WEDNESDAY SPORTS, APRIL 2, 2025
MITCHELL KERNELS
— Mitchell Kernels track and field finished second on Tuesday at an indoor meet at Dakota Wesleyan. Hunter Patton won the 800-meters in 2:04.88, while Floyd Korzan finished first in the 3,000-meters in 10:39.38. In the boys 4X800 meter relay, Patton, Korzan, Ben Gerlach and Alexi Padilla place first with a time of 8:32.59. Also for the Kernels, Keyanna Kelly took home first with a 60-meters hurdles time of 9.51 seconds. In the girls 4X400 meters, Lainee Forst, Addie Siemsen, Avrie London and Keyanna Kelly place first in 4:19.71. Mitchell track and field is schedule to compete next in Huron on Friday, April 11 at 2 pm.
— Mitchell Kernels softball is scheduled to host Brookings on Thursday and be at SF Jefferson on Friday.
— Mitchell Kernels boys tennis will be in Yankton on Thursday for a triangular vs. SF Jefferson and Yankton starting at 11 am.
DAKOTA WESLEYAN
— Dakota Wesleyan sophomore Emma Yost was named an NAIA Third-Team All-American earlier this week. Yost was also named to the GPAC First-Team All-Conference and has already eclipsed 1,000-points in her collegiate career. She averaged 15.9 ppg and 5.3 rpg in leading DWU to a 25-7 record and an appearance in the second round of the NAIA National Tournament.
— Dakota Wesleyan baseball had its home doubleheader today vs. Mayville State cancelled. The Tigers are scheduled to host Mt. Marty on Saturday for a doubleheader starting at 1 pm. DWU is 10-19 overall on the season and 9-3 in the GPAC, tied with Morningside for second place in the conference.
— Dakota Wesleyan softball has had its doubleheader this afternoon moved to Dordt with a 3 pm first pitch. DWU is 27-8 overall on the season and 8-2 in the GPAC, alone in second place. The Tigers are scheduled to be back at home on Saturday for a 1 pm doubleheader vs. Doane.
— Dakota Wesleyan track and field is scheduled to compete at the two day USD Early Bird meet starting Friday at Noon and continuing on Saturday.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
— South Dakota State baseball begins a four-game southern swing Wednesday night with a matchup at Kansas. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. SDSU enters the week with a 4-18 overall record, including a 2-6 record in The Summit League. The Jackrabbits dropped both games of a March 28 doubleheader at North Dakota State, losing 5-2 and 3-2. The final game of the series, as well as a home game scheduled for Tuesday against the University of Sioux Falls, were postponed due to weather. Following Wednesday’s game, the Jackrabbits will move on to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for a three-game Summit League series Friday through Sunday at Oral Roberts.
— South Dakota State softball had its game on Tuesday at Iowa State postponed until Monday, April 21. SDSU (18-17 on the season, 3-0 on the season) are scheduled to host USD for a Noon doubleheader on Saturday, followed by single game Sunday at 11 am.
SOUTH DAKOTA
— USD softball’s doubleheader on Wednesday vs. Drake has been pushed back a week until Wednesday, April 9 due to weather. USD returns to Summit League play this weekend to face South Dakota State in Brookings for a three-game series starting with a doubleheader on Saturday at noon.
NFL
— A decision on the future of the tush push has been pushed until next month. NFL team owners had been set to vote yesterday on Green Bay’s proposal to ban the QB sneak primary used by the Philadelphia Eagles. Team owners approved modifying the kickoff rule, expanding replay assist, revising overtime rules, along with other changes. Postponing the tush push vote means the debate will continue while teams gather more information until next month’s vote. It takes 24 of 32 votes to approve rule changes.
— New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft announced on Tuesday at the NFL owners meetings in Florida that he will be including former head coach Bill Parcells in this year’s Patriots Hall of Fame class as a contributor, ending a rift between the two that culminated in Parcells leaving after New England’s Super Bowl loss after the 1996 season. Parcells coached four seasons in New England from 1993 to 1996.
— Veteran defensive lineman Calais Campbell has agreed to a one-year contract with the Arizona Cardinals, returning to the franchise that drafted him for his 18th NFL season. The six-time Pro Bowl selection played his first nine seasons in the league with the Cardinals and was a member of the team that made the Super Bowl in the 2008 season. The 38-year-old Campbell started all 17 games for the Miami Dolphins last season and had 52 tackles, five sacks and 12 tackles for a loss.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
— Maryland has hired Texas A&M’s Buzz Williams as its men’s basketball coach, replacing Kevin Willard who left for Villanova. Williams arrives after six seasons at Texas A&M. He’ll be the first to be a head coach in the Big East, ACC, SEC and Big Ten. Williams took Texas A&M to the NCAA Tournament in each of the past three seasons.
— Duke’s Cooper Flagg and Auburn’s Johni Broome headlined the Wooden Award’s list of five finalists as well as the All-America team, both of which were announced on Tuesday night. The award is given annually to the best college basketball player in the country. Flagg and Broome have been the perceived favorites for the Wooden Award since early in the season. Flagg, the clear-cut leader to be the No. 1 pick in June’s NBA draft, is averaging 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists while leading Duke to the Final Four. Meanwhile, Broome was dominant to start the season, lifting Auburn to the No. 1 spot in the top 25. He’s averaging 18.7 points and 10.9 rebounds and just totaled 47 points and 30 rebounds in wins over Michigan and Michigan State to advance to the Final Four.
NHL
— Alexander Ovechkin moved four goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record after scoring the 891st of his career in the Washington Capitals’ game against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night. Ovechkin has 12 goals in his past 18 games as he pursues the career goals mark Gretzky set before retiring in 1999. The 39-year-old has 38 goals this season despite missing 16 games because of a broken left fibula. The first-place Capitals have eight more games left in the regular season.
NBA
— Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart was suspended for two games and four other players from the Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves drew one-game suspensions for their roles in an on-court fight between the teams earlier this week. Stewart got two games “based in part on his repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts,” the league said. The NBA handed the one-game suspensions to Detroit’s Ron Holland II and Marcus Sasser along with Minnesota’s Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo. All five of those players were ejected from Sunday’s game, as were Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff and Minnesota assistant Pablo Prigioni.
MLB
— Major League Baseball’s average salary broke the $5 million barrier on opening day for the first time. The New York Mets, with Juan Soto’s record $61.9 million this year, led baseball for the third straight opening day with a $322 million payroll, just ahead of the Dodgers at $319 million. Those two teams each spent roughly five times as much as the Miami Marlins, who at $64 million ended the Athletics’ three-year streak as the lowest spender.
— Jose Miranda hit a tiebreaking two-run single in Minnesota’s five-run sixth inning as the Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 8-3 for their first win of the season. Ryan Jeffers and Ty France each had two hits for Minnesota, and Harrison Bader added a three-run homer in the ninth. The Twins trailed 3-0 before rallying with two outs in the sixth. The final game of the three-game series is today at 1:10 pm in Chicago.
— Nathan Eovaldi pitched a four-hit shutout for the majors’ first complete game of the season as the Texas Rangers beat the Cincinnati Reds 1-0. Eovaldi struck out eight and walked none in his fifth career complete game. The right-hander threw 99 pitches, 70 for strikes.
— Arizona’s Eugenio Suárez hit a go-ahead grand slam with two outs in the eighth inning after Corbin Burnes pitched 4 1/3 innings in his team debut as the Diamondbacks beat the Yankees 7-5 to hand them their first loss. The Diamondbacks scored five times in the eighth inning.
— Casey Mize combined with three relievers on a one-hitter as the Detroit Tigers beat the Seattle Mariners 4-1
— The Dodgers Dustin May pitched five innings after missing nearly two years and Mookie Betts hit his third go-ahead homer of the season as the Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1. The Dodgers at 7-0 are off to the club’s best start since moving to Los Angeles. The Braves fell to 0-6 for the first time since opening 0-9 in 2016.
— San Diego’s Michael King struck out 11 in five innings and Jackson Merrill homered for the Padres, who started 6-0 for the first time in their 57-season history by beating the Cleveland Guardians 7-0.
— Seiya Suzuki hit a three-run homer in the first inning, while Kyle Tucker added a solo shot in the third to give him home runs in a career-best four straight games as the Chicago Cubs beat the Athletics 7-4.
— The Angles Kyren Paris hit a tiebreaking single in the 11th inning, while Yoan Moncada followed with a two-run double as L.A. beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-7. The game was tied at 3 after nine innings before each team scored three runs in the 10th and the Angels added three more in the 11th
— The Giants Logan Webb pitched seven strong innings, and Willy Adames had a two-run double as San Francisco beat the Houston Astros 3-1.
— Eric Haase and Christian Yelich hit solo home runs as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Kansas City Royals 5-0 for their first win of the season.
— Toronto’s Bo Bichette hit a tiebreaking two-run single with two out in the eighth inning as the Blue Jays won their third straight game by beating the Washington Nationals 5-3. The Blue Jays finished with 12 hits, all singles.
— Jake Mangum collected three more hits and Shane Baz struck out a career-high 10 in six innings, helping the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-0. Mangum drove in two runs and scored twice, one day after he went 4 for 4 with two steals in his second major league game.
— Sandy Alcantara pitched five effective innings for his first win in 19 months as the Miami Marlins beat the New York Mets 4-2 despite getting only three hits. Alcantara, who missed last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, allowed two runs and four hits while striking out four.
NBA
— Nickeil Alexander-Walker hit two of three free throws with 0.1 seconds remaining as the Minnesota Timberwolves overcame a career-best 61-point performance from Nikola Jokic to defeat the Denver Nuggets 140-139 in double overtime. Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 34 points. Jokic’s 61 points were the most by a player in the NBA this season. He also had 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the third 60-point triple double in NBA history. He played 52 minutes, 38 seconds and didn’t leave the floor after halftime.
— Steph Curry had 52 points, including 12 3-pointers, as the Golden State Warriors held on for a 134-125 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. Curry was 16 of 31 from the field, making 12 of his 20 shots from three and a dozen 3-pointers matching his season high. Ja Morant led Memphis with 36 points and six assists.
— Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 37 points as the Milwaukee Bucks relied on a team-record shooting performance to snap a four-game losing streak by winning 133-123 over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night. The Bucks shot 68% from the floor to set a franchise record for field-goal percentage.
— Coby White scored 28 points as the Chicago Bulls locked in a spot in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament with a 137-118 win over the Toronto Raptors.
— Paolo Banchero had 24 points and 10 rebounds as the Orlando Magic rallied to beat the San Antonio Spurs 116-105. Orlando outscored San Antonio 37-21 in the fourth quarter after trailing much of the game.
— Shaedon Sharpe had 33 points and 10 rebounds as Portland beat Atlanta 127-113. Trae Young had 29 points and 15 assists for the Hawks.