NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 Action

March 29, 2024 1:24 am

BOSTON (AP) — No. 1 overall seed UConn has looked unbeatable so far during its bid to become the first school since 2007 to win back-to-back NCAA Tournament titles. Its next hurdle in the Sweet 16 is a rematch with fifth-seeded San Diego State, which the Huskies beat in last year’s title game. The other regional semifinal features a matchup between a second-seeded Iowa State team that has the best defensive rating against No. 3 seed Illinois, which boasts the top offensive rating of remaining teams.

WJPA-AM (1450) is your home for all the exciting moments of March Madness with live coverage of the Sweet 16, Elite 8, the Final Four and the National Championship games. And, once again this year, we’ll bring you extensive coverage of the Women’s Tournament starting with the Sweet 16 on Friday.

Thursday — Men’s Sweet 16
#6 Clemson 77, #2 Arizona 72
#1 UConn 82, #5 San Diego St. 52
#4 Alabama 89, #1 North Carolina 87
#3 Illinois 72, #2 Iowa St. 69

Friday — Women’s Sweet 16
2:30 pm #2 Notre Dame vs. #3 Oregon St.
5:00 pm #1 South Carolina vs. #4 Indiana
7:30 pm #2 Stanford vs. #3 North Carolina St.
10:00 pm #1 Texas vs. #4 Gonzaga

Men’s Sweet 16
7:00 pm #11 North Carolina St. vs. #2 Marquette
7:40 pm #1 Purdue vs. #5 Gonzaga
9:40 pm #1 Houston vs. #4 Duke
10:10 pm #2 Tennessee vs. #3 Creighton

Saturday — Women’s Sweet 16
1:00 pm #2 UCLA vs. #3 LSU
3:30 pm #1 Iowa vs. #5 Colorado
5:30 pm #1 USC vs. #5 Baylor
8:00 pm #3 UConn vs. #7 Duke

Men’s Elite 8
UConn/SDSU vs. IaSt/Ill winners
UNC/Ala vs. Ariz/Clem winners

Bullpen Shines As Pirates Beat Marlins In Opener

March 29, 2024 4:37 am

MIAMI (AP) — Jared Triolo hit an RBI single in the top of the 12th inning to finish the Pittsburgh Pirates’ rally and beat the Miami Marlins 6-5 on opening day. Triolo’s line drive single against Marlins reliever Declan Cronin scored automatic runner Ke’Bryan Hayes. Pirates reliever Jose Hernandez got the save, retiring 2023 NL batting champion Luis Arraez, Josh Bell and Bryan De La Cruz in his only inning of relief. Luis Ortiz recorded the win for the Pirates on Thursday. After Pirates starter Mitch Keller gave up seven hits over 5 2/3 innings, Pittsburgh’s bullpen held the Marlins to just one hit.

Malkin Scores Twice As Penguins Beat Blue Jackets

March 29, 2024 4:39 am

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Evgeni Malkin scored twice to reach the 20-goal plateau for the 15th time and the Pittsburgh Penguins continued their mastery over the Columbus Blue Jackets with a 3-2 win. The Russian became the 31st player in league history to reach 20 goals in 15 seasons. Malkin did it with a pair of power-play blasts — one from the right circle, one from the left circle — that erased one-goal deficits. Sidney Crosby had two assists for Pittsburgh to increase his career total to 995. That’s 11th on the NHL’s all-time list. Mathieu Olivier and Cole Sillinger scored for Columbus.

Weather Delays Two MLB Season Openers

March 28, 2024 4:23 am

NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball season openers in New York and Philadelphia have been postponed a day until Friday because of rainy forecasts in both cities. Pete Alonso and the New York Mets were scheduled to host the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday afternoon, a day featuring the first full slate of major league games this year. The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres started the regular season with a two-game series in South Korea last week. But with wet weather expected much of Thursday in Queens, the Mets announced Wednesday the game was pushed back to Friday afternoon. Minutes later, the Philadelphia Phillies announced their sold-out opener against the NL East rival Atlanta Braves was moved from Thursday at 3:05 p.m. to Friday at the same time due to anticipated rain.

NCAA President Urges States To Ban Prop Bets On College Athletes

March 28, 2024 4:26 am

NCAA President Charlie Baker is urging states with legal wagering on sporting events to ban betting on individual player performances. Prop bets allow gamblers to wager on statistics a player will accumulate during a game. The NBA has opened an investigation into Toronto Raptors two-way player Jontay Porter amid gambling allegations related to his own performance in individual games. Ohio, Vermont and Maryland are among the states that have removed prop betting on college athletes. The American Gaming Association estimates $2.7 billion will be bet this year on the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments through legal sportsbooks.

Crosby, Penguins Spoil Guentzel’s Return

March 27, 2024 4:33 am

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists and the Penguins scored two goals on five shots in the second period, spoiling Jake Guentzel’s return to Pittsburgh with a 4-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. Bryan Rust scored his 23rd of the season and his seventh goal in 10 games. Jesse Puljujarvi added his third of the season — and second in as many games for the Penguins. Drew O’Connor added an empty-net goal at 18:04 of the third. Alex Nedeljkovic, Carolina’s second-round draft pick in 2014, stopped 38 shots for Pittsburgh. Dmitry Orlov scored his sixth for Carolina, which lost for the second time in three games.

Steelers Bolster Return Game With Reported Signing

March 27, 2024 4:35 am

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers are signing veteran running back/kickoff return specialist Cordarrelle Patterson to a two-year deal. The contract carries a total value of $6 million a source with knowledge of the agreement told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because it had not been announced. The versatile 33-year-old Patterson spent the past three seasons with the Atlanta Falcons. A four-time All-Pro, Patterson gives the Steelers a veteran to help them adjust to the league’s new kickoff rules designed to produce more returns.

NFL Owners Approve Radical Overhaul To Kickoffs

March 27, 2024 4:45 am

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Kickoff returns are returning to the NFL. Team owners have approved a new rule that will take what essentially had become “a dead play” and make it an integral part of the game again. The major overhaul to special teams has been in the works for years. It takes elements of the kickoff rules used in the XFL and tweaks them for use in the NFL beginning in 2024. There were 1,970 touchbacks on kickoffs last season that now could be returns. There were 92 fair catches last season that are no longer allowed. Any ball caught in the field of play must be returned.

Kentucky AD; Calipari To Return As Coach

March 27, 2024 4:30 am

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart confirms on social media that John Calipari will return as men’s basketball coach despite calls for his firing following the Wildcats’ third consecutive early exit from the NCAA Tournament. Barnhart posted Tuesday night on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he and the Hall of Fame coach have talked about the direction of the men’s program. He posted: “I can confirm that he will return for his 16th season as our head coach.” Kentucky was seeded third in March Madness, but fell 80-76 to No. 14 seed Oakland in the first round on Thursday.

Baseball/Softball Section Play Opens

March 25, 2024 12:04 am

The state basketball finals ended Saturday. Monday, high school baseball and softball teams begin section play, weather permitting. The WPIAL baseball schedules include two-game, back-to-back series for most teams, with 6A sections playing three-game sets. Softball plays through section opponents twice during the six-week regular season.

Tuesday — Baseball
McGuffey at Southmoreland
Greensburg Salem at Waynesburg
Bentworth at Wash High, PPD to Thursday, 4 pm
Beth-Center at Frazier
Burgettstown at Charleroi
Avella at West Greene, PPD to Wednesday
California at Mapletown, PPD to Wednesday
Carmichaels at Jeff-Morgan, PPD to Wednesday

Tuesday — Softball
Wash High at Bentworth, PPD
OLSH at Beth-Center
Ft. Cherry at Burgettstown, PPD to Thursday
West Greene at Avella, PPD
Mapletown at California, PPD to Wednesday

Monday — Baseball
McGuffey 6, Southmoreland 0
Waynesburg 10, Greensburg Salem 3
Wash High 6, Bentworth 3
Beth-Center 5, Frazier 2
Burgettstown 9, Charleroi 0
Avella 3, West Greene 1
California 16, Mapletown 0
Carmichaels 7, Jeff-Morgan 6

Softball
Norwin 7, Canon-McMillan 6
Charleroi 13, Burgettstown 3