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.
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.
March 29, 2024 12:01 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chase Hunter scored 18 points and converted a three-point play with 25.7 seconds remaining, and Clemson advanced to the Elite Eight for the second time in school history, beating Arizona 77-72 in a West Region semifinal on Thursday night. PJ Hall added 17 points for the sixth-seeded Tigers (24-11), who advanced to face either top-seeded North Carolina or No. 4 seed Alabama. Clemson last reached the final eight in 1980, when there were 48 teams in the NCAA Tournament. Coach Brad Brownell was making his second appearance in the second weekend of March Madness in his 14 seasons with the Tigers. Oumar Ballo scored 15 points and Caleb Love 13 for second-seeded Arizona (27-9), which had a horrific shooting night, going 5 of 28 (17.9%) from 3-point range. Love missed all nine of his attempts beyond the arc as the Wildcats failed to reach the Elite Eight for the 12th time overall and first time since 2015.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Grant Nelson converted a go-ahead three-point play with 38 seconds remaining, and Alabama beat top-seeded North Carolina to reach the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history. Nelson finished with a season-high 24 points, 19 in the second half, and he blocked RJ Davis’ attempt at a tying layup after giving Alabama the lead. Rylan Griffen added 19 points, tying his career high with five 3-pointers, and Aaron Estrada also scored 19 for the fourth-seeded Crimson Tide (24-11). Bacot finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds for UNC (29-8). Cormac Ryan had 17 points and made five 3-pointers and Davis had 16 points.
BOSTON (AP) — Stephon Castle had 16 points and 11 rebounds for top-seeded UConn and the defending NCAA champion advanced to the Elite Eight with another double-digit victory, beating San Diego State 82-52 in a rematch of last year’s title game. Cam Spencer scored 18 points and Tristen Newton added 17 points and seven rebounds for the Huskies (34-3), who will play the winner of the other East Region semifinal between No. 2 Iowa State and No. 3 Illinois for a spot in the Final Four in Glendale, Arizona. Seven-footer Donovan Clingan, who played just 23 minutes after getting into foul trouble, had eight points and eight rebounds. Jaedon LeDee scored 15 of his 18 points in the first half for fifth-seeded San Diego State, which followed up the only Final Four appearance in school history with another Sweet 16 run.
BOSTON (AP) — Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 29 points and Illinois reached the Elite Eight for the first time since 2005, beating Iowa State. Shannon had 20 points in the first half for the third-seeded Illini (29-8), who never trailed. He broke away for a dunk in the closing seconds and later hit two free throws to help Illinois finally put away the second-seeded Cyclones (29-8). Illinois made a regional final for the fourth time in the past 40 years and will meet defending champion UConn on Saturday for a trip to the Final Four. Curtis Jones scored 26 points to lead Iowa State, which came into March Madness having blown out Houston for the Big 12 Tournament title.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
