Sports category, Page 968
Defense dominates Blue-White, but QB Allar shows his potential for Penn StateVideo
STATE COLLEGE — Drew Allar’s path to the starting quarterback job at Penn State seems clear, even though Saturday afternoon’s Blue-White game was largely a defensive struggle. The Blue team edged the White, 10-0, at Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions’ top two quarterbacks, Allar and Beau Pribula, handled most of...
Everybody wins when brother competes against brother in Pitt’s spring game
Maybe Pat Narduzzi was kidding when he said the spring game winners eat steak and lobster whereas the losers will be served tofu for dinner. Actually, there were only winners Saturday during Pitt’s Blue-Gold game at Acrisure Stadium where the defense defeated the offense, 33-32, according to Narduzzi’s three-layered scoring...
Andrew McCutchen’s homer in 10th lifts Pirates past Cardinals
On Jackie Robinson Day, Andrew McCutchen paid tribute to the man who broke baseball’s color barrier with a home run and a hat tip. McCutchen, one of four Black American players on the Pittsburgh Pirates, hit a towering two-run leadoff homer in the top of the 10th inning to boost...
Lower Burrell author Girardi takes up cause of girls sports in her works
Tamara Girardi writes fictional sports stories that are based on her observations of the sometimes polarizing, always changing landscape of female sports. Things she has seen, heard about and even experienced are woven into the fabric of seven books the Lower Burrell author has published in the last year. The...
Elliott makes return at Martinsville after breaking legVideo
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Chase Elliott makes his return to racing this weekend at Martinsville Speedway with one thing on his mind: winning. And that approach won’t change the rest of the season. Elliott has missed the last six Cup Series races after breaking his leg during a freak snowboarding accident...
Tristan Jarry headlines Penguins’ most prominent free agents
The vagueness of how injuries are released by NHL clubs, with designations rarely offering any specification beyond “upper-body” or “lower-body,” often creates more questions than answers when players get banged up. Naturally, speculation then ensues, as media and fans try to discern more precise details. No Pittsburgh Penguins player personified...
The Pirates remain longshots to win the NL Central
BY COREY LONG | Home Field Sports Contributor The Pittsburgh Pirates experienced somewhat of a roller coaster in its first week without shortstop Oneil Cruz, alternating wins and losses. Cruz, who fractured his ankle last Sunday against the White Sox, is expected to miss at least four months. The Pirates...
An NBA under play and a Premier League same game parlay: Best Bets for April 15
BY GABE HENDERSON | Home Field Sports Each day, one of our experts will offer up a best bet (or two or three) that mobile sportsbooks are offering. It might be a traditional spread bet, a player prop or one of the various odds boosts that books offer. Here are...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Penguins have to extend or trade Jake Guentzel this offseason
The Penguins’ offseason will be one of difficult decisions. One of the primary ones involves winger Jake Guentzel. Guentzel, 28, is heading into the last year of a contract that pays $6 million annually. He had a quietly effective season, collecting 36 goals and 37 assists in 78 games. Listed...
Pirates place 1B/DH Ji-Man Choi on IL with Achilles strain, recall INF-OF Tucupita Marcano
The Pittsburgh Pirates took a big bat out of the middle of their batting order when first baseman/designated hitter Ji-Man Choi was placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday with a strain of his left Achilles tendon. To replace Choi on the active roster, the Pirates recalled infielder/outfielder Tucupita Marcano...
The Penguins limp into an early offseason with an uncertain future
Sidney Crosby detests free time. He abhors it almost as much as a clingy opposing third-line center hassling him for a puck or yapping personal insults. So, given the Pittsburgh Penguins’ failure to qualify for the NHL’s postseason that begins Monday, this won’t be an enjoyable summer for the team’s...
Johnsons win the spring, Karter and Nahki named most improved players at Pitt drills
In advance of the Blue-Gold Game on Saturday afternoon, Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi named two Johnsons — tight end Karter and defensive end Nahki — winners of the Ed Conway Award, emblematic of the most improved players during spring drills. Johnson, who transferred last year from Butler (Kan.) Community College,...
NFL Draft primer: Flawed, yet talented QB group can be found at head of class
After a one-year hiatus, quarterbacks will be back in demand early in the NFL Draft. Passers could be taken in four of the first five selections, a contrast to the 2022 class when no quarterbacks were taken until the Pittsburgh Steelers grabbed Pitt’s Kenny Pickett with the No. 20 overall...
Plum JO wrestlers place at state tournaments
A trio of Plum youth wrestlers — Nicholas Pifer, AJ Pifer and Ethan Schwartz — qualified for and took part in the Keystone State Tournament March 17-19, at IUP’s Kovalchick Center. AJ Pifer and Schwartz also qualified for the Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling State Tournament March 25-26, at Pitt’s Petersen Events...
NHL playoffs: Devils-Rangers, Bolts-Leafs highlight openers
After six weeks of hopeful excitement that his New Jersey Devils would face the New York Rangers in the opening round of the playoffs, Erik Haula had a simple, sarcastic take: “Here we are.” And the playoffs are finally here, too. Devils vs. Rangers in another chapter of their bitter...
What to know entering the NBA playoffs, which start Saturday
Here’s a rarity: All five teams from one division are going to the NBA playoffs. And they pulled that off in a year where a division champion almost didn’t get there. All five teams from the Pacific Division — Sacramento, Phoenix, the Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State and the Los...
Looking for a leadoff: Pirates searching to replace Oneil Cruz at top of the batting order
When Oneil Cruz fractured his left ankle on Easter, the Pittsburgh Pirates didn’t just lose their starting shortstop but a leadoff hitter who proved he could get on base, hit for power and whose speed made him a threat on the basepaths. Cruz slashed .282/.331/.541 with 18 extra-base hits and...
Minor league report: Goaltender Joel Blomqvist debuts as Penguins loseVideo
In his season debut at the American Hockey League level, goaltender Joel Blomqvist made 23 saves on 27 shots for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 4-0 road loss to the Hartford Wolf Pack at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. on Friday. The Pittsburgh Penguins’ second-round pick (No. 52 overall)...
Pirates farm report for April 14, 2023: Tucupita Marcano collects 3 more hits in Indy loss
INDIANAPOLIS (Triple-A, 5-8) lost to St. Paul (Twins), 4-2, running its losing streak to three games and its home losing streak to seven. LHP Angel Perdomo (0-1, 7.71) gave up three runs on two hits and two walks without recording an out. SS Tucupita Marcano (.422) stayed hot, going 3...
Pirates fail to support starting pitcher Johan Oviedo in 3-0 loss to Cardinals
For Johan Oviedo, there was no deeply hidden secret to pitching against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night. “I tried to enjoy my time pitching out there. Have fun and just don’t think,” he said on AT&T SportsNet. When it comes to not thinking, perhaps he would prefer to...
NFL Draft steal? Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker hurdles age, health, style concernsVideo
Hendon Hooker is fluid on the football field and mobile in NFL meeting rooms, where he has been hurdling concerns about his age, health and playing style. The 25-year-old former Tennessee quarterback, who tore the ACL in his left knee less than five months ago, has spent his predraft visits...
Battle of Pennsylvania martial arts competition returns this weekend in Beaver Falls
Angelo Marziale began his journey in martial arts competition more than 40 years ago, and, since those early days, the 50-year-old Creighton resident and fifth-degree Shorin Ryu black belt has captured many championships near and far. A former student of Lower Burrell martial arts legend Frank Caliguri, Marziale continues to...
Capitals, coach Peter Laviolette part ways after missing playoffsVideo
Peter Laviolette won’t be back as coach of the Washington Capitals, who now have a big decision to make after missing the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade. The Capitals parted ways with Laviolette on Friday, less than 24 hours after their season ended, a decision general...
Former NBA star Shawn Kemp charged in parking lot shootingVideo
SEATTLE — Prosecutors in Washington state charged former NBA star Shawn Kemp on Friday with first-degree assault in a parking lot shooting last month over a stolen cellphone, saying that in a text message just before the shooting, Kemp wrote, “I’m about to shoot this (expletive).” Kemp was arrested after...
Masters champ Jon Rahm rebounds as Jimmy Walker leads RBC HeritageVideo
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Jimmy Walker was feeling like his old self after his second straight 6-under-par 65 on Friday — and so was Masters champion Jon Rahm halfway through the RBC Heritage. Walker had his third straight round in the 60s overall to post a two-day total of...
