THURSDAY SPORTS, MAY 7, 2026
MITCHELL KERNELS
— Mitchell Kernels girls golf competes Thursday at the Huron Invitational at Broadland Creek Golf Course at 10 am.
— Mitchell Kernels track and field competes at the Dakota Relay in Yankton on Thursday at Noon.
— Mitchell Kernels boys tennis closes the regular season Friday at home against Watertown at 4 p.m.
— Mitchell Kernels softball return to action Friday at 3 p.m. against Rapid City Stevens.
— Mitchell baseball hosts Harrisburg on Friday at 5 pm for a doubleheader. The KORN pregame show starts at 4:45 pm.
DAKOTA WESLEYAN
— Three Dakota Wesleyan men’s golfers have earned All-GPAC honors for the 2025–26 season, the league announced on Wednesday. Peyton Bettcher led the group with Second Team All-GPAC recognition after finishing third at the GPAC Championship. Dakota Munger of Chamberlain also earned Second Team honors after a strong spring campaign, highlighted by a second-place finish at the DWU Spring Invitational. Freshman Ben Wilber received Honorable Mention All-GPAC recognition.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
— South Dakota State softball opened its Summit League Tournament with a 14–2, five-inning win over North Dakota State on Wednesday. The Jackrabbits blew the game open immediately, scoring 10 runs in the first inning. SDSU sent 14 batters to the plate in the opening frame. The Jacks added four more runs in the fifth, including a three-run homer from Amanda Vacanti, to trigger the run rule and end the game early. With the win, SDSU advances in the double-elimination bracket. The Jacks face No. 2 seed St. Thomas at 2 p.m. Thursday in Minneapolis.
— South Dakota State baseball returns home this weekend to host St. Thomas in their final home series of the season. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 1 pm.
SOUTH DAKOTA
— USD opened Summit League Tournament play with a 5–4 walk-off win over Kansas City on Wednesday in Minneapolis. The Coyotes trailed after Kansas City briefly retook the lead in the seventh inning, but USD answered in the bottom half of the frame. Down to their final out, the Coyotes loaded the bases as senior Delaney White delivered a two-run, two-out single up the middle to score the winning runs. USD advances in the double-elimination bracket, where it will face top-seeded Omaha at 11 a.m. Thursday.
MINNESOTA TWINS
— CJ Abrams hit a grand slam with a career-high five RBIs as the Washington Nationals set their season high for runs in a 15-2 win over the Minnesota Twins. The final game of the three-game series is Wednesday at Noon.
NBA
— Victor Wembanyama had 19 points and 15 rebounds as the San Antonio Spurs handed Minnesota its worst postseason loss in franchise history, beating the Timberwolves 133-95 on Wednesday night to even their Western Conference semifinal series at one game apiece. Stephon Castle had 21 points and De’Aaron Fox added 16 points for San Antonio, which shot 50% from the field and 41% on 3-pointers. It was the highest-scoring playoff game for the Spurs since 1983. Anthony Edwards, Julius Randle, Jaden McDaniels and Terrence Shannon Jr. each scored 12 points for Minnesota. Game three is in Minneapolis on Friday at 8:30 pm.
— Jalen Brunson scored 26 points leading the New York Knicks to a 108-102 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers for a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Playing without the injured Joel Embiid, the 76ers put up a far better fight than in the Knicks’ 137-98 win in Game 1. The game featured 25 lead changes, the most in a playoff game in 11 years, and 14 ties.
NBA PLAYOFFS – THURSDAY
Detroit Pistons vs. Cleveland Cavaliers, 6 pm on Amazon Prime Video – Detroit leads 1-0
Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Los Angeles Lakers, 8:30 pm on Amazon Prime Video – Oklahoma City leads 1-0
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS – WEDNESDAY
Buffalo Sabres 4, Montreal Canadiens 2 – Bufalo leads 1-0
Anaheim Ducks 3, Vegas Golden Knights 1 – Series tied 1-1
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS – THURSDAY
Philadelphia Flyers vs. Carolina Hurricanes, 7 pm on TNT – Carolina leads 2-0
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
— The NCAA is pushing through the final steps for expanding the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments to 76 teams. NCAA committee calls scheduled for Thursday are the expected final steps for the formalization of the expansion. The expansion process could be completed as early as Thursday. It had been reported last week that the NCAA had initiated the final steps to expand both tournaments from 68 to 76 beginning with the 2027 tournaments. The Tuesday and Wednesday of the men’s tournament will be different, as it will expand to 12 games played by 24 teams at two different sites thanks to the eight additional at-large bids.
HORSE RACING
— Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo will not run in the Preakness Stakes next weekend, trainer Cherie DeVaux announced Wednesday. DeVaux and owners decided to skip the Preakness and set their sights on the Belmont Stakes on June 6. Golden Tempo is the third Kentucky Derby winner in the past five years not to be entered in the Preakness. For various reasons, it is the sixth time in eight years the Preakness will happen with no chance of a Triple Crown on the line.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
— The American Football Coaches Association is recommending major changes to college football scheduling, including eliminating conference championship games, in an effort to shorten the College Football Playoff calendar. The group proposed completing the playoff by the second Monday in January and reducing the overall length of the season to better align with the academic calendar and player workload concerns. American Football Coaches Association also suggested reducing bye weeks and shortening the time between games. The proposals are non-binding and do not change current rules. Meanwhile, the current 12-team playoff format remains unchanged for next season, with expansion expected in the future. The national championship game is currently scheduled for Jan. 25, 2027, in Las Vegas.
MLB
— Detroit Tigers pitcher Framber Valdez was suspended for five games and fined on Wednesday, one day after he was ejected for hitting Boston’s Trevor Story with a pitch during a 10-2 loss in which he allowed a career-high 10 runs. Valdez was at first banned for six games by MLB, which cited him for intentionally throwing a pitch at Story, but the penalty was reduced in an agreement between Major League Baseball and the players’ association. He started serving the penalty during Wednesday night’s series finale.
— Houston’s Carlos Correa has a torn tendon in his left ankle that will require season-ending surgery. Correa was injured Tuesday while taking swings in the batting cage before a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Correa said the injury was a complete tear and his recovery is expected to take six to eight months.
— Michael Busch drove in the winning run with a bases-loaded walk in the 10th inning after Pete Crow-Armstrong connected for a two-run homer in the ninth as the Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-6 for their eighth consecutive victory. It was the third straight walk-off win for the Cubs and their 14th straight win at home.
— Seattle’s Bryan Woo tied his season best with nine strikeouts in six scoreless innings, while Julio Rodríguez homered as the Mariners beat Atlanta 3-1 to hand the Braves their first series loss of the season. Atlanta had won eight consecutive series and was 10-0-1 this season. The Braves became just the fifth team since 1995) to go unbeaten in at least 11 straight series to open a season.
— Nathan Eovaldi had eight strikeouts in eight innings as the Texas Rangers got early home runs from Corey Seager and Evan Carter in a 6-1 victory over the New York Yankees. Aaron Judge hit his major league-high 15th homer for the Yankees, who had won five straight games and 15 of 17.
— Paul Skenes struck out the side in the eighth inning, on his 97th and final pitch of the evening, allowing only two-hits in leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 1-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
— Andy Pages set career highs with three homers and six RBIs to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 12-2 rout of the Houston Astros.
— Aaron Ashby tied Atlanta’s Chris Sale for the major league lead with his sixth win, backed by Andrew Vaughn’s three-run homer in a four-run first inning as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-2.
— Shane McClanahan extended his scoreless streak to 16 2/3 innings as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-0 to finish a three-game sweep for their 12th win in 13 games. Tampa Bay has won 10 straight home games and is 14-4 at home.
— Joey Cantillo and four relievers combined on a four-hitter as the Cleveland Guardians beat Kansas City 3-1 to end the Royals’ five-game winning streak.
— Sonny Gray pitched five shutout innings as the Boston Red Sox finished a three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers with a 4-0 win.
— Edmundo Sosa hit a go-ahead two-run single in the eighth inning as the Philadelphia Phillies rallied to beat the Athletics 6-3. Philadelphia improved to 8-1 under interim manager Don Mattingly.
— Pinch-hitter Ty France delivered a two-run triple in the seventh inning to put San Diego ahead to stay as the Padres picked up a 5-1 win over the San Francisco Giants. The Giants have lost eight of their past nine games.
— Travis d’Arnaud hit a three-run homer, while Walbert Ureña threw six innings of two-hit ball as the Los Angeles Angels defeated the Chicago White Sox 8-2.
— Pete Alonso hit a three-run homer, Adley Rutschman had two RBI doubles and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Miami Marlins 7-4