April 5, 2023 3:46 am
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Dawson Mercer scored his first career hat trick and the New Jersey Devils beat the fading Penguins 5-1, putting Pittsburgh’s bid for a 17th straight Stanley Cup playoff berth in serious jeopardy. Dougie Hamilton and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils and Vitek Vanecek made 22 saves as New Jersey rebounded from its worst loss of the season. Coupled with Florida’s win over Buffalo, the Panthers moved a point ahead of the Penguins in the race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Both teams have four games left, but they don’t play each other.
April 4, 2023 3:48 am
BOSTON (AP) — Ji Hwan Bae hit his first career homer, Bryan Reynolds went deep for the third time in two games and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Red Sox 4-1. Roansy Contreras held the Red Sox to three hits over 5 2/3 innings. He retired 13 straight after giving up a run in the first. David Bednar got the final three outs for his third save. Reynolds’ drive off Nick Pivetta went into Boston’s bullpen and made it 3-1 in the third. He added an RBI single in the seventh. Bostoin’s run came on Masataka Yoshida’s first-inning groundout.
April 5, 2023 3:49 am
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Tiger Woods is at the Masters for the 25th time. Not even he knows how much longer he will keep playing. Woods says he doesn’t know how many more he has in him because of injuries to his legs and back. He describes his right leg as being full of hardware. Woods brings a degree a normalcy to this Masters that is filled with chatter and speculation about LIV Golf. Woods still draws the biggest crowd. Now he sees if he can match the Masters record held by Fred Couples and Gary Player of making 23 cuts in a row.
April 4, 2023 3:53 am
BOSTON (AP) — Bryan Reynolds hit a pair solo home runs, Jason Delay added another and the Pittsburgh Pirates edged the Boston Red Sox 7-6. On a mild evening in which the teams combined for six home runs, Masataka Yoshida hit his first since joining the Red Sox from Japan’s Orix Buffaloes. Yoshida and Triston Casas hit two-run drives and Rafael Devers added a solo shot. Reynolds had his fourth multihomer game, his first since last Aug. 12 at home against Boston. Pirates starter Johan Oviedo and Boston’s Kutter Crawford had short nights.
April 4, 2023 3:51 am
HOUSTON (AP) — Adama Sanogo powered UConn to the school’s fifth national title with a 76-59 victory over San Diego State. Sanogo had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Huskies, who became the fifth team since the bracket expanded in 1985 to win all six NCAA Tournament games by double-digits on the way to a championship. UConn built a 16-point lead late in the first half, then held on for a wild ride down the stretch. The Aztecs trimmed the lead to five with 5:19 left, but Jordan Hawkins answered with a 3 to trigger a 9-0 run and put the game out of reach. Keshad Johnson led San Diego State with 14 points.
April 4, 2023 3:49 am
BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — LSU’s 102-85 victory over Iowa in Sunday’s national championship game was the most-viewed NCAA women’s basketball game on record. There were 9.9 million viewers on ABC and ESPN2 according to fast national numbers by Nielsen. The total audience is a 103% jump over last year, when South Carolina defeated UConn and averaged 4.85 million on ESPN and ESPN2. The audience on Sunday at one point peaked at 12.6 million. The record ratings come as the NCAA is deciding whether to separate the women’s tournament or keep it as part of the championships TV package that includes at least 24 sports.
April 3, 2023 4:00 am
DALLAS (AP) — LSU won its first basketball title in school history, overcoming Caitlin Clark and Iowa 102-85 in the national championship game. The victory made Kim Mulkey the first women’s coach to win national championships at two different schools. She won three at Baylor before leaving for LSU two years ago. Her four titles gave her the third most all-time behind Geno Auriemma’s 11 and Pat Summitt’s eight. Mulkey has never lost in a championship game. Angel Reese had 15 points and 10 rebounds for LSU and was honored as the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. Clark scored 30 points to finish the tournament with 191, breaking Sheryl Swoopes’ record of 177 set in 1993.
April 3, 2023 1:07 am
WJPA-AM (1450) is your radio home for all the action, running right through the Women’s & Men’s National Championships. You can also listen online through our partnership with Westwood One and the NCAA! WJPA-AM (1450) Listen Here
Monday, April 3
Men’s National Championship
#4 Connecticut 76, #5 San Diego State 59
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.
