April 3, 2023 3:56 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Rickard Rakell scored two goals and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2. Penguins defenseman Kris Letang skated in his 1,000th career game and Bryan Rust scored in his 500th NHL game. Ryan Poehling added a late empty-net goal, and Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin each had two assists. Casey DeSmith stopped 31 shots. Crosby is three points from 1,500 in the NHL. He also tied Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux for the most career points against the Flyers in NHL history with 124. Travis Konecny scored his 29th of the season and Nicolas Deslauriers his sixth, both in the third period, but the Flyers couldn’t rally from their early three-goal deficit. Samuel Ersson finished with 27 saves as Philadelphia lost its third straight following a four-game win streak.
April 3, 2023 3:58 am
CINCINNATI (AP) — Graham Ashcraft pitched seven solid innings, Jason Vosler and TJ Friedl hit solo home runs and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1 on Sunday. Ashcraft (1-0) overcame Brian Reynolds’ home run to last seven innings, allowing four hits and one run with a walk and six strikeouts. Tyler Stephenson also drove in a run and Vosler, Friedl and Jonathan India each had two hits for the Reds. Alexis Diaz pitched the ninth for his first save. Vince Velasquez (0-1), making his Pirates debut after signing in December as a free agent, lasted 4-2/3 innings, giving up five hits and three runs with one walk and three strikeouts.
April 1, 2023 4:05 am
WJPA-AM (1450) is your radio home for all the action, running right through the Women’s & Men’s National Championship Games April 2-3. You can also listen online through our partnership with Westwood One and the NCAA! Our Men’s coverage includes feature games each day with expanded coverage through the national semifinals. The Women’s Tournament returns to WJPA with Sweet 16, Regional Finals and Final Four action. And we’ve got the NIT semifinals and finals for you as well. WJPA-AM (1450) Listen Here
Thursday, March 30
Men’s NIT Championship
#2 North Texas 68, #4 UAB 61
Friday, March 31
Women’s Final Four
#2 Iowa 77, #1 South Carolina 73
#4 LSU 79, #1 Virginia Tech 72
Saturday, April 1
Men’s Final Four
#5 San Diego State 72, #9 Florida Atlantic 71
#4 Connecticut 72, #5 Miami (FL) 59
Sunday, April 2
Women’s National Championship
3:00 pm #2 Iowa vs. #4 LSU
Monday, April 3
Men’s National Championship
6:30 pm Final Four Winners
April 2, 2023 7:48 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — David Pastrnak finished off his 14th career hat trick with a blast by Tristan Jarry with 2:26 remaining to lift the Boston Bruins to a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The victory gave Boston 59 wins on the season, three short of the NHL’s single-season mark of 62 set by Detroit in 1996 and tied by Tampa Bay in 2019. Pastrnak’s three goals gave him 56 on the season and pushed him across the 100-point plateau for the first time in his nine-year career. Bryan Rust scored twice for the Penguins.
April 2, 2023 7:48 am
CINCINNATI (AP) — Jake Fraley came off the bench to hit a three-run homer, Kevin Newman had a two-run shot against his former team and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2. Jonathan India added a solo homer and Nick Lodolo overcame a challenging first inning as Cincinnati snapped an eight-losing streak to Pittsburgh that dated to last season, when both teams lost 100 games. Fraley’s second career pinch-hit homer in the sixth off right-hander Chase De Jong reached the visitors’ bullpen down the right-field line. Lodolo needed 109 pitches to navigate five innings. The Pirates reached the second-year lefty for seven hits and two runs. He finished with nine strikeouts and two walks in a game that took just 2 hours, 16 minutes.
April 1, 2023 4:50 am
DALLAS (AP) — LSU is going to the women’s national championship game for the first time. Alexis Morris scored 27 points, Angel Reese had 24 and the Tigers beat top-seeded Virginia Tech 79-72 in a national semifinal game. The Tigers are in their second season since coach Kim Mulkey returned to her home state to take over an LSU program that once lost five consecutive national semifinal games. LSU will play Sunday against the winner of the South Carolina-Iowa semifinal. Elizabeth Kitley had 18 points for Virginia Tech, the ACC champion that was in the Final Four for the first time.
DALLAS (AP) — Caitlin Clark had another sensational game with 41 points to help Iowa spoil South Carolina’s perfect season with a 77-73 victory in the Final Four. The spectacular junior guard set a record for the highest-scoring semifinal game and became the first women’s player to post back-to-back 40-point games in the NCAA Tournament. She now has the Hawkeyes in a spot they’ve never been in before — one victory away from a national championship. They’ll have to beat another SEC team to do that as Iowa will face LSU in the title game on Sunday afternoon after the Tigers beat Virginia Tech in the other national semifinal. The loss ended a tremendous season for the defending champion Gamecocks. They finished 36-1.
March 31, 2023 3:49 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Tristan Jarry turned away 27 shots to outduel Juuse Saros and the Pittsburgh Penguins edged Nashville 2-0. Jason Zucker scored his 26th goal in the second period to give Jarry all the help he would need on his way to his 13th career shutout. Jake Guentzel provided some breathing room with a power-play goal in the later stages of the third period. Pittsburgh held on to the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with the victory. Juuse Saros made 43 saves for the Predators but Nashville fell a game after stunning NHL-leading Boston on the road.
March 31, 2023 2:28 am
CINCINNATI (AP) — Oneil Cruz homered shortly after a pitch clock violation and later drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning, helping the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-4 on opening day. The game was played in 3 hours, 2 minutes under new rules this season designed to speed things up. There were a combined 15 walks and 26 strikeouts, and one pitch clock violation for each team. Spencer Steer homered for Cincinnati. Rob Zastryzny got the win. Buck Farmer took the loss. David Bednar fanned two in the ninth for the save.
March 30, 2023 3:50 am
A major shift is coming to Major League Baseball, starting on opening day this Thursday. New rules are now in effect. There will be clocks at stadiums to hurry along pitchers and hitters, and there are restrictions on defensive shifts for fielders. The full slate of 15 games includes matchups at Dodger Stadium, Fenway Park, Wrigley Field and Yankee Stadium. Aaron Judge will aiming at his own home run record, Shohei Ohtani will be trending with every pitch and swing and Houston manager Dusty Baker is trying to win another World Series ring.
March 30, 2023 3:48 am
Penn State has hired VCU’s Mike Rhoades to be its men’s basketball coach. The Pennsylvania native takes over a program coming off its first NCAA Tournament appearance in more than a decade. The Penn State board of trustees approved a seven-year deal worth $25.9 million for Rhoades. He replaces Micah Shrewsberry, who was hired away by Notre Dame last week. Penn State is coming off its first NCAA appearance since 2011 and first NCAA victory since 2001. Rhoades was 129-61 in six seasons as head coach at VCU, including three NCAA Tournament bids. A few hours after Rhoades’ hire was announced on Wednesday, VCU announced it hired Utah State coach Ryan Odom to replace him.
