Sports category, Page 2494
Five ways the Pirates pitching staff can save day
When Chris Archer pitched against the Pittsburgh Pirates in June 2017, he saw in Jameson Taillon a young starter who had good stuff but didn’t yet possess the separator pitch that would make him a major league star. When Archer joined the Pirates after being acquired from Tampa Bay in...
GCC grad Pellis finds comfort zone with Seton HillVideo
Tommy Pellis tried to make it work at Penn, tried to find solace in his environment on and off the baseball diamond. He gave it two years in Philadelphia — more than enough time, he thought, to try to blend in and become established. But coming to terms with the...
Ryan Preece hopes short track background helps at Martinsville
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Ryan Preece is a rookie struggling to find his rhythm at NASCAR’s top level. But as the series shifts to Martinsville Speedway, the first short track on the schedule, Preece may have a slight advantage on some of his competition for the first time this season. Preece...
Virginia has long history of early exits from NCAA Tournament
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Last year, Virginia became the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed, but the Cavaliers’ recent history, even when they make it past the first round of the NCAA Tournament, isn’t all that good. Coach Tony Bennett has made the tournament six straight...
Mark Madden: Bush-league journalists descend on Steelers
The Steelers and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger took a PR hit when Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell checked out. Roethlisberger was eviscerated. GM Kevin Colbert was villainized. The piling on continues. But, in the process, damage also got done to the concept of journalism. (Journalism has taken a beating for quite...
Zion vs. Tacko: Tournament’s most dynamic player meets its tallest player
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Tacko Fall really hopes the UCF-Duke NCAA Tournament game is not all about the Knights’ 7-foot-6 center and the Blue Devils’ explosive freshman star Zion Williamson. Sorry, Tacko, it’s way too late for that with excitement strong for the East Region’s marquee matchup Sunday between college basketball’s...
LSU gets last-second layup to defeat Maryland, advance
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It’s probably the same play suspended LSU coach Will Wade would have called. After all, it worked several times during the regular season. And now it has sent the Tigers to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2006. Tremont Waters drove by three defenders and...
NCAA Wrestling finals: Penn State’s Cassar, Nolf, Nickal, Franklin Regional’s Lee win titles
After clinching the team championship earlier in the day, Penn State wrestlers won three national titles Saturday night during the final round of the NCAA Wrestling Championships at PPG Paints Arena. Heavyweight Anthony Cassar and Kittanning’s Jason Nolf at 157 pounds won titles while teammates Vincenzo Joseph (165) and Mark...
National League preview: $300-million men could make big difference
The marquee storyline(s) of the NL East and West divisions differ now than from when spring training began. A pair of $300 million-plus contracts sure can change things. The Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres might or might not be great teams this season, but many eyes will be on...
NL Central preview: Every team (even the Pirates) in contention for playoffs
It might seem as if the Chicago Cubs have been dominating the NL Central in recent years, but is it really a dynasty when they’ve won the division just twice? The Cubs have averaged 97 wins per season over the past four years but twice had to settle for wild...
Pletcher, Shields, Zavatsky settle on being All-Americans again
The 330 wrestlers who came to Pittsburgh for the 2019 NCAA Division I wrestling championship this weekend weren’t just looking to become All-Americans. They wanted to be national champions. But only 10 wrestlers could claim national-champ status once the tournament ended Saturday, and another 70 joined them as All-Americans. While...
Patriots owner Robert Kraft apologizes in Florida prostitution case
MIAMI — New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is apologizing after being charged in a Florida massage parlor prostitution investigation. “I am truly sorry,” Kraft said in a statement Saturday. “I know I have hurt and disappointed my family, my close friends, my co-workers, our fans and many others who...
Outdoors notices for March 24, 2019
NOTICES Outdoors RIFLE/TRAP LEAGUES • In the Pittsburgh and Surburban Rifle League on March 13, Frazier-Simplex (13-0) defeated Irwin Post 228 (0-12), 1,445-1,126, and Dormont-Mt. Lebanon (10-3) beat Allegheny (5-8), 1,478-1,448. Murrysville (4-9) had a bye. Frazier-Simplex’s John Husk shot a 299 for the high score of the week. Irwin’s...
Lyles pitches Pirates past Phillies, possibly locking up final spot in rotation
Jordan Lyles possibly locked up the fifth spot in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ starting rotation in his final start of spring training. Lyles allowed seven hits with five strikeouts and no walks as the Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-3, on Saturday in a split-squad Grapefruit League game at LECOM Park...
Former Penguins defenseman Jamie Oleksiak gets right back to where he started from
DALLAS – There are very few players in the history of hockey who can relate to what defenseman Jamie Oleksiak has gone through in the past two seasons. In December of 2017, the Dallas Stars shipped him to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a fourth-round draft pick. In January, the Penguins...
Penguins’ Jared McCann sees no need to apologize for racking up empty-net goals
DALLAS – Since he joined the Pittsburgh Penguins in a Feb. 1 trade, four of the nine goals Jared McCann has scored were shot into an empty net. That’s the kind of development that will earn McCann some good-natured razzing from teammates who will chide him for picking low-hanging fruit,...
Hot goalies keeping lid on Penguins offense
DALLAS — The Pittsburgh Penguins caught a break when the Dallas Stars decided starting goalie Ben Bishop, who leads the league with a .932 save percentage this season, would get Saturday night off. Yeah, some break. Instead, they were to face backup Anton Khudobin, who is eighth in the league...
Man convicted of manslaughter in fatal post-Super Bowl fight
MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. — A man has been convicted of passion provocation manslaughter in the stabbing death of another man after a fight in New Jersey during celebrations over the Philadelphia Eagles’ victory in the Super Bowl last year. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that jurors acquitted 57-year-old Supreme Life of...
Penn State clinches 8th NCAA wrestling title in 9 years
The suspense of which team was going to win another NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship title ended early on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena. Penn State claimed its eighth team title in the past nine years during the morning session and ninth in school history. Penn State has five wrestlers...
Pirates to put Melky Cabrera, Francisco Liriano on Opening Day roster
The Pittsburgh Pirates have committed to outfielder Melky Cabrera and left-handed pitcher Francisco Liriano making their Opening Day roster. Saturday was the deadline for the Pirates to make that decision, per the retention bonus protocol. The 34-year-old Cabrera, a career .280 hitter, is expected to serve as their fourth outfielder....
Quaker Valley grads Kwalick, Harkins excel at conference meets
Quaker Valley graduate Matt Kwalick took again on a lot for the Westminster men’s swimming team. “I really want to specialize in one or two events, but it is so hard to do that when you swim the (individual medley),” said Kwalick, a junior. “I think the saying is, ‘A...
Kevin Gorman: Penn State’s dominance comes with disappointment
The NCAA wrestling championships should have been a crowning achievement for Penn State, a weekend where the nation’s dominant program showed why it’s the dynasty of this decade. There were memorable moments, especially when seniors Jason Nolf and Bo Nickal received standing ovations on Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena...
NCAA wrestling Session 4 recap: Penn State on cusp of another national title
Penn State ended the second night of the NCAA wrestling championships poised to win its eighth national title in nine seasons. And the Nittany Lions have a chance to return to State College with a record-tying number of individual champions as well. Jason Nolf (157 pounds), Vincenzo Joseph (165), Mark...
Vincenzo Joseph tops Josh Shields, on to NCAA finals
There is something about the NCAA wrestling championship that brings out the best in Penn State junior Vincenzo Joseph. The two-time champion punched his ticket to his third final Friday by edging a familiar foe: friend, practice partner from the Young Guns Club and Arizona State junior Josh Shields. Joseph...
Franklin Regional grad Spencer Lee avenges loss to reach NCAA wrestling finals
Spencer Lee knew he couldn’t dwell on a reversal he gave up in the second period of his NCAA wrestling semifinal match with Oklahoma State’s Nick Piccininni. He couldn’t afford to. Similarly, Lee couldn’t wallow in disappointment when Piccininni pinned him earlier this season. The Franklin Regional graduate believed to...
