TUESDAY SPORTS, APRIL 7, 2026
MITCHELL KERNELS
— Mitchell baseball opened its season with a doubleheader sweep of Pierre on Monday at Drake Field. In Game 1, the Kernels erased an early 5-1 deficit and scored seven runs in the fifth inning to claim a 13-11 win. Mitchell followed that with a 7-3 victory in Game 2, fueled by key RBIs from Brayden Reindl, Brennen Penne, and Ian Weber. Mitchell improves to 2-0 on the season and will host Sioux Falls Washington in another doubleheader Tuesday at Drake Field, with Game 1 starting at 5 p.m.
— Mitchell Kernels softball is scheduled to be at Pierre on Tuesday at 5:30 pm. The Kernels are still looking to open the season after having its game last week at Watertown postponed.
— Mitchell Kernels boys tennis will host Huron on Thursday at 1 pm at Hitchcock Park.
— Mitchell Kernels track and field is scheduled to compete in Huron on Friday at 2 pm.
DAKOTA WESLEYAN
— Allison Meyerink led Dakota Wesleyan women’s golf at the Augustana Invitational at Elmwood Golf Course in Sioux Falls, shooting back-to-back rounds of 78 to finish +12 over 36 holes. Meyerink ended up in a three-way tie for seventh. The Tigers will host the Dakota Wesleyan Invitational at Lakeview Golf Course starting on Sunday in Mitchell.
— Dakota Wesleyan baseball was swept on Monday, losing at Briar Cliff 10-5 and 3-2. The Tigers fall to 14-17 on the season and 5-9 in the GPAC. DWU will host Briar Cliff for a doubleheader on Wednesday at Drake Field starting at 1 pm.
— Dakota Wesleyan softball is scheduled for a doubleheader on Wednesday at Waldorf starting at 2 pm. The Tigers 14-15 on the season and 5-7 in the GPAC.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
— Tuesday’s nonconference baseball game between South Dakota State and Northern State has been postponed due to cold temperatures in the forecast. No makeup date has been determined. Next action for the Jackrabbits is now scheduled for Wednesday at Minnesota. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. in Minneapolis.
— South Dakota State softball travels to Iowa City, Iowa, this weekend for a pair of games vs. Georgia Tech and Iowa starting on Friday.
SOUTH DAKOTA
— USD softball will be at Creighton on Tuesday at 6 pm.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
— Michigan has won its second men’s college basketball national championship, defeating Connecticut 69-63 in Monday night’s title game in Indianapolis. Led by Most Outstanding Player Elliot Cadeau’s 19 points, the Wolverines shot 25-of-28 from the foul line and just 2-of-15 from three. Michigan held UConn to just over 30 percent shooting.. It marks the school’s first national title since 1989 and the Big Ten’s first men’s championship since 2000. UConn was seeking its third title in four seasons.
— North Carolina is close to hiring former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone as its next men’s basketball coach. The 54-year-old led Denver to the 2023 NBA title and would replace Hubert Davis, who was fired last month after five seasons. Malone has spent over a decade as an NBA head coach and has no college head coaching experience.
NBA
— The Chicago Bulls have fired top executives Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley after six years in charge. The move comes after just one playoff appearance and a 224-254 record during their tenure. Bulls president Michael Reinsdorf says the change is aimed at positioning the team for “sustained success” following a major roster shakeup at the trade deadline. Coach Billy Donovan remains with the team, though his role in basketball operations could evolve as the franchise moves forward.
— Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal is launching a new professional dunking league called Dunkman. The league will feature 24 dunkers from around the world competing in five live events, with a $500,000 prize for the champion. O’Neal says Dunkman will give athletes a global stage and turn dunking into a full-fledged professional sport. Events will air on TNT, TBS, truTV, HBO Max, and social media platforms.
— Nikola Jokic had 35 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists as the Denver Nuggets rallied from a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 137-132 in overtime. Denver moved into third place in the Western Conference with its season-high ninth straight win. Jokic recorded his 33rd triple-double of the season as the Nuggets moved a half-game ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers.
— Stephon Castle had 17 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds as the San Antonio Spurs held on to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 115-102 after Victor Wembanyama left in the first half due to a left rib bruise. Wembanyama’s status for the final week of the regular season is unknown. San Antonio is 2 ½ games behind Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City and assured of finishing no worse than second in the conference. The 76ers lost its second straight as it battles to stay out of the play-in tournament. Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid had 34 points and 12 rebounds.
— CJ McCollum’s half-court shot at the buzzer was ruled no good after a review as the New York Knicks held off the Atlanta Hawks 108-105. Jalen Brunson made two free throws with 1.2 seconds left to give New York a three-point lead. Brunson led the Knicks with 30 points and 13 assists. Nickeil Alexander-Walker led the Hawks with 36 points, 20 coming in the first half.
— Evan Mobley scored 24 points, while Dennis Schroder had 22 points and 11 assists, as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat Memphis 142-126 despite the Grizzlies tying the NBA single-game record with 29 3-pointers. Cleveland reached 50 wins for the second straight season. Memphis shot 29 for 59 from behind the arc with all nine Grizzlies making a 3-pointer.
— Paolo Banchero scored 31 points and Desmond Bane added 25 as the Orlando Magic beat the Detroit Pistons 123-107. The Pistons were without eight players after clinching the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference over the weekend.
WNBA
— The Atlanta Dream have acquired two-time WNBA All-Star Angel Reese from the Chicago Sky in exchange for first-round draft picks in 2027 and 2028, plus the right to swap second-round picks in 2028. Reese, 23, averaged 14.1 points and 12.9 rebounds in two seasons with Chicago and was the 2024 rookie of the year runner-up.
MLB
— Luke Keaschall hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning and four Minnesota relievers combined for four scoreless innings as the Twins beat the Detroit Tigers 7-3. Keaschall’s first home run of the season helped Joe Ryan earn his first win of the year. He pitched five innings, giving up two earned runs on three hits while striking out seven. Matt Wallner and Royce Lewis had RBI singles in the bottom of the third. The temperature at first pitch was 37 degrees. Game two of the four game series is tonight at 6:40 pm.
— Dalton Rushing hit two solo home runs for his first career multi-homer game as the Los Angeles Dodgers went deep five times to rout the Toronto Blue Jays 14-2 in a rematch of the 2025 World Series. Teoscar Hernández and Freddie Freeman each hit a two-run homer, and Shohei Ohtani added a solo shot.
— Garrett Mitchell lined a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Boston Red Sox 8-6, sending them to their eighth loss in nine games. Christian Yelich had three hits and an RBI for the Brewers (8-2). Willson Contreras hit a solo homer and reached base five times for the Red Sox (2-8).
— The Tampa Bay Rays returned home to Tropicana Field with a 6-4 win over the Chicago Cubs on Monday. Cedric Mullins, Jonathan Aranda, and Junior Caminero all homered in front of a sellout crowd of 25,114. Shane McClanahan made his first start at home since July 2023, allowing two runs in four innings after returning from injuries that cost him two seasons. It was Tampa Bay’s first game back at home in 561 days due to hurricane damage.
— The Kansas City Royals beat the Cleveland Guardians 4-2 behind homers from Carter Jensen and Jonathan India. Michael Wacha pitched seven innings, allowing just one run. Cleveland’s José Ramírez set a franchise record with his 1,620th game played for the Guardians, surpassing a mark that had stood for nearly 108 years.
— José Soriano pitched eight dominant innings as the Los Angeles Angels got home runs from Zach Neto and Jo Adell in a 6-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves. Soriano allowed one run and three hits without issuing a walk, gave up a solo homer to Drake Baldwin and a single to Matt Olson in the first, then retired 19 straight batters before Mike Yastrzemski led off the eighth with a single.
— Germán Márquez combined with two relievers on a seven-hit shutout for his first win with San Diego, as the Padres ended the Pittsburgh Pirates’ five-game winning streak with a 5-0 victory. Nick Castellanos hit the first of San Diego’s four RBI doubles. Jackson Merrill, Jake Cronenworth and Ramón Laureano each had a run-scoring doubles.
— James Wood, Brady House and CJ Abrams homered during a six-run eighth inning, as the Washington Nationals rallied for a 9-6 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. The Nationals have scored 64 runs through their first 10 games, a franchise best and behind only the Dodgers and Brewers this season.
— Alec Bohm hit a go-ahead double in the seventh inning after Bryce Harper’s two-run single tied it as the Philadelphia Phillies rallied past the San Francisco Giants for a 6-4 win.
— Troy Johnston hit a solo homer, a double and a single as the Colorado Rockies rode an eight-run fifth inning to a 9-7 victory over the Houston Astros.
— Jake Burger hit a tie-breaking RBI double in the sixth inning, while Jacob deGrom and five Texas relievers combined for a two-hitter as the Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners 2-1. The Mariners have lost three consecutive games and five of their last six.
— Spot starter Brandon Young pitched five scoreless innings, while Gunnar Henderson homered as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox 2-1.
— The Cincinnati Reds shut out the Miami Marlins 2-0. Brandon Williamson scattered three hits over 6 2/3 innings, while four Reds pitchers combined for the shutout.
— The New York Mets say outfielder Juan Soto will miss two to three weeks with a strained right calf. Soto, a four-time All-Star, was placed on the 10-day injured list retroactive to Saturday. The 27-year-old is off to a hot start this season, hitting .355 with a home run and five RBIs in eight games.
— The New York Mets will retire Carlos Beltrán’s No. 15 and induct him into the team’s hall of fame before their home game against the Philadelphia Phillies on September 19. Beltrán becomes the ninth player in franchise history to have his number retired. Beltrán, recently elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, played with the Mets from 2005-2011.