THURSDAY SPORTS, SEPTEMBER 25, 2025
MITCHELL KERNELS
— Mitchell Kernels girls soccer hosts Pierre on Thursday at 4 pm at Joe Quintal Field.
— Mitchell Kernels boys soccer hosts Pierre on Thursday at 6 pm at Joe Quintal Field.
— Mitchell Kernels football hosts Tea Area for Homecoming this Friday at 7 pm. The KORNer Booth pregame show starts at 6 pm.
— Mitchell Kernels boys golf will compete at the ESD conference meet on Monday in Brandon.
— Mitchell Kernels girls tennis will compete at the ESD conference meet on Monday and Tuesday in Yankton.
— Mitchell volleyball is on the road for their next four matches, starting on Tuesday at SF Lincoln at 6:30 pm on KORN.
DAKOTA WESLEYAN
— Dakota Wesleyan volleyball picked up a 3-1 (25-22, 25-23, 22-25, 25-20) road win on Wednesday night vs. Morningside. Evy Knoblock had a team-high 16 kills, while Kayleigh Hybertson had 47 assists and 14 digs. DWU, 9-6 on the season, will be at Midland on Saturday at 5 pm.
— Dakota Wesleyan men’s soccer won its third straight match with a 2-0 win over Dordt on Wednesday. The Tigers improve to 4-5 on the season and will be at Hastings on Saturday at 5:30 pm.
— Dakota Wesleyan women’s soccer played to a 0-0 tie vs. Dordt on Wednesday. The Tigers, 1-2-4 on the season, travel to Hastings on Saturday at 8 pm.
— Dakota Wesleyan’s Allison Meyerink was named the GPAC Women’s Golfer of the Week after a second-place finish at the Northwest Iowa National Invitational and a first-place finish earlier this week at the Mount Marty Invite. Meyerink shot -9 over three rounds in Iowa, while shooting +5 over two rounds at the Mt. Marty Invite for the individual title.
— Dakota Wesleyan’s Evan Bolster has been named the GPAC’s Men’s Soccer Player of the Week following his four-goal performance against Mt. Marty, which tied a program record. Bolster was one of two Tigers to score four goals in the team’s 13-0 win over Mount Marty on Saturday.
— Dakota Wesleyan football will be on the road next Saturday at Briar Cliff at 1 pm.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
— South Dakota State volleyball opens Summit League play tonight against Omaha at 7 p.m. in Brookings. The Jackrabbits, with a 6-3 record after non-conference play, are coming off a 3-0 sweep of Boise State on Friday, followed a five-set loss, also to Boise State on Saturay. SDSU’s defense has been strong, ranking top-35 nationally in blocks and digs, led by Madison Burr and Sydni Schetnan. Offensively, Sylvie Zgonc, who surpassed 1,000 career kills last weekend, leads the team with 4.2 kills per set. The Jackrabbits were picked to win the Summit League after a 15-1 conference record last season.
— South Dakota State women’s soccer kicks off Summit League play tonight as the Jackrabbits host St. Thomas in Brookings. SDSU enters the matchup riding an eight-game unbeaten streak and fresh off back-to-back wins, including a 6-3 victory over Northern Colorado on Sunday. The Jacks are 6-1-3 on the season and are 17-1-1 all-time in Summit League openers.
— No. 2 ranked South Dakota State football host Mercyhurst on Saturday at 6 pm with the Jackrabbit pregame show starting at 4 pm on KORN News Radio.
SOUTH DAKOTA
— USD volleyball kicks off Summit League play this week with matches against North Dakota and Oral Roberts. They’ll face UND on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Grand Forks before returning home to host Oral Roberts Saturday at 12:30 p.m. The Coyotes, 8-4 on the season during its non-conference schedule, have been led by Kamryn Farris, the Summit League’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, and Lauren Medeck, who leads the league in kills.
— USD football will go on the road this week to face North Dakota State to open up Missouri Valley Conference play. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 pm on Saturday.
— USD women’s soccer, 4-2-4 on the season, open Summit League play on Sunday vs. St. Thomas at 1 pm.
MINNESOTA TWINS
— Josh Smith homered and Billy McKinney drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning as the Texas Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins 4-2 to end a season-worst eight-game losing streak. Byron Buxton hit his career-high 32nd home run on the second pitch of the game from Jacob deGrom, a 447-foot shot to center field for a 1-0 Twins lead. It was the 18th time in his career that Buxton led off a game with a homer. The final game of the three-game series to today at 1:35 pm.
AMERICAN LEAGUE WILD CARD STANDINGS
1. New York Yankees +5
2. Boston Red Sox +2
3. Detroit Tigers –
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4. Houston Astros -1
NATIONAL LEAGUE WILD CARD STANDINGS
1. Chicago Cubs +8
2. San Diego Padres +5.5
3. New York Mets –
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T4. Cincinnati Reds – 1
T4. Arizona Diamondbacks -1
MLB
— Cal Raleigh hit his major league-leading 59th and 60th home runs of the season as the Seattle Mariners won their fourth ever AL West title with a 9-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies. Raleigh opened the scoring in the first inning with a HR to the upper deck in right field, and capped it in the eighth with a two-out HR. With four games remaining, Raleigh has a chance to break the American League record of 62 homers set by the Yankees’ Aaron Judge in 2022.
— Shea Langeliers had four hits, including back-to-back home runs with Tyler Soderstrom, as the Athletics beat Houston 6-0, handing the Astros their fifth straight loss. The Astros, who had won the last four AL West titles and seven of the last eight, remained one game behind Detroit for the final AL wild card with four games remaining.
— Cleveland’s George Valera hit a two-run homer in the third inning, while José Ramírez had a two-run double in the seventh as the Guardians became the first major league team to overcome a deficit of 15 ½ games and take the lead in either division or league play, beating the Detroit Tigers 5-1. Cleveland has a one-game lead over Detroit with four games to play. The Guardians also have the tiebreaker by winning the season series vs. the Tigers.
— Aaron Judge tied the major league record by reaching 50 home runs for the fourth time, hitting a pair of longballs as the New York Yankees regained a share of the AL East lead for the first time since July with an 8-1 win over the Chicago White Sox. New York has won seven of eight, moving a season-high 22 games over .500.
— Garrett Crochet pitched eight shutout innings as the Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-1. Assured a playoff berth, the Blue Jays dropped into a tie with the Yankees atop the AL East at 90-68 with four games left. Toronto holds the head-to-head tiebreaker.
— Tommy Edman singled home the tiebreaking run with two outs in the 11th inning as the L.A. Dodgers moved closer to another NL West title by beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4. Los Angeles’ magic number is down to one, meaning any win by the Dodgers or any loss by second-place San Diego will clinch the division. The Dodgers are trying to win the NL West for the 12th time in 13 years.
— Matt Shaw homered and had three hits, while Michael Busch also went deep as the Chicago Cubs ended a season-high five-game losing streak with a 10-3 win over the New York Mets.
— Edmundo Sosa hit three of Philadelphia’s team-record eight home runs, while Kyle Schwarber hit his 55th and 56th HR’s of the season as the Phillies wrapped up a first-round bye with an 11-1 victory over the Miami Marlins.
— Pittsburgh ace Paul Skenes allowed four hits and struck out seven in six innings in his final start of the season as the Pirates picked up a 4-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds in 11 innings. Skenes lowered his ERA to 1.97. He became the first qualified pitcher with an ERA under 2.00 since Justin Verlander in 2022. He’s the youngest pitcher with a sub-2.00 ERA since 20-year-old Dwight Gooden’s 1.53 ERA in 1985.
— Jackson Chourio robbed Xander Bogaerts of a three-run home run in the first inning and Nick Mears got Luis Arraez to fly out to center to end a bases-loaded threat in the seventh as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the San Diego Padres 3-1 to avoid a three-game sweep.
— Andrew Knizner hit an RBI triple in the eighth inning as the San Francisco Giants beat St. Louis 4-3 to eliminate the Cardinals from playoff contention. Rafael Devers hit his 34th home run of the season, and Casey Schmitt had three hits for San Francisco.
— James Wood hit two home runs and Josh Bell added another as the Washington Nationals snapped the Atlanta Braves’ 10-game winning streak with a 4-3 win.
— Taylor Ward homered and Kenley Jansen earned his 475th career save as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Kansas City Royals 3-2 to avoid a series sweep.
HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL – THURSDAY
McCook Central/Montrose vs. Mt. Vernon/Plankinton
Bridgewater/Emery (13-0, 9th in Class B seed points) vs. Canistota
Kimball/White Lake vs. Wagner (9-2, 6th in Class A seed points)
Hanson vs. Irene-Wakonda
Corsica-Stickney vs. Gregory
Wessington Springs vs. Lower Brule
Freeman vs. Menno
Colome vs. Avon
Marty vs. Scotland
Viborg-Hurley vs. Howard
No. 1 Harrisburg vs. SF Lincoln
No. 2 Brandon Valley vs. SF Jefferson
Brookings vs. Huron
SF Roosevelt vs. SF Washington
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL – FRIDAY
Class 11AAA
1. SF Lincoln vs. SF Washington
2. Brandon Valley at Rapid City Central
3. Jefferson vs. 5. O’Gorman
4. Harrisburg vs. Rapid City Stevens
Class 11AA
1. Yankton vs. 3. Pierre
2. Huron vs. Spearfish
4. Sturgis at Aberdeen Central
5. Tea Area at Mitchell – KORN News Radio
Watertown vs. Douglas
Brookings vs. SF Roosevelt
Class 11A
1. SF Christian at 2. Madison
3. Dell Rapids vs. 5. Tri-Valley
4. West Central at Canton
Class 11B
1. Elk Point-Jefferson at Beresford
2. Wagner at 5. Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central – Q107.3
3. St. Thomas More at Lakota Tech
4. Mobridge-Pollock at Belle Fourche
Chamberlain vs. Mt. Vernon/Plankinton
Baltic vs. Bridgewater-Emery/Ethan
Parker vs. McCook Central/Montrose
Class 9AA
1. Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy
2. Hamlin at Redfield
3. Elkton-Lake Benton
4. Hill City at Bennett County
5. Parkston at Bon Homme
Chester vs. Hanson
Burke vs. Tripp-Delmont/Armour/Andes Central/Dakota Christian
Class 9A
1. Wall vs. Stanley County
2. Warner vs. Northwestern
3. Alcester-Hudson at Gayville-Volin
4. Platte-Geddes vs. Lyman
5. Howard – BYE
Class 9B
1. Sully Buttes at 5. Faulkton Area
2. Avon – BYE
3. Dell Rapids St. Mary’s vs. Iroquois/Lake Preston
4. Herreid/Selby Area at Ipswich
Colome vs. Corsica-Stickney
Sioux Fall Lutheran vs. Canistota