Previewing the Pirates: Carmen Mlodzinski earns final spot in starting rotation
The final few spots on the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Opening Day roster are filling in as spring training nears its conclusion. On Sunday afternoon, as the Pirates took on the Boston Red Sox in their penultimate spring contest, manager Don Kelly answered a major remaining question as to who would be...
Madden Monday: Penguins’ goaltending ‘has been unacceptable since coming back from the Olympic break’Video
After a 5-1 home loss to Carolina on Sunday, Mark Madden of TribLive and 105.9 The X is feeling pretty shaky about the Pittsburgh Penguins’ playoff chances. “I see a team that’s kind of sagging,” Madden said during this week’s Madden Monday podcast. “I think they’re no better than 50-50...
Iowa beats No. 1 seed and defending champ Florida in March Madness
TAMPA, Fla. — Alvaro Folgueiras told Bennett Stirtz he would be ready for the ball, and he delivered in the clutch. Folgueiras, the former Robert Morris standout, nailed a 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds remaining, and Iowa eliminated defending national champion Florida, sending the top-seeded Gators home with a 73-72 victory...
Minor league report: Rafael Harvey-Pinard scores twice as Penguins winVideo
A pair of goals by forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard led the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 4-3 win against the Toronto Marlies at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto on Sunday. Forwards Avery Hayes and Aidan McDonough each had a goal and an assist for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (39-16-6-2). Goaltender Joel Blomqvist made 17 saves on...
Fitzpatrick goes from disappointment to winning at Valspar Championship
PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Matt Fitzpatrick took longer than usual to get over his loss last week at The Players Championship, mainly because he played so well and did so little wrong until Cameron Young won on the difference of one tee shot at the final hole. “To lose it...
Dylan Darling hits driving layup at buzzer, St. John’s beats Kansas 67-65 in March Madness thrillerVideo
SAN DIEGO — Dylan Darling hadn’t made a shot all day when he got the ball at midcourt for St. John’s with 3.9 seconds left in a tied March Madness thriller. Darling could have passed. He could have wilted. He could have missed yet again. Instead, the Red Storm’s tenacious...
Tyler Reddick wins at Darlington in 4th NASCAR win this season for Michael Jordan’s teamVideo
DARLINGTON, S.C. — A malfunctioning battery, a cool suit that got very hot and a big deficit to the leader with less than 50 laps remaining at Darlington Raceway. The “Track Too Tough To Tame” tested Tyler Reddick in every way possible Sunday, and this year’s top star in NASCAR,...
Penguins’ penalty kill struggles in loss to Hurricanes
The Pittsburgh Penguins had plenty to say to the officials who oversaw their 5-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at PPG Paints Arena. They just didn’t have much to say about the officials, at least publicly. Throughout a contest in which the Hurricanes were granted five power-play opportunities while the...
Pirates fall to Red Sox in penultimate spring training game
The 2026 regular season is within sight for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who played their penultimate spring training game Sunday afternoon at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla. Mitch Keller, making his final start of spring, took on the Boston Red Sox and delivered 32⁄3 innings in a 6-3 Pirates defeat. Boston...
Penguins sign forward prospect Bill Zonnon to entry-level contract
The Pittsburgh Penguins signed forward prospect Bill Zonnon to a three-year entry-level contract Sunday. The contract will begin with the 2026-27 season. Zonnon, 19, was a first-round selection (No. 22 overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft. Undisclosed injuries hobbled the left-handed Zonnon (6-foot-2, 190 pounds) throughout first months of the...
Penguins assign forward Ville Koivunen to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
Pittsburgh Penguins rookie forward Ville Koivunen was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL) on Sunday. A healthy scratch for the past two games, Koivunen has appeared in 33 NHL contests this season and scored seven points (two goals, five assists) while averaging 12:38 of ice time per...
Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea sidelined by injury
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea will be scratched for Sunday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes at PPG Paints Arena due to a presumed facial injury. Coach Dan Muse revealed Shea’s status approximately two hours before the opening faceoff. Shea was injured on Saturday during a 5-4 home shootout win against...
Pirates option C/1B Rafael Flores, RHP Cam Sanders to Triple-A
The Pittsburgh Pirates made a series of roster moves Sunday morning ahead of their spring training game vs. the Boston Red Sox, optioning catcher/first baseman Rafael Flores and right-hander Cam Sanders to Triple-A Indianapolis. Righties Chris Devenski and Carson Fulmer, left-hander Joe La Sorsa and infielder Alika Williams were reassigned...
Previewing the Pirates: With Konnor Griffin out of mix, Jared Triolo could be key at shortstop
The storyline that dominated spring training for the Pittsburgh Pirates was whether 19-year-old Konnor Griffin, the consensus top prospect in baseball, would be their starting shortstop on Opening Day. When the Pirates opted to reassign Griffin to minor league camp Saturday, it painted a clearer picture of who would be...
MLB season preview: Robot umpires, Dodgers try for 3 in row, Rays return to Trop as lockout looms
NEW YORK — Baseball is changing at a dizzying speed in 2026 with the arrival of robot umpires, the return home of the Tampa Bay Rays and an alphabet soup of networks televising games in perhaps the last season before a labor shutdown. Much has transpired in the 4 1/2...
Joe Starkey: Forever Young: Ex-Pitt star Sam Young a reminder of the good ol’ days
Man, do I miss Pitt basketball. Like a lot of you, I can close my eyes and put myself back in Petersen Events Center when the Panthers were humming and just listen to the noise. There was no better day than March 7, 2009, Sam Young’s senior day, when Pitt...
Riverhounds take it on the chin at Tampa Bay
Three games into their USL Championship title defense, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds could use some work on their defense. Russell Cicerone, MD Myers and Evan Conway scored to lead the Tampa Bay Rowdies to a 3-0 victory Saturday night in Florida. The Hounds (1-2) have allowed seven goals in three games....
Penn State crowns 4 NCAA wrestling gold medalists, breaks its own points record
CLEVELAND — Penn State’s record-setting performance in last year’s NCAA Championships in Philadelphia was quite a feat. But the PSU mark — 177 team points — lasted just a year. Cael Sanderson’s Nittany Lions set a new record this season, finishing with 181.5 team points. PSU wrapped up its fifth...
Texas goes from First Four to Sweet 16, beating Gonzaga
PORTLAND, Ore. — Jordan Pope and Matas Vokietaitis each scored 17 points, Camden Heide hit a game-sealing 3-pointer and Texas became the first team in five years to go from the NCAA Tournament’s First Four to the Sweet 16, beating Gonzaga, 74-68, on Saturday. First-year coach Sean Miller’s 11th-seeded Longhorns...
Minor league report: Nailers beat Lions in overtime
Defenseman Brent Johnson had an overtime goal and an assist for the Wheeling Nailers, who defeated the Trois-Rivières Lions, 3-2, at the Colisée Vidéotron in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. The result extended a winning streak to four games. Forward Brayden Edwards scored two goals for Wheeling (38-16-3-3) while forward Ryan McAllister contributed...
Coen Carr, Jeremy Fears lead Michigan State to Sweet 16
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Coen Carr recorded his first career double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Jeremy Fears Jr. had 16 assists as Michigan State advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 17th time under coach Tom Izzo, beating Louisville, 77-69, on Saturday in the second round of the...
Sungjae Im takes lead into Innisbrook finale, with Brandt Snedeker also in final group
PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Sungjae Im was in position for a wire-to-wire victory in the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook after a slow start in his return from a wrist injury. Brandt Snedeker was right beside him in the final pairing, with a hot new putter in the bag. Im holed...
Syney Shaw, Gia Cooke help West Virginia roll in women’s NCAA Tournament
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Sydney Shaw had 19 points and nine rebounds, Gia Cooke scored 18 points and West Virginia used an early defensive lockdown to take control in a 82-54 victory over Miami (Ohio) in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Saturday. West Virginia (28-6), the fourth...
NASCAR tempers could be flaring as the tires are wearing at Darlington Raceway
“The Track Too Tough to Tame” somehow is expected to get even tougher this weekend, and that’s just fine with NASCAR drivers who have lobbied for bigger challenges. It’s also probably fine with NASCAR executives, who have a crowd-pleasing feud brewing in the Cup Series circuit at Darlington Raceway, the...
Pirates reassign top prospect Konnor Griffin to minor league camp
Konnor Griffin, MLB’s
No. 1 overall prospect, possesses the kind of skill set that makes him a strong bet to make it to the big leagues sooner rather than later. However, at least to start the 2026 regular season, Griffin will head back to the minors to build on a...
