FRIDAY SPORTS, MAY 16, 2025
MITCHELL KERNELS
— Mitchell Kernels boys tennis finished third at the ESD conference tournament on Tuesday in Watertown, led by a Flight 6 championship for Sutton Thompson. Mitchell ends the season at the state tennis tournament in Sioux Falls, May 22-23.
— Mitchell Kernels girls golf had the Mitchell Invitational on Friday cancelled due to weather. Mitchell will compete at Willow Run Golf Course in Sioux Falls on Monday at 8 am, hosted by SF Washington.
— Mitchell Kernels softball (5-9 on the season) will be at Brookings on Friday at 3 pm. Mitchell ends the regular season on Friday, May 23rd vs. Tea Area.
— Mitchell track and field will compete at the ESD track and field meet takes place on Saturday in Harrisburg. Next week, Mitchell competes in Huron on Thursday at 2 pm.
— Mitchell baseball will face Rapid City Stevens on Friday and Saturday in a best two-out-of-three series with the winner advancing to next week’s state tournament in Sioux Falls. First pitch on Friday in Rapid City is set for 9 pm CST, and the first game Saturday will be at 1:30 pm CST. A potential third game would be played at 4 pm CST. The winner of the series advances to the Class A state baseball tournament at Sioux Falls Stadium on Friday, May 23 and Saturday, May 24. Mitchell is the No. 9 seed and Rapid City Stevens the No. 8 seed. Mitchell just swept Stevens in a doubleheader at Drake Field on Saturday, 1-0 and 6-4.
WEATHER CANCELLATIONS
The Mitchell High School girls golf team’s home invitational on Friday at Lakeview Golf Course has been canceled.
The ESD Conference middle school track meet in Pierre was also canceled for Friday.
The Cornbelt Conference track meet, hosted by Bridgewater-Emery, has been postponed from Thursday to Friday in Bridgewater
The Timmins Memorial track meet in Parkston was canceled.
DAKOTA WESLEYAN
— Dakota Wesleyan’s Allison Meyerink finished her third round tied for 32nd at the NAIA Women’s Golf Championship in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Meyerink shot a +5 (72) on Thursday with two birdies on the day. Allison tees off at 6:50 am this morning.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
— South Dakota State baseball lost two games on Thursday to Oral Robets 11-4 and 14-11. Game three of the four game series vs. the Golden Eagles is this afternoon at 1 pm on Brookings for Senior Day. The Jacks end the regular season on Saturday at 1 pm. The Summit League Baseball Tournament starts on Wednesday in Omaha.
SOUTH DAKOTA
— USD hosts the Summit League Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Vermillion running through Saturday. Qualifiers will compete at the NCAA West Regional at College Station, Texas May 28-31.
THURSDAY WOMEN’S STANDINGS
1. USD – 54 points
2. North Dakota State – 53 points
3. North Dakota – 34 points
T4. South Dakota State – 27 points
T4. St. Thomas – 27 points
USD’s Marleen Mülla won the women’s pole vault with a clearance of 15 feet. That is a personal best for Mülla, ranking her second in school history and fourth in the NCAA this season. Sara Reifenrath broke her own meet record in the 200 meter prelims at 23.12 seconds.
THURSDAY MEN’S STANDINGS
1. North Dakota State – 46 points
2. South Dakota State – 33 points
3. North Dakota – 15 points
NBA
— Nikola Jokic led Denver with 29 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists, while Christian Braun scored a career playoff-best 23 points in the Nuggets 119-107 Game 6 win on Thursday night vs. Oklahoma City to force a deciding Game 7 on Sunday afternoon. Denver point guard Jamal Murray, who came into the game as questionable due to illness, had 25 points. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 32 points.
NBA PLAYOFFS – FRIDAY
New York Knicks vs. Boston Celtics, 7 pm on ESPN – New York leads the series 3-2
NBA PLAYOFFS – SUNDAY
Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Denver Nuggets, 2:30 pm on ABC
PGA
— Jhonattan Vegas birdied five of his last six holes for a 64 to lead after the first round of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. That gives the Venezuelan a two-shot lead over PGA Tour rookie Ryan Gerard and Cam Davis of Australia. Masters champion Rory McIlroy shot 74. Scottie Scheffler had a 69 and Xander Schauffele a 72. For the first time in at least 30 years, no one from the top 10 in the world was in the top 10 on the leaderboard after one round of a major.
NFL
— New reports suggest that Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams wanted nothing to do with the team as last year’s NFL draft approached. A forthcoming book describes how the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner and his father explored options that would allow him to have a hand in which team selected him. In “American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback,” author and ESPN reporter Seth Wicksham wrote about how the Williamses sought a workaround to the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement. The book says they also explored signing with the UFL and considered publicly ripping Chicago and the Bears to create an untenable situation for the team.
WNBA
— The Connecticut Sun WNBA team are looking at all options for the franchise’s future, including a potential sale. The team is owned by the Mohegan Tribe, which runs the casino where the team has played since 2003. The Tribe bought the franchise for $10 million and relocated it from Orlando that year. The Connecticut franchise was the first in the league to be run by a non-NBA owner and also became the first to turn a profit.
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS – THURSDAY
Carolina Hurricanes 3, Washington Capitals 1 – Carolina wins the series 4-1
Winnipeg Jets 4, Dallas Stars 0 – Dallas leads the series 3-2
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS – FRIDAY
Florida Panthers vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, 7 pm on TNT – Florida leads the series 3-2
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS – SATURDAY
Dallas Stars vs. Winnipeg Jets, 7 pm on ABC – Dallas leads the series 3-2
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS – SUNDAY
Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Florida Panthers, 6:30 pm on TNT – Florida leads the series 3-2
MLB
Baltimore Orioles vs. Washington Nationals, Saturday at 3:05 pm on FS1
Milwaukee Brewers vs. Minnesota Twins, Saturday at 6:15 pm on FOX
New York Yankees vs. New York Mets, Sunday at 6 pm on ESPN
MLB
— Former major league shortstop Rafael Furcal is facing felony charges in South Florida. The former All-Star turned himself in at the County jail on Wednesday and was released on bond a short time later. He’s charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and throwing a missile into public or private dwelling. The 47-year-old Furcal started with the Atlanta Braves in 2000, followed by stints with the Dodgers and the Cardinals. He finished his career with the Miami Marlins in 2014.
— DaShawn Keirsey Jr. and Byron Buxton hit Minnesota’s first back-to-back homers this season, while Chris Paddack threw seven shutout innings as the Twins extended their winning streak to 11 games with a 4-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday. The win streak is the fourth-longest in Twins history. The record is 15 straight in 1991. They had a 12-game winning streak last season. The Twins swept the season series vs. Baltimore 6-0 after losing all six games to the Orioles last year. Minnesota starts a three-game series at Milwaukee tonight at 7:10 pm.
— Twins shortstop Carlos Correa and center fielder Byron Buxton were both placed in the concussion protocol following a collision in the outfield. Baltimore’s Cedric Mullins hit a fly ball to shallow center field leading off the bottom of the third. Correa retreated to the outfield grass in pursuit while Buxton raced in. Buxton appeared to call off Correa at the last minute, but it was too late. Correa exited the game immediately and was replaced by Jonah Bride. Buxton stayed in for the remainder of the third inning, but did not return for the fourth and was replaced by Ty France.
— Jacob deGrom went eight shutout innings to win his fourth consecutive start for the Texas Rangers, who got a Jake Burger’s solo home run off Hunter Brown in a 1-0 win over the Houston Astros. Brown also went eight innings, allowing one run, in the loss for Houston. Bruce Bochy got his 2,195th career win to break a tie with Sparky Anderson for the sixth-most by an MLB manager.
— Shohei Ohtani homered twice and drove in six runs on his bobblehead night as the Los Angeles Dodgers routed the Athletics 19-2. Ohtani tied Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber for the major league home run lead with his 15th HR.
— Elly De La Cruz, Will Benson and Matt McLain homered for Cincinnati, while Nick Martinez threw seven shutout innings as the Reds beat the Chicago White Sox 7-1.
— AJ Smith-Shawver allowed only two hits and no earned runs in six innings as the Atlanta Braves beat the Washington Nationals 5-2.
— Tampa Bay’s Josh Lowe had a homer among his three hits in his first game since getting injured on opening day, while Brandon Lowe homered twice as the Rays defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 8-3.