Sports category, Page 1295
1st-pairing minutes in playoffs could turn into permanent Penguins role for Mike Matheson
The final week of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ season featured defenseman Mike Matheson in a top-pairing role and averaging more than 23 minutes of ice time per game. Could that be a sign of more permanent things to come? Matheson’s prominent role for the final six games of the Penguins’ playoffs...
Former Hempfield teammates help Seton Hill softball reach college World Series
Morgan Ryan and Jenna Osikowicz are no strangers to the big stage. In Little League, they helped West Point win a Junior League World Series title in 2014. They helped Hempfield win consecutive PIAA Class 6A titles, and now they’ve helped the Seton Hill softball team reach the NCAA Division...
Mike Sielski: Why the Flyers’ 47-year Stanley Cup drought won’t end soon
PHILADELPHIA — As of Friday, May 27, it will have been 47 years since the Flyers last won the Stanley Cup. If you have a fondness for the sadomasochistic, you can continue parsing that number to illustrate just how long that drought has been: 17,168 days, 411,744 hours, and on...
French Open: No. 1 Iga Swiatek enters on 28-match winning streak
PARIS — Here’s one measure of just how dominant Iga Swiatek has been as the French Open begins Sunday: The 28-match winning streak accumulated by the new No. 1 in the WTA rankings has been surpassed by only three women since 2000 — Venus Williams (35 in 2000), Serena Williams...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Mike Sullivan’s approach needs a Plan B
Mike Sullivan is one of the NHL’s top coaches, and arguably the most accomplished in Penguins history. But he needs a Plan B. For a brief moment in the Penguins’ first-round loss to the New York Rangers, Sullivan had one. It worked. The Penguins had blown a 4-1 lead in...
Switching positions a ‘life-changing’ event for Steelers rookie 7th-rounder Mark Robinson
For years, Mark Robinson envisioned a football career predicated on how well he made others miss tackles. He never thought he might earn an NFL paycheck because of his ability to make them. A position switch from running back to linebacker turned out to be a seminal moment for Robinson,...
Pirates farm report for May 20, 2022: Matt Fraizer’s blast helps Curve rout Richmond
INDIANAPOLIS (Triple-A, 20-18) defeated Toledo (Tigers), 5-2. SS Ji-hwan Bae (.293) was 3 for 4 with a home run. 1B Mason Martin (.258) smacked a two-run homer. CF Travis Swaggerty (.208) was 2 for 3 with a home run, triple and two RBIs. LHP Trey McGough (3.06) started and allowed...
Tiger Woods plays through pain, makes another major cut at PGA
TULSA, Okla. — Tiger Woods clenched his jaw when the pain hit. He limped, occasionally used a driver like a cane, and pushed his rebuilt right leg over and through the hills and swales of Southern Hills on Friday with a singular mission: to get to the weekend at the...
Not much wind and a lot of Will as Zalatoris leads at PGA Championship
TULSA, Okla. — The wind finally relented Friday in the PGA Championship. Will Zalatoris never did. From the fairway or the rough, Zalatoris kept hitting the golf ball on the button at Southern Hills and took advantage of gentler conditions late in the afternoon for a 5-under-par 65, giving him...
Paul Newberry: A wildly entertaining spat between 2 college coaching starsVideo
Why did they wait so long to allow college athletes to make a few bucks on the side? Think of all the wildly entertaining shenanigans we’ve missed out on over the years. Let’s play the feud! Jimbo Fisher is downright livid at former boss Nick Saban for saying the Texas...
Analysis: With Jordan Addison on campus, pressure to win will build on highly paid USC coach Lincoln Riley
The Jordan Addison conversation won’t go away anytime soon (sorry to be the bearer of bad news), but it’s become clear why USC coach Lincoln Riley was so intent on adding the Biletnikoff winner to his already loaded wide receiver group. He needs to win — and win now. The...
Speeds hit 243 mph as weather disrupts Indy 500 prepVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — First came the wind — 41 mph gusts that created some of the most challenging conditions in Indianapolis Motor Speedway history — and the rain was expected to follow. It put IndyCar on its heels on “Fast Friday” as race officials scrambled to save qualifying for the Indianapolis...
Runner-up Brad Keselowski in different spot for NASCAR All-Star
FORT WORTH, Texas — Brad Keselowski was the runner-up in the NASCAR All-Star race at Texas last year and has led more laps on the 1 1/2-mile track than anyone who never has won here. Keselowski is in a much different position going into Sunday night’s All-Star race, the non-points...
Seton Hill baseball continues hot hitting, routs West Chester; softball suspended
Before this week, the Seton Hill baseball team struggled offensively. Things sure have changed at the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional at West Chester. After pounding out 19 hits against Slippery Rock on Thursday, the Griffins added 21 hits on Friday and routed West Chester, 18-7. Omar Ward (The Kiski...
Steelers sign 3rd-round draft pick DeMarvin Leal to 4-year contract
Defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal became the latest Pittsburgh Steelers draft pick to sign his four-year rookie contract. Leal, a 6-foot-4, 290-pound defensive end from Texas A&M, signed his contract Friday, the team announced. He was the team’s third-round pick, the 84th overall selection. The four-year deal has a slot value...
‘It means the world’: Pirates backup catcher Tyler Heineman makes good 1st impression
The Pittsburgh Pirates gave Tyler Heineman time to test the waters before putting him behind the plate, allowing their new backup catcher the chance to catch bullpen sessions and learn the pitching staff. Then they threw Heineman into the deep end. Two days after being claimed off waivers from the...
Pitt secures commitment from junior college tight end Karter Johnson
When Karter Johnson left Pickerington Central High School for TCU in 2019, he was a 286-pound defensive tackle. One of the best in the nation, by the way. Rivals.com ranked him No. 21 at his position. In Ohio, he was the No. 12 overall prospect. I am excited to announce...
Former Pitt, West Virginia offensive coordinator Calvin Magee dies at age 59
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. — Jacksonville State offensive coordinator Calvin Magee has passed away. He was 59. The school said the longtime college football coach died on Friday but didn’t release the cause of death. New Jacksonville State coach Rich Rodriguez hired Magee in December, the fourth school where they have worked...
Naomi Osaka at French Open news conference: ‘I think I’m OK’
PARIS — Naomi Osaka cracked jokes at Roland Garros on Friday — and, yes, laughed at those jokes. She smiled after some reporters’ questions. She paused to contemplate, as is her wont, before offering answers. All of which seemed to confirm this assessment that she offered during an 18-minute pre-tournament...
Near-record heat for Preakness another test for Epicenter
BALTIMORE — Epicenter lost the Kentucky Derby because of a hot pace. Now he’ll face hot temperatures in the Preakness. Two weeks after getting passed by 80-1 long shot Rich Strike just before the finish line at the Derby, Epicenter goes into Saturday’s Preakness as the favorite and clearly the...
Penguins season ticket holders paint the ice in annual event at PPG Paints Arena
The ice surface at PPG Paints Arena won’t be needed for hockey again until the fall. But it perhaps never looked better than it did Thursday night. Pittsburgh Penguins season ticket holders were invited for what the organization has made a tradition: a night in which they were free to...
Pitt signs former Marquette guard Greg Elliott for rebuilt backcourt
Pitt coach Jeff Capel has secured the second of his two new backcourt players with the signing Friday of former Marquette guard Greg Elliott, who announced his verbal commitment Tuesday. Elliott will join returning guards Jamarius Burton and Nike Sibande, plus Nelly Cummings, who transferred from Colgate. Burton, Sibande and...
Aston Martin cleared of suspicion it copied Red Bull design
MONTMELÓ, Spain — Formula One team Aston Martin was cleared of suspicion that it had broken competition rules by allegedly copying a design from a Red Bull car, FIA said Friday. The governing body for F1 said an investigation had concluded that Aston Martin had not reverse engineered parts of...
Mark Madden: Penguins GM Ron Hextall hasn’t done anything to lose his job or to keep it
If my program director asks me what’s on today’s show, I tell him. When the home-plate umpire asks a manager for the lineup card, he can’t decline. A chef submits a menu. A football coach designs a playbook. A movie producer needs a script. These are requirements and not kept...
One of the longest-tenured Penguins, Chad Ruhwedel has best season at age 31
As the Pittsburgh Penguins’ most recent Stanley Cup grows further into the rearview mirror, there stands only four players left under contract for next season who appeared in that 2017 championship run. Sidney Crosby, of course. His running mate, Jake Guentzel, was a rookie that year. Brian Dumoulin isn’t surprising,...
