121, NETS 101

• GAME 2: 76ERS 96, NETS 84

• GAME 3: 76ERS 102, NETS 97

• GAME 4: 76ERS 96, NETS 88

76ERS WIN SERIES 4-0

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (4) VS. NEW YORK KNICKS (5)

• GAME 1: KNICKS 101, CAVALIERS 97

• GAME 2: CAVALIERS 107, KNICKS 90

• GAME 3: KNICKS 99, CAVALIERS 79

• GAME 4: KNICKS 102, CAVALIERS 93

• GAME 5: KNICKS VS. CAVALIERS | WED., APRIL 26 | 7 ET (NBA TV)

• *GAME 6: CAVALIERS VS. KNICKS | TBD

• *GAME 7: KNICKS VS. CAVALIERS | TBD

KNICKS LEAD SERIES 3-1

WESTERN CONFERENCE

DENVER NUGGETS (1) VS. MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES (8)

• GAME 1: NUGGETS 109, TIMBERWOLVES 80

• GAME 2: NUGGETS 122, TIMBERWOLVES 113

• GAME 3: NUGGETS 120, TIMBERWOLVES 111

• GAME 4: TIMBERWOLVES 114, NUGGETS 108 (OT)

• GAME 5: TIMBERWOLVES VS. NUGGETS | TUES., APRIL 25 | 9 ET (NBA TV)

• *GAME 6: NUGGETS VS. TIMBERWOLVES | THURS., APRIL 27 | TBD

• *GAME 7: TIMBERWOLVES VS. NUGGETS | SAT., APRIL 29 | TBD

NUGGETS LEAD SERIES 3-0

MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES (2) VS. L.A. LAKERS (7)

• GAME 1: LAKERS 128, GRIZZLIES 112

• GAME 2: GRIZZLIES 103, LAKERS 93

• GAME 3: LAKERS 111, GRIZZLIES 101

• GAME 4: GRIZZLIES VS. LAKERS | MON., APRIL 24 | 10 ET (TNT)

• GAME 5: LAKERS VS. GRIZZLIES | WED., APRIL 26 | 7:30 ET (TNT)

• *GAME 6: GRIZZLIES VS. LAKERS | FRI., APRIL 28 | TBD

• *GAME 7: LAKERS VS. GRIZZLIES | SUN., APRIL 30 | TBD

LAKERS LEAD SERIES 2-1

SACRAMENTO KINGS (3) VS. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (6)

• GAME 1: KINGS 126, WARRIORS 123

• GAME 2: KINGS 114, WARRIORS 106

• GAME 3: WARRIORS 114, KINGS 97

• GAME 4: WARRIORS 126, KINGS 125

• GAME 5: WARRIORS VS. KINGS | WED., APRIL 26 | 10 ET (TNT)

• GAME 6: KINGS VS. WARRIORS | FRI., APRIL 28 | TBD

• *GAME 7: WARRIORS VS. KINGS | SUN., APRIL 30 | TBD

SERIES TIED 2-2

PHOENIX SUNS (4) VS. LA CLIPPERS (5)

• GAME 1: CLIPPERS 115, SUNS 110

• GAME 2: SUNS 123, CLIPPERS 109

• GAME 3: SUNS 129, CLIPPERS 124

• GAME 4: SUNS 112, CLIPPERS 100

• GAME 5: CLIPPERS VS. SUNS | TUES., APRIL 25 | 10 ET (TNT)

• *GAME 6: SUNS VS. CLIPPERS | THURS., APRIL 27 | TBD

• *GAME 7: CLIPPERS VS. SUNS | SAT., APRIL 29 | TBD (TNT)

SUNS LEAD SERIES 3-1

* IF NECESSARY

NHL PLAYOFFS

CAROLINA 5 NY ISLANDERS 2

BOSTON 6 FLORIDA 2

DALLAS 3 MINNESOTA 2

EDMONTON 5 LOS ANGELES 4

NHL PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE

BOSTON BRUINS (A1) VS. FLORIDA PANTHERS (WC2)

BRUINS LEAD SERIES, 3-1

GAME 1: BRUINS 3, PANTHERS 1

GAME 2: PANTHERS 6, BRUINS 3

GAME 3: BRUINS 4, PANTHERS 2

GAME 4: BRUINS 6, PANTHERS 2

WED., APRIL 26: PANTHERS AT BRUINS, 7 P.M. ET; ESPN, SN, CBC, TVAS

*FRI., APRIL 28: BRUINS AT PANTHERS, TBD

*SUN., APRIL 30: PANTHERS AT BRUINS, TBD

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (A2) VS. TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (A3)

MAPLE LEAFS LEAD SERIES, 2-1

GAME 1: LIGHTNING 7, MAPLE LEAFS 3

GAME 2: MAPLE LEAFS, 7, LIGHTNING 2

GAME 3: MAPLE LEAFS 4, LIGHTNING 3 (OT)

MON., APRIL 24: MAPLE LEAFS AT LIGHTNING, 7:30 P.M. ET, TBS, SNE, SNO, SNP, CBC

THU., APRIL 27: LIGHTNING AT MAPLE LEAFS, 7 P.M. ET; TBS, SN, CBC, TVAS

*SAT., APRIL 29: MAPLE LEAFS AT LIGHTNING, TBD

*MON., MAY 1: LIGHTNING AT MAPLE LEAFS, TBD

CAROLINA HURRICANES (M1) VS. NEW YORK ISLANDERS (WC1)

HURRICANES LEAD SERIES, 3-1

GAME 1: HURRICANES 2, ISLANDERS 1

GAME 2: HURRICANES 4, ISLANDERS 3 (OT)

GAME 3: ISLANDERS 5, HURRICANES 1

GAME 4: HURRICANES 5, ISLANDERS 2

TUE., APRIL 25: ISLANDERS AT HURRICANES, 7 P.M. ET; ESPN, SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS

*FRI., APRIL 28: HURRICANES AT ISLANDERS, TBD

*SUN., APRIL 30: ISLANDERS AT HURRICANES, TBD

NEW JERSEY DEVILS (M2) VS. NEW YORK RANGERS (M3)

RANGERS LEAD SERIES, 2-1

GAME 1: RANGERS 5, DEVILS 1

GAME 2: RANGERS 5, DEVILS 1

GAME 3: DEVILS 2, RANGERS 1 (OT)

MON., APRIL 24: DEVILS AT RANGERS, 7 P.M. ET, ESPN, SN360, TVAS

THU., APRIL 27: RANGERS AT DEVILS, 7:30 P.M.; ESPN2, SN360, TVAS2

*SAT., APRIL 29: DEVILS AT RANGERS, TBD

*MON., MAY 1: RANGERS AT DEVILS, TBD

WESTERN CONFERENCE

COLORADO AVALANCHE (C1) VS. SEATTLE KRAKEN (WC1)

AVALANCHE LEAD SERIES, 2-1

GAME 1: KRAKEN 3, AVALANCHE 1

GAME 2:  AVALANCHE 3, KRAKEN 2

GAME 3: AVALANCHE 6, KRAKEN 4

MON., APRIL 24: AVALANCHE AT KRAKEN, 10 P.M. ET, TBS, SN360, TVAS

WED., APRIL 26: KRAKEN AT AVALANCHE, 9:30 P.M. ET; ESPN, SN, SN360, TVAS

*FRI., APRIL 28: AVALANCHE AT KRAKEN, TBD

*SUN., APRIL 30: KRAKEN AT AVALANCHE, TBD

DALLAS STARS (C2) VS. MINNESOTA WILD (C3)

SERIES TIED, 2-2

GAME 1: WILD 3, STARS 2 (2OT)

GAME 2: STARS 7, WILD 3

GAME 3: WILD 5, STARS 1

SUN., APRIL 23: STARS 3, WILD 2

TUE., APRIL 25: WILD AT STARS, 8 P.M. ET; TBS, SN360, TVAS2

FRI., APRIL 28: STARS AT WILD, TBD

*SUN., APRIL 30: WILD AT STARS, TBD

VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS (P1) VS. WINNIPEG JETS (WC2)

GOLDEN KNIGHTS LEAD SERIES, 2-1

GAME 1: JETS 5, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 1

GAME 2: GOLDEN KNIGHTS 5, JETS 2

GAME 3: GOLDEN KNIGHTS 5, JETS 4 (2OT)

MON., APRIL 24: GOLDEN KNIGHTS AT JETS, 9:30 P.M. ET, ESPN, SNW, TVAS

THU., APRIL 27: JETS AT GOLDEN KNIGHTS, 10 P.M. ET, ESPN2, SN, CBC, TVAS

*SAT., APRIL 29: GOLDEN KNIGHTS AT JETS, TBD

*MON., MAY 1: JETS AT GOLDEN KNIGHTS, TBD

EDMONTON OILERS (P2) VS. LOS ANGELES KINGS (P3)

SERIES TIED, 2-2

GAME 1: KINGS 4, OILERS 3 (OT)

GAME 2: OILERS 4, KINGS 2

GAME 3: KINGS 3, OILERS 2 (OT)

GAME 4: OILERS 5, KINGS 4 (OT)

TUE., APRIL 25: KINGS AT OILERS, 9:30 P.M. ET; ESPN, SN, CBC, TVAS

SAT., APRIL 29: OILERS AT KINGS, TBD

*MON., MAY 1: KINGS AT OILERS, TBD

* IF NECESSARY

TBD — TO BE DETERMINED

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL SCOREBOARD

HOUSTON 5 ATLANTA 2

CLEVELAND 7 MIAMI 4

BOSTON 12 MILWAUKEE 5

MINNESOTA 3 WASHINGTON 1

ST. LOUIS 7 SEATTLE 3

BALTIMORE 2 DETROIT 1

TORONTO 5 NY YANKEES 1

TAMPA BAY 4 CHICAGO WHITE SOX 1

TEXAS 5 OAKLAND 2

LA ANGELS 4 KANSAS CITY 3

PHILADELPHIA 9 COLORADO 3

PITTSBURGH 2 CINCINNATI 0

LA DODGERS 7 CHICAGO CUBS 3

SAN DIEGO 7 ARIZONA 5

SAN FRANCISCO 5 NY METS 4

MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL SCORES

INDIANAPOLIS 6 MEMPHIS 4

PEORIA 9 FORT WAYNE 0

GREAT LAKES 10 SOUTH BEND 8

XFL SCORES

HOUSTON 25 ARLINGTON 9

SEATTLE 28 VEGAS 9

USFL STORES

NEW JERSEY 20 PITTSBURGH 3

MICHIGAN 24 PHILADELPHIA 10

COLLEGE BASEBALL SCORES

NOTRE DAME 10 VIRGINIA 2

NOTRE DAME 5 VIRGINIA 4

SETON HALL 9 BUTLER 2

INDIANA 9 OHIO 2

WRIGHT STATE 11 PURDUE FORT WAYNE 5

BALL STATE 15 NORTHERN ILLINOIS 5

ILLINOIS CHICAGO 21 VALPARAISO 7

MURRAY STATE 10 EVANSVILLE 3

EVANSVILLE 6 MURRAY STATE 3

INDIANA STATE 10 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 0

TOP NATIONAL HEADLINES

NBA PLAYOFFS

CURRY, WARRIORS HOLD OFF KINGS 126-125 TO EVEN SERIES 2-ALL

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) First, Draymond Green suggested to Warriors coach Steve Kerr that he come off the bench for Game 4 against the Sacramento Kings after Golden State had played so brilliantly without him.

Then at halftime Sunday, a couple of assistant coaches offered up the idea to Kerr that Green should defend De’Aaron Fox for the final two quarters.

Those collaborative, spot-on moves helped overshadow a late blunder, and now the defending champions are all tied up in their first-round playoff series at two games apiece.

Stephen Curry scored 32 points but gave Sacramento a late chance when he called a timeout Golden State didn’t have, then the Warriors held on to beat the Kings 126-125 on Sunday when Harrison Barnes missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“These games are coming down to the wire, and you’ve just got to really finish possessions and try to give yourself the best chance, and then sometimes, it’s just, does the ball go in or not,” Kerr said.

Fox had 38 points, nine rebounds and five assists for Sacramento. His 3 with 28.7 seconds left pulled the Kings within one, then Curry missed a 16-foot jumper on the other end and Keegan Murray corralled the rebound. With Curry and Green defending, Fox dished to former Warrior Barnes for the potential game-winning 3, which hit the back of the rim.

“Wide open,” Barnes said. “Fox trusted me to take that shot. Back rim. On to the next but I feel confident in where we are.”

Golden State led 126-121 with 42.4 seconds left when Curry called the excessive timeout, and Malik Monk made the technical free throw for Sacramento.

Klay Thompson made a baseline 3-pointer to beat the third-quarter buzzer and another with 3:24 left, finishing with 26 points for the Warriors.

Game 5 in the best-of-seven series is Wednesday night at Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center, where the Kings went ahead 2-0. The Warriors struggled on the road all year.

“As good as this feels, it’s got to be quickly forgotten about,” Thompson said.

Curry’s 3 with 4:10 remaining gave Golden State a 121-117 lead and he finished 11 for 22 with five 3s while dueling all afternoon with Fox.

After Monk’s layup made it 107-106 Kings with 9:03 to play, Curry responded with a driving layup and a 3 in a 14-second span.

Green came off the bench after serving a one-game suspension while the Warriors dominated Thursday’s Game 3 without him. Given the momentum and success, Kerr stuck with Jordan Poole in the starting five Sunday.

“I’m a firm believer if something isn’t broke you don’t fix it,” Green said.

He made a nifty behind-the-back pass for a Curry 3 midway through the fourth, then swatted a shot by Domantas Sabonis with 1:37 left.

Green, disciplined for stepping on Sabonis’ chest in the fourth quarter of Game 2, checked in to a rousing ovation with 6:38 left in the opening quarter and wound up with 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. He and Fox picked up double technicals at the 5:43 mark of the first.

Sabonis added 14 points, seven rebounds and eight assists and now heads home determined to get the Kings closer to winning their first playoff series since eliminating Dallas in the 2004 first round.

“We made some timely mistakes, especially in the fourth quarter,” coach Mike Brown said. “This is where our playoff inexperience comes into play because you can’t rest out there, or you can’t think that you can play something a certain way and the champions are not going to make you pay the price.”

Poole scored 22 points, Andrew Wiggins added 18 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots, and Kevon Looney pulled down 14 rebounds to go with eight points and six assists.

Murray’s 3 with 10:43 left pulled the Kings within 102-99 after a 7-0 burst to begin the fourth after the 3 by Thompson to end the third put the Warriors ahead 102-92. Brown instructed his young star to “let it fly” and Murray shined under the matinee lights, scoring 23 points.

Thompson’s driving and dishing is something Kerr pointed to as a success opening up the floor in Game 3 and Thompson penetrated and found Moses Moody for a baseline 3 late in the first. Golden State moved the ball with snappy passes that created open looks.

MURRAY’S GROWTH

Murray shot 9 for 13 with five 3s after he went a combined 1 for 8 on 3s and 3 of 13 in the first three games.

“I’ve just tried to be more aggressive throughout the playoffs and I knew eventually I’d catch my stride on the offensive end, so it’s just a matter of time and I came in confident,” Murray said.

TIP-INS

Kings: Sacramento scored 18 points off Golden State’s 12 turnovers while committing just 10 of its own. … The Kings shot 14 of 35 from deep, 3 for 11 by Fox and 1 of 6 by Barnes.

Warriors: Gary Payton II returned to play seven minutes after missing Game 3 with an illness. … Green had started the last 132 postseason games he played, last coming off the bench in Game 3 against the Clippers in 2014. … Golden State shot 52.2% in the first.

LEADING LATE

The Warriors improved to 75-3 since Kerr became coach when leading a playoff game by 10 or more at any point in the fourth quarter.

BROWN, TATUM SCORE 31 EACH, BOSTON BEATS HAWKS FOR 3-1 LEAD

ATLANTA (AP) Jaylen Brown took off the mask – revealing a guy who suddenly couldn’t miss.

Brown scored 31 points, most of them after removing a protective facial device he’s worn for two months, and the Boston Celtics moved to the brink of advancing to the second round with a 129-121 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday night.

Jayson Tatum also had 31 points for the Celtics, who now lead 3-1 with the best-of-seven series shifting back to Boston for a possible clinching game Tuesday.

Brown stunned his teammates by removing the mask during a timeout early in the second quarter after making only 1 of 7 shots. Marcus Smart joked that no one recognized Brown at first; after all, he’s been wearing the black shield since sustaining facial contusions in February.

“Maybe it was all my head,” Brown said. “I just needed a different look.”

The Celtics sure liked his new look. Brown went 11 of 15 from the field the rest of the way.

“As soon as I took it off, things started to turn around a little bit,” he said.

Both of Boston’s big stars came through when it mattered most.

Brown and Tatum combined to score their team’s final 16 points, thwarting every attempt by the Hawks to even the series.

It was an especially satisfying victory for Brown – not only because he ditched the mask, but doing it in the metro area where he was born and raised.

“It’s bittersweet, man, growing up here,” the 26-year-old Brown said. “My first game was a Hawks game. I was sitting in the nosebleeds. My aunt, who was in attendance tonight, bought me tickets to my first game for my seventh birthday.”

Boston never trailed after grabbing a 4-3 lead on Derrick White’s basket just over a minute into the game.

Tatum delivered a huge 3-pointer off a loose ball with two minutes remaining, pushing the Celtics to a 118-106 lead.

After Trae Young swished a long 3 to provide Atlanta’s last gasp, Brown knocked one down from beyond the arc seal it for the Celtics.

Smart added 19 points and White 18.

Young had another big game for Atlanta with 35 points and 15 assists, but it wasn’t enough. De’Andre Hunter chipped in with 27 and DeJounte Murray had 23.

“They came out with a sense of urgency, and it showed,” Young said. “They’re a really good team. They’re here for a reason.”

Hunter ripped off eight straight points, including a couple of 3s, and then delivered a thunderous dunk that brought the Hawks within 53-49.

But Boston closed the first half on a 12-4 spurt, capped by Smart’s 3-pointer that sent the visitors to the locker room with a 65-53 lead and sapped a lot of energy from the home crowd.

Smart was in the Celtics lineup and looked just fine after a hard fall near the end of Game 3.

He landed on his tailbone while battling for a rebound, prompting Boston to list him as a game-time decision. But coach Joe Mazzulla declared his guard “good to go” well ahead of tipoff.

“The back locked up a few times, but I got through it OK,” Smart said.

BENCH HELP

After the Atlanta bench came up big in Game 3, the Celtics’ backups carried a major load Sunday.

Especially Robert Williams III, who had 13 points, a game-high 15 rebounds and blocked two shots.

“When he’s healthy, he’s probably the best defender in our league,” Brown said, “He has such a presence on the game.”

Malcolm Brogdon contributed 14 points and four assists. In all, the Boston reserves outscored the Hawks’ bench 30-21.

KEEPING IT CLEAN

The first week of the playoffs has been marred by flagrant fouls, ejections and suspensions.

There have been no major issues in the Celtics-Hawks series, though Young did pick up a flagrant foul for grabbing Tatum’s arm on a drive through the lane in the third quarter.

“I think it’s been a clean series,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “Physicality isn’t necessarily wrong. It’s part of the game. You can be physical. I think the word is ‘aggressiveness’ as much as anything. Both teams have done that.”

TIP-INS

Celtics: After getting outrebounded 48-29 in Game 3, Boston came out much more determined on the boards. They held a 19-9 edge at the end of the first quarterback, 32-20 at halftime and finished with a 49-42 edge. … C Al Horford didn’t score any points but handled the dirty work. He had 11 rebounds, five assists and two steals. Horford attempted just two shots, both from 3-point range.

Hawks: F John Collins made only 1 of 9 shots and finished with 5 points. … Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins missed his second straight game as commentator on the Hawks regional telecast because of an illness. He is expected to return for Game 5.

TIMBERWOLVES SURVIVE IN OVERTIME, BEAT NUGGETS 114-108

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Anthony Edwards scored 34 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Denver Nuggets 114-108 in overtime in Game 4 to avoid elimination Sunday night.

Nikola Jokic tied a playoff career high with 43 points and added 11 rebounds and six assists for the Nuggets, who were looking for the four-game sweep.

Rudy Gobert added 14 points and 15 rebounds for Minnesota, which held on after Denver scored the final 12 points of regulation to force overtime. Mike Conley had 19 points for the Timberwolves.

Game 5 is Tuesday in Denver.

Jamal Murray finished with 19 points and Aaron Gordon 14 for Denver, which looked prime to have a chance to rest before the second round where it would face the winner of the Suns-Clippers series, which Phoenix leads 3-1.

Edwards, who put together several electrifying moments in his first All-Star season, resurrected Minnesota in the third as the Timberwolves went on a 23-9 run. Edwards scored 16 of his points in the quarter and the Timberwolves eventually led by 12 midway through the fourth.

Minnesota lost in the first round to Memphis last year, surrendering three double-digit, fourth-quarter leads.

This time, Jokic took another Wolves’ lead away.

The 21-year-old Edwards took a step forward this year while Towns missed 52 games with a calf strain. He took over the scoring load for Minnesota and was supported by his veteran teammates, who implored the athletic youngster to take control in games.

The Nuggets were pressed to a fifth game, but they still look like a team primed for a long playoff run. They also might have found an answer to their biggest issue: surviving when the two-time MVP Jokic isn’t on the floor.

With Gordon playing the backup center minutes, the Nuggets didn’t just survive, they outscored Minnesota without Jokic by six points.

WILD FINISH

Edwards drained a step-back jumper with 2:52 left in regulation that gave the Wolves a 96-84 lead, their largest of the game, and he smiled at the crowd as the Nuggets called timeout. Denver wasn’t done, though. Jokic hit the first of three straight 3-pointers, followed by a pair from Porter.

Conley tried to pass in the lane to Gobert, but the big man couldn’t grab it in traffic and the Nuggets turned the turnover into a jumper by Jokic that cut the lead to one point with 49 seconds left. Gobert was swarmed again on Minnesota’s next possession and had his shot blocked by Porter.

Jokic got fouled by Towns on the other end and made one of two free throws to tie the game with 12 seconds to go. Edwards had the ball at the end for the potential game-winner, but Kentavious Caldwell-Pope knocked it out of his hands before he could shoot.

TIP-INS

Nuggets: The league’s best shooting team in the regular season, Denver shot just 44.2% from the field and was 12 of 35 from 3, its worst numbers of the series.

Timberwolves: Kyle Anderson was declared out with a left eye/facial contusion after taking an errant hand to the face from Edwards in the fourth. … Minnesota held a 22-12 advantage in bench scoring. —

BRUNSON, BARRETT LEAD KNICKS OVER CAVS 102-93 FOR 3-1 LEAD

NEW YORK (AP) The New York Knicks have had so few chances to join the NBA postseason party that they might forget the real fun hasn’t even started yet.

“There’s nothing to celebrate,” Jalen Brunson said. “There’s nothing to be truly happy about.”

One more win and that changes.

Brunson scored 29 points, RJ Barrett had 26 and the Knicks took a 3-1 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers in their first-round series with a 102-93 victory on Sunday.

Josh Hart moved into the starting lineup and added 19 points and seven rebounds for the fifth-seeded Knicks, who can reach the second round for the first time since 2013 with a victory in Cleveland on Wednesday. New York would host Game 6, if necessary, on Friday at what has been a deafening Madison Square Garden during the last two games.

“There’s nothing like a big game at the Garden,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said.

There might be a few more to come, the way his team is defending.

New York forced Cleveland All-Star Donovan Mitchell into one of the worst games of his postseason career, finishing with just 11 points on 5-for-18 shooting. Darius Garland had 23 points and 10 assists for the Cavs, bouncing back nicely after going 4 for 21 in the Knicks’ Game 3 romp. Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert each scored 14 points.

“This (is) not over with,” Mitchell said. “The way we lost sucks. We can’t hang our heads and ultimately give up. We’re not that type of group. Like I said, we’ll be ready for Game 5.”

Barrett was only 6 for 25 in the two games in Cleveland but has been outstanding back at home, where fans chanted his name in the second half. He had five straight points to break the Knicks free from a 75-all tie, then added another basket before Hart scored to push it to 90-81 midway during a stretch when Cleveland could only manage two baskets in more than four minutes.

After limiting the Cavs on Friday to 79 points, the lowest total in an NBA game this season, the Knicks led most of the way in this one to reach the verge of the Eastern Conference semifinals for the first time since beating Boston in 2013.

They’ve only made it back to the playoffs once since then, falling in five games to Atlanta in 2021. But this team is more complete, thanks largely to signing Brunson last summer after he helped Dallas reach the Western Conference finals, then acquiring Hart from Portland during this season.

Starting together for the first time since they were college teammates at Villanova, that duo combined for 20 of the Knicks’ 30 points in the first quarter, which ended with them leading by seven.

New York pushed it into double digits in the second and Brunson’s 3-pointer midway through the period made it 46-31. The Knicks were ahead 54-45.

“During the regular season, we were able to flip some switches and come back in games,” Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “This time it just doesn’t present the opportunity to do so.”

But Garland got the first two baskets of the third quarter, set up Cleveland’s next three scores, then had the Cavs’ next two field goals to tie it at 59. His three-point play gave Cleveland a 66-63 lead and he had 11 points and five assists in the period, before Brunson made a 3-pointer with 6.2 seconds left that sent the Knicks to the fourth with a 73-71 edge.

“Jalen hit a huge shot at the end of the third to put us up, so that was big, and fourth quarter, just staying tough,” Barrett said. “Every time they threw a punch, we threw something back.”

TIP-INS

Cavaliers: Evan Mobley had 12 points but fouled out in the fourth quarter. … Cleveland fell to 7-2 in Game 4s since 2017.

Knicks: Hart started in place of guard Quentin Grimes, who has a bruised right shoulder. … Mitchell Robinson had 12 points and 11 rebounds. … All-Star Julius Randle finished with just seven points and two rebounds.

NHL PLAYOFFS

HURRICANES ROLL TO 5-2 WIN, TAKE 3-1 SERIES LEAD OVER ISLES

NEW YORK (AP) Winning a playoff game on the road for the first time in nearly two years meant very little to the Carolina Hurricanes.

The important thing was they won and moved closer to advancing in their first-round series with the New York Islanders.

Seth Jarvis scored twice and the Canes snapped an eight-game postseason road losing streak with a 5-2 victory Sunday, pushing the Islanders to the brink of elimination.

“It means we got a win and we’re up 3-1 in the series,” said Canes star forward Sebastian Aho, who added a goal and two assists. “We’re just trying to advance to the next round obviously. It takes four wins and we got one more to go and today was the big one.”

The Hurricanes can wrap up the best-of-seven series in Game 5 on Tuesday night in Raleigh, North Carolina. This was the first game in the series which was not close. Even the Islanders’ 5-1 win on Friday was tied 1-1 late.

Jarvis said the feeling of winning on the road was unbelievable.

“It’s nice to win one not on home ice,” said the 21-year-old who joined the team last year and didn’t win an away contest. “It only helps us. It’s not good when you can’t win on the road and we win at home. It’s nice to take one here and we can go home to Carolina and hopefully end it.”

Antti Raanta made 27 saves in helping the Canes post their first postseason road victory since the second round in 2021. Martin Necas and Mackenzie MacEachern also scored and Stefan Noesen had the primary assist on two power-play goals for the Hurricanes.

“I think it’s the first time we scored more than two goals in the streak,” Raanta added.

Aho’s goal was his record-setting 20th in the postseason with Carolina, breaking the franchise record he shared with Eric Staal.

Defenseman Adam Pelech and forward Bo Horvat scored for the Islanders, who trailed 4-0 early in the third period. Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves, but he had little help on the goals.

New York showed very little and took a couple of bad penalties. Despite frantic game-long chants of “Let’s Go Islanders” they struggled as they were booed off the ice trailing 3-0 after two periods.

Jarvis extended the lead to 4-0 early in the third, scoring on a 2-on-1 break with Aho.

“It’s easy to play with a guy like that,” Jarvis said.

Carolina got an early two-man advantage and didn’t waste it as Jarvis scored 4:05 after the opening faceoff. Brett Burns got his fifth assist of the series, taking a shot from the inside of the right circle. Noesen slid the rebound to Jarvis for a shot into an open net.

“We had a good start,” Islanders veteran forward Zach Parise said. “They had the five-on-three right away and they capitalized. It’s deflating.”

A roughing penalty against Matt Martin put Carolina on the power play to start the second period and Necas scored from in close.

Coach Lane Lambert said the Islanders approach will not change.

“Same mindset as we always have,” said Lambert, who was not thrilled with some of his team’s undisciplined penalties as well as some calls by the officials. “Same as you say after every game, win or lose. Get ready for the next game.”

Aho’s record-setting goal came on a 2-on-1 break with MacEachern, who was recalled from the minors after Teuvo Tervainen broke his hand in Game 2.

Pelech scored a couple of minutes after Jarvis got his second and Horvat tallied late on a breakaway.

NOTES: Carolina played most of the game without Jack Drury, who sustained an upper-body injury early on a boarding call against Islanders D Ryan Pulock. Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour did not have any word on his condition after the game. … Islanders fans belted out most of the national anthem. Singer Jonathan Wibben started them off and let them take over until the end. … Canes D Jaccob Slavin played in his 46th playoff game with Carolina, eighth most in franchise history. … The loss at home was the Islanders fourth in their past 11 home playoff games. … MacEachern’s goal and an assist were his first playoff points in six postseason games. He found out he was playing when he arrived at the arena Sunday morning.

BRUINS TOP PANTHERS 6-2, TAKE 3-1 LEAD IN 1ST-ROUND SERIES

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) Linus Ullmark left the ice with a few minutes left to play, which ordinarily isn’t a great thing for hockey goaltenders.

In this case, it only made the Boston Bruins appreciate him more.

Ullmark stopped 41 shots before leaving the game with 3:11 remaining after drawing a misconduct penalty – he wanted to fight Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk as the highlight of a late-game scrum – and the Bruins beat the Panthers 6-2 on Sunday to move one game away from the second round of the playoffs.

“I love it,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said of his goalie. “He’s all in.”

Taylor Hall had two goals and two assists, Jake DeBrusk scored twice, and the Bruins took a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference first-round series – with a chance to advance coming in Boston on Wednesday.

Brad Marchand and Tyler Bertuzzi also had goals for the Bruins, who got a second consecutive win on Florida ice. Hall’s goals came in the final 3:36, the second one an empty-netter.

But the talk of the locker room was Ullmark, for good reason.

“Tkachuk’s kind of doing a lot of things to try and get under our skin but for the most part, we’re doing a great job of keeping it between the whistles, and I’m proud of our group for doing so,” Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo said. “But at times, you’ve got to show a little passion and push back.”

Tkachuk and Sam Bennett had goals for Florida, while Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 shots for the Panthers.

Hall put it away with 3:36 left, getting behind Florida’s defense and beating Bobrovsky easily for a 5-2 edge that sent Panthers fans to the exits – possibly for the last time this season.

“I liked the way we started. Certainly didn’t like the end result,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “But we’ll go into Boston feeling free.”

All Boston needs to do now is avoid a three-game losing streak in order to reach the second round for the fifth time in the past six seasons.

The Bruins dropped three in a row only once all season, on their way to having the best regular-season mark in NHL history – 65-12-5. Sunday’s win was Boston’s 68th of the season; only 10 teams, including playoffs, have ever won more in a single season.

Both of DeBrusk’s goals put Boston on top by two – the first a power-play score 1:52 into the second for a 2-0 lead, the other when he merely had to swipe a puck that popped out of Bobrovsky’s glove into the net for a 4-2 edge with 11:55 remaining.

Boston improved to 39-1-1 this season when leading after the first period, 50-1-2 when leading after two periods, and 52-1-1 in games where it led by two or more goals at any time.

“We don’t have to think about 3-1 or what’s going on,” Bobrovsky said. “We just have to take the approach of one shift at a time, and keep grinding.”

The Panthers had two notable lineup changes – Bobrovsky was in, Aaron Ekblad was out.

Alex Lyon’s run of 11 consecutive games as Florida’s starting goalie ended, with Bobrovsky getting the call there. Ekblad was listed as a game-time decision after leaving Game 3 early with an undisclosed injury; he wound up sitting out and Casey Fitzgerald played instead.

AROUND THE RINK

The Bruins went with their same lineup as Game 3, meaning Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci remained out Sunday. Montgomery said if either or both can play Wednesday, they will, and said he thinks Bergeron has a better chance to return. … Ullmark stopped a shot from Bennett in the first period with the top of his helmet. … The Panthers had one other lineup change from Game 3 – Anthony Duclair was out, Zac Dalpe was in. … Boston defenseman Dmitry Orlov (0-5-5) has had an assist in all four games of the series. … Pavel Zacha had two assists for Boston.

CHASING HISTORY

Boston is now four wins away from matching the record for most in a season, including playoffs. The 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens, 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers, 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and last season’s Colorado Avalanche all won 72 games.

UP NEXT

Game 5 is Wednesday in Boston.

STARS EVEN SERIES WITH 3-2 WIN VS. WILD ON SEGUIN’S PP PAIR

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) Jake Oettinger produced another brilliant playoff performance for the Dallas Stars, all the way down to the closing seconds.

The good show put on by the Minnesota Wild just left them with a heap of frustration.

Tyler Seguin scored two power-play goals and Oettinger made 33 saves in his home state to help the Stars bounce back from a lopsided loss and beat the Wild 3-2 in Game 4 on Sunday night to even their first-round NHL playoff series.

“Every guy on our team is going to have moments where they need to step up in these playoffs, so it was my turn tonight,” Oettinger said.

Evgenii Dadonov gave the Stars a two-score lead early in the third period just 8 seconds after escaping the penalty box, his third goal of the series. John Klingberg responded by scoring for the Wild less than three minutes later against his former team right after a goal-line block on the other end, but the Stars closed out a critical victory on the strength of their star goalie and their potent power play.

“We didn’t make them pay for taking penalties last game,” said Stars coach Peter DeBoer, whose team lost 5-1 in Game 3. “We wanted to make sure we did tonight.”

Both of Seguin’s goals followed questionable penalties on Minnesota’s feisty right wing Marcus Foligno, who was called for tripping with 4:49 remaining before Seguin delivered his third goal of the series and the second multi-goal playoff game of his career.

“It’s not a tripping call when you hit a guy clean on,” said an angry Foligno, beginning and ending his answer to a question about the officiating with the same expletive.

Frederick Gaudreau gave the Wild another opening on his power-play goal with 1:20 left, but Oettinger didn’t budge. He finished off another golden playoff performance by getting a glove on Marcus Johansson’s close-range slap shot from the right circle with 12 seconds left as just about everyone on the Wild bench winced with disappointment.

“Just tried to get over there as quickly as I can, so luckily it stayed up,” Oettinger said.

The Central Division foes will relocate for Game 5 in Dallas on Tuesday night.

“We got chances. We played the right way. We didn’t get rewarded tonight, and you can make your evaluation of why we didn’t get rewarded tonight,” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “But we didn’t. If we play like that, we will get rewarded.”

The Wild played again without top center Joel Eriksson Ek, their third-leading scorer and truest two-way player, with a lower-body injury that has limited him to just one shift in the series. They sure could’ve used his stick and strength around the goal to knock in a rebound against Oettinger, who grew up in Lakeville about a half-hour drive from downtown St. Paul.

The 24-year-old Oettinger made a postseason name for himself a year ago with a 64-save effort in the Game 7 overtime loss to Calgary, and he added another gem to his list with this game.

Foligno was denied twice on one breakaway, the rebound try deflected by Oettinger’s pad. Wild star Kirill Kaprizov, who scored in Game 1 but has been hounded and pounded by the Stars all series, had a breakaway shot brushed aside by Oettinger, too.

“He was our best player, and he had to be,” DeBoer said.

NOT SO SPECIAL

Foligno was whistled for interference behind his own net late in the second period, a call that had the crowd and the Wild bench howling. The Stars seized their opening, when Seguin knocked a slow-sliding puck between Filip Gustavsson’s pads after an initial shot by Roope Hintz.

Special teams have been a significant problem for the Wild, who are 4 for 17 on the power play. The Stars are 7 for 16.

“We felt like we played way better 5-on-5, and as soon as they got on the power play and after our power play, they scored,” said Gustavsson, who mad 21 saves. “That’s a big momentum swing.”

BITING NAILS

Hockey crowds have a time-worn habit of taunting the opposing goalie during the playoffs, but the Wild fans hardly mustered much of an anti-Oettinger chant. He was too good to get jeered anyway. Plus, about 25 people in the arena were his family and friends.

“I’m sure they were 10 times as nervous as I was,” Oettinger said. “I feel bad for them sometimes. They’re way more nervous than me, and they just support me through thick and thin.”

HYMAN SCORES IN OT AS OILERS BEAT KINGS 5-4 TO EVEN SERIES

LOS ANGELES (AP) Zach Hyman scored at 10:39 of overtime as the Edmonton Oilers rallied from three goals down late in the first period to beat the Los Angeles Kings 5-4 Sunday night to even their first-round series at two games apiece.

Hyman’s snap shot from the left faceoff circle was his first goal of the playoffs.

Leon Draisaitl had two goals and an assist for the Oilers, Evan Bouchard had a goal and two assists while Evander Kane forced OT with his third-period goal. Connor McDavid had three assists, and Jack Campbell, who came in after Stuart Skinner was pulled after one period, made 27 saves against his former team.

Draisaitl leads the league in playoff scoring with nine points and is tied with the Rangers Chris Kreider in goals with five.

Viktor Arvidsson had a goal and an assist for the Kings, while Kevin Fiala had two assists in his first game since April 1. Gabriel Vilardi, Anze Kopitar and Matt Roy also scored for the Kings while Joonas Korpisalo stopped 35 shots. Phillip Danault also had two assists.

Game 5 is Tuesday night in Edmonton.

Los Angeles dominated the first period and raced out to a 3-0 lead to chase Skinner. Edmonton then took control in the second to tie it at 3, including a pair of power-play goals.

It was an even played third period as it went to overtime for the third time in the series.

A lower-body injury sidelined Fiala for the Kings’ last six-regular season contests as well as the first three games of this series. He had played in only three of the final 16 regular-season games after taking a knee-on-knee hit from Colorado’s Andrew Cogliano on March 9.

Fiala made his impact felt quickly with two assists in the first period. Vilardi put in a rebound at 9:25 to open the scoring after Skinner made a pad save on Fiala’s backhand. Fiala also had an assist on Kopitar’s power-play goal with 1:49 left in the period as the Kings scored twice in 84 seconds to extend their lead to 3-0.

Bouchard began the comeback at 4:55 of the second with a slap shot from the point on the power play. Draisaitl then evened it with a pair of goals. His one-timer midway through the period was the Oilers’ first even-strength goal since late in Game 2.

Draisaitl then tied it at 3 with 10.5 seconds remaining in the period with the Oilers’ second power-play goal. This one was a wrist shot that beat Korpisalo on his blocker side.

Roy’s backhand in front of the net at 4:28 of the third put LA back on top 4-3 before Kane forced overtime with 3:02 remaining with a snap shot to the far side that Korpisalo was unable to get with his glove.

TOUGH NIGHT FOR SKINNER

Skinner was pulled at the first intermission after he allowed three goals on 11 shots in the opening 20 minutes.

Edmonton’s rookie goaltender gave up a pair of goals in an 84-second span late in the first period. Arvidsson went five hole with a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle after getting the puck near the blue line and making a spin move to get past Oilers defenseman Vincent Desharnais.

Kopitar then deked Skinner and put in a power-play goal to put LA up 3-0.

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

MLB ROUNDUP: RED SOX UPEND BREWERS BEHIND 9-RUN EIGHTH

Masataka Yoshida had a grand slam and a solo homer in a nine-run eighth inning as the visiting Boston Red Sox rallied for a 12-5 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday.

Milwaukee went in front 4-3 with a run in the seventh and Matt Bush (0-1) entered in relief to open the eighth. Justin Turner led off with his second homer, lining an 0-1 pitch to left center. Yoshida followed with his second homer of the season to put Boston up 5-4, the first time this year the Red Sox went back-to-back.

Connor Wong delivered a two-run single to make it 7-4. Yu Chang singled and Rafael Devers was intentionally walked with two outs to load the bases. Turner walked to force in a run. Yoshida then sent an 0-2 pitch 407 feet to right for his first career grand slam. Yoshida also had a first-inning sacrifice fly for six RBIs.

Brian Anderson had solo homers in the fourth and eighth for Milwaukee. Milwaukee, which trailed 3-0 after two innings, scored the go-ahead run off Kaleb Ort (1-0) in the seventh without a hit. Joey Wiemer walked to open the home half of the frame, stole second, advanced on a sacrifice and scored on a wild pitch.

Phillies 9, Rockies 3

Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh each homered and drove in two runs and Zack Wheeler struck out 11 batters to fuel host Philadelphia past Colorado.

Trea Turner and Kody Clemens each belted a solo shot and Alec Bohm added a double and two RBIs for the Phillies, who won their third in a row. Wheeler (2-1) gave up three runs and three hits in six innings. He departed after a season-high 111 pitches.

Ezequiel Tovar had two hits and an RBI and Charlie Blackmon added two hits for the Rockies, who have dropped three straight games.

Astros 5, Braves 2

Houston completed a three-game road series sweep of Atlanta thanks to its third straight comeback effort.

After being held scoreless through seven innings, the Astros broke through in the eighth when Yordan Alvarez continued his standout series with a two-run single that tied the game. Houston then took the lead in the ninth inning when Corey Julks drove in Kyle Tucker on a two-out single to center off Atlanta reliever A.J. Minter (1-2), who took the loss with three earned runs in an inning.

Braves starter Max Fried went 6 2/3 scoreless innings with three hits, three walks and five strikeouts.

Blue Jays 5, Yankees 1

Kevin Gausman struck out 11 in seven outstanding innings while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Daulton Varsho hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning as visiting Toronto beat New York.

Gausman (2-2) bounced back nicely from allowing eight runs Monday in Houston and held the Yankees to three hits. He recorded his second double-digit strikeout game of the season and fanned every Yankee at least once except for DJ LeMahieu and Isiah Kiner-Falefa.

Anthony Rizzo homered in the ninth as the Yankees avoided being blanked for the first time this season.

Pirates 2, Reds 0

Vince Velasquez pitched seven scoreless innings and Jack Suwinski hit an RBI double as Pittsburgh downed visiting Cincinnati to complete a four-game series sweep.

Velasquez (3-2) allowed two hits, struck out 10 and walked two as he reached 100 pitches. The Pirates have won seven straight overall. It was their second straight series sweep and third of the season.

The Reds have lost six straight and seven of eight. They were outscored 12-6 in the series. Cincinnati starter Hunter Greene (0-1) took a hard-luck loss. He gave up one run and four hits in six innings, with six strikeouts and two walks.

Dodgers 7, Cubs 3

Mookie Betts had a two-run homer and two-run double, and Max Muncy also went deep with a man on for visiting Los Angeles, which took three of four from Chicago.

Los Angeles trailed 3-2 with a man on in the sixth against Chicago ace Marcus Stroman (2-2) when Muncy clubbed his 11th homer and fourth in the series. J.D. Martinez followed with a solo shot that chased Stroman, who recorded his 1,000th career strikeout, but allowed season highs of five runs and six hits.

Meanwhile, Clayton Kershaw (4-1) followed up earning his 200th career victory by giving up three runs in six innings, but the only one earned came on Yan Gomes’ solo homer in the fifth. The 35-year-old left-hander only yielded three hits, a walk and struck out six for the Dodgers, who won back-to-back contests for the first time since early April.

Orioles 2, Tigers 1 (10 innings)

Baltimore scored the game-winning run on a 10th-inning wild pitch after going nearly seven innings without a baserunner, defeating visiting Detroit.

Tigers starter Eduardo Rodriguez took a perfect game into the seventh inning but didn’t end up with a decision. Instead, the Orioles extended their winning streak to six games.

Overshadowed was Baltimore starter Grayson Rodriguez, a highly touted rookie who was seeking his first big-league victory. He worked five shutout innings, allowing five hits and three walks while striking out six. Keegan Akin (1-1), the seventh pitcher of the day for Baltimore, was the winner by working the 10th despite two intentional walks that loaded the bases for the Tigers.

Giants 5, Mets 4

Mike Yastrzemski doubled home Joc Pederson with the tie-breaking run in the bottom of the eighth inning, allowing San Francisco to beat visiting New York and salvage a split in their four-game series.

Giants closer Camilo Doval threw a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts for his second save. Scott Alexander (2-0), who likewise set down the Mets in order in the eighth, was credited with the win.

The Mets’ Tylor Megill allowed four runs and six hits in four innings. He walked one and struck out two.

Guardians 7, Marlins 4

Logan Allen struck out eight over six innings of one-run ball in his major league debut as Cleveland salvaged the finale of a three-game series against visiting Miami.

Jose Ramirez and Josh Bell hit back-to-back home runs in the third inning. Ramirez finished with four RBIs and Amed Rosario tallied four hits, four runs and a stolen base. Allen (1-0) allowed five hits with one walk. Allen’s eight strikeouts are the most by a Guardians starting pitcher this season.

Avisail Garcia delivered a three-run homer and Jorge Soler had three hits for Miami, which had won eight of its previous 10 games.

Rays 4, White Sox 1

Luke Raley and Harold Ramirez each connected on home runs, and Tampa Bay defeated visiting Chicago to remain perfect at home at 13-0.

The Rays extended their MLB-record home run streak to open a season to 22 games on Raley’s two-run blast in the second inning. As a team, the Rays have a league-leading 48 homers. The Rays provided enough run support for Zach Eflin (3-0) to enjoy a successful return to the rotation. In five innings, Eflin gave up one run on three hits with four strikeouts and no walks.

Lucas Giolito (1-2) worked seven innings for the White Sox, giving up four runs and five hits. He had five strikeouts and walked two.

Cardinals 7, Mariners 3

Lars Nootbaar, Nolan Gorman and Paul DeJong hit home runs as St. Louis defeated host Seattle to salvage the finale of the three-game, interleague series.

Right-hander Jack Flaherty (2-2) posted only the Cardinals’ third quality start of the season. He allowed three runs on five hits in six innings, with two walks and nine strikeouts. It was Flaherty’s 30th consecutive start allowing six or fewer hits, the longest active streak in the major leagues.

Jarred Kelenic homered for Seattle as Mariners right-hander Chris Flexen (0-4), making his fourth straight start for the injured Robbie Ray, gave up six runs on nine hits in four innings.

Rangers 5, Athletics 2

Texas starter Jacob deGrom tossed 11 strikeouts and the host Rangers shut down Oakland.

In his first appearance since leaving an April 17 game due to wrist soreness, deGrom (2-0) went six innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on just three hits and no walks. His 11 strikeouts tied his season high. Leody Taveras was the team’s lone batter with multiple hits. The center fielder went 3-for-4, scoring three times. Robbie Grossman homered and contributed four RBIs in the win.

Oakland tallied just five hits in the loss, with only Shea Langeliers’ two-run homer in the fifth resulting in runs.

Angels 4, Royals 3

Taylor Ward, Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani hit consecutive home runs to lead off the sixth inning, propelling Los Angeles to a victory over Kansas City in Anaheim, Calif.

The Angels had just seven hits in the game, three of them by Trout, who doubled twice in addition to his fifth home run of the season. Ohtani had two hits — a homer and an infield single.

The Angels needed all three home runs because the Royals hit three themselves. But all three — by MJ Melendez, Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinny Pasquantino — were solo homers. Austin Warren (1-0), one of three Angels relievers, got the victory over Royals starter Jordan Lyles (0-4), who gave up four runs in six innings.

Twins 3, Nationals 1

Jorge Polanco went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs as Minnesota avoided a three-game sweep by beating Washington in Minneapolis.

Jose Miranda went 2-for-3 with a run and a walk, and right-hander Bailey Ober (1-0) allowed a run on three hits with four strikeouts and three walks over 5 2/3 innings for Minnesota. Michael A. Taylor added a solo homer for the Twins.

Keibert Ruiz went 1-for-4 with an RBI double for the Nationals, who were held to just three hits after winning the first two games by a combined score of 13-6. Patrick Corbin (1-3) allowed three runs on seven hits with six strikeouts and two walks in six innings for Washington, which has dropped seven of its past 10 games.

Padres 7, Diamondbacks 5

Matt Carpenter had a home run, two doubles and drove in five runs, leading San Diego to a victory against Arizona in Phoenix.

Yu Darvish held the Diamondbacks to one run on two hits in 5 2/3 innings to get the win. But Darvish (1-2) departed the game with two outs in the sixth after feeling pain in his upper right leg after his 102nd and final pitch. After the Diamondbacks scored twice in both the seventh and eighth, Josh Hader pitched a perfect ninth to earn his eighth save for the Padres.

The Diamondbacks were trailing 7-1 when Alek Thomas and Nick Ahmed opened the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back homers off Padres reliever Brent Honeywell, who replaced Darvish in the sixth and struck out Jake McCarthy with the bases loaded for the final out. Arizona starter Drey Jameson (2-1) suffered his first major league loss, departing after giving up three runs on three hits and three walks in a 43-pitch first.

NFL DRAFT-CORNERBACKS

This corner crop features a series of instinctive cover men with ball skills and playmaking ability. Witherspoon is a natural CB1 with the movement skills, instincts and awareness to hold his own in coverage. The Illinois product also displays a willingness to mix it up in run defense as a rock-solid tackler who enjoys the physical part of the game. He’s a tone-setter. Gonzalez is an aggressive ballhawk with a gambler’s mentality. He has a knack for making plays on the ball, and his superb awareness could make him an impact player early in his pro career. Porter Jr. possesses the size, bloodlines (his father is indeed former All-Pro edge defender Joey Porter) and overall awareness to develop into a blue-chip cover corner in the NFL. The Penn State standout is ideally suited to play in a man-to-man scheme that enables him to challenge wideouts at the line of scrimmage with his length and feisty temperament. Smith is an instinctive cover corner with outstanding eyes, instincts and ball skills. The South Carolina product is ideally suited to play in a zone scheme, enabling him to showcase his strengths as a playmaker. Forbes raised some eyebrows when he weighed in at the combine at a rail-thin 166 pounds, but he also blazed a 4.35-second 40-yard dash. Not to mention, his extraordinary playmaking ability is undeniable: Over three years at Mississippi State, Forbes intercepted 14 passes, setting an NCAA record with six career pick-sixes.

DEVON WITHERSPOON ILLINOIS

The 2018 Pensacola Defensive Player of the Year (intercepting seven passes as a senior) signed with Illinois out of Pine Forest High School. He started three of 13 games played, breaking up two passes and leading the Illini with 13 special teams tackles among his 33 total stops. Witherspoon started seven games in 2020 (33 tackles, two interceptions, three fumble recoveries) and 10 games in 2021, when he recorded 52 tackles (eight for loss) and topped his squad with nine pass breakups. He became one of the top defenders on the nation’s top scoring defense in 2022, receiving first-team Associated Press All-American honors and being named Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year after recording 17 passes defensed, three interceptions and 41 tackles (2.5 for loss) in 12 starts. The Jim Thorpe Award finalist opted out of the team’s bowl game.

Overview

Witherspoon is a fun watch but requires evaluators to carefully consider his strengths and weaknesses relative to scheme. He plays with anticipation, route feel and a consistent sense of urgency to prevent catches, as displayed by his high number of pass breakups. He plays with ballhawking eyes and good balance from zone coverage and is very aggressive tackling both after the catch and in run support. There are snaps where he gets behind and stays behind due to a lack of premium speed and closing burst, so he might require help over the top or a more zone-oriented scheme to help him shine. The playmaking mentality and traits give him a solid chance to become a CB2 in the league.

Strengths

• Allowed completion rate of just 34.9% in 2022, per PFF.
• Impressive route recognition and trigger on the throw.
• Eyes are probing from off coverages.
• Well-balanced defending high/low route concepts from zone.
• Instinctive with 14 pass breakups in 2022.
• Takes ball-side angles to disrupt the catch point.
• Zeroes in on receiver’s hands on deep throws.
• Physical with a striker’s mentality in run support and as tackler versus the pass.

Weaknesses

• Can be jab-stepped off-balance by release fakes.
• Coverage is very handsy after the first five yards.
• Sluggish to transition hips and match route breaks from his backpedal.
• Top-end speed could be an issue at the next level.
• Lacks juice to make up the distance when he gets behind.
• Will bite hard on play-action and double moves.

CHRISTIAN GONZALEZ OREGON

Gonzalez was a four-star recruit when he signed with Colorado out of The Colony High School in Texas, where he starred on offense, defense and special teams. Gonzalez started all six games of the Buffaloes’ 2020 season (25 tackles, five pass breakups) and all 12 contests in 2021 (53 tackles, 5.5 for loss, five pass breakups), earning honorable mention All-Pac-12 accolades. Cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin moved from Colorado to Oregon after the season and Gonzalez followed suit, starring for the Ducks in 2022. He was a first-team All-Pac-12 pick after leading Oregon with four interceptions and seven pass breakups, posting 50 tackles and blocking a kick in 12 starts. Gonzalez opted out of the team’s bowl game. His father, Hector, is a former UTEP basketball player who played semiprofessionally in Columbia. Gonzalez’s older sisters are former All-American track stars Samantha (Miami) and Melissa (Texas), who is married to NFL quarterback David Blough.

Overview

Explosive outside cornerback possessing a rare blend of physical and athletic traits. Gonzalez plays with fluid hips and blazing top-end speed, which should help him match against top-end targets in the future. He can rough up the release or use mirror-and-match footwork from press-man coverage and he has all the tools to become a highly capable route shadow. His technique will get away from him at times and he doesn’t play with the level of instincts or ball skills that should make heavy ball production automatic. His testing numbers could send his draft stock skyrocketing, but the ingredients are already present to become a feared CB1 if he plays to his gifts.

Strengths

• Desired blend of size, speed and explosiveness.
• He’s as fluid and loose in his movements as you’ll find.
• Length and strength allow him to bully releases from press.
• Feet and hips create easy skip and flip to match the release.
• Quick to crowd and push vertical targets toward the boundary.
• Able to shuffle and swerve in space like he’s gliding on air.
• Rare recovery kick and top-end speed for a big cornerback.
• Works his way off perimeter blocks.
• Huge take-off burst to rocket in and block kicks.

Weaknesses

• Instincts to create more catch challenges are spotty.
• Below average anticipation to jump route breaks.
• Inconsistent finding optimal positioning to constrict catch area.
• Average feel for angles attacking the throw.
• Slow to get his head around and find the football downfield.
• Needs to play with better awareness to run plays.
• Inconsistent coming to balance as open-field tackler.

JOEY PORTER JR. PENN STATE

The son of former Steelers star Joey Porter was a first-team all-state pick at North Allegheny High School before appearing in four games in 2019 (three tackles, one pass breakup) and taking a redshirt. He garnered honorable mention All-Big Ten honors in 2020, starting eight games (33 tackles, two for loss, four pass breakups). Porter was a third-team all-conference pick in 2021, starting all 13 games (51 tackles, one interception, four pass breakups). He vaulted to second-team Associated Press All-American and first-team all-conference status in 2022, also winning the team’s Most Valuable Defensive Player Award (27 tackles, 11 pass breakups in 10 starts) despite missing two late-season games with appendicitis. He opted out of the Rose Bowl.

Overview

Ascending cornerback combining traits and above average play strength that create a clear definition of who he is as a player. He can reroute the release and has the frame to close catch windows against big receivers in press-man or Cover 2 looks. Delayed transitions and sluggish change of direction put him in conflict in off coverages, so teams must pay attention to matchups and scheme in order to avoid a field full of yellow laundry. There is work to be done to improve tackle consistency in the run game, but he finishes tackles after a catch. Porter has scheme limitations, but he also has CB1 potential with more work and if utilized properly.

Strengths

• Father is a former Pro Bowler and was an undisputed alpha during his playing career.
• The most physical reroutes in this year’s draft.
• Smart hand usage helps cover when feet are late.
• Recovery and length to swat away would-be catches underneath.
• Closes the catch space when he’s in position.
• Can win high-point challenges even from trail position.
• Matchup potential against pass-catching tight ends.
• Spins sticky tackle web when he gets his hands on receivers.

Weaknesses

• Noticeable delay in transitions from press.
• Struggles to slide and match release quickness.
• Not twitchy enough to match a complex route.
• Too grabby at the top of the route.
• Needs extra steps to plant and drive from top of his drop.
• Lacking change-of-direction quickness as open-field tackler.

CAM SMITH SOUTH CAROLINA

Smith played three years at Meade High School in Maryland before moving back to his home state of South Carolina to play at Westwood High School for his senior season. The top 150 overall recruit nationally redshirted his first season with the Gamecocks (making seven tackles in three games) before starting three times in eight appearances in 2020, tying for the team lead with two interceptions despite missing two games due to injury (also posting 16 tackles and two pass breakups). Smith ranked ninth in the FBS with 1.3 passes defensed per game as a sophomore (three interceptions, 11 pass breakups), playing in 11 games with seven starts (41 tackles, 2.5 for loss) after missing fall camp because he had foot surgery. He started nine of 11 games played in 2022 (27 tackles, one for loss, one interception, five pass breakups), missing time after reportedly suffering a concussion; he also opted out of South Carolina’s appearance in the Gator Bowl.

Overview

Long outside cornerback with instinctive eyes and the ball skills to consistently close on throws when in position. Smith lacks fluidity and acceleration to consistently press and run with speedy downfield targets. Also, he gives ground in his lateral transitions. However, he’s highly anticipatory with the vision and route recognition to shine from coverages allowing him to play with his eyes and feet forward. While his timing/length can be formidable weapons on contested catches, he often fails to move his feet quickly enough in transitions and ends up grabbing receivers, leading to penalties. Smith appears to be better suited for zone coverages and off-man but if he can trust his technique, he might become more scheme-diverse and develop into a CB2.

Strengths

• Plays with anticipation from off coverage.
• Rock solid on-ball production during his career.
• Reads QB and WR concurrently to jump the throw.
• Springing plant-and-trigger steps from his pedal.
• Maintains feel for route direction when in phase.
• Uses length and timing to alter catch success from trail position.
• Attacks ball, not man, with downhill angles on the throw.
• Excellent job of limiting YAC for WR Jalin Hyatt in win over Tennessee.

Weaknesses

• Sticky feet rarely match press releases cleanly.
• Sluggish lateral transitions open door for separation.
• Takes foot off the gas when turning to locate the football.
• Long speed looks to be average.
• Drew 10 penalty flags in 2022, per PFF.
• Defaults to grabbing instead of using proper footwork.
• Run support didn’t appear to be a high priority.

EMMANUEL FORBES MISSISSIPPI STATE

Forbes moved about 70 miles east when enrolling at Mississippi State after starring in football, basketball and baseball at Grenada High School. The four-star recruit made the most of his opportunity in his first year on campus, garnering SEC All-Freshman Team notice after tying for third in the FBS with five interceptions and returning a nation-best three for scores. Also, he posted 44 tackles in 11 games (nine starts). Forbes was a second-team All-SEC selection in 2021, leading the Bulldogs with three interceptions in 13 starts (60 tackles, five for loss, five pass breakups). He tied for third nationally with six interceptions in 2022, returning three for scores and setting an FBS record with six pick-sixes during his career. The second-team Associated Press All-American and first-team all-conference honoree recorded 46 tackles, 10 pass breakups (tying for 10th in the FBS with 16 passes defensed) and a blocked kick in 12 starts for the Bulldogs.

Overview

Forbes is long, can run and has a talent for taking the ball away, which means he has a chance to become a coveted cornerback. However, his wire-thin frame does not work in his favor. Forbes’ instincts and recognition are fun to watch. He pounces on quick-game throws and has the ball skills to take the ball away. He’s highly capable in all forms of zone coverage and operates out of press-man, but is inconsistent matching the release and staying in phase with routes through sharp cuts. His slender build and lack of tackle strength will make him a target for opposing running games. Forbes could become an early starter with quality ball production, but teams might need to expect some up-and-down performances.

Strengths

• Two-hand jabs keep receivers occupied in press.
• Plays with smooth side-shuffle technique in deep zone.
• Above average pre-snap play recognition.
• Instincts allow for quick read-and-react jumps on the throw.
• Swings arm through catch point to separate the football.
• Soft hands with the ability to leap and win at the high point.
• Uses his length as an effective recovery tool.
• Can be hard to throw over the top of him.
• Posted 14 career interceptions with six returned for touchdowns.

Weaknesses

• Below average foot slide to match the release.
• Has issues staying in phase at break points.
• Aggressiveness makes him a double-move target.
• Needs to become more disciplined playing high to low in zone.
• Plays out past his toes, leading to transition imbalance.
• Grab-and-drag tackler lacking play strength.

NFL MOCK DRAFT: https://www.nfl.com/news/seven-round-2023-nfl-mock-draft-round-1

JETS, PACKERS RECENTLY RE-ENGAGED IN TRADE TALKS SURROUNDING QB AARON RODGERS

With the 2023 NFL Draft kicking off in less than a week, the New York Jets and Green Bay Packers hope to make a trade happen soon.

The Jets and Packers have recently re-engaged in trade talks surrounding quarterback Aaron Rodgers, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Sunday afternoon, per sources.

Rapoport added that although a deal is not imminent, both teams are at least talking and hope a deal can be done this week.

The news comes rolling in at the perfect time with the draft around the corner. The Packers currently hold 10 selections in the draft, while the Jets have a total of six picks. New York has the No. 13 overall selection, Nos. 42 (from Cleveland) and 43. One or two of the Jets’ picks seem likely to be involved in any Rodgers deal.

Rodgers, 39, has earned 10 Pro Bowl nods in his 18 seasons with Green Bay. The four-time AP MVP winner and Super Bowl XLV champion said in March that he intended to play for New York this season, but since then all sides have been mostly quiet on the topic.

The latest update between the Jets and Packers was a couple of weeks ago, when Green Bay president Mark Murphy said he couldn’t “really get into that” after being asked about a Rodgers trade.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL NEWS

USC LANDS GEORGIA TRANSFER DL BEAR ALEXANDER

LOS ANGELES (AP) Defensive lineman Bear Alexander is transferring from Georgia to Southern California.

Alexander announced his decision to move from the two-time national champion Bulldogs to Lincoln Riley’s Trojans on Sunday night.

The 300-pound lineman was widely considered the top player still available in the transfer portal.

Alexander played on Georgia’s line as a freshman last season, recording nine tackles and two sacks – including one in the Bulldogs’ win over TCU in the national championship game at SoFi Stadium, several miles south of USC’s campus.

Alexander visited USC earlier this month, and the native Texan quickly agreed to join Riley’s rebuilding project at the West Coast’s most prominent football program. Riley went 11-3 in his impressive first year in charge of the long-struggling Trojans, with Caleb Williams winning the Heisman Trophy while USC fell one victory short of reaching the College Football Playoff.

USC’s defense struggled mightily against top teams last season, and Riley has been working to shore up his defensive roster with a major overhaul through the transfer portal.

The Trojans have now added Alexander, Purdue transfer Jack Sullivan, Texas A&M transfer Anthony Lucas and Arizona transfer Kyon Barrs to the line, along with Oklahoma State transfer Mason Cobb and Georgia State transfer Jamal Muhammad at linebacker.

MEN’S GOLF NEWS

RILEY, HARDY CAPTURE FIRST PGA TOUR WINS AT ZURICH CLASSIC

AVONDALE, La. (AP) While some of the world’s top players were gearing up for the Masters several weeks ago, Nick Hardy was texting his friend, Davis Riley, to see if he’d be his playing partner in the Zurich Classic.

The late-hour entries for the New Orleans-area tournament are leaving as first-time winners on the PGA Tour – each with alligator skin championship belts, Mardi Gras-style bead necklaces and checks for $1.24 million.

“We were cracking up because this all kind of transpired kind of last minute,” Riley said. “We didn’t have a partner as of three weeks ago, so I’m really excited that it worked out the way it did.”

The 27-year-old Hardy and 26-year-old Davis birdied four of their final six holes – highlighted by Riley’s 33-foot birdie putt from the from the fringe on the par-3 17th – for a two-shot victory on Sunday.

“I was pretty nervous coming down the stretch,” Riley said. “It’s never easy to win. … Our attitude all week was pressing forward and trying to execute the best possible shot at the moment.”

They began the final round three shots back and closed with a 7-under 65 in alternate-shot play to finish with a tournament-record total of 30-under 258 at TPC Louisiana, eclipsing the 259 posted by 2022 winners Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele. Hardy and Riley were two shots better than Canadians Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor.

Riley’s previous best finish was a playoff loss to Sam Burns in the 2022 Valspar Championship. Hardy’s best was a tie for fifth at the Sanderson Farms Championship last fall.

But with a chance to help one another take a maiden victory, “We both handled it very well, especially coming down the stretch,” Hardy said.

The pair didn’t make a single bogey in the final two rounds, keeping them in striking distance until they surged in front with five back-nine birdies on Sunday.

“I don’t remember either of us getting mad over a shot. That was huge for us,” Hardy said. “We handled our emotions so well. Now that I look back, I think that was the biggest key.”

Each earns a two-year exemption – and qualifies for the PGA Championship next month at Oak Hill – for winning the PGA Tour’s only team event.

Both discussed the extra satisfaction they took from winning with a teammate who they also considered among their best friends. They’ve known each other since meeting at a junior event as teenagers.

Making the victory even sweeter for Riley was that he grew up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, a drive of less than two hours from New Orleans.

“It felt like a home-turf game,” said Riley, who played in college at Alabama. “I felt like the crowd was definitely on me and Nick’s side. … We were able to give them something to make a little noise about.”

Hadwin and Taylor shot 63, tying the course record in alternate shot that was set in Friday’s second round by Cantlay and Schauffele.

“I would say we’re in good company,” Hadwin said. “Once we got through 14, 15 and we’re still 9-under par, I actually said to my caddie, I said, ‘I want that record.’ We had some good looks actually the last three holes. The putts kind of just didn’t fall.”

The Canadians’ 10th and final birdie of the round on the 13th hole briefly gave them a one-shot lead, and they went to the clubhouse tied for first before the eventual champions birdied twice more.

“Heck of a round, 9-under, alternate shot,” Hadwin said. “That’s the most amount of birdies we made all week, and we did it alternate shot.”

Wyndham Clark and Beau Hossler, who finished each of the first three rounds atop the leaderboard and opened the final round with a one-stroke lead, made their first three bogeys of the tournament – two on their final three holes – and closed with a 1-under 71 to finish third, three shots back.

Cantlay and Schauffele made eight birdies before their second bogey of the day on 18 left them tied for fourth with Matthew NeSmith and Taylor Moore at 26-under.

“We didn’t have our best stuff throughout the course of the tournament,” Schauffele said.

Alluding to the fact that he and Cantlay each played the Masters, RBC Heritage and the Zurich in consecutive weeks, Schauffele added that their primary goal leaving New Orleans would be to “probably just try to get as many hours of sleep as possible in the next couple of days and don’t touch your clubs.”

Hardy and Riley, meanwhile, brimmed with optimism about parlaying their confidence-building triumph into future victories.

“I felt like it was a matter of time before my time was coming,” Riley said. “And to do it with one of my best friends here, who’s also an amazing player, I feel like the sky’s the limit for both of us.”

WOMEN’S GOLF NEWS

LILIA VU WINS 1ST MAJOR AT CHEVRON CHAMPIONSHIP IN PLAYOFF

THE WOODLANDS, Texas (AP) Lilia Vu relied on her grandfather’s steady hand and calm demeanor to keep her grounded during difficult times.

He died in 2020, but on Sunday at the Chevron Championship with a chance to win her first major, Vu’s thoughts of her grandfather helped her once again.

“I was getting really upset on the course, and I just had to remind me, Grandpa is with you,” she said. “And he’d be really disappointed if you were getting upset like this and that you didn’t get your act together.”

With his memory in her head, Vu finished strong with two straight birdies, then birdied the first playoff hole to beat Angel Yin in a dramatic finish on Sunday at The Club at Carlton Woods.

Yin’s second shot came up short and left and splashed into the pond guarding the par-5 18th hole. Vu, after a huge tee shot, hit her approach safely just over the green. She went with putter from off the green and came up well short, but she converted the birdie from about 10 feet for the victory.

“I knew on that last putt, all I had to do was just do my routine, read the putt how I usually do, and just hit this putt because I’ve hit that putt a million times,” Vu said. “And I knew I could make it.”

The 25-year-old Californian won for the second time on the LPGA Tour and took a celebratory leap into the pond, a tradition borrowed from this tournament’s former venue at Mission Hills in the California desert.

Vu closed with a 4-under 68 for a four-day total of 10-under 278, then waited as other contenders – including Yin – faltered.

But Yin, after bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes, birdied the 18th to force the playoff.

“Obviously in the playoff hole, I just didn’t hit a good shot,” Yin said. “It just kind of spoke a lot about today.”

Vu played at UCLA but considered quitting the game after a rough start to her pro career. She regrouped and won three times on the developmental Epson Tour in 2021, then had a solid 2022 before breaking through in February with a victory at the Honda LPGA Thailand. She came into this event ranked 12th in the world; the 24-year-old Yin, who turned pro while still in high school, was No. 172.

Yin had her second runner-up in a major. She tied for second in the 2019 U.S. Women’s Open.

“I’ve just come a long way,” Yin said. “I’m just really happy with who I am, where I am, and what I’m doing right now. Just a lot to appreciate.”

Unable to find a sponsor willing to add to the half-century run at Mission Hills, the tournament – known as the Dinah Shore for its longtime celebrity host – bolted for the woods of suburban Houston under a six-year deal with Chevron.

Winners had been jumping into Poppie’s Pond off the 18th green at Mission Hills since 1988, and Vu continued the tradition by leaping off a small dock into murky water on a chilly day.

“Yesterday or the day before we saw a snake on (the) pond, so I was kind of thinking about that today,” she said. “But I think the emotions were high and just adrenaline, got to jump into that pond.”

Vu took home $765,000 for the win from a purse of $5.1 million, the largest ever for this event.

World No. 2 Nelly Korda continued to struggle with her putting Sunday but eagled the 18th to finish alone in third at 9 under.

“I think on 11 or 12, I was just like, ‘It’s just not my day today,’” Korda said. “I’ve put myself into contention a bunch this year already. I just haven’t been able to finish it, which stings, obviously, but I think one of those days, if I keep knocking on the door, it’ll eventually open for me.”

A few others will rue their missed opportunities.

Atthaya Thitikul made four straight birdies from Nos. 7-10 was at 10-under standing in the 18th fairway when she hit her third shot into the water, leading to double bogey.

“I hit it pretty solid, but it just went like that because maybe misunderstanding with the wind,” she said.

Playing partner A Lim Kim was 8 under, needing a closing eagle to match Vu, when she shanked her second shot and made par. Thitikul and Vu finished two shots back alongside Amy Yang, Albane Valenzuela and Allisen Corpuz.

Corpuz, who entered the final round tied for the lead with Yin, had four bogeys in the first nine holes to fall out of contention. She shot 74.

After multiple rain delays through the first three rounds, play was suspended again for 50 minutes Sunday morning because of thunderstorms in the area. The rain stopped after that, but it remained cloudy and chilly throughout the day with the temperature hovering around 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

AUTO RACING NEWS

BUSCH WINS UNDER CAUTION AT TALLADEGA IN DOUBLE OVERTIME

TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) Running low on fuel and unsure he could make it to the end of a double-overtime finish, Kyle Busch and his new Richard Childress Racing team debated their late-race Talladega Superspeedway strategy.

If he stopped for a splash of gas, Busch would surrender valuable track position and essentially concede any chance at racing for Sunday’s win.

Not stopping meant he’d be at the front of the field for the final restart, but with zero guarantee he had enough gas to complete two laps or challenge for the victory. As the debate raged, crew chief Randall Burnett called Busch in for fuel at the last second.

“Too late,” replied Busch, who couldn’t make the pit road entrance when he finally received the message.

The gamble and miscommunication paid off when Busch won under caution and in double overtime for his second win of the season and second at Talladega – 15 years after his other victory on NASCAR’s biggest and fastest track.

“In my own mind, I was like there’s no way you come to pit road and just throw away your day. Like, your day is done,” Busch said. “So I was just like, ‘Why not just take the chance?’ And so he said ‘Pit, pit, pit’ and it was too late, anyway.

“But also, I wouldn’t have anyway. I would have just taken the chance and said ‘You know what? Roll the dice. Let’s go.’”

Busch, who spent 15 years driving for Joe Gibbs Racing before an offseason move to Richard Childress Racing, gave car owner Childress his 13th victory at Talladega. The bulk of those wins came from the late Dale Earnhardt, but Childress had last won at Talladega with Clint Bowyer in 2011.

Childress entered the post-race news conference carrying an open bottle of champagne from his vineyard.

“I think my stomach was in knots, but not as bad as the crew chief,” Childress said. “Kyle said, ‘Look, we done made this deal, we done made our decision, let’s ride it out no matter what.’ He just stayed out. We were on the border of running out of fuel. I was just holding my breath. It wasn’t going to be fun if we run out of fuel.

“But Talladega has been so great to RC. I raced here in 1969. One of the biggest breaks I got. I left here with about $1,500, $2,000, thought I’d never have to work again. Here I am still racing.”

Busch won under caution when Bubba Wallace surged into the lead but tried to block good friend Ryan Blaney three times – and the third block caused the race-ending wreck.

“Sometimes you’ve got to be lucky. Some of these races come down to that,” Busch said. “You’ve got to take them when they come to your way.”

NASCAR had to examine the final finishing order as Busch celebrated at the finish line. There were 57 lead changes.

Blaney for Team Penske was scored second and seemed frustrated with Wallace’s blocks.

“In my mind you kind of triple move like that, triple block, and you can’t block three times,” Blaney said. “Runs are just so big, and as the leader with Bubba, he’s trying to block which is the right thing to do, but I think he kind of moved three times. You don’t really get a lot of those. I’ve got to go somewhere.”

Wallace, who had team owner Michael Jordan watching from his pit stand, accepted responsibility.

“Close, close, close block,” he said. “Not (Blaney’s) fault. I honestly thought that he would leave me high and dry coming back around. Hate it I caused that one. Man, I thought it would play out a little different, obviously not getting wrecked.”

Chase Briscoe from Stewart-Haas Racing was third, followed by Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski of RFK Racing as Ford drivers were second through fifth.

Erik Jones of Legacy Motor Club was sixth in a Chevrolet, followed by William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports and finally Christopher Bell, the highest-finishing Toyota driver at eighth.

The race was fairly clean and the first multi-car accident didn’t occur until 48 laps remaining when Noah Gragson ran into the back of Harrison Burton, the leader at the time, to trigger a five-car crash.

The next caution was with five laps remaining when Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. gave Corey Lajoie a big push that rammed Lajoie into Joey Logano and sent Logano spinning into the wall.

That sent the race to its first overtime, which was an immediate disaster.

Ross Chastain shoved his car into the middle for a third lane and his car bounced off Gragson, who hit the wall to trigger the crash. Kyle Larson was knocked into the grass and his car shot back into the middle of traffic for a full-contact hit of Ryan Preece.

“Definitely probably one of the hardest hits that I’ve ever taken in my racing career,” said Preece, whose visor on his helmet was knocked open with the hit.

Larson said he was fortunate he was not injured.

“Thankfully, I’m OK,” Larson said. “My car is absolutely destroyed. The cockpit’s a mess.”

That seventh caution sent Kevin Harvick, pole-sitter Denny Hamlin and Chastain to pit road for fuel to ensure they could compete in second overtime. When the race went green, it was Ty Gibbs who was out of gas and he immediately pulled out of line. Busch surged into the lead. Wallace briefly pushed ahead until he was spun by Blaney, and Busch got his second win of the season.

UP NEXT

NASCAR races next Sunday at Dover International Speedway. Chase Elliott is the defending race winner.

TOP INDIANA RELEASES

INDIANS BASEBALL

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Luis Ortiz recorded the first quality start by an Indians pitcher this season, and Grant Koch launched a tiebreaking home run – his first career blast in Triple-A – to help Indianapolis end a five-game slide while snapping the Memphis Redbirds’ 12-game winning streak in a 6-4 triumph Sunday afternoon at AutoZone Park.

Tied at one in the fifth inning, Koch cranked a 3-2 fastball from Matthew Liberatore (L, 3-1) into the Redbirds’ bullpen beyond the wall in left-center. One out later, Chavez Young walked, took second on a passed ball and promptly stole third base before scoring on a Ryan Vilade groundout that pushed Indianapolis’ (8-13) advantage to 3-1.

Memphis (15-6) plated its second run off Ortiz in the sixth inning on a Juan Yepez single that brought home Kramer Robertson, but Miguel Andújar continued his hot hitting with a two-out, bases-loaded single to center field that scored two to push Indy’s lead to three.

Josh Bissonette, who matched his career high with three hits for a second time in the series and eighth time in four professional seasons, drilled a deep fly ball to center field in the eighth that twisted around Oscar Mercado, resulting in a triple that scored Koch from first base.

The Redbirds scored twice in their final at-bat and brought the potential tying run to the plate with two away against Colin Selby, but Robertson grounded out to Vilade at third.

Indy scored the game’s first run thanks to consecutive singles by Josh Palacios and Malcom Nuñez, and a sacrifice fly by Koch. The 1-0 lead held until the bottom of the fourth, when Yepez greeted Ortiz with his first home run of the season.

Ortiz (W, 1-1) induced 11 groundouts and yielded just two earned runs on three hits and one walk with a pair of strikeouts.

Koch’s towering drive in the fifth was his first homer since June 28, 2022, with Single-A Bradenton vs. Tampa. Andújar finished with two hits for a third straight contest, swiped two bases and had two RBI, giving him 12 ribbies over his last 16 games – 13 in which he’s hit safely with eight multi-hit performances. Bissonette’s three-bagger in the eighth was the third of his career and first since Aug. 12, 2019, with Rookie-Advanced Bristol vs. Bluefield.

The Indians return to Victory Field on Tuesday to open a six-game series against the Columbus Clippers, Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. First pitch is set for 6:35 PM ET.

INDIANA BASEBALL

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – With a 9-2 victory over Ohio on Sunday (April 23) the Indiana baseball program won its 22nd game of the season at Bart Kaufman Field to set a venue record and became the first Big Ten team to reach the 30-win plateau on the season.

The 22 victories at Bart Kaufman Field topped the 21 wins by the 2018 and 2019 squads and are the fifth most victories at home in program history. The 1985 team won 32 contests at Sembower Field, while the 1987 (25 wins), 1991 (25 wins) and 1986 (23 wins) all posted more than 22 wins at home in their respective seasons.

With its fourth series sweep of the season, Indiana won its seventh straight weekend series, which includes five home series wins in a row. The three non-conference wins make IU 21-8 in out of conference contests, with six straight wins in such games.

Indiana (30-11) opened the scoring with a single run in the first inning, but Ohio (15-20) grabbed the lead in the top of the third inning with a pair of runs. IU would score the final eight runs of the contest with two runs in each of the third, fifth, sixth and seventh innings.

Seven of the nine starters collected hits in the game and sophomore Josh Pyne lead the way with three hits and two runs scored. Senior Phillip Glasser added his 22nd multi-hit game of the season and his eighth multi-RBI contest with a pair of runs batted in. Glasser and Pyne each extended hitting streaks to nine games, as Glasser moved his reached base streak to 40.

Junior Bobby Whalen and freshman Devin Taylor each moved hitting streaks to 10 games with two-run home runs in the contest, as Whalen scored three times on the afternoon. For Taylor, his two-run blast was No. 11 on the season and moved his reached base streak to 30 games.

For the sixth straight game, sophomore Brock Tibbitts drove in at least on RBI with a first inning RBI base hit. Freshman Tyler Cerny plated a pair of RBIs with a double and sophomore Carter Mathison doubled twice and scored one run.

Freshman Ethan Phillips (3-0) picked up the victory in relief and freshman Brayden Risedorph (2) earn a three-inning save. Phillips tossed 3 2/3 hitless innings with just one walk allowed in the scoreless outing. He hit two batters and struck out five. Risedorph fanned three batters and allowed a single and hit batter in three scoreless frames.

Mason Minzey drove in the lone RBI of the game for Ohio with a third inning RBI single, while Billy Adams abd AJ Rausch each singled and scored a run for OU. Zach Weber (1-5) took the loss with three runs allowed on six hits over four innings of work.

Scoring Recap

Bottom First

Bobby Whalen walked with one out and moved to second on a ground out. Brock Tibbitts singled through the right side to score Whalen from second.

Indiana 1, Ohio 0

Top Third

A pair of singled started the inning and a ground out moved the runners to second and third. An RBI single from Mason Minzey got Ohio on the scoreboard and an errant pickoff attempt allowed the second run to score.

Ohio 2, Indiana 1

Bottom Third

Bobby Whalen beat the throw on a fielder’s choice with two outs and Devin Taylor followed with his 11th home run of the season.

Indiana 3, Ohio 2

Bottom Fifth

Phillip Glasser led off the inning with a hit-by-pitch and Bobby Whalen hit a two-run home run in the next at-bat.

Indiana 5, Ohio 2

Bottom Sixth

A double from Josh Pyne started the inning and Tyler Cerny reach on a hit-by-pitch. After two outs were recorded, Glasser singled through the right side and scored both runners.

Indiana 7, Ohio 2

Bottom Seventh

Carter Mathison doubled with two outs and Pyne reached on a fielding error by the shortstop. Cerny then doubled down the left field line to push both runners across.

Indiana 9, Ohio 2

Up Next

Indiana will hit the road for a midweek game at Ball State on Tuesday (April 25) before hosting Maryland in a matchup of the top two teams in the Big Ten standings starting on Friday (April 28). All four games can be heard on the Indiana Sports Radio Network via IUHoosiers.com/Audio. The weekend series with Maryland will be carried on the B1G+.

INDIANA MEN’S TENNIS

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –––– The Indiana Men’s Tennis team will be the No. 9 seed in the Big Ten Men’s Tennis Tournament with all matches being hosted by Indiana University.

All matches will be played at either the IU Tennis Center or the outdoor Varsity Courts, dependent on the weather conditions each day.

The No. 9-seeded Hoosiers will play in the first match of the tournament against No. 8 seed Penn State on Thursday, April 27 at 11 a.m.

If IU were to win, it would play against No. 1 seed Ohio State in the quarterfinals on Friday morning at 9 a.m.

The entire tournament schedule is as follows:

Thursday, April 27:

No. 9 Indiana vs. No. 8 Penn State – 11 a.m.

No. 10 Purdue vs. No. 7 Michigan State – 2 p.m.

Friday, April 28:

Winner of No. 9 Indiana/No. 8 Penn State vs. No. 1 Ohio State – 9 a.m.

No. 5 Nebraska vs. No. 4 Illinois – 11 a.m.

Winner of No. 10 Purdue/No. 7 Michigan State vs. No. 2 Michigan – 1:30 p.m.

No. 6 Wisconsin vs. No. 3 Northwestern – 4 p.m.

Saturday, April 29:

TBA vs. TBA (Semi-Final #1) – 11 a.m.

TBA vs. TBA (Semi-Final #2) – 2 p.m.

Sunday, April 30:

TBA vs. TBA (Championship) – 12 p.m.

Live streaming and live scoring links will be available for each match. Live streaming will take place on Big Ten Plus and live scoring will be on StatBroadcast.

Streaming and scoring links will be made available soon.

INDIANA SOFTBALL

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Indiana softball (34-15, 12-5 B1G) swept Rutgers (30-20, 7-10 B1G), 5-4, in the series finale at the Rutgers Softball Complex on Sunday afternoon.

INDIANA 5, RUTGERS 4

KEY MOMENTS

•  Freshman Taryn Kern hit a bomb down the left field line to get things going for the Hoosiers.

• Copeland earned an RBI double with a hit off the center field wall to score teammate Sarah Stone, 2-0.

• In the top of the third, Stone earned her seventh RBI in the series on a sac fly to center field to score senior Cora Bassett.

• Rutgers gained momentum in the bottom of the inning as they earned three hits to tie the ball game, 3-3.

• The Scarlet Knights ended the third with a 4-3 lead from an RBI sac fly.

• Indiana tied the ball game with an RBI from Stone to score Bassett before the Hoosiers shutdown the Scarlet Knights in a 1-2-3 inning.

• In the top of the sixth, Kern earned another RBI on a bases loaded hit-by-pitch to score pinch runner Aaliyah Andrews, 5-4.

• IU’s defense was on lock in the bottom of the seventh as they secured the sweep with a 1-2-3 inning.

NOTABLES

• Indiana earned its fourth sweep against a conference opponent this season.

• Sophomore pitcher Heather Johnson recorded her 12th win inside the circle this season pitching 4.1 innings, allowing no hits.

• Copeland and Bassett recorded their 11th double on the season.

• Kern recorded her 19th long ball on the season and currently leads the NCAA and Big Ten in home runs.

UP NEXT

Indiana will head north to Ann Arbor for a weekend series against the Michigan Wolverines on April 28-30.

PURDUE BASEBALL

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – In a rubber game slugfest that saw the bullpens surrender a combined 12 runs on 11 hits, Purdue baseball was unable to complete the comeback in a 10-8 loss at Maryland on Sunday.

Couper Cornblum came up a few feet shy of hitting a game-tying grand slam with two outs in the eighth inning, settling for a two-run double on his rocket off the top of the wall in left field. An inning early, Paul Toetz had also doubled off the top of the wall in right field while driving in a pair.

Trailing 5-1 after five innings, the Boilermakers (19-20, 8-7 B1G) scored seven times over three innings against the UMD bullpen. But the Terrapins (25-15, 8-4 B1G) matched the visitors’ run total in the bottom half of the sixth and seventh innings.

Saturday’s game was completed Sunday morning after it was suspended due to lightning and heavy rains showers in the middle of the seventh inning. Purdue threatened with runners on second and third with one out in the ninth inning, but UMD successfully closed out the 6-5 victory. The two wins Sunday gave Maryland its 19th consecutive Big Ten series win dating back April 2021.

Mike Bolton Jr. stole his 70th career base in the third inning of the rubber game, tying Dave Scheitlin’s program record that has stood since 1991. Bolton is 24-for-27 on stolen base attempts this season and 70-for-80 in his career.

The Terrapins hit four home runs Sunday, matching the most by a Purdue opponent this season, and eight in the series. Maryland scored five of its final six runs via the long ball Sunday. Bolton accounted for Purdue’s lone home run of the weekend.

Cornblum reached base safely in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings as the Boilermakers mounted their rally. He helped ignite rallies with a leadoff walk in the sixth and base hit in front of Toetz’s double the following frame. With the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the eighth, the center fielder hit the first pitch he saw off the wall in left center. Bolton was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first base.

Another costly out on the base paths came in the sixth inning when Toetz was picked off at second base as the trail runner.

Jake Parr doubled and scored in second inning. Connor Caskenette delivered an RBI single as the comeback began in the sixth inning. Those hits extended the lengthy streaks both players are currently riding.

STREAKS EXTENDED SUNDAY

• Caskenette – 17-game on-base streak; 10-game hit streak; 13-game on-base streak in Big Ten play

• Parr – 13-game on-base streak; 10-game hit streak in Big Ten play

• Toetz – 11-game on-base streak; 9-game hit streak

• Bolton – 8-game on-base streak in Big Ten play

• Cornblum – 6-game hit streak

Jake Jarvis and Bolton both walked three times in the rubber game. Jarvis’ RBI single in the top of the second accounted for Purdue’s first run of the game.

The Boilermakers were able to only post two zeros against UMD in the finale of the series. The Terrapins played with the lead for most of the game after scoring four times over the first three innings. For the series, Purdue did not trail until after the fourth inning of game 2 but did not hold the lead again after that juncture either.

Singles from Ty Gill and Cornblum gave the Boilermakers an opportunity to tie the game in the ninth inning of game 2 as it was completed Sunday morning. Both hits came on humpback line drives to center field, preventing Gill from having an opportunity to score from second on Cornblum’s hit. After Cornblum stole second, Nigel Belgrave was behind in the count 2-1 on Caskenette when the UMD reliever found his slider. He used the pitch to induce five swinging strikes over the next seven pitches, stranding the runners and closing out the game.

Purdue begins a season-long nine-game homestand Tuesday vs. Valparaiso. First pitch at Alexander Field is set for 6 p.m. ET as another $3 midweek matchup.

PURDUE SOFTBALL

COLUMBUS, Ohio  —  After taking the opening game of the series at Ohio State, Purdue softball fell in the series decider on Sunday, 0-9 in five innings after the Buckeyes evened the series yesterday.

The Boilermakers earned two walks during the game and were out-hit, 0-11. While the Boilermakers registered a perfect fielding %, the Buckeyes committed one error.

Purdue ended Week 11 with 24 runs scored over the four games.

Receiving the loss was sophomore lefty Kendall Klochack, who moved to 1-3 on the year.

Up next, Purdue will travel to Michigan State for the penultimate weekend of the regular season. The Boilermakers and Spartans are slated to face off at 5 p.m. ET on Friday, 1 p.m. ET on Saturday and 1 p.m. ET on Sunday. All three games will be streamed on B1G+.

BUTLER MEN’S GOLF

COLUMBUS, Ohio – After a slow start at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate, Butler moved up five spots after a delayed round two and, ultimately, finished in a tie for seventh. The three-day event was hosted by Ohio State on the 7455-yard Scarlet Course.

The Bulldogs, who were tied for fourteenth after Friday’s first round, improved by 14 strokes in round two, and moved into a tie for ninth. In the third round, the Bulldogs tied for the sixth best round of the day (300) and finished the event tied with South Dakota State in the seventh position at +40.

Northern Illinois’ Ben Sluzas won medalist honors at 211 (-2). Jackson Chandler was two strokes behind and finished in a tie for second, leading the host Buckeyes to the team title. Ohio State posted a total of 854 (+2) to take the win by 19 strokes over Kent State.

Daniel Tanaka led the Bulldogs in round three, moving up 16 spots on the individual leaderboard. His Sunday scorecard included two birdies and a one-under 35 on the front nine, as he finished the day with a two-over 73. He finished the event in a tie for 53rd at 228 (+15).

Will Horne rattled off nine pars on his back nine the final day, and with five pars on the front, he finished second for Butler with a 75. The top individual for the Bulldogs for the three-day event, Horne finished in a tie for 26th at 223 (+10).

Raymond Sullivan matched Horne’s 75 on Sunday. His 224 (+11) landed in a tie for the 30th spot for the tournament.

Rounding out the scoring on the final day for Butler, Connor McNeely carded three birdies and finished with a 77. He finished the event in a tie for 41st at 226 (+13).

The Bulldogs will now prepare for the 2023 BIG EAST Championships at Riverton Pointe in Hardeeville, S.C. from Apr. 28-30.

BUTLER BASEBALL

SOUTH ORANGE – The Seton Hall Pirates posted a 9-2 win over Butler in the final game of a three-game series in New Jersey on Sunday. The Bulldogs won the first two games to win the weekend series and will now head back to Indianapolis with four-straight home games on the schedule.

Seton Hall recorded 16 hits to generate their nine runs and the Bulldogs would add two runs in the seventh to avoid the shutout. Seton Hall went in front 1-0 in the third and a three-run fourth inning would cushion their lead.

Will Gale singled up the middle to score a run in the fourth and he would get the Pirates going again in the sixth with an RBI single to right. Max Viera added two RBI in the sixth with a double.

Gale went 4-for-4 from the plate with two RBI and two runs scored in the win. Viera went 3-for-4 with three RBI and Oscar Murray matched that production with three RBI as the SHU leadoff man.

Kollyn All was the only Bulldog to record multiple hits on Sunday. He went 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. Carter Dorighi had an RBI in the contest and Kyle Van Liere would score the other BU run.

Lukas Galdoni took the loss and Cole Hansen was credited with the win. Hansen threw the final five innings for the Pirates to secure his third win of the season. SHU starter Christopher Shine exited the mound after the fourth inning.

For Butler, Lukas Galdoni threw 3.1 innings and then handed the ball off to Clay Holzworth. They were two of six ‘Dawgs to see action in South Orange.

BU will host Eastern Illinois on Tuesday and jump back into BIG EAST action this weekend vs. Creighton.

BUTLER MEN’S TENNIS

The Butler men’s tennis team fell just short at the BIG EAST Tournament after falling in Sunday’s final to St. John’s 4-0. The Bulldog’s made an impressive run, defeating last year’s champs in DePaul and top seeded Creighton on their way to the title match.

St. John’s claimed the doubles point after taking the top two courts. Patrick Joss and Rahulniket Konakanchi held a 4-3 lead before the match went unfinished.

The Red Storm clinched the match by taking three singles matches at the No. 1, No. 3, and No. 5. Alvaro Huete Vadillo and Konakanchi each held a slim advantage over their opponents before going unfinished. 

The result means Butler concludes the season with a 15-10 overall record.

Match Results – Butler vs. St. John’s

Singles:

1. Diogo Marques (SJ) def. Thomas Brennan (BU) – 6-2, 6-3

2. Alvaro Huete Vadillo (BU) vs. Axel Vila Antuna (SJ) – 6-4, 3-6, 1-0, unfinished

3. Carl Gustavson (SJ) def. Borja Miralles (BU) – 6-1, 7-6

4. Rahulniket Konakanchi (BU) vs. Nishant Dabas (SJ) – 1-6, 6-3, 3-2, unfinished

5. Giuseppe De Camelis (SJ) def. Patrick Joss (BU) – 6-2, 6-2

6. Ryota Kaneda (SJ) vs. Nicolas Arts (BU) – 6-4, 5-2, unfinished

Doubles:

1. Axel Vila Antuna/Diogo Marques (SJ) def. Thomas Brennan/Alvaro Huete Vadillo (BU) – 6-1

2. Nishant Dabas/Carl Gustavson (SJ) def. Borja Miralles/Nicolas Arts (BU) – 6-1

3. Rahulniket Konakanchi/Patrick Joss (BU) vs. Giuseppe De Camelis/Ryota Kaneda (SJ) – 4-3, unfinished

IUPUI WOMEN’S GOLF

HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. – The IUPUI women’s golf team carded an opening round 312, led by junior Shelby Busker’s 2-over 74 as the Jaguars built a two-shot lead on day one of the 2023 Horizon League Golf Championships. Busker is tied atop the leaderboard at 74, alongside Cleveland State’s Sabrina Coffman.

Cleveland State is second overall at 314 and Oakland and Purdue Fort Wayne are tied for third overall at 315. Top seeded Youngstown State is fifth at 317 and Green Bay is sixth at 319.

Collectively, IUPUI shook off a forgettable front nine to play the back nine to 1-over as a team. Busker was steady from the start, playing the front nine to 2-over 37 with bookend bogeys on holes one and nine. A birdie on No. 14 got her back to 2-over and another birdie on No. 16 moved her to 1-over. She gave back a shot with the putter on No. 17 before finishing with a par and 2-over 74.

Annaliese Fox shot 5-over 77, including an impressive eagle on No. 14. She turned an errant tee shot into a nine-foot eagle putt, marking one of only two eagles from the field on Sunday. Junior Madeleine Pape shot 8-over 80 with a pair of birdies on the back nine and Kara Blair finished at 9-over 81.

Sophomore Nerea Lancho ended her round at 84.

IUPUI led the field in par 5 scoring at even for the day as both Busker and Fox played them to 1-under on the round. Busker made a team-high 12 pars on Sunday while Fox made 10.

IUPUI will be paired with Green Bay again on Monday (Apr. 24) and will begin teeing off at 8:50 a.m.

IUPUI MEN’S GOLF

HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. – The IUPUI men’s golf team carded an opening round 304 on Sunday (Apr. 23) and is tied for fifth among the 10-team field at this week’s Horizon League Golf Championships. Purdue Fort Wayne leads the way at 2-over 290 and Oakland is second at 292. Wright State is third overall at 296 heading into Monday’s second round at El Campeon at Mission Inn Resort.

Colten Girgis and Sam McWilliams led the way in round one, each carding 3-over 75 and

Taylor Gardner chimed in with a 4-over 76.

IUPUI started well as four members of the lineup made birdie on the day’s opening hole, but the entire lineup would make just four more birdies the rest of the day. Winds made the course trickier and longer than normal as just five players shot par or better.

McWilliams was steady throughout en route to his 75, making two birdies and five bogeys for the day. Girgis was bogey free over his final 10 holes after a double bogey on No. 8 pushed his score to 3-over. From there, he reeled off 10 straight pars as he and McWilliams are tied for 13th overall.

Gardner had a team-high three birdies and played the back nine to 2-over, including a birdie on his final hole of the day.

Kevin Tillery had a countable round of 78 and Preston Nanthavong shot 84. Tillery shook off a stretch of five straight bogeys on the front nine and counterpunched with a 2-over on the back nine.

Girgis is second amongst the field with 14 pars through 18 holes.

The Jaguars will be teamed with Cleveland State and Northern Kentucky and will begin teeing off at 8:20 a.m. on Monday (Apr. 24).

IUPUI SOFTBALL

INDIANAPOLIS – The IUPUI softball team wrapped up their home slate with a doubleheader against Robert Morris on Sunday. The Jags took game one in walk-off fashion, 7-6 then fell in game two, 3-0.

In game one, IUPUI fought back to earn the walk-off win, 7-6. On the first pitch to the Jags, Kennedy Cowan launched her sixth home run of the season over the left field wall. After taking the 1-0 lead in the first inning, the Jags extended that lead in the fourth inning with a sac fly from Kasie Keyes to score Rachael Gregory, 2-0.

The Colonials tied things up at 2-2 in the fifth inning with two runs on three hits. Robert Morris took the lead in the sixth inning with two runs, 4-2 then extended their lead in the top of the seventh inning with two runs, 6-2.

Down four, the Jags rallied in the bottom of the seventh inning to earn the come-from-behind victory. Jaida Speth doubled to left field to score Kendal Calvert then Gregory singled to the pitcher to score Speth. Victoria Sivert singled to right field to score two runners, Gregory and Kayla Freiberg to tie the game up, 6-6. Keyes then scored on a wild pitch to earn the walk off win, 7-6.

Carly Metcalf closed out the seventh inning to earn the win in the circle for the Jags. IUPUI recorded 11 hits in the win with Speth, Jordan Jenkins and Maicey Bedrick each recording two hits.

In game two, Madison Bryant held the Colonials to only one hit but due to walks and errors, Robert Morris took the 3-0 win.

The Colonials one hit came as a two-run home run from Avery Winchell in the top of the first inning to give Robert Morris the early 2-0 lead. With the bases loaded, Faith Miller drew a walk to score one more run for the Colonials in the third inning, 3-0.

IUPUI was held scoreless with just four hits. Kendal Calvert, Speth, Jenkins and Keyes each recorded a hit. Bryant took the loss in the circle for the Jags only giving up one hit with all three runs unearned. She threw the complete game, walking six batters with nine strikeouts.

The Jags will finish out the season on the road with two games at Eastern Illinois on Tuesday then three games at Detroit Mercy on Friday, April 28 and Saturday, April 29.

BALL STATE WOMEN’S TENNIS

HAMILTON, Ohio – The Ball State women’s tennis team earned a 4-3 victory on the road at Miami Sunday afternoon to end its Mid-American Conference regular season action.

With the win, the Cardinals improved to 20-3 overall 9-1 in league play while the RedHawks fell to 11-13 for the year and 5-5 in league action.

Ball State was able to take the early 1-0 advantage over Miami after earning wins on the top two doubles courts.

Emma Peeler and Annika Planinsek beat Laura Rico and Catherine Denysiewicz-Slowek by a 6-4 decision on court No. 1. The point came down to the No. 2 doubles tandem of Allison Mulville and Mariya Polishchuk who earned a highly competitive 7-5 defeat against Emila Valentinsson and Sara Zalukar.

Polishchuk, Peeler and Planinsek all came through for the Cardinals in singles to help propel Ball State past Miami. Planinsek would clinch match point with her three-set thriller over Valentinsson at the No. 4 slot, 6-3, 6-7, 6-2.

The Ball State women’s tennis team will be the No. 2 seed in this week’s Mid-American Conference Tournament which will be held in Muncie. The Cardinals face No. 3 Buffalo at 2 pm ET Saturday at the Cardinal Creek Tennis Center, weather permitting.

BALL STATE MEN’S GOLF

URBANA, Ill. – The Ball State men’s golf team wrapped up the Fighting Illini Spring Collegiate after being paired with Illinois and Northwestern for round three today. The Cardinals finished in fifth place in the team rankings.

“I’m really proud of how the guys played yesterday. It was a gutsy performance in some brutal weather conditions against a competitive pool of teams,” said head coach Mike Fleck. “The weather was marginally better today, and although we couldn’t hold onto that top-three finish, I’m pretty pleased with our performance overall. April was tough with a stacked schedule, and it helped prepare us for the upcoming MAC championship next weekend.”

Joey Ranieri continued to lead the Cardinals throughout three rounds of play. He notched a top-15 finish in the individual standings, finishing tied for 13th and at 4-over today (75-70-75—220). Ali Khan finished tied for 23rd, finishing round three at 3-over (74-77-74—225).

Carter Smith finished tied for 31st, finishing round three at 3-over (84-70-74—228). He tallied two birdies and an eagle in round three. Kash Bellar and Griffin Hare finished tied for 34th. Bellar finished at 3-over today (79-76-74—229). Hare finished at 6-over today (71-81-77—229).

Competing as individuals were Evan Bone and Carson Orr. Bone finished tied for 23rd and finished at 1-under today in round three (75-80-70—225). Orr finished in 62nd, finishing at 9-over today (83-76-80—239).

The Cardinals compete next at the MAC Championships in Athens, Alabama on Sunday, April 30 and Monday, May 1.

BALL STATE BASEBALL

MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State baseball team returned to the Ball Diamond at First Merchants Ballpark for the final game of the three-game series with Northern Illinois on Sunday. Ryan Peltier belted three home runs, while Andrew Wilhite and Blake Bevis each a notch home run as the Cardinals defeated the Huskies 15-5.

With the win, Ball State improved to 26-13 overall and 13-5 in Mid-American Conference action, while Northern Illinois fell to 7-30 overall and 4-13 in league games.

“Our boys put together a solid weekend in sweeping Northern Illinois,” said Head Coach Rich Maloney. “Our offense scored 36 runs while hitting .375. Ryan Peltier was amazing hitting five home runs to lead us with so many others contributing. Trennor O’Donnell, Ty Johnson, Sam Klein, and Tanner Knapp led us on the mound.”

Adam Tellier reached safely on an error by the first baseman with one out to get things started in the bottom of the first. He stole second and moved into scoring position. Decker Scheffler singled up the middle and drove in Tellier from second. Wilhite blasted a two-run homer down the right field line. The Cardinals took a 3-0 lead into the second inning.

Justin Conant notched a one-out walk in the bottom of the second. He stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher. Nick Gregory recorded an RBI to right field as Conant scored. Tellier flied out to right field, but Gregory tagged up and moved to third. Gregory scored on a wild pitch. Ball State extended its lead to 5-0 after two innings.

The Huskies scored one run on one hit and cut the Cardinal lead to 5-1 in the top of the third.

Scheffler led off the bottom of the third with a double down the right field line. Wilhite grounded out to second but moved Scheffler to third. Bevis doubled off the left field wall and scored Scheffler from third. BSU took a 6-1 lead into the fourth.

Northern Illinois cut the deficit to 6-2 in the top of the fourth with one run on one hit.

Conant doubled to left center to lead off the bottom of the fourth. Gregory followed with a six-pitch walk. Tellier dropped down a sac bunt and moved Conant and Gregory to third and second, respectively. Peltier pelted a three-run home run over the right field wall. Ball State extended its lead to 9-2 as the game went to the fifth.

Conant notched a two-out triple off the right field wall. Gregory followed with a triple to right center and drove in Conant. BSU took a 10-2 lead into the sixth.

Peltier pelted his second homer of the game with a solo shot over the right field wall. Bevis destroyed the first pitch he saw and hit it on McGalliard Road for a solo homer to left. The Cardinals extend their lead to 12-2 after six innings.

The Huskies prevented the run-rule with two runs on two hits and made the score 12-5 after 6.5 innings.

Gregory drew a five-pitch walk with one out in the bottom of the seventh. Tellier was hit by a pitch to give the Cardinals runners on first and second. One of the hottest players in baseball, Peltier, delivered with his third home run of the game and walked it off with a three-run homer. Peltier’s home run enforced the run-rule and gave BSU the 15-5 victory.

Tanner Knapp got the start on the mound for the Cardinals and went five innings. He picked up the win and moved to 2-2 on the year. He struck out three batters and surrendered two earned runs on two hits. Jacob Hartlaub recorded an inning in relief and struck out one batter. He surrendered one earned run on two hits. Blake Bevis added an inning in relief with one strikeout. He gave up two earned runs on two hits.

Jacob Draeger started on the hill for the Huskies and went 3 1/3 innings. He got the loss and fell to 0-4 on the season. He struck out one batter and gave up nine runs, five earned, on seven hits. Reagan Klawiter went 2 1/3 innings in relief. He struck out two batters and gave up three earned runs on five hits. Brandon Doty added 2/3 of an inning and gave up three earned runs.

Ball State remains at home for a midweek rematch with in-state foe Indiana on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.

BALL STATE SOFTBALL

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – – The Ball State softball team completed a three-game series sweep of Bowling Green with an 8-1 victory Sunday afternoon at Meserve Field.

The Cardinals (24-21, 14-9 MAC), who have won seven straight games, opened the series finale with three straight hits and never looked back. Senior third baseman Haley Wynn started with a single to right field, and after stealing second, scored on a single to left from junior center fielder Remington Ross.

Ross would come around to score on a double to center field from redshirt sophomore catcher McKayla Timmons, while a sacrifice fly eventually plated Timmons and gave BSU an early 3-0 lead.

That was all the run support freshman pitcher Bridie Murphy needed as she held the Falcons (8-33; 1-20 MAC) to just two hits over the first 5.0 innings. Murphy, who improved to 7-2 with the win, also struck out four batters before being relieved by sophomore Angelina Russo in the sixth.

Russo pitched the final 2.0 innings, allowing just one hit and one run, while also earning a strikeout.

HIGHLIGHTS

Junior first baseman Samantha-Jo Mata kept the Cardinals going, leading off the second inning with her second long ball of the season.

Ball State tallied 11 hits in Sunday’s win, marking the team’s fifth straight contest with double-digit hits … Overall, the Cardinals out-scored BGSU 24-5 and out-hit the Falcons 35-13 over the three-game series.

The series sweep over Bowling Green is BSU’s third in league play this season, as the Cardinals also swept Central Michigan (March 25-26) and Buffalo (April 15-16).

Timmons led the Ball State offense in Sunday’s win, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a pair of RBI.

With 11 hits on Sunday, Ball State raised its team batting average to .300 on the year.

SCORING SUMMARY: Ball State 8 – Bowling Green 1

T1 | Wynn opened the game with a single, stole second and then scored on a single to left by Ross. (1-0)

T1 | Ross scored on an RBI double to right center by Timmons. (2-0)

T1 | Junior left fielder Kaitlyn Mathews gave Ball State a three-run edge with a sacrifice fly to right field. (3-0)

T2 | Mata opened the second inning with a solo shot to right center. (4-0)

T3 | Timmons opened the third inning with a single and eventually scored on a Mathews single to center field. (5-0)

T5 | An RBI groundout from Timmons drove in Wynn from third. (6-0)

B6 | Peyton Dolejs opened the inning with a triple and later scored on a wild pitch. (6-1)

T7 | Redshirt senior second baseman Jazmyne Armendariz drove in a pair of runs with a single up the middle. (8-1)

UP NEXT

It will be a quick turnaround for the Ball State softball team which opens its final week of the regular season with a three-game, midweek home series versus Miami.

The Cardinals and RedHawks will play a single game Tuesday at 3 p.m. and a doubleheader Wednesday starting at 1 p.m. at the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex.

NOTRE DAME BASEBALL

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish took home the series over No. 8 Virginia in their first sweep of the year as they downed the Cavaliers in the Sunday doubleheader on April 23 at Frank Eck Stadium. Notre Dame recorded a season-high 17 hits in the first game of the day as they took down the Cavaliers 10-2. The completed sweep was capped off with a 5-4 win in the second game of the day and final win of the series.

GAME ONE

The Irish were able to take an early 2-0 advantage in the bottom of the first as Carter Putz put the Irish on the board with his sixth home run of the year as he sent it to deep right field. He was followed by Jack Penney, who singled up the middle and was sent home on an RBI double to deep left field from DM Jefferson.

Notre Dame would extend their lead to 3-0 in the third as Jack Penney launched the ball to right field with his team-high ninth home run of the season and second of the series. Danny Neri led off in the fourth with a double to right center and was sent home on a Zack Prajzner single up the middle to give the Irish the 4-0 edge.

The Cavaliers would close the gap to two in the top of the sixth as they homered down the right field line for a two-run long ball to make it a 4-2 ballgame. A big bottom frame from the Irish included base hits from Prajzner and Penney as they were scored on a home run from Vinny Martinez, his seventh of the year. His three-run home run extended the Irish lead to 7-2 heading into the seventh inning.

Prajzner would record the fourth Irish home run of the game as he sent it over the left field fence. Notre Dame led 8-2 after seven. The Irish tacked on their final two runs in the bottom of the eighth as Penney doubled and Jefferson and Moreno singled for hits 15, 16, and 17 for Notre Dame. Leading 10-2, the Irish closed the top of the ninth with a 1-6-3 double play and a Mercer strikeout to take home game two.

Blake Hely started on the mound for the Irish and threw a season-high 7.1 innings and recorded a season-high eight strikeouts in his second win of the season. He was relieved by Will Mercer who pitched 1.2 innings and gave up zero runs and zero hits.

GAME TWO

The Cavalier offense struck first as they recorded a run in the top of the second, but the Irish responded with a run of their own as Vinny Martinez led off the bottom frame with a double to center field. Martinez advanced to third on a throwing error and was sent home on a sac fly from DM Jefferson to make it an even 1-1 heading into the third.

Virginia went three up, three down in the top of the third. The Irish capitalized on their offensive frame in the bottom of the inning as Zack Prajzner was scored on an RBI single from Putz to take the lead 2-1.

The Cavaliers regained the lead in the top of the fourth as they homered down the right field to tack on two more runs in the frame. Leading 3-2, a base hit and a double from the Cavaliers in the top of fifth would extend the Virginia lead to 4-2.

The big three-run frame in the bottom of the fifth would allow Notre Dame to take the lead yet again at 5-4. Estevan Moreno and DM Jefferson each recorded base hits and a stolen base, while Martinez tallied his second double of the day and 2 RBI.

Both the Irish and Cavaliers hung zeros the rest of the way as the Irish closed out the game to complete the sweep with the 5-4 victory over No. 8 Virginia.

Carter Bosch made his first start of the year as he pitched 4.2 innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits. He was relieved by Caden Spivey, who took home the win after pitching 4.1 innings, allowing no runs and giving up two hits.

UP NEXT

The Irish hit the road for a midweek matchup at Michigan State on Tuesday, April 25 as the Irish take on the Spartans for the second time this season.

NOTRE DAME MEN’S GOLF

PINEHURST, N.C. – The Notre Dame men’s golf team concluded play at the 2023 ACC Championships on Sunday, finishing in 10th place with a three-round total of 877 (+13). The top-four teams who advanced to the Match Play semifinals were Georgia Tech (-26), Wake Forest (-10), Virginia (-4) and Duke (-4). Over the three rounds, the Irish went 292, 293, 292.

Palmer Jackson led all Notre Dame golfers with a top-20 finish. The senior was Mr. Consistency with three consecutive rounds of even-par 72 to finish in 16th place. He ultimately finished nine strokes off from the leader, Michael Brennan of Wake Forest.

Angelo Marcon fired off rounds of 73, 72, 74 to finish three-over par to land in a tie for 28th place. Up next was Nate Stevens in 43rd with rounds of 73, 72, 78 to finish at seven-over. Andrew O’Leary followed right behind in 44th with an eight-over par (74, 77, 73). Owen Mullen rounded out the Irish lineup in 49th place at 10-over (74, 79, 73).

For full results of the 2023 ACC Championships, click here.

INDIANA STATE BASEBALL

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Connor Fenlong went the distance in a complete-game one-hitter and Adam Pottinger’s grand slam in the fifth inning essentially sealed the deal as No. 22 Indiana State topped Southern Illinois, 10-0, in a run-rule win on national television on Sunday afternoon.

Fenlong (5-2) surrendered just an infield single to SIU’s (23-16, 10-4 MVC) Nathan Bandy in the top of the first inning and retired the final 15 batters he faced in arguably one of the most dominant showings of his collegiate career. Facing off against a Saluki offense that entered the weekend hitting .289 as a roster, the redshirt senior right-hander allowed just one runner in scoring position and allowed just four fair balls out of the infield on the afternoon in the Indiana State’s (25-12, 13-1 MVC) third shutout of the season.

In the Valley Game of the Week carried nationally on ESPNU, the Sycamores ran their winning streak to 13 consecutive games as ISU continued their longest winning stretch in the Mitch Hannahs coaching era. ISU’s 13-1 mark in Missouri Valley play is the best start to conference competition in program history surpassing the previous record 12-1 back in 2012.

Indiana State scored early to take control of the contest as Keegan Watson worked a full-count against SIU starter Tanner Lewis (2-2) before connecting on a two-run double to left center scoring both Luis Hernandez and Seth Gergely.

The Sycamores took advantage of a bout of wildness from Lewis in the fourth as hit-by-pitches issued to both Watson and Grant Magill sandwiched a Pottinger double to load the bases with none out. Henry Brown came through with his first collegiate RBIs with a two-run single and Josue Urdaneta added an RBI base hit to give ISU the 5-0 lead.

Pottinger’s fifth-inning grand slam off the first pitch from SIU reliever Ben Riffe gave Indiana State the 9-0 advantage and Seth Gergely followed Henry Brown’s double off the right field wall with an RBI single to center to provide the double-digit lead.

Fenlong did not allow a runner on base following a Matt Schark’s fielder’s choice in the top of the third inning and kept SIU on the infield until Jack Rigoni flew out to Watson in left field for the second out of the seventh. Pottinger camped under the final out in right field to close out the contest.

Gergely posted his second consecutive three-hit game as Indiana State connected on 12 hits in Sunday’s game. Pottinger and Brown also posted multi-hit games while all 10 Sycamores that posted an at-bat reached base in the win.

Fenlong went 7.0 innings in the complete game effort. The Gouvernour, N.Y. native allowed just the Bandy single and surrendered one walk while striking out four in facing one batter over the minimum.

Lewis took the loss for SIU allowing seven hits and five runs while striking out three. Shane Wilhelm and Riffe closed out the game for the Salukis.

How They Scored

Indiana State struck first in the bottom of the first inning as Keegan Watson connected on a two-out, two-run double to left centerfield scoring Luis Hernandez and Seth Gergely to give the Sycamores the early 2-0 lead.

Henry Brown drove in the first two runs of his collegiate career with a two-run single through the left side and Josue Urdaneta drove in Grant Magill with an RBI base hit to give Indiana State the 5-0 lead in the fourth.

Adam Pottinger connected on a first-pitch grand slam in the bottom of the fifth and Seth Gergely singled home Henry Brown to cap a five-run fifth inning as Indiana State went ahead 10-0 after five innings at Bob Warn Field.

News & Notes                                                                                                                                    

Indiana State’s winning streak reached 13 consecutive games on Sunday afternoon marking the longest winning streak in the Mitch Hannahs coaching era.

The streak surpassed the previous best, a 12-game stretch back in 2014 when ISU went undefeated from February 15 – March 10 that year with wins over Connecticut, Ohio State (twice), Lipscomb, Belmont, MTSU, New Orleans (three), and Western Illinois (three).

The 13-game winning streak ties the fourth-longest winning streak in program history according to current records on hand equaling the 13-game stretches in both 2012 (March 4-23) and 2003 (March 8-26).

ISU’s 13-1 record to start Missouri Valley play is a new program record surpassing the previous best 12-1 mark set back in the 2012 season.

The Sycamores 13-game winning streak is currently the third-longest active winning streak in the country trailing both Army (15) and Dallas Baptist (14).

Indiana State’s current 10-game winning streak at Bob Warn Field is in a five-way tie with Ball State, Delaware, Little Rock, and Maine for the longest current home streak in the NCAA Division I.

Indiana State has won their first five MVC series for the first time since 2012 (six series) and just the third time in program history (1998, five series).

Indiana State’s run-rule win over the Salukis was the Sycamores’ first run-rule victory since April 18, 2021, when ISU topped Valparaiso 12-1 at Bob Warn Field.

Sunday’s win marked Indiana State’s first run-rule win over Southern Illinois since topping the Salukis 15-2 in the first game of a doubleheader back on April 15, 2017.

Adam Pottinger’s fifth inning grand slam marked Indiana State’s third grand slam of the season and first since Grant Magill went deep in the second inning at Memphis back on March 10. Mike Sears has also connected on a grand slam this season coming against Florida Gulf Coast back on February 21.

Pottinger’s grand slam gives Indiana State 22 home runs in MVC play through 14 games.

The Sycamores have 44 home runs on the season, one shy of their total from 2022 (45).

Pottinger ran his on-base streak to a season-best 13 consecutive games and the hitting streak reached nine following his 2-for-3 day at the plate.

ISU’s 12 hits on Sunday afternoon marked the fifth consecutive game the Sycamores have posted double-digit hits continuing their longest stretch of the season.

Seth Gergely posted back-to-back three-hit games after a 3-for-4 day at the plate marking his fifth game with three or more hits in 2023. He raised his season average to a team-best .353 on the year and has reached base in 35 of the 37 games played this season.

Connor Fenlong posted the first complete game of his Indiana State career and first shutout at ISU with the 7.0-inning standout performance.

The one-hitter marked the first time Indiana State had limited an opposing team to just one hit since May 25, 2022, when Matt Jachec and Joey Hurth combined for the one-hitter in the MVC Tournament against Valparaiso.

It also marked the third consecutive season Indiana State’s pitching staff has posted a one-hitter. Connor Cline and Joey Hurth combined to one-hit Valparaiso in an 11-2 win on April 17, 2021, to start the three-year stretch.

Fenlong’s complete-game one-hit shutout was Indiana State’s first CG one-hitter since Colin Rea went the distance over a 7.0-inning game against Rockhurst back on April 1, 2011, in the Sycamores’ 14-0 win.

Fenlong became the second ISU pitcher to record a complete-game shutout this season joining Matt Jachec (2-0 vs. Illinois State, April 7).

Fenlong and Jachec became the first ISU duo to each record a complete game shutout since Tyler Whitbread (12-0 at Missouri State, March 31) and Collin Liberatore (8-0 vs. Valparaiso, April 13) both accomplished the feat back in 2019.

Three more Sycamores were hit by pitches in the game running ISU’s Missouri Valley leading total to 64 through 37 games.

Grant Magill threw out his league-leading 15th would-be base-stealer on Sunday afternoon after nabbing Bandy in the top of the first inning.

Henry Brown was pressed into defensive relief midway through the game and went 2-for-2 with a double and two RBIs on Sunday afternoon. The redshirt freshman’s double was his second extra-base hit of the year, while his two runs batted in marked his first two RBIs in the Sycamore Blue & White.

Up Next

Indiana State and Southern Illinois close out the weekend series on Monday afternoon at Bob Warn Field with first pitch set for 2 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.

INDIANA STATE SOFTBALL

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State softball dropped the series finale to Murray State on Sunday at Price field, falling to the Racers, 4-3.

Indiana State (23-23, 11-9 MVC) scattered 12 hits throughout the contest. The Racers (30-16, 14-6 MVC) finished with six hits, scoring all four of their runs in the third inning.

Murray State won the series, taking two of three games over the weekend and now lead the all-time series 3-1 over the Sycamores.

The Action

Lexi Benko got the start for the Sycamores, stranding runners on second and third in the top of the first inning. A line drive caught by Kaylee Barrett in right field would retire the side, bringing Indiana State to the plate where they would jump out to an early lead. With two outs in the frame, Isabella Henning singled through the right side followed by an infield single by Kennedy Shade. Annie Tokarek then drove in Henning with a single up the middle to put ISU up 1-0.

Following a 1-2-3 inning for Benko in the second, Abi Chipps reached with a two-out single and stole second but Murray State was able to retire the side with no damage done.

The Racers would get on the scoreboard in the third, plating four runs on three hits in the frame. After a one out walk by leadoff hitter Erin Lackey, Jadyn Thompson doubled off the wall in left center to put runners on second and third. A walk would load the bases, leading to a sacrifice fly to center field that would tie the game at one. Following the sac fly, Racers catcher Taylor Jackson homered over the wall in left center for a three-run shot, putting Murray State up 4-1. Lexi Benko would be replaced by Cassi Newbanks who stranded a pair of runners with a swinging strikeout to limit the damage. Isabella Henning recorded her second hit of the game in the bottom half of the third.

In the top of the fourth, Murray State was in business again until Kaylee Barrett caught a fly ball in right and fired home to get the runner at the plate to end the inning and keep the score at 4-1. The Sycamores went down in order in the bottom half.

Cassi Newbanks worked a scoreless top of the fifth, bringing up the Trees offense where Danielle Henning reached on a line drive single up the middle to highlight the Sycamores in the frame. Newbanks would put the Racers down in order in the sixth, picking up her second strikeout of her relief outing.

With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Annie Tokarek singled to right field for her second hit of the contest. Hannah Welch would come on to pinch run for Tokarek but was able to jog home as Cassie Thomerson lifter her second home run of the season over the wall in left field to bring the Sycamores within one run. TeAnn Bringle followed the home run with a double to right center which would chase Murray State starter Jenna Veber from the game. Bre Haislip entered in relief and got a groundout and a lineout to keep the Racers in the lead, 4-3, after six innings of play.

Newbanks set down the Murray State offense in order in the top of the seventh, bringing the Sycamores back in the dugout for a chance to rally. Olivia Patton started the inning off with a single to right field. Trying to move Patton over, Danielle Henning would end up reaching on a bunt single as nobody covered first base for the Racers. Isabella Henning then loaded the bases with her third hit of the game, a single through the right side. Hannah James, who had entered in relief of Haislip following the Patton single, then got Kennedy Shade to pop up and struck out Annie Tokarek and Cassie Thomerson to get out of the bases-loaded jam and clinch the series victory for the Racers.

Up Next

The Sycamores will travel to Evansville on Tuesday, April 25 for the third game of the season series against the Aces, with first pitch set for 6 p.m. ET at Cooper Stadium.

PURDUE FT. WAYNE MEN’S GOLF

HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. – Purdue Fort Wayne men’s golf is in sole possession of first place at the Horizon League Championship after 18 holes of play. The Mastodons shot 290 on Sunday (April 23), two shots better than any other team in the field.

Purdue Fort Wayne’s 290 is the seventh-best round of the season. Oakland is the closest team to the ‘Dons, shooting 292 on day one. League-favorite Wright State shot 296.

Kasey Lilly is in a tie for first place after an opening round of 69. He had a bogey-free front nine, including a pair of birdies to start the round. After a birdie on 10, he was 3-under. He rattled off five more pars before his first and only bogey of the day came on 16. He quickly made up for it with a birdie on 17. Lilly is tied with Oakland’s Yaro Ilyenko for the individual medalist race.

Four shots back of Lilly, Hunter Mefford is in a tie for sixth with a 1-over 73. He also started his round with a birdie and three pars. After a bogey on hole five, he went back under with a birdie on the 430-yard par-4 seventh. On the back nine, he had just one bogey, which came on 13. He parred the rest.

Joining the flock of birdies on the opening hole, Nick Holder also shot 73 to possess sixth place with Mefford. Holder had three bogeys on the front nine, then a very clean back nine of eight pars and a birdie on hole 16.

Jadden Ousley was two shots back of Mefford and Holder with a 75. He is in a tie for 13th. Ousley’s round featured three birdies on the front nine on holes three, five and eight. He finished his round with seven pars on the final eight holes.

Burke Pitz shot an 81 in the opening round to sit in a tie for 41st. He had 12 pars in round one, including a stretch of five in a row from hole six to 10.

Purdue Fort Wayne will tee off for round two with tee times starting at 7:30 a.m. on Monday (April 24).

PURDUE FT. WAYNE WOMEN’S GOLF

HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. – Purdue Fort Wayne is just three shots back of the lead at the Horizon League Women’s Golf Championship after the opening round on Sunday (April 23).

The Mastodons shot 315 as a team, which put them in a tie for third with Oakland. Only Cleveland State’s 314 and IUPUI’s 312 were better after 18 holes.

Individually, Anna Olafsdottir is two shots back of the best in the field. She shot a 76 in her opening round, behind just IUPUI’s Shelby Busker (74), Cleveland State’s Sabrina Coffman (74) and Youngstown State’s Puthita Khuanrudee (75). Olafsdottir started on hole 10. After two holes of worse than par in her first three, she settled in and parred seven in a row. She bogeyed hole two, then had five more bogey-free, including a birdie on the 361-yard fourth.

Just one shot behind Olafsdottir, Laura Caetano had one of her best rounds of the season, shooting 77 to sit in a tie for fifth. She also started on hole 10 and had a similar start to Olafsdottir. Caetano round turned for the better on hole 14, which started a stretch of five holes where she was 2-under. She was bogey-free and had birdies on 16 and 18. After making the turn, the senior from Brazil was 2-over with four bogeys, two birdies and three pars. She birdied holes four and seven, then finished the round with back-to-back pars.

Arny Dagsdottir shot 79, which puts her in a tie for 13th with 36 holes to play. She started with two pars, then got a birdie to drop on the 14th hole before rattling off three more pars. After making the turn, Dagsdottir birdied hole one, a 376-yard par-4, then parred four in a row.

As the final score taken in round one for the ‘Dons, Luiza Caetano had a run of five holes on the back nine with only pars to pace her 83. She is tied for 29th. After making the turn, she had a pair of birdies on holes five and seven.

Natalie Papa shot 92 in the opening round. She had seven pars and a birdie on hole four.

The Mastodons’ 315 is their second-best round of the spring season.

The ‘Dons will tee off in round two with tee times starting at 8 a.m. They will begin on hole one.

PURDUE FT. WAYNE BASEBALL

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Cade Fitzpatrick had three hits including a home run on Sunday (April 23) at Mastodon Field but the Purdue Fort Wayne baseball team lost to Wright State 11-5.

Justin Miller tossed 4.1 innings in relief with four strikeouts to bring his career total to 210. He is now tied for first in program history for career strikeouts with Jason Horvath (2001-04). Miller could break the record at home on Wednesday (April 26) when the ‘Dons host Dayton.

Fitzpatrick was one of three Mastodons with multiple hits on Sunday. Grant Thoroman had two as did Jarrett Bickel.

Wright State scored one run in the second, two in the third and four more in the fourth to go up 7-0. The ‘Dons scored two in their half of the fourth on a Cade Fitzpatrick two-RBI double. It was a 9-2 game in the sixth when Tyler Nelson doubled in Dylan Stewart to make the score 9-3. Fitzgerald hit a home run in the eighth and Jacob Walker hit his first home run as a Mastodon in the ninth to account for the Mastodons’ final two runs.

Julian Greenwell hit a pair of home runs and knocked in five runs for the Raiders. Luke Stofel earned the win for Wright State. He is 2-3. Josh Laisure tossed the final 3.1 for the save. Owen Willard took the loss for the ‘Dons. He is 0-4.

The ‘Dons fall to 10-31 (6-12 Horizon League). Wright State improves to 23-17 (13-5 Horizon League).

EVANSVILLE BASEBALL

MURRAY, Ky. –  The University of Evansville baseball team earned an important Missouri Valley Conference series victory on Sunday with a doubleheader split with the homestanding Murray State Racers at Johnny Reagan Field in Murray, Kentucky.  Evansville won the opener, 6-3, before the Racers responded with a 10-3 win in game two.

“It was great to get the series win on the road,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll.  “In game one, I thought that Donovan and Michael pitched great in order to get the series win.

“We have a big week ahead, and it will be great to get back home to the Braun to play in front of our fans again!”

In the opener, Murray State struck first, scoring three runs in the first inning with the help of an Evansville error.  But, the Purple Aces answered right back to tie the game at 3-3 in the top of the second on a two-out, three-run double by fifth-year first baseman Chase Hug.

Evansville would then take the lead in the third inning on an RBI single by fifth-year outfielder Danny Borgstrom.  Senior outfielder Mark Shallenberger then added to the lead in the fourth inning with a two-run home run to right field to give UE a 6-3 lead.  For Shallenberger, it marked his fourth home run in the seven games since returning from injury last weekend.

From there, UE starter Donovan Schultz (5-2) and reliever Michael Parks (save) combined to shut down the Murray State offense.  From the fourth inning on, the Racers had just five singles scattered through the five innings, and Evansville used two of its three double-plays on the day to get out of any trouble.  Schultz earned the win by scattering three runs (one earned) on seven base hits in 5.0 innings of work.  Parks, meanwhile, earned his first save since 2021 with 4.0 shutout innings of three-hit relief.

Hug led Evansville in the opener by going 3-for-5 with three RBI, while sophomore designated hitter Evan Waggoner also went 3-for-5 with a run scored.

In the nightcap, Murray State once again jumped out early, scoring two runs in the first inning thanks to three walks from UE starter Tyler Denu (3-3).  The Racers would add three more runs in the second inning to grab a 5-0 lead.

Evansville would get one run back in the third inning on a solo home run from sophomore outfielder Ty Rumsey.  But, a five-run sixth inning put the game out of reach, as Murray State went on to a 10-3 win.

Junior second baseman Kip Fougerousse had the lone multi-hit game of the nightcap for UE, going 2-for-3.  Murray State DH Charlie Corum went 2-for-2 with a double, a run scored and three RBI to pace the Racers in game two.

With the doubleheader split, Evansville and Murray State are tied for fourth place in the MVC standings with 8-7 conference marks, but the Purple Aces gain the head-to-head tiebreaker with the series win.  Overall, Evansville is now 23-16 overall heading into a home contest on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. against Lipscomb.  Tuesday’s game can be heard live in the Tri-State on 107.1 FM-WJPS and the Old National Bank/Purple Aces Sports Network from Learfield.

EVANSVILLE MEN’S GOLF

COAL VALLEY, Ill. – Recording a 2-under 69 in the opening round of the Missouri Valley Conference Championship, Nicholas Gushrowski is tied for the 4th position at Oakwood Country Club.

Opening Day Results

Gushrowski’s round has him just four points off of the lead, which is currently held by Felix van Dijk of Illinois State.  He carded a 6-under 65 to pace the individuals with Valparaiso’s Anthony Delisanti in second with a 66.

Second on the Purple Aces and tied for 28th overall is Michael Ikejiani.  He posted a 3-over 74 in Sunday’s opening 18 holes.  One behind him was Isaac Rohleder.  His 4-over 75 has him in a tie for 32nd.  Carson Parker and Daniil Romashkin carded identical rounds of 76 and are tied for 41st place.

Evansville registered a team score of 294 in the first round to rank in 8th out of 10 teams.  UE is just seven strokes outside of the top four as Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois are tied for 4th with scores of 287. Illinois State paces the team standings with a 276.  Valparaiso is in second with a 279 while Belmont ranks third with a 284.

Monday will mark the second out of three rounds of 18.

EVANSVILLE SOFTBALL

CHICAGO – In a back-and-forth contest on Sunday at Flames Field, UIC out-dueled the University of Evansville softball team to take a 7-6 victory in nine innings.

With the score tied at 5-5 entering the ninth inning, Evansville took advantage of an error by the Flames to go up 6-5.  Unfortunately, UIC cashed in on two UE errors in the bottom of the frame to earn its second walk-off win of the weekend.

UIC took the lead in the bottom of the second inning with three runs scoring.  Tess Altevers Harris had a 2-RBI double to highlight the frame.

Things remained the same until the top of the fourth when the Purple Aces had a 3-run inning of their own.  Jess Willsey led the inning off with a home run to left field for UE’s first score of the afternoon.  With two outs, Taylor Howe drew a walk before scoring from first on a double by Lacy Smith.

Next up was Zoe Frossard, who doubled to center to bring home Smith and knot the score.  Two frames later, Evansville looked for more.  Hannah Hood opened with an infield single and the Aces would advance runners to second and third with one out.  A sacrifice fly attempt saw the UE runner thrown out on a close play at the plate to keep it tied at 3-3.

Evansville rebounded in the top of the seventh as Frossard reached on an error to being Jenna Nink to the plate.  She launched her fifth home run of the season to put the Aces in front at 5-3.

Just when it looked like the Aces were on the brink of a victory, the Flames rallied back with Altevers Harris hitting an RBI triple in a 2-run inning that tied it up to send the game to extra innings.  UE stranded the bases loaded in the top of the eighth but could not bring in the go-ahead run.  After a scoreless 8th inning, Marah Wood singled to lead off the ninth and would score on a UIC error.  Looking to close the game out, the Aces committed two crucial errors that helped UIC take the 7-6 walk-off win.

Five Aces registered two hits on Sunday with Wood, Willsey, Hood, Howe and Smith accomplishing the feat.  In the circle, Mikayla Jolly made the start, allowing three runs in four innings.  Megan Brenton tossed 2 1/3 innings with two earned runs crossing the plate.  Sydney Weatherford threw the final 2 1/3 frames with two runs, one earned, coming home.

On Tuesday, UE returns home for a 5 p.m. game against Indiana State.

SOUTHERN INDIANA MEN’S GOLF

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Golf senior Zach Williams (Mt. Vernon, Illinois) caps off his senior campaign by being selected to the All-Ohio Valley Conference team as voted on by the league’s coaches. This is the second all-conference honor for Williams in his five-year career as a Screaming Eagle.

The two-time OVC Golfer of the Week winner was one of 10 athletes voted to the list this season. Prior to the OVC Championship, Williams averaged a 72.66 strokes per round average (spra) and a one over par in 29 rounds of play which includes five top-five finishes.

This season, Williams broke the 18-hole and his own 54-hole records after shooting a 65 in the opening round and a 208 in three rounds at the Golfweek Fall Challenge. He also is on pace to break the lowest season average (72.66) and the lowest career average (74.08) in USI history.

Williams and the Eagles finish out the season this week at the OVC Championship. Going into Sunday night, USI sits in fourth, shooting 297 (+9) after one round.

OVC Player of the Year: Jansen Smith, Little Rock

OVC Freshman of the Year: Brady Kaufmann, SIUE

OVC Coach of the Year: Jake Harrington, Little Rock

2022-23 Men’s Golf All-OVC Team

(as voted on by the league’s head coaches)

Jansen Smith, Little Rock

Jackson Skeen, Tennessee Tech

Matteo Cristoni, Little Rock

Anton Albers, Little Rock

Nolan Piazza, Morehead State

Zach Williams, Southern Indiana

Magnus Lomholt, Little Rock

Archie Smith, Little Rock

Anthony Ruthey, SIUE

Anders Larson, Tennessee Tech

2022-23 Men’s Golf All-Newcomer Team

(as voted on by the league’s head coaches)

Matteo Cristoni, Little Rock

Brady Kaufmann, SIUE

Anders Larson, Tennessee Tech

Alex Eickhoff, SIUE

Dax Isbell, UT Martin

SOUTHERN INDIANA MEN’S TENNIS

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – For the second straight match, University of Southern Indiana Men’s Tennis (7-14, 3-6 Horizon) earned a Horizon League victory in stellar fashion, this time defeating Eastern Illinois University, 4-3, Sunday afternoon at the USI Tennis Courts. The Screaming Eagles also honored seniors Lucas Sakamaki (Louisville, Kentucky) and Yahor Bahdanovich (Minsk, Belarus) for their athletic and academic careers at USI.

Doubles: Despite winning at number one, the Eagles dropped doubles two and three to give the Panthers a quick 1-0 lead. Sakamaki and freshman Omar ElSamahy (Cairo, Egypt) paired up to take down their opponents, 6-0, at number one.

Singles: It did not take long for USI to get the advantage with Sakami taking control at singles two (7-6, 6-1) and ElSamahy handling his opponent easily at number one (6-4, 6-4). Junior Dylan Brown (Evansville, Indiana) provided a key win in the match, winning 6-2, 7-6 at number six to extend the Eagles’ lead to 3-1 over EIU. Even though the Panthers won in singles four, sophomore Quinten Gillespie (Whiteland, Indiana) etched out his opponent in a three-set tiebreaker (6-7, 6-2, 6-3) at number five to walk it off for USI.

SOUTHERN INDIANA SOFTBALL

NASHVILLE – With a multi-home run game from senior Allie Goodin (Evansville, Indiana) in the series finale, University of Southern Indiana Softball completed a doubleheader sweep of Tennessee State University on Sunday, winning 3-2 and 5-1, respectively. Sunday’s two wins provided USI with an Ohio Valley Conference series win on the road.

Following Sunday’s results, USI improved to 18-20 overall and 11-9 in the OVC. The Screaming Eagles snapped a three-game losing skid early Sunday and maintained their position in the top half of the league standings. Tennessee State’s record went to 16-23-1 and 7-10 in conference play.

In Sunday’s first game, Tennessee State used the second inning to its advantage just like the game on Saturday when the Tigers scored three second-inning runs. On Sunday, the Tigers scored a pair of runs off three hits in the bottom of the second inning to take a 2-0 lead.

USI answered in the top of the fourth inning, as the bats came to life for the Screaming Eagles. With a runner at third, junior first baseman Lexi Fair (Greenwood, Indiana) put USI on the board with an RBI single. Fair finished the game with a pair of hits to lead USI. Two batters later, sophomore pitcher Hailey Gotshall (Lucerne, Indiana) helped her own cause with an RBI single to right to score Fair and tie the game, 2-2. A successful sacrifice from junior catcher Sammie Kihega (Greenfield, Indiana) put USI in front, 3-2, as senior infielder Jordan Rager (Fishers, Indiana) scored on the play.

Meanwhile, Gotshall was strong in the pitching circle, matching her longest outing of the season with 6.1 innings of work. The sophomore earned her third win of the season, striking out five in the process. Freshman pitcher Raegan Gibson (Louisville, Kentucky) recorded the last two outs for her first career save.

Tennessee State’s freshman pitcher Holly Ayala dropped to 4-10 this season with the loss, surrendering three runs – two earned – in a complete-game effort.

Game 2 on Sunday began in a pitcher’s duel between USI sophomore pitcher Josie Newman (Indianapolis, Indiana) and TSU sophomore hurler Caitlyn Manus. Each starter kept the game scoreless and held the two teams to a combined three hits through four innings.

In the top of the fifth inning, Southern Indiana’s offense gained some traction. Goodin blasted a two-run home run to centerfield that scored sophomore outfielder Kennedy Nalley (Huntingburg, Indiana) and gave USI a 2-0 lead. Goodin’s work did not finish there.

In the top of the seventh inning, and with USI ahead 2-1, Goodin sent another ball out of the ballpark. Goodin’s second home run of the game was a three-run shot that scored junior outfielder Mackenzie Bedrick (Brownsburg, Indiana) and freshman outfielder Caroline Stapleton (Shirley, Indiana) to put USI up by four, 5-1.

Goodin’s multi-home run game was the first by a USI player this season, as she tallied her fourth and fifth home runs of the 2023 season. The Evansville, Indiana native is now a home run shy of joining Fair inside the top-10 in USI’s all-time history for career home runs. Goodin had all five of USI’s RBIs in the second game. Bedrick, Stapleton, Fair, and Nalley had Southern Indiana’s other four hits in game 2.

Newman went on to record her 16th complete game and another win, moving to 14-9 on the season. The right-hander struck out four with only one run allowed in seven innings.

The Tigers’ Manus suffered the loss, dropping to 12-13 after her complete game in the series finale. Manus struck out three and gave up five runs off six hits and six walks.

USI Softball will return to the field at home on May 2 against Austin Peay State University, as the Screaming Eagles will focus on finals week and have their OVC bye next weekend. The May 2 contest against Austin Peay will start at 3 p.m. from USI Softball Field. Admission to all 2023 USI Softball home spring games is free, courtesy of The Women’s Hospital Deaconess. Coverage links are on the USI Softball schedule page on usiscreamingeagles.com.

SOUTHERN INDIANA BASEBALL

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Baseball scored eight times in the fifth to run away from Eastern Illinois University, 15-8, Sunday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. USI, which posted its first Ohio Valley Conference series win, watched its record go to 13-26 overall, 5-10 OVC, while EIU goes to 22-15, 4-8 OVC.

Following a first inning home run by EIU, USI took its first lead of the contest, 2-1, in the second inning when junior designated hitter Parker Stroh (Grand Forks, North Dakota) hit a two-run blast to right field. The home run was Stroh’s third of the season and his second of the series.

The USI lead was short lived as EIU bounced back to grab a 3-2 advantage in the top of the third. The Screaming Eagles responded with a four-run bottom of the third that was highlighted by a three-run explosion off the bat of junior leftfielder Jack Ellis (Jeffersonville, Indiana) to make the score 6-3. The round tripper was Ellis’ third of the season.

The Eagles increased the lead to 7-3 in the fourth when junior second baseman Nolan Cook (Evansville, Indiana) scored on a ground out by sophomore shortstop Ricardo Van Grieken (Venezuela). EIU came back to cut the USI advantage to 7-4 with a tally in the top of the fifth before the Eagles erupted for another eight runs in the bottom half of the frame, boosting the lead to 15-4.

USI sent 11 batters to the plate in the eight-run fifth that was capped off by a three-run explosion of the bat of senior catcher Lucas McNew (Floyds Knobs, Indiana). The three-run blast put McNew in sole possession of fifth all-time at USI for home runs (23) and RBIs (156).

The Panthers added a tally in the sixth and seventh to cut the gap to 15-6 and prolong the game. EIU added another two runs in the eighth before USI closed out the 15-8 victory. 

On the mound, junior right-hander Matthew Moore (Newburgh, Indiana) picked up the victory in relief. Moore (1-0) allowed two runs on two walks and three hits in two-plus innings of work.

USI junior left-hander Blake Ciuffetelli (Newburgh, Indiana) started and picked up the no-decision. Ciuffetelli went four-plus, allowing four runs on five hits and three walks, while striking out five.

Up Next for the Eagles: 

The Eagles’ five-game homestand comes to an end Tuesday when they host former GLVC foe McKendree University for a 6 p.m. matchup. USI leads the all-time series with McKendree, 34-13; has won eight of the last 10 games; and will be playing the Bearcats for the first time since 2021 when the Eagles took three-of-four GLVC games.

McKendree is 17-26 in 2023 after winning a four-game series at Missouri University of Science & Technology with a 16-12 win today.

VALPO MEN’S GOLF

The Valparaiso University men’s golf team put together a solid opening round on Sunday at the MVC Championship, hosted at the par-71, 6760-yard Oakwood Country Club in Coal Valley, Ill. The Beacons finished the day in second of 10 on the team leaderboard with sophomore Anthony Delisanti (Sanborn, N.Y. / Niagara Wheatfield) sitting in second place on the player leaderboard after putting together one of the best rounds in MVC Championship history. The quality scores came despite playing through cold temperatures as the “real feel” was in the upper 30s throughout Sunday’s action.

How It Happened

Delisanti went five strokes under in the opening round, carding a 66 (-5) to finish the day in second place in the 50-player field. He is battling with Illinois State’s Felix van Dijk for medalist honors as van Dijk owns the top spot at six under.

Senior Caleb VanArragon (Blaine, Minn. / Blaine) is also part of the top five as he sits at t-4 after carding a 69 (-2) in Round 1.

The third best Beacon on the opening day of action was Yianni Kostouros (Crown Point, Ind. / Crown Point [Ball State]), who turned in a 71(E). The team’s fourth countable score was Sam Booth (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel), who stroked a 73 (+2).

Valpo finished the day with a 279 (-5), three strokes behind Illinois State for the top spot on the team leaderboard. Belmont is third at 284 followed by Southern Illinois and UNI, who are tied for fourth at 287.

Inside the Round

Valpo leads the field in par-3 scoring, going even par at 3.00 on those holes. The Beacons are second among participating teams in par-4 scoring with a 4.11 average.

The Beacons knocked in 15 birdies, tied for the second most in the field. Delisanti led the way with five, while VanArragon and Booth drained four apiece.

Delisanti ranks second in the tournament in par-4 scoring at 3.82, while VanArragon and Delisanti are tied for second on par 3s at 2.75.

Valpo’s team score of 279 is tied for the fifth best 18-hole team score in modern program history (since the program’s 2009 relaunch). In relation to par, the team mark of five under is tied for eighth in the program record book. 

The Valpo team score of 278 tied Wichita State’s 2008 performance, which was the best MVC Championship single-round team score since 1998 prior to Sunday. However, Illinois State shattered the Shocker record.

Delisanti’s 66 is tied for the ninth best round in program history. In relation to par, the minus five is also tied for ninth.

Delisanti is one of just four players in the history of the MVC Championship (since 1956) to stroke a 66 or better in a single round. His performance on Sunday is now tied with Illinois State’s David Rauer (2019) for third in MVC Championship history after van Dijk equaled the MVC Championship record that had stood for over five decades since Wichita State’s Gary Navarro carded a 65 back in 1972.

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring

“We had some tough conditions for the first round today. The ‘feels like’ temp was at 31 degrees when we started the day, and it barely got up over 40 degrees by the end of the round. Winds were out of the northwest at over 10 miles per hour for most of the day, so the guys had to work through the adversity of the playing conditions. I’m really proud of their efforts in dealing with the weather and maintaining a good level of poise all day.”

“We only had five birdies on the front nine. The main reason for that was simply dealing with the weather conditions and trying to keep the hands warm. The guys played steady, hitting a good amount of greens in regulation and giving themselves some birdie opportunities. We were able to play the front nine at even par and we were only one shot off the lead, making the turn to the back nine.”

“The team played the back nine very solid, with 15 total birdies and seven of those in the last four holes. We finished the round really well and the guys played very focused down the final stretch. We played the Par 3s at even par on the day, and we knew that’s an area that we have to play well in this tournament. Our Par-5 scoring needs to improve over the next couple of days for some more critical scoring opportunities.”

“While we had a good team effort today, Anthony played incredibly steady for us. His scorecard was super clean with the five birdies, 13 pars and no bogeys. He’s playing with a lot of confidence, and he’s making a lot of good decisions on the golf course. The entire team is looking forward to tomorrow’s second round.”

Up Next

The second round of the 54-hole tournament will take place on Monday. A link to live scoring via GolfStat will be available on ValpoAthletics.com. 

VALPO BASEBALL

The Valparaiso University baseball team had already wrapped up a series victory by virtue of wins on Friday and Saturday, but visiting UIC salvaged the finale of the three-game Missouri Valley Conference set by prevailing on Sunday by a football score of 21-7.

How It Happened

The Flames started the scoring with six runs in the second inning including a three-run homer by Carson Roberts.

The game got out of hand in the third when UIC added eight more runs including a two-run homer by Max Farfan to make it 14-0.

UIC got two more in the top of the fourth, but a solo homer by Jake Skrine (Longmont, Colo. / Mead [Indiana]) down the right-field line in the bottom of the inning got the Beacons on the board.

Five more runs crossed the plate for UIC in the top of the fifth to make it 21-1.

Valpo scored four times in the sixth as Ryan Maka (Oak Forest, Ill. / Oak Forest) lifted a sacrifice fly before Thomas Cooper (Brentwood, Tenn. / Ravenwood) drove in two with a single and Alex Ryan (Lake Mills, Wis. / Lakeside Lutheran) singled to drive in a fourth run and make it 21-5.

Maka continued his recent hot hitting with a two-run homer that stayed fair down the right-field line in the bottom of the seventh to conclude the scoring in the game.

Inside the Game

Maka homered for the second time in the series and lifted his season total to six. He now owns 11 career home runs.

Skrine drilled his seventh home run of the season, five of which have come in the last seven games.

Bright spots from the pitching staff were Cole Syersen (Land O’Lakes, Fla. / Academy at Lakes) and Jonathan Hyman (Bellbrook, Ohio / Bellbrook [Paradise Valley CC / IMG]), who combined for 2 1/3 scoreless innings while allowing no hits and walking one.

Redshirt freshman Patrick Ilitch (Detroit, Mich. / University Liggett [IMG]) had his first collegiate hit.

Up Next

Valpo (16-16, 7-8 MVC) will visit Purdue on Tuesday at 5 p.m. CT / 6 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on B1G+ with links to live video and stats available on ValpoAthletics.com.

VALPO SOFTBALL

Drake scored in each of the first four innings as the Valpo softball team dropped its series finale to the visiting Bulldogs on Sunday, 8-0.

How It Happened

Drake took the lead with a pair of two-out runs in the top of the first.

Valpo put a pair of runners on base in its first turn at the plate, as fifth-year Taylor Herschbach (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Township) knocked the first pitch she saw up the middle for a one-out single. Herschbach later stole second before freshman Kim Rodas (San Bernardino, Calif./Cajon) drew a walk, but the duo was stranded.

The Bulldogs pulled away with three runs in the second and added another in the third to push the lead to 6-0.

Herschbach reached scoring position for the second time in the bottom of the third, drawing a four-pitch walk and moving up to second on a groundout before being left on base.

Drake plated two more runs in the fourth for the final margin in the run-rule decision.

Inside the Game

Herschbach extended her on-base streak to 10 consecutive games with her first-inning single, lengthening her career best and a Valpo season best. She is just one game shy of matching the program’s longest on-base streak over the last four seasons.

Senior Lauren Kehlenbrink (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway South) picked up Valpo’s other hit on the day with a second-inning single, as the Beacons were limited to two base knocks on Sunday.

Junior Kayla Skapyak (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) drew a walk to add to the free passes drawn by Herschbach and Rodas.

Senior Easton Seib (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs South) started and took the loss, going 2+ innings. Freshman Cadence Augustine (Beaverton, Mich./Beaverton) had the best pitching appearance of her young collegiate career, striking out one in two shutout innings while giving up just one hit and one walk.

Next Up

Valpo (8-33, 4-16 MVC) plays its final four road games of the regular season next week, starting with a Tuesday evening showdown at UIC at 5 p.m. With a win, the Beacons would sweep the three-game season series from the Flames.

U OF I WOMEN’S TENNIS

INDIANPOLIS – The No. 9-ranked University of Indianapolis women’s tennis team captured their fourth straight Great Lakes Valley Conference women’s tennis championship, defeating the No. 45-ranked Drury Panthers by a score of 4-2 on Sunday morning.

Head Coach Malik Tabet, after a 17-5 season and a perfect 9-0 mark in conference action was named the 2023 GLVC Coach of the Year.

INS AND OUTS

After grueling action through and through it came down to No. 5 and No. 6 singles, featuring Diane Flament and Sofia Sharonova with the Hounds holding a 3-2 lead. Sharonova fought back from a first-set loss, rallying back in the second for a 6-1 victory. Flament saw the same situation, falling 6-3 in set one but dominating set two 6-1. Situated on courts one and seven, the Hounds faithful whipped their heads back and forth to see the conclusion with it being Sharonova that was the one to secure the victory for the Hounds, winning her final set 6-4.

Before that, the Hounds took the doubles point, winning at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles with Anna Novikova and Sharonova winning the No. 12 vs. No. 48 ranking battle. Singles saw the Panthers find back-to-back early wins, grabbing a 2-1 lead. It was Novikova, a unanimous All-GLVC First teamer, facing the GLVC Player of Year in Nastiasia Jedrychoswki where the tide flipped. After a tight 7-5 first set, Noikova laid the hammer down in set two, winning 6-1.

Lea Cakarevic was the final Hounds to win before Sharonova clinched, winning a three-set battle, taking the first and the third sets.

UP NEXT

The Hounds will await their post season decision for the NCAA Midwest Regional which is set to take place on May 1.

U OF I MEN’S TENNIS

INDIANAPOLIS – The No. 5-ranked University of Indianapolis men’s tennis team is the 2023 GLVC men’s tennis champions, earning the program’s 12th title and it’s first since 2019. The East’s top seeded Greyhounds defeated the west top seeded No. 21 Southwest Baptist Bearcats by a score of 4-1, with the Bearcats being the first GLVC-foe to take a point off the Hounds this season. Prior to the match, the Hounds carried an eight-match sweep streak.

Head Coach Malik Tabet was awarded 2023 GLVC Coach of the Year for his efforts this season where the Hounds went a perfect 8-0 in conference action with a 18-2 record of this point.

INS AND OUTS

The aggressive play that the Hounds had performed all season continued to be a quality strategy as the Hounds opened up with doubles. Despite the result, the Hounds started on their heels with the No. 32 ranked pair of Youssef Nabil and Alvaro Nunez upended the Hounds No. 2 pair Erwan Momo Andre and Matthieu Derache.

That 1-0 lead in doubles did not linger on long, as the highly ranked battle between the No. 1 pair Edgar Desouet and Tom Zeuch and the No. 14 duo of Marcio Silva and Makary Adamek came to fruition. The No. 1 pair, however, proved their ranking and kept the Hounds hopes alive in doubles with a 6-3 victory. That victory teed up a down to the wire tiebreaker match in No. 3 doubles featuring Nikolaj Talimaa and Louis Picaud where the Hound pair saw a 7-2 tiebreak go in their favor, giving the Hounds a 1-0 lead going into singles.

After hard-fought doubles action, singles was smooth sailing for the Hounds with the Zeuch Destouet magic continuing to roll. No. 11 Zeuch got the Hounds going, picking up a first set 6-1 dub. He was in control in set two 3-0 before his opponent, No. 40 Nabil retired due to injury. Destouet had a more traditional match victory, going 6-4, 6-4 in a No. 10 vs. No. 23 affair.

With a 3-0 lead, the Bearcats struck their only point of the day, a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Louis Picaud out of the No. 3 singles spot. But not too soon after is when August Ehrnrooth, the sophomore out of Finland, sealed the deal. Ehrnrooth earned a 6-4 first set win before replicating that in set two giving the Hounds the championship.

UP NEXT

The Greyhounds, with the GLVC automatic qualifier for the NCAA Regional, await to see who they will face at the NCAA Regional on May 1.

U OF I SOFTBALL

INDIANAPOLIS—The No. 6 UIndy softball team had a memorable day at Baumgartner Field Sunday. celebrating their six seniors before sweeping Southwest Baptist to clinch the 2023 GLVC regular season title. The Greyhounds have won each of their last 11 contests and 29 of the last 30.

Prior to first pitch, seniors Piper Belden, Kaitlyn Brown, Emily O’Connor, Lexy Rees, Maddy Stout and Tara Williams were recognized for their dedication to the program. To date, the group has helped the Hounds to a 153-27 (.850) combined record since 2020, including two (and soon-to-be three) NCAA Tournament appearances, two GLVC regular season crowns and one GLVC Tournament championship.

GAME 1 | UIndy 9, SBU 0 (5 innings)

UIndy jumped on the Bearcats with crooked numbers in each of the first three innings to cruise to the win. A couple of early Bearcat errors sparked the Hounds’ first-inning rally, and things got out of hand from there.

Eight different Greyhounds recorded a hit, with Lexy Rees driving in a game-high three runs. Tara Williams, Emily O’Connor and Maddy Stout each had a sacrifice fly.

Meanwhile, Kenzee Smith (26-4) kept the SBU bats quiet with four scoreless innings of work. Senior Kaitlyn Brown, who prior to the game delivered a beautiful rendition of the national anthem, closed the game with a hitless fifth.

Smith’s four Ks on the day upped her career total to 591 to move her into fourth place in the UIndy all-time annals.

GAME 2 | UIndy 4, SBU 2

The Bearcats earned their first lead of the day with a single in the top of the first, but the Hounds answered back in the bottom half with a two-run single from O’Connor.

O’Connor and the Hounds responded again in the bottom of the third when, after SBU tied it in the top half, the senior third baseman launched the ball over the leftfield fence to give the Hounds a lead they would not relinquish.

Jayden Casebolt got the start and got six outs before running into trouble in the third. After SBU put the go-ahead run on first with no one out, UIndy went to freshman reliever Alexa Huth (3-0). She got the next three batters to end the threat and went on to finish the game with five scoreless innings to garner the win.

Tori Angles joined O’Connor with two hits while adding the day’s final RBI. Grace Mosele got the start in centerfield and collect her first hit of the year with a fourth-inning single.

UP NEXT

The Greyhound wrap up the regular season next weekend with a trip to the Show Me State. They’ll face UMSL on Saturday and Missouri S&T Sunday, with both doubleheaders starting at 1 p.m. ET.

U OF I WOMEN’S GOLF

SMITHVILLE, Mo.—The UIndy women’s golf team wrapped up a long and challenging stay Sunday at the GLVC Championships. Enduring windy conditions, record-low temperatures, a frost delay and even some snow over the last few days, the Greyhounds advanced all the way to the conference final before dropping a tight match to Illinois Springfield, 3-2.

Hosted at Paradise Pointe Golf Complex in Smithville, Mo., the annual conference championships included 54 holes of play Friday and Saturday, followed by three medal/match play rounds on Sunday – two semifinals and the final.

After dispensing of Drury in the morning semis, the Hounds matched up with a UIS squad that defeated two-seed Missouri-St. Louis in its semifinal matchup. The Prairie Stars managed a pair of one-stroke wins in the finals to help secure the title.

Freshman Ava Ray and senior Katelyn Skinner each won their respective pairing to earn points for the Hounds. In her GLVC Championships debut, Ray shot even par on the back nine Sunday afternoon to pull away for an impressive 13-stroke the win. Meanwhile, Skinner, who yesterday secured the GLVC individual medal, came back from an early three-stroke deficit to beat Isabel Segal by a single stroke.

Sunday’s result snapped a streak of 10 consectuive GLVC titles for UIndy.

UP NEXT

The Greyhounds await the release of the 2023 NCAA DII Championships field on Monday, May 1. The Greyhounds are well positioned to make their 16th consecutive NCAA regional.

SEMIFINAL

The Greyhounds swept past fourth-seeded Drury in the morning semifinal, as all five Hounds won their pairing. Skinner carded the lowest round of the semis with an even-par 72, while Graf compiled the largest margin of victory (13).

SATURDAY

Led by medalist Katelyn Skinner, the UIndy women’s golf team wrapped up a dominating 54 holes of stroke play at the GLVC Championships. The Greyhounds hung the lowest team score in all three rounds, outpacing the field by 47 strokes to easily snatch the top seed in the upcoming medal/match play semifinals.

Skinner crafted a stellar performance during stroke play to secure the conference individual medal. The Evansville, Ind., native finished at even par for 54 holes, carding scores of 70-75-71. Battling cold and windy conditions Sunday, even a bout with snow, Skinner played three-under golf for the final 12 holes to squelch any ideas of a comeback from the field. She is the program’s 10th player to earn medalist honors at the conference tournament. A Greyhound has earned the individual crown in seven of the last 10 GLVC Championships.

Teammate Catharina Graf was one those conference medalists. The German import followed her 2022 individual title by sharing the runner-up spot this year. Graf finished at +8 to tie for second with Lewis’ Kendall Farm and grab All-GLVC honors as a top-five finisher.

Elyse Stasil garnered her third straight All-GLVC nod with a fourth-place showing at +10. Freshman Ava Ray finished one stroke out of the top five, settling at +12 and T-6. Sophomore Anci Dy (+13) was right behind at T-8.

FRIDAY

The UIndy women’s golf team kicked off its conference title defense Friday with a solid opening day at the 2023 GLVC Championships. Topping the leaderboard after 36 holes, the Greyhounds (+21) look to remain in a top-four spot after Saturday’s final round of stroke play to advance the medal/match play semifinals on Sunday morning.

With individual-leader Katelyn Skinner pacing the group, the Hounds set the tone out of the gate. Their opening-round team score of 289 built a 14-stroke lead while also marking the second-lowest single-round team score in the tournament’s history (UIndy – 287, 2018).

Skinner caught absolute fire at one point, ripping off an amazing five consecutive holes on her way to the 18-hole score of -2. Her morning-round 70 matched the program record at the GLVC tournament, tying UIndy-legend Pilar Echeverria and her final-round 70 back in 2018.

The Hounds went on to card the lowest team score in the second round as well (309), extending their lead to 27 strokes with 18 holes of stroke play remaining.

All five Greyhounds are positioned in the top 10 individually, including four at T-5 or better. Skinner sits at +1, five strokes ahead of teammate and defending-medalist Catharina Graf (+6) in second place. Fifth-year senior Elyse Stasil (+7) and freshman Ava Ray (+8) are both in the top five, while sophomore Anci Dy (+10) parred her final 10 holes of the day to move to T-10.

U OF I WOMEN’S LAX

INDIANAPOLIS – The No. 6-ranked UIndy women’s lacrosse team honored its graduating senior class on Sunday morning as the Hounds took down Missouri Western by a final of 17-4 at Key Stadium. With the win, the Greyhounds cap the regular season off with a perfect 6-0 record in the GLVC.

In total, seven different players had one or more points on offense. The trio of Jess Soenen (five goals), Anna Ziemba (three goals, two assists), and Joey Fowler (three goals, two assists) all guided the Hounds with five points each. On defense, the duo of Megan Dunn and Madison Phillips each had a team-leading three caused turnovers. Audrey Moran picked up the win between the pipes and had one save on the day.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Greyhounds raced out ahead early and grabbed a 4-0 lead in the first quarter before the Griffons could find the scoreboard in return. UIndy kept its foot on the pedal and rode an 11-2 lead into the intermission. From there, the Greyhounds continued to pack a strong punch and eventually outscored Missouri Western by four in the final 15 minutes.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

-Mekayla Montgomery led the team with eight draw controls while Sage Da Silva had four.

-UIndy launched 33 total shots while Missouri Western had just nine.

-The Hounds forced the Griffons into 21 turnovers as a team, including nine in the first quarter.

-A total of 15 ground balls were scooped up by the Greyhounds.

HOUND BYTES

Final thoughts on Senior Day from head coach Elaine Jones…

“I thought we had a great team win today on Senior Day. Everyone really embraced it and all the emotions that go with it. The team was focused and brought a high level of energy and intensity for the whole game, which helped propel us to the win.”

UP NEXT

UIndy will once again battle Missouri Western, this time in the opening round of the GLVC Championship Tournament. The Hounds and Griffons will take the field on Friday, April 28 at Key Stadium for an opening draw at 4 p.m. ET.

U OF I BASEBALL

BOLIVAR, Mo. – In the series conclusion, the UIndy baseball team benefited from a stellar pitching night from Logan Peterson, with the junior out of Morton, Ill. going seven innings, only allowing three hits and two walks while punching out ten.

Petersons pitching alongside the hot bat of Caleb Vaughn lifted the Hounds to a 7-4 victory, giving them the series over SBU 3-1. The Greyhounds now sit at 24-16 with a 10-14 mark in the GLVC, while SBU now drops to 8-34, going 4-20 in GLVC play.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Brady Ware got the Hounds going early as the hard-hitting lefty crushed a ball through the right side game to score Drew Donaldson, the current runs scored leader in the GLVC. Brandon DeWitt added another Greyhound run in the second, with a deep sac fly to left field.

The Hounds bats stayed hot from there, with Caleb Vaugh hitting a ball into left field scoring both Donaldson and Will Spear. Spear, after getting scored by Vaughn, sent home a runner of his own in the fifth, scoring Denton Shepler from third.

The final Hound run came in the sixth when Donaldson continued to prove he is one of the best hitters in the conference, sending another homer to the opposite field of Dodson Field.

The Bearcats attempted a comeback in the eighth and the ninth, but E.J. White was there to shut it down, earning his first save of the season.

UP NEXT

The Hounds return home for a day, facing the Kentucky Wesleyan Wildcats Panthers on Tuesday, April 25. First pitch is currently scheduled for 3 p.m.

SMALL COLLEGE ATHLETIC SITES:

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

MLB STANDINGS

American League
East
Team	W	L	Pct	GB	Home	Road	East	Central	West	Last 10	Streak
Tampa Bay	19	3	.864	–	13 – 0	6 – 3	5 – 2	6 – 0	3 – 0	7 – 3	W 5
Baltimore	14	7	.667	4.5	7 – 3	7 – 4	2 – 4	5 – 1	5 – 2	8 – 2	W 6
NY Yankees	13	9	.591	6	9 – 7	4 – 2	3 – 3	4 – 3	2 – 1	5 – 5	L 1
Toronto	13	9	.591	6	4 – 2	9 – 7	4 – 2	5 – 2	3 – 3	5 – 5	W 1
Boston	12	11	.522	7.5	7 – 6	5 – 5	2 – 5	5 – 1	3 – 1	7 – 3	W 1
Central
Team	W	L	Pct	GB	Home	Road	East	Central	West	Last 10	Streak
Minnesota	12	10	.545	–	5 – 4	7 – 6	3 – 4	5 – 1	2 – 1	4 – 6	W 1
Cleveland	11	11	.500	1	3 – 6	8 – 5	1 – 2	1 – 2	6 – 4	4 – 6	W 1
Detroit	7	13	.350	4	4 – 4	3 – 9	1 – 11	2 – 1	2 – 1	5 – 5	L 4
Chi White Sox	7	15	.318	5	3 – 6	4 – 9	1 – 5	1 – 2	2 – 2	2 – 8	L 4
Kansas City	5	17	.227	7	1 – 12	4 – 5	1 – 3	0 – 3	2 – 7	2 – 8	L 1
West
Team	W	L	Pct	GB	Home	Road	East	Central	West	Last 10	Streak
Texas	14	7	.667	–	8 – 4	6 – 3	1 – 2	5 – 1	4 – 2	7 – 3	W 2
Houston	12	10	.545	2.5	6 – 7	6 – 3	2 – 1	4 – 6	1 – 2	7 – 3	W 4
LA Angels	11	11	.500	3.5	5 – 4	6 – 7	3 – 7	2 – 1	4 – 2	4 – 6	W 1
Seattle	10	12	.455	4.5	7 – 9	3 – 3	0 – 0	3 – 4	1 – 2	6 – 4	L 1
Oakland	4	18	.182	10.5	2 – 10	2 – 8	1 – 6	1 – 2	2 – 4	1 – 9	L 2

National League
East
Team	W	L	Pct	GB	Home	Road	East	Central	West	Last 10	Streak
Atlanta	14	8	.636	–	4 – 6	10 – 2	2 – 1	6 – 0	3 – 4	6 – 4	L 4
NY Mets	14	9	.609	0.5	4 – 2	10 – 7	5 – 2	0 – 3	6 – 4	7 – 3	L 2
Miami	12	10	.545	2	7 – 6	5 – 4	4 – 6	0 – 0	4 – 2	7 – 3	L 1
Philadelphia	11	12	.478	3.5	6 – 4	5 – 8	1 – 2	4 – 3	3 – 1	7 – 3	W 3
Washington	7	14	.333	6.5	2 – 9	5 – 5	1 – 2	0 – 0	2 – 2	3 – 7	L 1
Central
Team	W	L	Pct	GB	Home	Road	East	Central	West	Last 10	Streak
Pittsburgh	16	7	.696	–	7 – 3	9 – 4	0 – 0	7 – 4	3 – 0	8 – 2	W 7
Milwaukee	15	7	.682	0.5	6 – 3	9 – 4	3 – 0	4 – 2	4 – 3	7 – 3	L 1
Chi Cubs	12	9	.571	3	6 – 7	6 – 2	0 – 0	2 – 3	3 – 4	6 – 4	L 2
St. Louis	9	13	.409	6.5	5 – 8	4 – 5	0 – 3	3 – 4	3 – 3	4 – 6	W 1
Cincinnati	7	15	.318	8.5	6 – 6	1 – 9	3 – 7	3 – 6	0 – 0	2 – 8	L 6
West
Team	W	L	Pct	GB	Home	Road	East	Central	West	Last 10	Streak
Arizona	12	11	.522	–	6 – 5	6 – 6	1 – 2	4 – 2	7 – 7	4 – 6	L 2
LA Dodgers	12	11	.522	–	6 – 6	6 – 5	1 – 2	4 – 3	7 – 6	5 – 5	W 2
San Diego	12	12	.500	0.5	5 – 8	7 – 4	5 – 5	1 – 3	6 – 4	5 – 5	W 2
San Francisco	8	13	.381	3	4 – 6	4 – 7	3 – 4	0 – 0	1 – 2	3 – 7	W 2
Colorado	6	17	.261	6	3 – 7	3 – 10	3 – 5	1 – 5	2 – 4	1 – 9	L 3

TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1894      At Brooklyn’s Eastern Park, Lave Cross hits for the cycle when the Phillies pound the Grooms 22-5. The 27-year-old third baseman becomes the first player in franchise history to accomplish the feat.

1901      In front of 14,000 fans at the Chicago Cricket Club, the American League completes its first game when the White Sox and Roy Patterson defeat the Cleveland Blues, 8-2, in a contest that lasts only ninety minutes. The opponents, who will become known as the Indians, currently use a name that reflects the very bright color of their uniforms.

1902      Professional baseball gets its start in Durham (NC), when the Tobacconists, renamed the Bulls in eleven years, play an exhibition game against Trinity College (now Duke University). Except for 1971-80, when minor league baseball didn’t exist in the Research Triangle city, the Bulls will continue to play in Durham until the present day.

1917      At Fenway Park, Yankee left-hander George Mogridge no-hits the Red Sox, 2-1. The southpaw’s performance is the first no-no in franchise history and the first-ever thrown in the Boston ballpark.

1923      President Warren G. Harding, an avid baseball fan who likes to keep a scorecard at games, witnesses the first shutout thrown at Yankee Stadium. The chain-smoking Chief Executive is delighted to see Babe Ruth’s fifth-inning homer off Allen Russell but is disappointed the Senators drop the contest, 4-0.

1945      The owners select U.S. Senator Happy Chandler unanimously to replace Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who had been elected to another seven-year term a week before his death on November 25. Baseball’s second commissioner will remain in the Senate during the first six months of his tenure in office.

1947      Johnny Mize homers three times against the Braves’ right-hander Johnny Sain, but the Giants’ first baseman’s trio of round-trippers proves not to be enough when the team bows to Boston at the Polo Grounds, 14-5. The ‘Big Cat’ becomes the first major leaguer to hit three home runs in one game five different times.

1954      Giants right-hander Marv Grissom blanks the Phillies at the Polo Grounds, 1-0. Whitey Lockman’s 300-foot fifth-inning home run off Robin Roberts, one of only three hits the Philadelphia hurler allows, accounts for the game’s only score.

1956      At Municipal Stadium in Kansas City, Frank Umont becomes the second umpire to don glasses during a regular-season game, following fellow American League arbitrator Eddie Rommel, who wore spectacles earlier in the month. Although he is heckled by some A’s fans when the home team loses to the Tigers, 7-4, the former NFL tackle (N.Y. Giants) has no problem being the second base arbitrator.

1957      Three Cubs pitchers walk nine players in the fifth inning of a 9-5 loss to the Reds at Crosley Field. Moe Drabowsky starts the frame with four walks, Jackie Collum adds three free passes, and Jim Brosnan issues two bases on balls to set a new National League record.

1958      At the Los Angeles Coliseum, 26-year-old right-hander Gene Fodge, who gives up ten hits in his complete-game performance, picks up his only major league victory when the Cubs beat the Dodgers, 15-2. Outfielder Lee Walls carries the day with three homers and eight RBIs.

1960      Before making their first out of the game, the Yankees score eight runs against Baltimore in the bottom of the first frame. The Orioles narrow the gap with eighth and ninth-inning grand slams hit by Albie Pearson and Billy Klaus, respectively, but the Bombers hold on to beat the Birds in the Bronx ballpark, 15-9.

1962      In the Colt .45s first meeting with the visiting Cardinals, a 4-3 victory at Colt Stadium, the game features many players that played in Houston on their way to the big leagues. Before being awarded a major league franchise, the Texas city hosted the Buffaloes, a farm club for St. Louis, from 1919 to 1958.

1962      Dodger southpaw Sandy Koufax ties his major league record, a mark he shares with Bob Feller when he strikes out 18 batters in a nine-inning contest during the team’s 10-2 rout of the Cubs at Wrigley Field. In 1938, nineteen-year-old right-hander Bob Feller established the record, whiffing 18 batters in the Indians’ 4-1 loss to the Tigers at Cleveland Stadium.

1962      Commissioner Ford Frick fines Casey Stengel $500 for appearing in uniform for a beer advertisement, which shows the Mets manager ready to bunt. Kathy Kersh, who is holding the ball in the Rheingold ad, will later become better known as Cornelia, one of the Joker’s women in the 1960’s Batman television series.

1965      Casey Stengel wins his 3,000th game as a manager when his Amazin’ Mets score three runs in the top of the ninth inning to beat the Giants at Candlestick Park, 7-6. The ‘Old Perfessor,’ the former skipper of the Dodgers, Braves, and Yankees, won more than a third of his games (1,149) during his 12-year tenure with the Bronx Bombers.

1982      Jesse Barfield becomes the first Blue Jay in franchise history to pinch-hit a grand slam when he goes deep off Tom Burgmeier. The right fielder’s bases-loaded heroics aren’t enough to stave off an eventual 8-7 Toronto loss to Boston at Exhibition Stadium.

1987      At Cleveland Stadium, Rickey Henderson becomes the first player in baseball history to hit a home run off two different 300-game winners in the same game. The left fielder’s solo homer in the eighth inning off Phil Niekro and his two-run blast in the ninth off Steve Carlton aren’t enough to thwart the Tribe’s 6-5 walk-off victory over the Yankees.

1989      Joining Reggie Jackson and the Reggie bar, Ken Griffey Jr. becomes the second player in history to have a candy bar named after him when he signs a contract with Pacific Trading Cards Company. Unfortunately, the Mariners’ center fielder can’t enjoy the popular confectionery because the 19-year-old rookie outfielder is allergic to chocolate.

1994      Julio Franco and Robin Ventura both hit homers back-to-back in the second and eighth innings. The sluggers’ offensive output isn’t enough when Detroit beats the White Sox at Comiskey Park, 7-6.

1996      Scoring the most runs by an opponent against Detroit in 84 years, the Twins set a team record for crossing the plate when they trounce the Tigers, 24-11. Greg Myers and Paul Molitor lead the attack on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Trumbull Avenue, each driving in five runs in the Motor City slugfest.

1998      Dodgers’ backstop Mike Piazza becomes the sixth major leaguer to hit three grand slams in a month when he goes deep in the nine-run second inning of the team’s 12-4 victory over the visiting Cubs. In 1937, Tigers’ first baseman Rudy York was the first to hit three bases-full round-trippers in May.

1998      Geoff Jenkins, hitting a solo homer off Giants’ right-hander Orel Hershiser at 3Com Park, becomes the first Brewer player ever to homer in his first major league game. The rookie joins Chuck Tanner, who accomplished the feat in 1955 as a member of the Braves, as the only players in Milwaukee baseball history to homer in their first game.

2003      In his third at-bat, Chase Utley gets his first major league hit, blasting a third-inning grand slam off Rockies starter Aaron Cook. The rookie second baseman’s big fly to right field contributes to the Phillies’ 9-1 victory at Veterans Stadium.

2008      The David Ortiz jersey, which was secretly buried in cement at the new Yankee Stadium in an attempt to curse the team, is acquired in a Jimmy Fund charity auction for $175,100. The winning bidder from the 282 who vied for the tattered Red Sox jersey is Kevin Meehan, the owner of Imperialcars.com, located in Mendon, Mass.

2010      Pirates starter Chris Jakubauskas, after just a dozen pitches into his first appearance of the year, is struck in the head by a vicious line drive off the bat of Houston’s Lance Berkman. After being hospitalized overnight, the 31-year-old right-hander, who left the field on a stretcher in obvious distress, will be placed on the 15-day disabled list with a concussion and head contusion.

2010      Although not named after the rock and roll superstar, the Rangers host an Elvis weekend featuring Elvis Presley impersonators and a bobblehead giveaway featuring the likeness of Elvis Andru, their second baseman. The 22-year-old Texas infielder added to the festivities with his ninth-inning single, driving in the winning run that beat Detroit, 5-4, in the series opener.

2012      For the first time in major league history, four different pitchers combine to walk four consecutive batters when the Marlins hurlers load the bases and then force in a run in a 2-1 loss against the Mets. The only Miami walks given up in the Citi Field contest include Josh Johnson walking Lucas Duda, Randy Choate’s free pass to Justin Turner, Steve Cishek’s base-on-balls to Scott Hairston, with Mike Dunn throwing to force home Josh Thole with the tying run.

2017      Dovydas Neverauskas becomes the second person born in Lithuania, the first raised there, to appear in a major league game, throwing two innings of one-run ball in the Pirates’ 14-3 loss to the Cubs at PNC Park. A’s outfielder Joe Zapustas, who played two games for the team in 1933, was also born in the Baltic state but spent his childhood in Boston.

2019      With his eighth-inning swipe of second base in the Braves’ 2-1 victory over the Mets at Citi Field, 22-year-old Ronald Acuña Jr. becomes the second-youngest player to reach the 30–30 club mark. The Atlanta outfielder surpassed only by Angels’ outfielder Mike Trout, who accomplished the feat when he was 20, is the fourth Brave to reach the plateau, joining Hank Aaron (1963), Dale Murphy (1983), and Ron Gant (1990, 1991).

FOOTBALL HISTORY HEADLINES FOR APRIL 24

April 24, 1974 – The city of Tampa, Florida gets good news as the NFL granted a franchise known as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

April 24, 1988 – In New York City at the 1988 NFL Draft, Auburn tight end Aundray Bruce became the first pick by the Atlanta Falcons. According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame website, the players from this Draft class that have made it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame are wide receiver Tim Brown who was the sixth overall pick by the Raiders, Dallas number 11 selection of wide receiver Michael Irvin, Minnesota’ number 19 selection of Randall McDaniel. In the second round a few more future Gold Jacket wearers were chosen as Buffalo picked up the rights to running back Thurman Thomas and the Pittsburgh franchise turned in the name of center Dermonti Dawson.

April 24, 1994 – NFL Draft: Ohio State defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson first pick by Cincinnati Bengals. According to an NFL.com article there were only a handful of future hall of Famers selected in this draft as of this writing. Offensive lineman Larry Allan, a pick by the Dallas Cowboys and Indianapolis 2nd overall selection of running back Marshall Faulk. Faulk had some injury bugs that prevented him from being what the Colts expected but years later as a member of the St Louis Rams the talented back stayed healthy and reached his expected trajectory of greatness. Isaac Bruce was the 33rd selection of the Rams and Seattle’s pick at number 36 of center Kevin Mawae also produced bronze busts in Canton, Ohio.

April 24, 2004 – At the 2004 NFL Draft the San Diego Chargers had the number one overall pick at their disposal and chose Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning. As a matter of fact our Newspapers.com Football History Headline of the Day says; “Giants Betting Future on Manning!” and that was the headline of the newspaper the Morning Call from Allentown, Pennsylvania.

The New York franchise truly did go “All In” on the Ole Miss QB as they traded their fourth pick (Philip Rivers), the 2004 third round pick, 2005 first rounder and a 2005 5th round selection to garner the rights of Peyton Manning’s younger brother. Then Giants General Manager, Ernie Accorsi made the statement, “We all had the unanimous opinion that this was a special quarterback and you don’t get a chance very many times, for decades, to select someone like him.” Accorsi knows about special QBs taken with the top pick too, after all he was the mastermind in taking John Elway and Bernie Kosar,”What I saw in Manning was a classic prospect. Size, Arm, tremendous athletic ability and feet, poise and class. Probably more important than the obvious physical attributes that you have to have is that he lifted his team. I always looked for that in a quarterback where he made the athletes around him better.”

If you want to be able to be able to read through some old articles like Morning Call from Allentown, Pennsylvania. , you need to check out Newspapers.com. At Newspapers.com, you can get access to over 640 million pages’ worth of news from the US, Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland and more dating back from 1798 to yesterday.  Get a free one week subscription to Newspapers.com by visiting SportsHistoryNetwork.com/newspapers. And with a paid subscription, you’ll also be helping to support the production of this and other Sports History Network shows. 

The Pro Football Reference website shares that there were some very significant players in this Draft class. Larry Fitzgerald the wide receiver from the University of Pittsburgh was chosen third overall by the Cardinals, QB Philip Rivers from NC State was locked up in the four hole by the San Diego Chargers and another signal caller, Ben Roethlisberger from Miami of Ohio was the 11th overall selection by the Steelers. Other big names were Sean Taylor, Roy Williams, DeAngelo Hall, Jonathan Vilma and Vince Wollfork. It will be interesting to see how many of these men will be enshrined in Canton in the next decade.

Some may claim that this is the greatest quarterback draft class in history as Rivers, Manning and Roethlisberger have each thrown for more than 57,000 career yards and each have over 360 TD tosses and four Lombardi Trophies! But I think the 1983 QB Draft class that included Darn Marino, John Elway, and Jim Kelly certainly gave them a run for their money. The 1983 class has more Super Bowl appearances with 10 than the 2004 classes 5, and more League MVPs 2 for the 1983 class and 0 for 2004, but the championship rings go to the ‘04 guys with 4 compared to 2 for 1983.

BIRTHDAYS OF HALL OF FAME PLAYERS FOR APRIL 24

April 24, 1903 – Cleveland, Ohio – Mike Michalske the Penn State All-American guard was born. American Football League’s New York Yankees, and later in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers. He played pro ball with the In 1964 the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined Mike Michalske into their Canton, Ohio museum of legends.

April 24, 1915 – New York City, New York – Fordham’s fine tackle of 1935 to 1937, Ed Franco arrived into this life. The Fordham Rams teams of the 1930’s era were a dominant force to be reckoned with. Most of their success stemmed from controlling the lines of scrimmage and Ed Franco was one of the reasons they continued to play at a high level. The National Football Foundation says that the group became known as the “Seven Blocks of Granite.” Ed Franco and Alex Wojciechowicz were two “granite blocks” that later became members of the College Football Hall of Fame, and another guy by the name of Vince Lombardi was another member of that famous line. Ed Franco  received the great honor of being selected for inclusion into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1980. After his graduation, he returned to Fordham as a line coach and later worked for Vince Lombardi as a scout for the Green Bay Packers.

April 24, 1921 – Nixon, Texas – Rice University’s  great interior lineman Weldon Humble was born. The National Football Foundation states that Rice’s head coach Jess Neely considered Weldon Humble the finest interior lineman he had ever coached, calling him “an exceptional athlete, fine competitor and a genuine leader.” In 1946 Weldon anchored the line that gave his team a 9-2 record including an 8-0 blanking of Tennessee in the 1947 Orange Bowl earning Humble a consensus All- America honor. He did his duty in military service during World War II and then played one season at Southwestern Louisiana then entered active military duty. Weldon Humble’s collegiate football records are celebrated in the College Football Hall of Fame after his induction in 1961. Humble later played eight seasons with the Cleveland Browns.

April 24, 1948 – Wise, Virginia -Virginia Tech’s talented End from 1956 to 1959, Carroll Dale claimed his date of birth.The National Football Foundation claims that Carroll is very devout in his faith and has been quoted as saying, “The Bible is my number one Playbook.” As a gifted receiver at Virginia Tech and later in the National Football League, Carroll Dale had another playbook…an offensive one that enabled him to score touchdowns.  Dale started in 39 consecutive games at VT…everyone except the first game of his freshman season. In all four seasons he led Virginia Tech in receiving. He finished with a career total of 67 receptions, 15 touchdowns and a high average of 17.8 yards per catch. The College Football Hall of Fame proudly placed a display in honor of Carroll Dale into their legendary museum in 1987. Following graduation Dale played five seasons with the Los Angeles Rams and what a start in the NFLhe had! Carroll scored on a 57-yard touchdown pass in his first NFL game. Later on in his pro career he also played with the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears.

NUMBERS IN SPORTS

2 – 32 – 27 – 13 – 14 – 6

April 24, 1917 – New York Yankees left-hander George Mogridge, tossed a no-hit win against the Boston Red Sox, for a narrow 2-1 victory at Fenway Park.

April 24, 1958 – Number 2, Lee Walls,  smacked 3 Home Runs in a single day, as he and the Chicago Cubs bludgeoned the Los Angeles Dodgers 15-2 at the LA Coliseum. Walls would go on to hit 24 base clearing shots on the 1958 season.

April 24, 1962 – Four seasons later the tables would be turned in the match-up of these two NL teams. LA Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax, Number 32 tossed his 2nd career 18-strikeout game, in a 10-2 win over Cubs in Chicago

TV MONDAY

MLB REGULAR SEASON GAMES	TIME ET	TV
Colorado at Cleveland	6:10pm	ESPN+ ATTSN-RM Bally Sports
Boston at Baltimore	6:35pm	MLBN NESN MASN/2
Texas at Cincinnati	6:40pm	Bally Sports
Houston at Tampa Bay	6:40pm	MLBN Bally Sports ATTSN-SW
Chi. White Sox at Toronto	7:07pm	NBCS-CHI Sportsnet
Miami at Atlanta	7:20pm	Bally Sports
Detroit at Milwaukee	7:40pm	Bally Sports
NY Yankees at Minnesota	7:40pm	YES Bally Sports
Oakland at LA Angels	9:38pm	FS1 NBCS-CA Bally Sports
Kansas City at Arizona	9:40pm	Bally Sports
St. Louis at San Francisco	9:45pm	NBCS-BAY Bally Sports
NBA PLAYOFFS	TIME ET	TV
East Quarterfinals Game 4: Milwaukee at Miami	7:30pm	TNT
West Quarterfinals Game 4: Memphis at LA Lakers	10:00pm	TNT
NHL PLAYOFFS	TIME ET	TV
Game 4: New Jersey at NY Rangers	7:00pm	ESPN
Game 4: Toronto at Tampa Bay	7:30pm	TBS
Game 4: Vegas at Winnipeg	9:30pm	ESPN
Game 4: Colorado at Seattle	10:00pm	TBS
SOCCER	TIME ET	TV
Argentina Primera División: Barracas Central vs Defensa y Justicia	2:30pm	Paramount+
Serie A: Atalanta vs Roma	2:45pm	CBSSN
Argentina Primera División: Racing Club vs Atlético Tucumán	6:00pm	beIN Sports
Brasileirão: Bahia vs Botafogo	7:00pm	beIN Sports
Argentina Primera División: Argentinos Juniors vs Gimnasia La Plata	8:30pm	beIN Sports
Argentina Primera División:Huracán	8:30pm	beIN Sports