FRIDAY SPORTS, MAY 1, 2026
MITCHELL KERNELS
— Mia Larson turned in a season-best performance Thursday to lead the Mitchell Kernels girls golf team at the Hub City Invitational in Aberdeen. Larson shot a 3-over-par 75 to finish third overall in a field of 36 golfers from seven schools. Teammate Maddie Childs also finished inside the top five, placing fourth with a 77 as the Kernels placed second in the team standings. Aberdeen Central won the event with a 295, while Mitchell finished runner-up at 323. The Kernels return to action on Monday at the Sioux Falls Washington Invitational at Willow Run Golf Course.
— Mitchell Kernels track and field hosted a triangular with Huron and Aberdeen Central on Thursday at Joe Quintal Field. While no team scores were kept, the Kernels picked up multiple event wins. On the boys side, Mason Kempf won the 100-meter dash in 11.65 seconds, while Luke LeBrun edged Kempf by just three-hundredths of a second to take the 200 meters. Mitchell also got a win from Ayden Wood in the shot put with a throw of 44 feet, 10 inches, and Ryan Driscoll claimed the pole vault title at 11 feet. For the girls, Averi Gerfen finished second in the 1,600 meters before winning the 3,200 meters. Audrey Miller was a double winner in the field events, taking both the high jump and long jump. Mitchell returns to action Friday and Saturday at the Howard Wood Relays in Sioux Falls.
— Mitchell boys tennis will host Aberdeen Central and Sioux Falls Washington for a triangular at Hitchcock Park on Friday at 11 am.
— Mitchell Kernels softball will travel to Harrisburg on Friday at 5:30 pm.
— Mitchell baseball will travel to Brookings for a doubleheader on Friday at 6 pm. Mitchell is currently seventh in Class A seed points with a 6-6 record vs. in-state teams, while Brookings is 5-8 overall and 17th out of 20 teams.
DAKOTA WESLEYAN
— Dakota Wesleyan baseball has reached the GPAC tournament semifinals after splitting a pair of games on Thursday in Lincoln, Neb. The Tigers opened the day with a 12-1 loss to No. 2 seed Concordia. In the elimination game, the Tigers defeated No. 3 seed Morningside for the second time in two days, 16-5 in seven innings. DWU scored in each of the first five innings, including seven runs in the second and three more runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Mason Riley finished 3-for-5 with two HR’s and five RBI’s. The Tigers will need to win twice vs. No. 2 Concordia on Friday to advance to the GPAC tournament final. First pitch is on Friday at 3 pm.
— Dakota Wesleyan softball’s run in the GPAC tournament ended Thursday with a 5-3 loss to top-seeded Midland in Fremont, Nebraska. Midland struck first with two runs in the third inning and added three more in the fourth to build a 5-0 lead. DWU chipped away late, scoring once in the fifth and twice in the seventh to pull within two runs. Dakota Wesleyan closes the season at 35-17 and now awaits a possible at-large bid to the NAIA national tournament, with selections announced May 6.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
— South Dakota State softball dropped a wild extra-inning slugfest Thursday, falling 13-12 to North Dakota State in Fargo. The Jackrabbits hit a school record six home runs in the game, including three from sophomore Amanda Vacanti along with seven RBI’s. The loss snapped SDSU’s 18-game winning streak against North Dakota State and drops the Jackrabbits to 23-30 overall and 5-10 in Summit League play. The series continues Friday at 3 p.m.
— South Dakota State baseball returns to Summit League play this weekend with a three-game series at North Dakota State starting on Friday at 6:30 pm. The Jackrabbits are fourth in the conference with a 7-10 record, while NDSU is in sixth and last place with a 5-10 Summit League mark.
SOUTH DAKOTA
— USD softball dropped the series opener to Omaha 3-1 on Thursday in Vermillion. Offensively, the Coyotes finished with four hits. USD fell to 15-32 and 6-10 in the Summit League. The series continues Friday with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m.
MINNESOTA TWINS
— Byron Buxton homered for the third time in four games, while Ryan Jeffers hit a go-ahead, two-run HR that led the Minnesota Twins over the Toronto Blue Jays 7- 1 in the opener of a four-game series. Toronto’s Daulton Varsho homered off Bailey Ober in the fourth and Jeffers put the Twins ahead to stay at 2-1 in the bottom half against Kevin Gausman. Buxton homered two innings later, his team-leading eighth, and Austin Martin added an RBI single later in the sixth. Buxton was 3 for 4 in his third three-hit game this season. Game two of the four game series is Friday at 7:10 pm.
NBA
— Jaden McDaniels had 32 points and 10 rebounds, while Terrence Shannon Jr. added 24 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves in a 110-98 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 6 on Thursday night that finished off another tense NBA playoff series between the rivals. With their top three guards missing because of injuries, the Timberwolves went big with Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle and Naz Reid fueling a 64-40 advantage in points in the paint and an 50-33 edge in rebounding. Nikola Jokic had 28 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds to lead the Nuggets. Minnesota, the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference, will start the second round at San Antonio on Monday.
— OG Anunoby scored 29 points in 27 minutes, Karl-Anthony Towns had his second triple-double of the series and the New York Knicks had their biggest playoff victory in franchise history, eliminating the Atlanta Hawks 140-89 in Game 6 on Thursday night. The Knicks broke several NBA records by halftime. Their 40-15 lead at the end of the first quarter marked the largest of the shot clock era. Their 47-point halftime lead was the biggest in playoff history. New York’s 51-point win tied for the sixth-largest margin of victory in NBA postseason history.
— Tyrese Maxey scored 30 points, while Paul George had 23 points as the Philadelphia 76ers forced a Game 7 with a 106-93 win over the Boston Celtics on Thursday night. The only team in NBA history to win a playoff series after losing two games by 30-plus points was the Minneapolis Lakers in 1959 against the St. Louis Hawks. The decisive game is Saturday in Boston.
NBA PLAYOFFS – FRIDAY
Orlando Magic vs. Detroit Pistons, 6 pm on Amazon Prime Video – Orlando leads 3-2
Toronto Raptors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers, 6:30 pm on Amazon Prime Video- Cleveland leads 3-2
Houston Rockets vs. Los Angeles Lakers, 8:30 pm on Amazon Prime Video – L.A. Leads 3-2
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS – THURSDAY
Minnesota Wild 5, Dallas Stars 2 – Minnesota wins the series 4-2
Anaheim Ducks 5, Edmonton Oilers 2 – Anaheim wins the series 4-2
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS – FRIDAY
Montreal Canadiens vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, 6 pm on ESPN2 – Montreal leads 3-2
Boston Bruins vs. Buffalo Sabres, 6:30 pm on ESPN – Buffalo leads 3-2
Vegas Golden Knights vs. Utah Mammoth, 9 pm on ESPN – Vegas leads 3-2
GOLF
— Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is ending its long-term financial backing of LIV Golf, marking a major turning point for the breakaway golf league that launched in 2022. According to a statement, the sovereign wealth fund will continue funding LIV only through the end of the 2026 season before stepping away from ongoing financial support. The decision is tied to a shift in investment strategy focused on long-term value and reduced spending commitments. The move leaves LIV Golf, which has reportedly spent more than $5 billion since its inception, searching for new investors and a more sustainable business model. LIV Golf is scheduled to continue its 2026 season with upcoming events, but its long-term direction now hinges on securing outside funding without its original Saudi financial backing.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
— Streaming provider Amazon Prime Video is diving into college sports by partnering with one of college basketball’s biggest brands: Duke. Amazon and Duke announced Thursday they had reached a multiyear agreement to broadcast three of the Blue Devils’ neutral-site nonconference matchups per season. This marks the first college partnership for Prime Video, which has aired NFL and NBA games among other sports. This fall’s broadcasts include a Nov. 25 matchup between Duke and UConn in Las Vegas, a Dec. 21 game against reigning NCAA champion Michigan at New York’s Madison Square Garden, as well as Duke vs. Gonzaga on Feb. 20 in Detroit.
NFL
— Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and his family marked a significant milestone on Thursday with the groundbreaking ceremony for the new domed stadium scheduled to open for the 2029 season. There are still a couple of questions to be answered though even as construction commences on the 67,000-capacity facility, which will be next to the Cleveland International Airport and about 15 miles south of downtown Cleveland. The $600 million that the state of Ohio has committed to the project is on hold due to a class-action lawsuit. Governor Mike DeWine did not know if the litigation would be settled by the time he leaves office in January after two terms. Meanwhile, the city of Brook Park still has not approved its $245 million funding planned. The Haslam Sports Group is covering most of the costs at $1.7 billion.
MLB
— CJ Abrams hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning as the Washington Nationals beat the Mets 5-4, dealing New York its 17th loss in 20 games. James Wood robbed Juan Soto of a home run with a leaping catch at the right-field wall in the first inning and Washington dropped the Mets to a major league-worst 10-21. New York opened with the season with the major leagues’ highest payroll at $358 million.
— Kyle Schwarber hit a tying double with two outs in the ninth inning, while Alec Bohm delivered with his glove and bat in the 10th as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the San Francisco Giants 6-5 to sweep their split doubleheader. Philadelphia trailed in the ninth inning of both games before rallying for two walk-off wins on the same day for the first time since 1998. Schwarber homered in the first inning of each game.
— Detroit’s Gleyber Torres had three hits and drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning as the Detroit Tigers rallied to beat the Atlanta Braves 5-2 to avoid a three-game sweep.
— Yordan Alvarez went 3 for 4 with his 12th homer and scored three runs as the Houston Astros beat the Baltimore Orioles 11-5 to split a doubleheader. Baltimore’s Adley Rutschman and Jeremiah Jackson each hit a grand slam in the opener to help the Orioles cruise to a 10-3 win.
— William Contreras went 4 for 4 with a homer and four RBIs as the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 13-1.
— Cardinals rookie JJ Wetherholt led off with a home run against Pirates ace Paul Skenes as St. Louis finished off a four-game sweep of Pittsburgh with a 10-5 win. Skenes fell to 0-5 against the Cardinals after allowing five runs in five innings.
— Nick Kurtz drew a walk for his 19th consecutive game and hit a two-run double, helping the Athletics defeat the Kansas City Royals 6-3. Shea Langeliers added three doubles, while Darell Hernaiz had three hits and two RBIs.