April 8, 2024 4:31 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Bryan Reynolds hit his 100th career home run as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Detroit Tigers 7-4. Connor Joe and Jared Triolo had two hits and two RBIs for the Pirates as Pittsburgh improved to 9-2. That’s tied with the New York Yankees for the best record in the majors. Mitch Keller struck out nine in six innings to pick up his first win of the season. Detroit’s Reese Olson allowed six runs on nine hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. The Tigers have dropped four of five after starting 5-0.
April 9, 2024 4:29 am
TORONTO (AP) — Jake McCabe scored at 1:30 of overtime and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2. Auston Matthews got his NHL-leading 65th goal of the season to go along with an assist, while Matthew Knies also scored for Toronto. Ilya Samsonov made 30 saves. Rickard Rakell and Drew O’Connor scored for Pittsburgh, which is now 6-0-3 over its last nine to get back into the Eastern Conference playoff race. Alex Nedeljkovic had 20 saves. The Penguins are tied with Detroit for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference, and trail the New York Islanders by one point for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
April 9, 2024 4:34 am
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — UConn delivered the latest of its suffocating basketball beatdowns, smothering Purdue for a 75-60 victory to become the first team since 2007 to capture back-to-back national championships. Tristen Newton scored 20 points for the Huskies, who won their 12th straight March Madness game — not a single one of them decided by fewer than 13 points. UConn was efficient on offense but won this with defense. The Huskies limited the country’s second-best 3-point shooting team to a mere seven shots behind the arc, and Purdue only made one. Meanwhile, UConn allowed Zach Edey to go for 37 points on 25 shot attempts.
April 9, 2024 4:34 am
BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — South Carolina’s victory over Caitlin Clark and Iowa in Sunday’s women’s NCAA championship game had a preliminary audience average of 18.7 million on ABC and ESPN. The only sporting events in the United States to draw a bigger TV audience since 2019 have been football, the World Cup and the Olympics. The audience numbers are expected to increase when Nielsen releases its final numbers on Tuesday. Nielsen says the audience peaked at 24 million. It’s the most-watched basketball game since 2019, when the men’s NCAA title game between Virginia and Texas Tech averaged 19.6 million on CBS.
April 9, 2024 4:37 am
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has announced a policy that all but bans transgender athletes from women’s sports. The NAIA is the governing body for mostly small colleges, covering about 83,000 athletes across the country. The NAIA’s Council of Presidents approved the policy in a 20-0 vote. The NAIA is believed to be the first college sports organization to take such a step. The NCAA responded by saying it remains committed to “fair competition for all student-athletes in all NCAA championships.”
April 8, 2024 4:33 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson made a diving stop near second base on Edward Oliveras’ grounder in a try for a game-ending double play, then threw wildly past first for an error as two runs scored and gave the Pittsburgh Pirates a 3-2 win. With the wild win, the Pirates improved to 8-2 for the first time since 2018. Henderson gloved Olivares’ grounder and his momentum carried him into second. He tagged the base with his glove, and Henderson hooked his throw around the runner and to the outfield side of Ryan Mountcastle at first as two runs scored.
April 8, 2024 4:38 am
CLEVELAND (AP) — Coach Dawn Staley and South Carolina have completed their perfect season, ending Caitlin Clark’s historic college career with an 87-75 win over Iowa in the NCAA championship game. The 38-0 Gamecocks became the 10th Division I team to go through a season without a loss. And they accomplished the feat after they lost all five starters from last season’s team that lost to Clark’s squad in the national semifinals. Clark did all she could to lead the Hawkeyes to their first championship. She scored 30 points, including a championship-record 18 in the first quarter. She will go down as one of the greatest players in NCAA history.
April 8, 2024 4:39 am
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — UConn and Purdue have dominated this year’s NCAA Tournament. Now they’re set to meet for the national championship on Monday night. The Huskies are going for the first repeat men’s title since Florida in 2006 and 2007. They have beaten five tournament opponents by an average of 25 points per game, with the closest margin coming by 14 points. The Boilermakers are in the title game for the first time since falling to UCLA in 1969 in their lone appearance. Purdue is winning its tournament games by an average margin of 19.6 points.
April 8, 2024 4:36 am
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Longtime Kentucky coach John Calipari was in negotiations to potentially leave and take the men’s basketball coaching job at Arkansas, multiple outlets reported late Sunday. Arkansas officials have been in discussions with Calipari about the opening, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported, citing anonymous sources. ESPN, also citing anonymous sources, reported that Calipari is finalizing a five-year deal. The 65-year-old Hall of Fame coach has spent the last 15 seasons at Kentucky. Athletic director Mitch Barnhart recently said Calipari would return despite calls for his firing following the Wildcats’ third consecutive early exit from the NCAA Tournament.
April 7, 2024 7:41 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Michael Bunting snapped a tie with 5:28 left in the third period, and the Pittsburgh Penguins moved into a playoff spot with a 5-4 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Referee Steve Kozari was taken off the ice on a stretcher after colliding with Lightning defenseman Haydn Fleury 6:11 into the third period. Kozari was able to move his arms. Fleury did not return. Evgeni Malkin had two goals and an assist for Pittsburgh, and Bunting also had two assists. Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang also scored. Pittsburgh posted its fourth straight win and improved to 6-0-2 in its last eight games overall.
