MONDAY SPORTS, MAY 11, 2026
MITCHELL KERNELS
— Mitchell baseball wrapped up the regular season with a doubleheader split at Tea Area on Saturday. Mitchell dropped the opener 5-4 after Tea rallied in the sixth inning behind a three-run triple from Miles Jelen. The Kernels had taken a 4-2 lead earlier in the inning on RBI hits from Brennen Penne and Ian Weber, but couldn’t answer late. The Kernels bounced back in Game 2 with a 4-2 win to earn the split. Ethan Hegg led the offense with two hits and two RBIs, while Penne also drove in a run. Mitchell finishes the regular season with an 11-11 record and will face No. 6 seed Pierre in their region series that starts with two games on the road on Friday, with a potential game three on Saturday.
— Mitchell Kernels softball snapped a seven-game losing streak and earned their first back-to-back wins of the season Saturday with victories over Sturgis and Spearfish at McWhirter Field. Mitchell opened the day with a 6-4 win over Sturgis. Iris Ackman led the offense by going 3-for-3 with three RBIs, while Rylee Jennings pitched a complete game, allowing just one earned run. The Kernels followed with an 11-1 victory over Spearfish in six innings. Ackman stayed hot at the plate with four RBIs, while Brooklyn Schlimgen collected three hits, including two triples. Jennings struck out 12 batters without issuing a walk in the game two. Mitchell improved to 3-10 on the season and returns to action Monday at Tea Area at 5 pm.
— Mitchell Kernels girls golf capped a busy week with a runner-up finish Friday at the Yankton Invitational at Hillcrest Golf and Country Club. Mitchell finished second with a team score of 343, just three strokes behind champion O’Gorman at 340. Anna Eliason led the Kernels with an 80, tying for fourth individually in the 69-player field. Maddie Childs added an 85 for eighth place, while Mia Larson shot 87 to finish ninth. Mitchell competed in four events over five days this week, posting two team victories, a third-place finish and Friday’s second-place result. The Kernels will host the Mitchell Invitational on Friday, May 15 at Lakeview Golf Course.
— Mitchell Kernels boys tennis wrapped up the regular season Friday with an 8-1 victory over Watertown at Hitchcock Park. Mitchell swept all six singles matches and won two of three doubles contests to finish the dual season with a 13-5 overall record and a 6-2 mark in ESD Conference play. The Kernels now head to the ESD Conference tournament May 11-12 in Yankton.
— Mitchell track and field competes at the ESD conference meet on Saturday in Watertown at 10 am.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
— South Dakota State baseball used a six-run sixth inning to rally past St. Thomas 7-3 on Sunday and clinch a series win. The Jackrabbits trailed 3-1 before breaking through in the sixth, sending 10 batters to the plate. SDSU improved to 20-27 overall and 11-12 in league play. The Jacks close out the regular season with a four-game series at Omaha beginning Wednesday at 6 pm.
SOUTH DAKOTA
— USD captured their first-ever Summit League softball tournament championship Saturday night with a 2-1 win over Omaha in Minneapolis. The Coyotes bounced back after Omaha forced a winner-take-all title game earlier in the day with a 10-1 victory in six innings. The Mavericks had won the previous three tournament championships. USD now earns the Summit League’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
— USD softball is headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history, earning a spot in the Lincoln Regional in Nebraska. The Coyotes, the No. 4 seed in the regional, will open play against host and top seed Nebraska on Friday. The field also includes Grand Canyon and Louisville. The Lincoln Regional runs May 15 through May 17.
MINNESOTA TWINS
— Kody Clemens had three hits and Kendry Rojas earned his first major league win in relief as the Minnesota Twins held off the Cleveland Guardians 5-4. Brooks Lee hit a tiebreaking single in a four-run fifth inning for the Twins, who took two of three in the series. Rojas struck out five and walked three over 3 1/3 innings. The Twins return home to start a three-game series vs. Miami on Tuesday at 6:40 pm.
NFL
— The NFL and the NFL Referees Association have agreed to a new seven-year collective bargaining agreement, avoiding a potential officials lockout ahead of the 2026 season. The deal runs through the 2032 NFL season and was approved Friday by union leadership and ratified by members. Financial terms were not released, but the agreement reportedly addresses pay, performance standards and accountability measures for officials. The last major labor dispute between the league and officials came in 2012, when replacement referees worked games during a 110-day lockout.
— The NFL will release its full 2026 regular-season schedule on Thursday, continuing the league’s recent tradition of unveiling the schedule during the second week of May. The league has already announced two international games, including a Week 1 matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne on Sept. 10 local time. The game will air in prime time in the United States on Sept. 9. Another international game will feature the Baltimore Ravens against the Dallas Cowboys in Rio de Janeiro during Week 3 on Sept. 27. The defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks will open the season Sept. 9 in the annual kickoff game, although their opponent has not yet been revealed.
MLB
— Bobby Cox, the Hall of Fame manager who led the Atlanta Braves to 14 straight division titles and a 1995 World Series championship, has died at the age of 84. Cox passed away Saturday in Marietta, Georgia, after dealing with health complications following a 2019 stroke. Cox managed the Braves for 25 seasons and finished his career with more than 2,500 wins, ranking fourth all-time in Major League Baseball history. He guided Atlanta to five National League pennants and the franchise’s first major sports championship in 1995. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014.
SOFTBALL
— The SEC dominated the NCAA softball bracket reveal, earning six of the top eight national seeds, led by No. 1 Alabama and defending champion No. 2 Texas. Overall, 12 SEC teams made the 64-team tournament field. Regional play begins Friday, with the top 16 seeds hosting. The Women’s College World Series starts May 28 in Oklahoma City.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
— The Big Ten Conference reported a record $1.47 billion in revenue for the 2024-25 fiscal year, fueled by conference expansion and a lucrative television deal. According to federal tax filings, the league’s revenue jumped nearly 58% from the previous year after adding UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington from the former Pac-12. Schools receiving full revenue shares averaged nearly $80 million in payouts, up from about $63 million the previous year. Ohio State led the conference with $91 million after winning the College Football Playoff national championship. Penn State received nearly $89 million, while Indiana brought in approximately $81 million. The conference’s financial growth has been driven largely by its television agreements with Fox, CBS and NBC.
NASCAR
— Shane van Gisbergen continued his dominance on road courses Sunday, winning the NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen from the pole position. Van Gisbergen led 75 of 100 laps and earned his seventh Cup Series victory, all on road or street courses.
NBA
— The Minnesota Timberwolves evened their second-round playoff series at 2-2 with a 114-109 win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 Sunday night in Minneapolis. Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 36 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter, as the Timberwolves rallied late after trailing early in the final period. Edwards hit a go-ahead three-pointer with just over five minutes remaining to spark the comeback. The game turned early in the second quarter when Spurs star Victor Wembanyama was ejected after being assessed a Flagrant 2 foul for an elbow to the neck of Minnesota’s Naz Reid. Reid stayed in the game and finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. The series now moves back to San Antonio for Game 5 on Tuesday.
— The New York Knicks are headed back to the Eastern Conference finals after a 144-114 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday, completing a second-round sweep. The Knicks set an NBA postseason record with 11 3-pointers in the first quarter and finished with 25 made 3s. The Knicks will face the winner of the Cleveland-Detroit series in the Eastern Conference finals.
— The Washington Wizards have won the NBA Draft Lottery, earning the No. 1 overall pick in the June 23 draft. Washington had a 14% chance to land the top selection and secured it with a 4-2-1 ping-pong ball combination. The Wizards finished with the league’s worst record at 17-65. It’s Washington’s first No. 1 pick since selecting John Wall in 2010. Utah will pick second, followed by Memphis at No. 3 and Chicago at No. 4. The Los Angeles Clippers hold the fifth pick. Top prospects include BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Duke’s Cameron Boozer, Kansas’ Darryn Peterson and North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson. The NBA says this may be the final year under the current lottery format before changes aimed at discouraging tanking take effect.
NBA PLAYOFFS – MONDAY
Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Detroit Pistons, 7 pm on NBC – Detroit leads the series 2-1
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, 9:30 pm on Prime Video – OKC leads 3-0
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS – SUNDAY
Montreal Canadiens 6, Buffalo Sabers 2 – Montreal leads the series 2-1
Anaheim Ducks 4, Vegas Golden Knights 3 – Series tied 2-2
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS – MONDAY
Minnesota Wild vs. Colorado Avalanche, 7 pm on ESPN – Colorado leads the series 2-1
MLB
— Kyle Schwarber homered twice and Bryce Harper also went deep as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Colorado Rockies 6-0 to win for the 10th time in 13 games since Don Mattingly replaced Rob Thomson as manager. Schwarber has five home runs over his past four games, tying the Yankees’ Aaron Judge for the major league lead at 16.
— Brice Turang homered off David Bednar with two outs in the ninth inning as the Milwaukee Brewers completed a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees with a 4-3 victory. Milwaukee had not swept the Yankees in a series of at least three games since 1989. Aaron Judge hit a solo HR in the first inning for his 16th homer, matching the major league lead.
— Junior Caminero hit a solo homer over the Green Monster, while Nick Martinez pitched one-run ball into the sixth inning as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 4-1. Tampa Bay won for the 14th time in 16 games after their seven-game winning streak ended Friday.
— Gage Workman came off the bench and hit his first major league homer, a two-run shot that sent the Detroit Tigers past the Kansas City Royals 6-3 to snap a five-game losing streak.
— Bryce Elder allowed one hit in 5 2/3 scoreless innings, while Mauricio Dubón had a three-run double as the Atlanta Braves defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-2. Drake Baldwin and Matt Olson homered for the Braves, who took two of three in the weekend series.
— Randal Grichuk hit a solo home run and Drew Romo scored the winning run in the eighth inning for the Chicago White Sox in a 2-1 win over the Seattle Mariners.
— Jacob deGrom tied his season high with 10 strikeouts while earning the 1,900th of his career, while Evan Carter hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning and the Texas Rangers beat the Chicago Cubs 3-0.
— Jo Adell hit a pair of solo homers, while José Soriano struck out seven over 7 2/3 innings as the Los Angeles Angels avoided a three-game sweep by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 6-1.
— Eduardo Rodriguez came within two outs of his first major league complete game, while Arizona rookie Ryan Waldschmidt had his first three big league RBIs as the Diamondbacks beat the New York Mets 5-1.
— Nick Castellanos hit a tying, two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning, while Manny Machado delivered a sacrifice fly in the 10th to rally the San Diego Padres past the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2.
— Andrew Abbott allowed three hits in six shutout innings as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros 5-0.
— Jesús Rodríguez hit an RBI single in the 12th inning as the San Francisco Giants rallied from a pair of two-run deficits to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-6.