WEDNESDAY SPORTS, AUGUST 19, 2026
MITCHELL KERNELS
— Mitchell senior Asher Dannenbring placed first at the two-day Warrior-Lynx Invite, shooting a 2-under-par 139. Dannenbring shot a 1-under 69 on Tuesday at Willow Run Golf Course in Sioux Falls. He finished four strokes ahead of Sioux Falls Lincoln’s Colton Clark. Dannenbring was the only golfer in the field to shoot under par in both rounds. Mitchell finished 13th out of 15 teams, while Sioux Falls Lincoln won the team title, finishing 19 strokes ahead of Brandon Valley. Mitchell returns to action Tuesday, Aug. 25 at the Pierre Invite.
— Mitchell girls tennis picked up two home victories Monday at Hitchcock Park, sweeping Brookings 9-0 and defeating Sioux Falls Jefferson 7-2. The Kernels improved to 5-1 in dual competitions this season. The Kernels return to action on Thursday at 4 p.m. at Harrisburg.
— Mitchell boys soccer hosts Spearfish on Friday at 4 p.m.
— Mitchell girls soccer hosts Spearfish on Friday at 6 p.m.
DAKOTA WESLEYAN
— Dakota Wesleyan women’s soccer has been picked to finish seventh out of 12 teams in the GPAC preseason coaches’ poll released on Tuesday. The Tigers received 64 points after reaching the GPAC tournament last season. DWU, 5-4-8 last season, opens the season on Saturday at Jamestown at 3 pm.
— Dakota Wesleyan men’s soccer will be at Bellevue (Neb.) on Thursday at 5:30 pm to begin the regular season.
— Dakota Wesleyan volleyball, 4-0 on the season, competes at the Siouxland Invitational this week. DWU takes on Corban (Ore.) on Friday at 10 am, followed by Mayville State at 4 pm in Sioux City.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
— South Dakota State women’s soccer hosts Washington State on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Jackrabbits, 2-0 on the season, have outscored their opponents 17-0 with a 6-0 win vs. Manitoba and an 11-0 win over MSU-Moorhead.
SOUTH DAKOTA
— USD women’s soccer will be at Green Bay on Thursday at 3 p.m. The Coyotes played Nebraska to a 1-1 tie on Sunday.
MINNESOTA TWINS
— Josh Bell hit a two-run homer in the first inning, while Ryan Jeffers had a two-run double in the eighth inning as the Twins beat the Atlanta Braves 4-1. Zebby Matthews threw 5 2/3 innings for Minnesota, allowing one run on five hits while striking out four. Yoendrys Gómez worked a scoreless ninth for his 19th save of the season. The Twins are now tied with Toronto and Texas for the final AL Wild Card spot and hold the tiebreaker vs. both teams. Minnesota goes for the sweep of Atlanta on Wednesday at 12:40 pm.
NBA
— Five of the six children of former Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss say they still plan to sell the family’s remaining 17% stake in the team, despite opposition from their sister, Jeanie Buss. The five siblings say they remain united behind the decision to sell the stake to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, who are acquiring majority ownership of the Lakers. Jeanie Buss says the siblings cannot sell the family trust’s shares without her approval and plans to challenge the sale. The Lakers are currently valued at $12.5 billion.
WNBA
— Kelsey Mitchell scored 29 points and Caitlin Clark added 24 as the Indiana Fever beat the Toronto Tempo 101-95 for their fifth straight victory. Aliyah Boston added 16 points and Sophie Cunningham had 13 for Indiana, which has won 10 of its last 12 games.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
— Texas leads all teams with four players on the preseason All-America team announced Tuesday. The Longhorns’ selections are offensive lineman Trevor Goosby, wide receiver Cam Coleman, defensive lineman Colin Simmons and linebacker Rasheem Biles. The SEC has 14 of the 27 first-team selections, while the Big Ten has eight. Oregon quarterback Dante Moore earned first-team honors. Defending national champion Indiana, along with Georgia and Oklahoma each have two first-team selections.
MLB
— Oswaldo Pirela, a Venezuelan former baseball player and catching coach in the San Diego Padres’ minor league system, has been detained by U.S. immigration officers in El Paso. Pirela was arrested Sunday at an airport while on a work trip for the Padres. He is being held in an ICE detention center pending removal. Pirela has lived in the U.S. for 12 years, applied for asylum in 2015 and lives in Arizona with his wife and two young children, who are U.S. citizens. The Department of Homeland Security says Pirela entered the country legally in 2014 but overstayed his authorized stay, which expired in 2018.
MEDIA
— Bill Rasmussen, who co-founded ESPN and helped create the world’s first all-sports cable network, has died at 93. Rasmussen died Tuesday at his Florida home from complications of Parkinson’s disease. He and his son, Scott, came up with the idea for a 24-hour sports network in the late 1970s. ESPN launched Sept. 7, 1979, with the first “SportsCenter” broadcast and a slow-pitch softball game as its first live event. Rasmussen was forced out of ESPN in 1980, but was later welcomed back and recognized for his vision. He was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2025.
TENNIS
— Venus Williams has received a wild card into the U.S. Open singles tournament at age 46 as organizers are holding one additional women’s spot that could go to her sister, Serena Williams. Venus, a two-time U.S. Open champion, returned to the tournament last year for the first time since 2023. She is the oldest singles entrant at the U.S. Open since 1981. Serena, who is 44, has not decided whether she will return to the tournament. She recently played singles at Wimbledon for the first time since 2022 but withdrew because of a knee injury. The U.S. Open begins Aug. 30.
GOLF
— LIV Golf players met Tuesday with the league’s CEO and a proposed new investor as the Saudi-backed circuit works to secure its future beyond this season. The investor’s identity and financial terms have not been disclosed. Players said the meeting provided more clarity, but some remained uncertain about what LIV will look like next year. The league has canceled next week’s team championship in Michigan, making this week’s event in Indianapolis the season finale. LIV also has reduced the tournament purse from $20 million to $10 million.
MLB
— The Los Angeles Dodgers placed closer Edwin Diaz on the injured list Tuesday because of inflammation on the right side of his neck. Diaz is 2-2 with an 11.85 ERA and seven saves in 11 opportunities this season. Meanwhile, Shohei Ohtani threw about 35 pitches in a bullpen session as he works toward returning to the mound. Ohtani has not pitched since July 3 because of left knee inflammation and right biceps discomfort. Ohtani is 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA in 14 starts this season and leads the Dodgers with 30 home runs.
— Pete Crow-Armstrong made MLB history with a leadoff home run, while Alex Bregman’s RBI single gave the Chicago Cubs a second straight walk-off win over the Chicago White Sox, 4-3 on Tuesday night. Crow-Armstrong led off the game with a home run for the second straight game and sixth time this season. He homered in consecutive at-bats after his first career walk-off shot on Monday.
— The Milwaukee Brewers matched baseball’s modern-era record for the biggest shutout, beating the Seattle Mariners 22-0 behind three-run homers from Christian Yelich, David Hamilton and Luis Lara and a two-run shot by Jake Bauers. The Brewers matched a franchise record for runs in a game. Since 1901, the only previous 22-0 victories were by Pittsburgh over the host Chicago Cubs in 1975 and by Cleveland at the New York Yankees in 2004.
— Fernando Tatis Jr. robbed New York’s Francisco Lindor of a grand slam and hit two homers, leading the San Diego Padres to a 5-2 win over the Mets.
— Shohei Ohtani hit a two-run home run to reach 30 homers for the sixth straight season, while Freddie Freeman had two hits and two RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies 7-6. Teoscar Hernandez had a triple and double, and Tommy Edman doubled twice.
— Kazuma Okamoto broke Toronto’s rookie home run record with his 25th, while Josh Smith and Alejandro Kirk also homered as the Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Rays 10-5. The Blue Jays have won 13 of their last 19 games.
— Adley Rutschman hit his first homer as a member of the Red Sox as Boston beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 9-4. Eight players had at least one hit for Boston, which has won three of its last four games.
— Trent Grisham hit his 17th home run in the third inning and had a two-run single in the seventh to lead the New York Yankees to a 3-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
— Braxton Ashcraft allowed five hits over eight innings, while Oneil Cruz homered in his return from the injured list as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Detroit Tigers 4-1. Ashcraft became the first Pittsburgh pitcher since 2012 to throw a complete game and then work at least eight innings in his next start.
— Cleveland’s Jo Adell set a career high with six RBIs and hit a 455-foot, three-run homer in the first inning as the Guardians defeated the San Francisco Giants 8-1. Foster Griffin became the fourth big-league pitcher with at least 14 wins this season after he allowed one run in six innings.
— Cal Quantrill gave up four hits in seven shutout innings as the Texas Rangers beat the Washington Nationals 5-0. Texas has a ½ game lead over Minnesota and Toronto for the final AL Wild Card spot.
— Bobby Witt Jr. drove in the winning run with a two-out single in the ninth after pinch-hitter Tyler Tolbert hit a tying two-run single, giving the Kansas City Royals a 4-3 victory over the Athletics.
— Bryson Stott put the Phillies ahead with a two-run single in the sixth inning as Philadelphia rallied for its fifth straight victory, 6-4 over the Miami Marlins. The Phillies trailed 3-1 before they sent nine batters to the plate in the sixth and scored four times.
— Rookie George Klassen allowed one hit in a career-high seven scoreless innings to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 3-1 win over the Houston Astros. Klassen, who was making his fifth career start, set a career high with seven strikeouts, only allowed a first inning single to Jose Altuve.
— Masyn Winn hit a home run and doubled twice as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-0. It was the 12th time the Reds have been shut out this season and the Cardinals’ ninth shutout win.