WEDNESDAY SPORTS: APRIL 9, 2025
MITCHELL KERNELS
— Mitchell softball picked up its first win of the season on Tuesday, 9-4 over Pierre, behind a Matteah Graves two-run HR and three singles. Mitchell, 1-2 on the season, will be at Aberdeen Central on Tuesday.
— Mitchell baseball lost at SF Roosevelt on Tuesday 7-4 after the Rough Riders scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Mitchell would take a 4-3 lead in the top of the fourth inning before Roosevelt responded with three runs over the next two innings. Mitchell, 4-2 on the season, will play in Sioux Falls this weekend as part of the Border Battle Classic when they face Grand Forks on Friday at 5:45 pm in the first of three games this weekend.
— Mitchell Kernels track and field will compete in Huron on Friday at 2 pm.
DAKOTA WESLEYAN
— Dakota Wesleyan men’s golf finished first as a team on Tuesday at the DWU Spring Invite at Lakeview Golf Course in Mitchell. Freshman Dakota Munger won the individual title with a 69 on Monday and a 71 on Tuesday for a two-round total of 140. Peyton Bettcher was one shot behind to finish in second place after shooting a 69 on Tuesday. DWU men’s golf wraps up the season at the GPAC Championships in Beatrice, Nebraska, on Monday April 21 – Tuesday April 22.
— Dakota Wesleyan women’s golf took home first at the two-day DWU Spring Invite on Tuesday at Lakeview Golf Course in Mitchell. Freshman Allison Meyerink placed second individually, finishing with a two-round total of 161. Teammates Ashton Austreim and Sara Sudenga were two strokes behind Meyerink to finished tied for seventh. DWU women’s golf will compete at the Doane Invite in Lincoln, Nebraska, starting on Monday.
— Dakota Wesleyan softball lost two games at Midland on Tuesday, 6-2 and 4-2. The Tigers are now 28-11 on the season and 9-5 in the GPAC. DWU will be at Northwestern on Saturday for a doubleheader starting at 1 pm.
— Dakota Wesleyan baseball hosts Northwestern on Saturday for a 2 pm doubleheader at Drake Field in Mitchell. The Tigers are 11-23 on the season and 10-6 in the GPAC.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
— South Dakota State baseball lost on Tuesday night at Minnesota 4-3 after the Gophers scored three runs in the bottom of the third inning. The Jackrabbit bullpen threw six shutout innings, led by 3 1/3 innings by Senior Arlen Peters. SDSU hosts Dakota Wesleyan this afternoon at 3 pm in Brookings.
— South Dakota State softball hosts St. Thomas for three games this weekend in Brookings starting with a Noon doubleheader on Saturday. SDSU is 20-18 overall on the season and 5-1 in the Summit League.
SOUTH DAKOTA
— USD softball will be a Drake on Wednesday at 3 pm for a doubleheader before hosting Morningside on Sunday for a doubleheader at 1 pm. The Coyotes are 21-26 on the season and 4-5 in the Summit League.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
— Florida’s comeback victory over Houston in Monday night’s men’s college basketball title game was the most-watched championship game in six years. Florida’s 65-63 victory averaged 18.1 million viewers on CBS, a 22% increase over last year’s game on TBS, TNT and truTV. The three Final Four games averaged 16.4 million, its best audience in eight years and up 21% from last year.
NBA
— The Denver Nuggets fired head coach Michael Malone and said they would not extend general manager Calvin Booth’s contract Tuesday, just days before the end of the regular season. David Adelman, the Nuggets’ lead assistant, will take over as head coach for the remainder of the season. The shocking decision to fire the coach and eventually part ways with the general manager who won a championship in 2023 comes at a time when the Nuggets (47-32) have lost four straight games and are in danger of falling into the play-in.
— Giannis Antetokounmpo had 23 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for his third straight triple-double as the Milwaukee Bucks erased a 24-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 110-103. The Bucks won their fifth straight and snapped Minnesota’s five-game winning streak. After trailing 95-71 with less than 10 minutes left, Milwaukee scored 23 straight points.
— Ja Morant had 28 points, five rebounds and eight assists as the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Charlotte Hornets 124-100. Memphis guard Jaylen Wells was taken from the court on a stretcher and transported to a hospital after he made a fast-break dunk and landed hard on his head following a midair collision with Charlotte’s K.J. Simpson. Wells was inadvertently undercut by Simpson from behind and was down for eight minutes before being lifted onto the stretcher with his head strapped in to restrict motion. He also suffered a broken right wrist in the fall.
— Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 42 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Los Angeles Lakers 136-120 after Luka Doncic was ejected. Doncic scored 23 points before leaving the game in the fourth quarter following his second technical foul. The Thunder outscored the Lakers 29-12 the rest of the way. Oklahoma City improved to 65-14 on the season and inched closer to clinching the best record in the league and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. The Thunder have a two-game lead on Cleveland with three games remaining.
— Cleveland’s Darius Garland scored 28 points and Evan Mobley had 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists as the Cleveland Cavaliers clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 135-113 win over the Chicago Bulls.
— The Celtics Kristaps Porzingis made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 40 seconds left in overtime after Jayson Tatum’s 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds remaining forced the extra period as Boston completed a season sweep of the New York Knicks with a 119-117 victory. Porzingis matched his season high with 34 points on his 30-footer. Tatum added 32 points as the Celtics extended their road winning streak to nine.
— Stepn Curry scored 25 points as the Golden State Warriors coasted past the Phoenix Suns 133-95. The Warriors are trying to secure one of the top six seeds in the West, which would keep them out of the play-in tournament. Golden State is currently tied with the Denver Nuggets, Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers at 47-32 for the fourth through seventh spots. The Warriors led by as many as 41 points in the second half.
— Ivica Zubac had 24 points and 20 rebounds, while Norman Powell scored 25 points as the Los Angeles Clippers moved into fourth place in the Western Conference with a 122-117 victory over the San Antonio Spurs. James Harden had 21 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds for the Clippers, who have won five straight.
— Paolo Banchero had 33 points and 10 rebounds as Orlando beat Atlanta 119-112. The Magic are two games up on the Hawks with three games remaining in the regular season for the seven seed in the Eastern Conference.
— Pascal Siakam scored 24 points and had 10 rebounds as the Indiana Pacers won their fifth straight game, 104-98 over the Washington Wizards.
MLB
— Cole Ragans struck out 11 in six innings as the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 2-1 on Tuesday night. Kansas City won despite managing just two unearned runs and three hits. Twins right-hander Pablo López pitched 4 2/3 innings before leaving because of right hamstring tightness. López struck out six and walked one. Game three of the four game series is tonight at 6:40 pm in Kansas City.
— James Wood homered twice and matched a career high with five RBIs, leading the Washington Nationals over the Dodgers 8-2 for their fourth consecutive victory and their first home series win over L.A. since 2014. The Dodgers have lost four of five following an 8-0 start.
— Dansby Swanson lined a tiebreaking two-run single in Chicago’s four-run eighth inning as the Cubs beat the Texas Rangers 10-6. The Cubs blew a 6-3 lead before taking advantage of two Texas errors in the eighth.
— Sean Murphy homered and drove in four runs as the Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-5. Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler and Braves left-hander Chris Sale each gave up five runs in a matchup of the top two finishers in last season’s NL Cy Young Award voting.
— Pete Alonso drove in four runs and Francisco Lindor hit a leadoff homer as the New York Mets beat the Miami Marlins 10-5 for their sixth consecutive victory. Clay Holmes struck out a career-high 10 in 5 1/3 innings for his first win with the Mets and second as a major league starter.
— Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes was knocked around by the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night, allowing a career-high five runs in a 5-3 loss.
— Victor Caratini hit the winning RBI single in the top of the 12th inning, as the Houston Astros beat the Seattle Mariners 2-1.
— San Diego’s Dylan Cease gave up a career-worst nine earned runs, while JJ Bleday and Gio Urshela had three RBIs each as the Athletics rode a six-run first inning to beat the Padres 10-4.
— Luis Rengifo hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning as the Los Angeles Angels beat Tampa Bay 4-3 extending the Rays’ losing streak to five in the opener of a 13-game homestand.
— Arizona’s Merrill Kelly pitched into the seventh inning and Corbin Carroll homered as the Diamondbacks beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-3.
— Nick Lodolo pitched six shutout innings as the Cincinnati Reds shut out the San Francisco Giants for a second straight game with a 1-0 win.
— Brice Turang, Christian Yelich and William Contreras hit seventh-inning home runs as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Colorado Rockies 7-1.
— Toronto’s George Springer homered and Easton Lucas pitched another 5 1/3 scoreless innings to maintain a perfect ERA to lead the Blue Jays to a 6-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox.