<a href="mailto:sean.boston@eaglemedia.com">SEAN BOSTON</a> Hutch Post

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Hutchinson Trinity Catholic High School alum Kaleb Hammeke scored 22 points to help lead Fort Hays State University to the MIAA Tournament championship on Sunday at Municipal Auditorium.

Hammeke knocked down two free throws with 27 seconds to play to give the Tigers the 72-71 lead over Central Oklahoma, which would end up being the game-winning points to send FHSU to the big dance.

Hammeke was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. He played all 40 minutes of the championship game, finishing with 22 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field, 4-of-6 from the three and 6-of-6 at the line. In the Tigers' three tournament games, the graduate student averaged 38.0 minutes, 20.7 points, 5.0 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game. 

Kaleb's younger brother, Lucas is also on the FHSU roster and scored six points and dished off a team-high five assists in the title game. Lucas averaged 5.3 points, four rebounds and 2.7 assists in the three tournament games.

Kaleb is a 2019 graduate of Trinity Catholic, while Lucas is a 2021 graduate.

Earlier this season Kaleb became the all-time leading scorer in FHSU men's basketball program history. The 6-foot graduate student has scored 2048 points and brought down 575 rebounds in 142 games, all 142 of which are starts.

Lucas has appeared in 57 career games, averaging 2.9 points and 1.4 rebounds per game.&nbsp;

The win was the second MIAA Tournament title for FHSU, winning their first since the 2011 season.&nbsp;

The Tigers will enter the NCAA Division II Tournament with a 22-9 record, finishing 12-7 in the MIAA. The NCAA will hold a selection show at 10 p.m. CT on NCAA.com.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741568669960.jpeg" alt="Kaleb Hammeke (#5) hoists up the MIAA Tournament trophy after Fort Hays State University claimed the tournament title over Central Oklahoma, 72-71 on Sunday at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. (Photo Courtesy Fort Hays State Athletics)" />
 <figcaption>Kaleb Hammeke (#5) hoists up the MIAA Tournament trophy after Fort Hays State University claimed the tournament title over Central Oklahoma, 72-71 on Sunday at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. (Photo Courtesy Fort Hays State Athletics)</figcaption>
 </figure><a href="mailto:sean.boston@eaglemedia.com">SEAN BOSTON</a> Hutch PostKANSAS CITY, Mo. — Hutchinson Trinity Catholic High School alum Kaleb Hammeke scored 22 points to help lead Fort Hays State University to the MIAA Tournament championship on Sunday at Municipal Auditorium.Hammeke knocked down two free throws with 27 seconds to play to give the Tigers the 72-71 lead over Central Oklahoma, which would end up being the game-winning points to send FHSU to the big dance.Hammeke was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. He played all 40 minutes of the championship game, finishing with 22 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field, 4-of-6 from the three and 6-of-6 at the line. In the Tigers' three tournament games, the graduate student averaged 38.0 minutes, 20.7 points, 5.0 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game. Kaleb's younger brother, Lucas is also on the FHSU roster and scored six points and dished off a team-high five assists in the title game. Lucas averaged 5.3 points, four rebounds and 2.7 assists in the three tournament games.Kaleb is a 2019 graduate of Trinity Catholic, while Lucas is a 2021 graduate.Earlier this season Kaleb became the all-time leading scorer in FHSU men's basketball program history. The 6-foot graduate student has scored 2048 points and brought down 575 rebounds in 142 games, all 142 of which are starts.Lucas has appeared in 57 career games, averaging 2.9 points and 1.4 rebounds per game.&nbsp;The win was the second MIAA Tournament title for FHSU, winning their first since the 2011 season.&nbsp;The Tigers will enter the NCAA Division II Tournament with a 22-9 record, finishing 12-7 in the MIAA. The NCAA will hold a selection show at 10 p.m. CT on NCAA.com.

🏀 Trinity Catholic alums lead Fort Hays State to MIAA Tournament title

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741568342922.png" alt="Photo Courtesy Wichita State Athletics" />
 <figcaption>Photo Courtesy Wichita State Athletics</figcaption>
 </figure><div>Wichita State Athletics
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WICHITA, Kan. --&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/baseball/roster/mauricio-millan/9186" rel="smarttag" rev="9186" data-airgap-id="61">Mauricio Millan</a></dfn>&nbsp;lined a walk-off single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth as Wichita State completed a three-game sweep over Missouri State with a wild 9-8 win on Sunday afternoon at Eck Stadium. It was a game of momentum swings, as the Shockers (6-9) took a 4-0 lead after one inning, allowed seven unanswered runs, rallied to take the lead again, and allowed a game-tying homer in the ninth before finally walking it off in the home half of the inning. Wichita State pounced early against Missouri State starter Tyler Charlton, hanging four runs on the board in the bottom of the first.&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/baseball/roster/josh-livingston/9185" rel="smarttag" rev="9185" data-airgap-id="62">Josh Livingston</a></dfn>&nbsp;roped an RBI double to open the scoring, followed by consecutive sacrifice flies from&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/baseball/roster/kam-durnin/9177" rel="smarttag" rev="9177" data-airgap-id="63">Kam Durnin</a></dfn>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/baseball/roster/jordan-rogers/9191" rel="smarttag" rev="9191" data-airgap-id="64">Jordan Rogers</a></dfn>&nbsp;to build a 3-0 lead. With two outs and the bases empty, sophomore&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/baseball/roster/gannon-snyder/9192" rel="smarttag" rev="9192" data-airgap-id="65">Gannon Snyder</a></dfn>&nbsp;smashed his first career home run to left field, capping off the early scoring barrage. WSU starter&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/baseball/roster/jeremiah-arnett/9174" rel="smarttag" rev="9174" data-airgap-id="66">Jeremiah Arnett</a></dfn>&nbsp;hung zeroes on the board in the first two innings but ran into trouble in the third, as Missouri State (5-9) poured in five runs to take a 5-4 lead. Taeg Gollert delivered a two-run triple in the inning and Carter Bergman sliced a two-run homer to left, putting the Bears in front. Missouri State added single runs in the fourth and fifth innings on a pair of sacrifice flies, pushing their edge to 7-4. The Shockers used a two-out rally to pull even in the bottom of the fifth. Rogers smacked an RBI triple off the wall in left that made it 7-5, followed by a pinch-hit RBI single from&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/baseball/roster/jaden-gustafson/9178" rel="smarttag" rev="9178" data-airgap-id="67">Jaden Gustafson</a></dfn>&nbsp;that cut the deficit to 7-6.&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/baseball/roster/cole-dillon/9411" rel="smarttag" rev="9411" data-airgap-id="68">Cole Dillon</a></dfn>&nbsp;knotted the game up with a run-scoring double of his own, one of three hits on the day for the Shocker catcher. Millan inched WSU in front in the sixth with a booming double to left, scoring&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/baseball/roster/camden-johnson/9183" rel="smarttag" rev="9183" data-airgap-id="69">Camden Johnson</a></dfn>&nbsp;from first for an 8-7 advantage. The lead stayed there until the ninth thanks to good work from the Shocker bullpen, including a clutch scoreless inning from&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/baseball/roster/owen-reynolds/9397" rel="smarttag" rev="9397" data-airgap-id="70">Owen Reynolds</a></dfn>&nbsp;in which he stranded two Bears and two more shutout innings from&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/baseball/roster/karsen-richard/9405" rel="smarttag" rev="9405" data-airgap-id="71">Karsen Richard</a></dfn>. But with one out in the ninth, Missouri State's Max Knight skied a solo home run just over the wall in center to level the ledger at 8-8. Reliever&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/baseball/roster/aaron-arnold/9406" rel="smarttag" rev="9406" data-airgap-id="72">Aaron Arnold</a></dfn>&nbsp;(2-0) preserved the tie with help from the defense, as the Shockers cut down the go-ahead run at the plate on an infield grounder and Arnold punched out Caden Bogenpohl to send the game to the bottom of the ninth. The Shockers got their fair share of help from Missouri State in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs,&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/baseball/roster/lane-haworth/9180" rel="smarttag" rev="9180" data-airgap-id="73">Lane Haworth's</a></dfn>&nbsp;pop up to third base was dropped, allowing him to race to second as the winning run. Pinch-hitter&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/baseball/roster/owen-washburn/9415" rel="smarttag" rev="9415" data-airgap-id="74">Owen Washburn</a></dfn>&nbsp;worked a walk, then&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/baseball/roster/camden-johnson/9183" rel="smarttag" rev="9183" data-airgap-id="75">Camden Johnson</a></dfn>&nbsp;loaded the bases on an error by second baseman Nick Rodriguez, who made a high throw to first on Johnson's ground ball. Millan pulled a 2-1 pitch from&nbsp;Garrett Ferguson (0-2) into left field, setting off the celebration. Wichita State looks&nbsp;to carry their momentum on the road as they travel to Lincoln, Nebraska for a two-game midweek series against Nebraska. First pitch of Tuesday's opener is scheduled for 6:00 pm CT.</div>

⚾ WSU's Millan walks off Missouri State to complete sweep

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Dwon Odom had 20 points in Tulsa’s 73-63 victory over Wichita State on Sunday.

Odom went 9 of 15 from the field for the Golden Hurricane (12-19, 6-12 American Athletic Conference). Keaston Willis, Jared Garcia and Tyshawn Archie all added 11points.

The Shockers (18-13, 8-10) were led by Corey Washington, who recorded 14 points and eight rebounds. Harlond Beverly added 11 points for Wichita State. Xavier Bell also had 10 points.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741568197161.png" alt="Photo Courtesy Wichita State Athletics" />
 <figcaption>Photo Courtesy Wichita State Athletics</figcaption>
 </figure>WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Dwon Odom had 20 points in Tulsa’s 73-63 victory over Wichita State on Sunday.Odom went 9 of 15 from the field for the Golden Hurricane (12-19, 6-12 American Athletic Conference). Keaston Willis, Jared Garcia and Tyshawn Archie all added 11points.The Shockers (18-13, 8-10) were led by Corey Washington, who recorded 14 points and eight rebounds. Harlond Beverly added 11 points for Wichita State. Xavier Bell also had 10 points.

🏀 Tulsa downs Wichita State in regular season finale

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741568094263.png" alt="Photo Courtesy Kansas State Athletics" />
 <figcaption>Photo Courtesy Kansas State Athletics</figcaption>
 </figure><div>Kansas State Athletics
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MANHATTAN, Kan. &ndash;&nbsp;With two-home run efforts by&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/baseball/roster/maximus-martin/12314" rel="smarttag" rev="12314">Maximus Martin</a></dfn>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/baseball/roster/keegan-o-connor/12317" rel="smarttag" rev="12317">Keegan O'Connor</a></dfn>, K-State recorded its highest run total in two years, clinching a dominant 20-6 seven-inning-run-rule victory to complete the series sweep of William &amp; Mary on Sunday afternoon at Tointon Family Stadium. "Awesome weekend," said head coach&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/pete-hughes/2603" rel="smarttag" rev="2603">Pete Hughes</a></dfn>&nbsp;on his team's fifth consecutive victory. "It's really difficult to sweep in college baseball. We'll never take that for granted, that's for sure. Proud of our guys' approach all weekend long." A day after setting season-highs in runs, home runs, and extra-base hits, K-State (9-5) reestablished those team bests against the Tribe (4-11) by tallying a season-high 20 hits with 11 going for extra bases. The Cats scored in each inning and plated a season-high nine runs in the fifth inning. Eleven different players produced a hit with five hitting multiple, while five drove in multiple RBI. The 20 total runs are the most in a game by the Wildcats since April 16, 2023, vs. Kansas (21), while it is the first time reaching 20 hits since March 2, 2024, against UMass Lowell. Alongside Martin and O'Connor,&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/baseball/roster/shintaro-inoue/12311" rel="smarttag" rev="12311">Shintaro Inoue</a></dfn>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/baseball/roster/cayden-phillips/12299" rel="smarttag" rev="12299">Cayden Phillips</a></dfn>&nbsp;each homered, recording back-to-back blasts in the fifth. With Phillips solo shot, 12 different players have sent one out this season. "Phenomenal offensive day. When you can score in every inning that speaks volumes to the capability of your offense &ndash; top to bottom," Hughes said. Martin homered in his fourth consecutive game, and third straight game with a homer in the first inning. The junior from Edgewater Park, N.J., sent out his sixth homer of the season 393-feet to left center in the fourth. He finished 5-for-5 on the day, falling short of a triple of completing the cycle, while he became the first player to record five hits in a single game since&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/baseball/roster/brady-day/11461" rel="smarttag" rev="11461">Brady Day</a></dfn>&nbsp;at Houston on March 24, 2024. "Again, Max Martin set the tone for our offense. He's on a stretch that I have very rarely seen in my career, and I think the rest of the lineup is feeding off it." O'Connor, a native of Andover, Mass., homered in the second and fifth to record his first career multi-home run game. He ended the day 3-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored. Starter&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/baseball/roster/lincoln-sheffield/12332" rel="smarttag" rev="12332">Lincoln Sheffield</a></dfn>&nbsp;(3-1) was awarded his third consecutive victory, as the left-hander logged 4 1/3 innings with five strikeouts. Sheffield surrendered five runs (four earned) on eight hits to finish his fourth outing. &nbsp; K-State has registered a home run in six straight games, totaling 20 in the stretch with Martin accounting for six of them followed by O'Connor with four. On the weekend, K-State finished the series hitting .400 with a .492 on-base percentage and slugging .800 with nine doubles and 12 home runs, while outscoring WM 41-13. Eleven players finished with a batting average over .300, led by Martin's .667 average. Martin ended the weekend with 12 RBI, seven runs scored and eight hits, that included one double and five home runs. HOW IT HAPPENED WM tagged a run to the board in the opening frame but was immediately answered, as Martin barreled his sixth homer of the season out to left center. K-State took advantage of a fielding error to take the one-run lead. Ben Parker launched a two-run homer in the second to make it 3-2 in favor of the Tribe. O'Connor evened the score with a leadoff solo blast to start off the Cats' four-run second inning. Inoue and Martin each singled before scoring on two straight base knocks from&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/baseball/roster/seth-dardar/12320" rel="smarttag" rev="12320">Seth Dardar</a></dfn>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/baseball/roster/dee-kennedy/12308" rel="smarttag" rev="12308">Dee Kennedy</a></dfn>. After surrendering two runs in the second, Sheffield retired seven of the next 10 batters he faced, that included striking out two to end the fourth. Leading 7-3, Martin belted his fifth homer of the series to left center to expand the Cats' lead. WM brought the game within three with a two-run homer from Derek Holmes, 8-5. The Wildcats put the game away in the fifth, exploding for a season-high nine runs on six hits, led by back-to-back home runs from Inoue and&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/baseball/roster/cayden-phillips/12299" rel="smarttag" rev="12299">Cayden Phillips</a></dfn>. INSIDE THE BOX
<ul>
<li>K-State scored a season-high 20 runs on a season-high 20 hits with one error committed and six left on base.</li>
<li>WM scored six runs on 10 hits, committed five errors and stranded eight on base.</li>
<li>Four different Wildcats homered &ndash; Martin (2), O'Connor (2), Inoue, Phillips.</li>
<li>K-State scored in each inning, that included a season-high nine in the fifth.</li>
<li>11 players registered a hit with five recording multiple hits and RBI.</li>
<li>Inoue drove in a game-leading four RBI, finishing 2-for-4 at the plate.</li>
<li>Martin went 5-for-5 with two home runs, a double and single. He drove in three RBI and scored four runs.</li>
<li>K-State drove in a season-high 18 RBI.</li>
<li>Sheffield (3-1) earned the win, allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits in his 4 1/3 inning start.</li>
<li>Butler and Slack combined for 1 2/3 scoreless innings.</li>
<li>K-State hit .480 (12-for-25) with runners on base and went 8-for-17 with men in scoring position while WM was 4-for-14 (.286) with runners on and 2-for-11 (.182) in scoring position.</li>
<li>K-State hit .500 (8-for-16) with two-outs, driving in seven two-out RBI.</li>
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NOTES
<ul>
<li>Sunday marks the team's first 6-home run game since 2021 (Last: March 9, 2021, vs. South Dakota State).</li>
<li>Martin homers in his fourth consecutive game, and third straight game with a homer in the first inning.</li>
<li>K-State has registered a home run in six straight games, totaling 20 in the stretch with Martin accounting for six of them followed by O'Connor with four.</li>
<li><dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/baseball/roster/maximus-martin/12314" rel="smarttag" rev="12314">Maximus Martin</a></dfn>&nbsp;launches his fifth homer of the series into left field.</li>
<li>Inoue and Phillips team up for K-State's fifth back-to-back home run performance of the season.</li>
<li>The Cats produced their first six-home run game of the season.</li>
<li>Phillips becomes the 12th player to homer this year.</li>
<li>Cats scored a season-high nine runs in the fifth inning, highlighted by a three home runs.</li>
<li>O'Connor became the second player today and this season to produce a multi-home run game.</li>
<li>The 20 total runs by the Wildcats were their most in a game in two years since April 16, 2023, vs. Kansas (21).</li>
<li>Sunday marked the first time reaching 20 hits since March 2, 2024, against UMass Lowell (20).</li>
</ul>
UP NEXT K-State will hit the road for a couple of midweek matchups, facing Creighton (7-4) and Omaha (3-10) on March 11-12. Following the games in Nebraska, the Cats will open Big 12 play on Friday, March 14 with a three-game series against Utah (11-3). Season and single-game tickets are now available. To purchase season tickets, fans can visit KStateSports.com, call 1-800-221-CATS (2287), or stop by the K-State Athletics Ticket Office in Bramlage Coliseum.</div>

⚾ K-State completes sweep of William & Mary

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741567831033.png" alt="Photo Courtesy Kansas Athletics" />
 <figcaption>Photo Courtesy Kansas Athletics</figcaption>
 </figure><div>Kansas Athletics
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LAWRENCE, Kan. &ndash;&nbsp;For the third time in 11 days, Kansas had a walk-off victory at Hoglund Ballpark as the Jayhawks beat Milwaukee 10-9 in 10 innings on Sunday afternoon to secure a four-game series sweep in front of a crowd of 1,828 fans that included the KU band for the first time ever. Kansas added another win to its best start in program history, with the Jayhawks now sitting at 14-1 overall on the season. &nbsp; Kansas trailed 6-0 before even coming to bat on Sunday. The Jayhawks fought back and used a six-run sixth inning to help get back in the game. The resilience of Kansas allowed them to win the game in the 10th inning on a walk-off RBI infield single by&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/brady-counsell/16135" rel="smarttag" rev="16135" data-airgap-id="73">Brady Counsell</a></dfn>&nbsp;to score&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/tj-williams/16134" rel="smarttag" rev="16134" data-airgap-id="74">TJ Williams</a></dfn>. &nbsp; HOW IT HAPPENED &bull; After Milwaukee got the first two outs in the 10th inning,&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/dariel-osoria/16146" rel="smarttag" rev="16146" data-airgap-id="75">Dariel Osoria</a></dfn>&nbsp;singled to right field. Williams pinch ran for Osoria and advanced to second base on a balk. Counsell came up next and hit a ball to the left side that the shortstop was able to get to, but the throw pulled the first baseman off the bag. Williams was hustling around third base and scored on the play. Originally, Counsell was ruled out at first base for the final out of the inning, but after a conversation amongst the umpires, he was deemed safe. The umpires went to review and called Counsell safe at first and ruled that Williams would have scored on the play. &bull; Milwaukee (1-14) sprinted out to a big lead in the first inning. The Panthers scored six runs in the inning, three of which were unearned. Milwaukee scored one run on an error, two runs on a double, two runs on RBI groundouts and one on a solo homer by Q Phillips. That made it 6-0 before Kansas came to bat. &bull; Kansas was able to get two of those runs back in the second inning. Osoria scored on a wild pitch and&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/sawyer-smith/16138" rel="smarttag" rev="16138" data-airgap-id="76">Sawyer Smith</a></dfn>&nbsp;scored on a throwing error. Milwaukee still led 6-2 after two innings. &bull; The Jayhawks added another run in the third inning on a solo home run by&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/brady-counsell/16135" rel="smarttag" rev="16135" data-airgap-id="77">Brady Counsell</a></dfn>. The homer was his third of the season and made it 6-3. &bull; Milwaukee got that run back in the fifth inning as they scored on a wild pitch to bring the score to 7-3. &bull; The Kansas offense broke through for six runs in the sixth inning to take a 9-7 lead. The Jayhawks had six hits in the inning during the offensive flurry. Smith came in to score on a wild pitch for the first run of the inning. After a walk,&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/ty-wisdom/16131" rel="smarttag" rev="16131" data-airgap-id="78">Ty Wisdom</a></dfn>&nbsp;roped an RBI double to right field to score another run.&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/brady-ballinger/16147" rel="smarttag" rev="16147" data-airgap-id="79">Brady Ballinger</a></dfn>&nbsp;came up next and hit a 2-run double off the first baseman's glove down the right field line. That tied the game at 7-7. A pitching change followed and&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/jackson-hauge/16155" rel="smarttag" rev="16155" data-airgap-id="80">Jackson Hauge</a></dfn>&nbsp;welcomed the new pitcher into the game with a two-run homer to left-center field to give Kansas its first lead of the day. &bull; Milwaukee continued to fight back as they scored one run in the seventh inning on a double play and tied it in the eighth on a solo homer by Teige Lethert. The score was 9-9 after eight innings. &bull; Kansas and Milwaukee both left two runners stranded in their portions of the ninth inning. The Panthers also had a runner on third with one out in the 10th and did not score. &nbsp; PITCHERS OF RECORD Win:&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/eric-lin/16158" rel="smarttag" rev="16158" data-airgap-id="81">Eric Lin</a></dfn>&nbsp;(1-0) Final line: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO Loss: Aric Ehmke (0-2) Final line: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 SO &nbsp; SOCIAL POST OF THE GAME
<div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" class="" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=%40KUBaseball&amp;dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1898820631988498632&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fkuathletics.com%2Fnews%2F2025%2F3%2F9%2Fbaseball-kansas-walks-off-milwaukee-in-extras-for-series-sweep.aspx&amp;sessionId=4008838c64f6c58e1d764da4343e8f56f20d4b55&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px" width="300" height="150" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-tweet-id="1898820631988498632"></iframe></div>
&nbsp; QUOTABLES &amp; NOTABLES "The start was obviously not what we were looking to do. I think it's a combination of they hammered some balls early and then we couldn't screw up a couple of those things the way we did again if we tried. That rundown with Sawyer (Smith) and Brooks, they handed us an out. Then, Derek (Cerda) thought he made the catch in center and then banged up against the wall. So, there was a lot going on there, and then Sawyer got chewed up by a ground ball. I guess the thing to point out is it's really kind of the first hiccup that Steitz has had his entire rehab process from (Tommy John surgery) and he was still fine.&nbsp;We just didn't make plays. If we make those plays early, we get out of there pretty quick and obviously it's a different game. I was really proud of how we battled back&hellip;Our dugout was fantastic the whole time. We knew Milwaukee would fight. We had absolutely zero anticipation of them&nbsp;not showing up to play. They're an incredibly well-coached team and a really gritty crew. It's a great challenge for our guys to bounce back and proud of how they did it." &ndash; Head Coach&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/dan-fitzgerald/871" rel="smarttag" rev="871" data-airgap-id="83">Dan Fitzgerald</a></dfn> &nbsp; "We are never out of the fight. We know that we put up a bunch of runs up the first two days and even yesterday against them. Fitz brought us in right away and said, 'Hey, we've been here before, just get some runs going and get into their bullpen'. That was the game plan, and it worked to perfection." &ndash;&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/brady-counsell/16135" rel="smarttag" rev="16135" data-airgap-id="84">Brady Counsell</a></dfn> &nbsp; "Anytime you get punched in the teeth like that it's more about how you respond. It's important to keep tacking on runs and sticking to what we do. I think we did that really well. We had some shots early to tack on some more runs and we didn't come through, but we didn't give up and we took it pitch-to-pitch." &ndash;&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/jackson-hauge/16155" rel="smarttag" rev="16155" data-airgap-id="85">Jackson Hauge</a></dfn> &nbsp; &bull; Kansas is off to its best start in program history and improved to 14-1 on the season. &bull; Kansas recorded its third series sweep of the season (at Texas A&amp;M-Corpus Christi and at Tarleton State). &bull; Kansas now has three walk-off wins this season. &bull; Kansas is 2-0 in extra innings this season. &bull; Hauge hit his team-high seventh home run of the season. &bull; Counsell blasted his third home run of the season. &bull; Ballinger has reached base safely in all 15 games this season. &bull;&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/eric-lin/16158" rel="smarttag" rev="16158" data-airgap-id="86">Eric Lin</a></dfn>&nbsp;earned his first win as a Jayhawk. &nbsp; UP NEXT Kansas heads on the road to play a two-game midweek series against Minnesota. The midweek series will be played at U.S. Bank Stadium, home of the Minnesota Vikings. Tuesday's game is set for 6 p.m. CT and Wednesday's first pitch will be at 1 p.m. CT.</div>

⚾ KU walks off Milwaukee for series sweep

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741567713684.png" alt="Photo Courtesy Kansas Athletics" />
 <figcaption>Photo Courtesy Kansas Athletics</figcaption>
 </figure><div>Kansas Athletics
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WACO, Texas&nbsp;&ndash; Kansas softball secured its first series win of the season with a dominant 12-2 victory over Baylor on Sunday, March 9, winning the series 2-1. Multiple players contributed to the win, helping Kansas earn its 12th victory of the season. "We really challenged our offense today. We needed to do better than just three hits like yesterday, and we needed some timely hits. Players really stepped up for us. Bruno was a big spark early on, and then&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/softball/roster/emma-tatum/6927" rel="smarttag" rev="6927" data-airgap-id="72">Emma Tatum</a></dfn>&nbsp;came through with a big home run when we needed it," said Head Coach&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/softball/roster/coaches/jennifer-mcfalls/526" rel="smarttag" rev="526" data-airgap-id="73">Jennifer McFalls</a></dfn>. "Overall, it was a great team performance. Sundays are tough, and day three is hard&mdash;it's all about mental toughness. From the start of the game, I felt like we had a different mindset today. It's huge to get that first conference series win, especially against a good Baylor team. This victory gives us confidence as we move forward, and having that first series win behind us is really important." Kansas started at the plate but struggled to generate offense in the early innings. However, the Jayhawks' defense stepped up, keeping Baylor off the scoreboard through the first two frames. In the third inning, Kansas broke through as junior&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/softball/roster/aynslee-linduff/6968" rel="smarttag" rev="6968" data-airgap-id="74">Aynslee Linduff</a></dfn>&nbsp;delivered a two-run RBI, giving the Jayhawks a 2-0 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, Kansas made a pitching change, bringing in senior&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/softball/roster/katie-brooks/6906" rel="smarttag" rev="6906" data-airgap-id="75">Katie Brooks</a></dfn>&nbsp;to replace junior&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/softball/roster/lizzy-ludwig/6881" rel="smarttag" rev="6881" data-airgap-id="76">Lizzy Ludwig</a></dfn>. Brooks came up big, ending the inning with a clutch strikeout to escape a bases-loaded jam. Although Baylor managed to push one run across, Kansas still held a 2-1 advantage after three innings. The Jayhawks responded in the fourth when junior&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/softball/roster/emma-tatum/6927" rel="smarttag" rev="6927" data-airgap-id="77">Emma Tatum</a></dfn>&nbsp;launched a two-run homer, extending the lead to 4-1. The momentum continued in the fifth as senior&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/softball/roster/olivia-bruno/6949" rel="smarttag" rev="6949" data-airgap-id="78">Olivia Bruno</a></dfn>&nbsp;crushed a two-run home run to left-center, pushing the Kansas lead to 6-1. Kansas tacked on another run via a bases-loaded walk, making it 7-2 heading into the sixth inning. Kansas put the game out of reach in the sixth, erupting for five runs in the frame. The highlight of the inning came from Tatum, who smashed a three-run double to cap off the scoring. The Jayhawks secured the 12-2 run-rule victory, marking a statement win over Baylor. This victory marked Kansas' first win in a conference opener since 2019. Additionally, the Jayhawks' 12-2 win over Baylor marked their largest margin of victory against the Big 12 opponent. Pitchers of Record Win:&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/softball/roster/katie-brooks/6906" rel="smarttag" rev="6906" data-airgap-id="79">Katie Brooks</a></dfn>&nbsp;(3-1) Line: 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 3 SO Loss: Sadie Ross (2-5) Line: 3.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 2 SO Up Next Kansas concluded its 20-game extended road trip and will open its home schedule with a midweek game against Wichita State, set for 5 p.m. CT on Wednesday, at Arrocha Ballpark. The game can be streamed on ESPN+. Notables:
<ul>
<li>The series win against Baylor marked Kansas' first victory in a conference opener since 2019.</li>
<li>&nbsp;It is the first time in program history that Kansas softball has won a series against Baylor in back-to-back seasons.</li>
<li>&nbsp;Junior&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/softball/roster/emma-tatum/6927" rel="smarttag" rev="6927" data-airgap-id="80">Emma Tatum</a></dfn>&nbsp;continues to surpass her career high in home runs, adding another in the third game of the series. This marks her third of the season.</li>
<li>Senior&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/softball/roster/olivia-bruno/6949" rel="smarttag" rev="6949" data-airgap-id="81">Olivia Bruno</a></dfn>&nbsp;added another home run to her career, marking her fourth of the season.</li>
<li>&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/softball/roster/karsen-griggs/15854" rel="smarttag" rev="15854" data-airgap-id="82">Karsen Griggs</a></dfn>&nbsp;earned her first hit, double, and RBI on the season</li>
<li>&nbsp;The Jayhawks scored 12 runs against the Bears in the final game on Sunday, March 9, while holding Baylor to just two. This marked their largest margin of victory against the Big 12 opponent.</li>
<li>Kansas played only six innings against the Bears, securing a run-rule victory&mdash;the first time the Jayhawks have achieved this feat against Baylor.&nbsp;</li>
</ul></div>

🥎 KU dominates Baylor for series win in Waco

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741568457650.png" alt="Photo Courtesy Wichita State Athletics" />
 <figcaption>Photo Courtesy Wichita State Athletics</figcaption>
 </figure><div>Wichita State Athletics
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BOCA RATON, Fla. &ndash;&nbsp;Wichita State was blanked in the series finale of its conference-opening series&nbsp;by the No. 24 Florida Atlantic Owls, 5-0, on Sunday afternoon at FAU Softball Stadium. &nbsp; The Sunday loss marked the first time the Shockers (10-12) have been swept in a series by a conference opponent since 2015. &nbsp; In game three of the series, the Owls once again were the ones to open the scoring, hitting a two-run homer to right field in the bottom of the first to take the early lead. The first home run of the series for either team. &nbsp; In the fourth, the&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/softball/roster/camryn-compton/9311" rel="smarttag" rev="9311" data-airgap-id="58">Camryn Compton</a></dfn>&nbsp;nearly tied the game via a two-run home run to left, but the ball was caught just in front of the wall to end the Shocker threat. &nbsp; Looking for insurance in the sixth, the Owls came up with a big hit again, lifting a three-run home run to left to blow the game open, taking a 5-0 lead. &nbsp; The 5-0 score held as the Shockers were unable to score in the seventh. &nbsp; Starter&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/softball/roster/ava-sliger/9327" rel="smarttag" rev="9327" data-airgap-id="59">Ava Sliger</a></dfn>&nbsp;suffered the loss in her 2.0 innings of work, her first time being saddled with a loss this season. &nbsp; <dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/softball/roster/jodie-epperson/9323" rel="smarttag" rev="9323" data-airgap-id="60">Jodie Epperson</a></dfn>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/softball/roster/lauren-lucas/9314" rel="smarttag" rev="9314" data-airgap-id="61">Lauren Lucas</a></dfn>&nbsp;were the only two Shockers to record hits in the game. &nbsp; Next Up The Shockers travel to Lawrence, Kan., to face the hometown Jayhawks on Wednesday, March 12 at 6:00 PM CT.
&nbsp;</div>

🥎 Shockers swept by No. 24 FAU

The Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) has released it's state basketball brackets for class 6A through class 1A Division II.&nbsp;

See below for all of the state qualifiers, with the Hutch Post area teams highlighted.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741095160913.jpeg" alt="Photo Courtesy KSHSAA" />
 <figcaption>Photo Courtesy KSHSAA</figcaption>
 </figure>The Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) has released it's state basketball brackets for class 6A through class 1A Division II.&nbsp;<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">2025 State Basketball is set!<a href="https://t.co/okKPw3UhCC">https://t.co/okKPw3UhCC</a> <a href="https://t.co/cQFP6DseKJ">pic.twitter.com/cQFP6DseKJ</a>&mdash; KSHSAA (@KSHSAA) <a href="https://twitter.com/KSHSAA/status/1898613457177493965?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>See below for all of the state qualifiers, with the Hutch Post area teams highlighted.Girls<div>Class 6A
Derby
Blue Valley North
Olathe North
Olathe South
Olathe West
Washburn Rural
Wichita East
Wichita Heights
&nbsp;
Class 5A
Andover
Hays
KC Piper
Maize South
Spring Hill
St. James Academy
St. Thomas Aquinas
Topeka Seaman
&nbsp;
Class 4A
Andale
Bishop Miege
Buhler
Clay Center
Eudora
Labette County
Topeka Hayden
Wellington
&nbsp;
Class 3A
Colby
Girard
Halstead
Hesston
Holcomb
Neodesha
Osage City
Silver Lake
&nbsp;
Class 2A
Chase County
Doniphan West
Hays-Thomas More Prep-Marian
Inman
Moundridge
Phillipsburg
Pittsburg-St. Mary's Colgan
Valley Heights
&nbsp;
Class 1A - Division I
Centralia
Central Plains
Colony-Crest
Little River
Quinter
South Gray
St. John-Hudson
Troy
&nbsp;
Class 1A - Division II
Attica
Bucklin
Hanover
Hodgeman County
Lebo
Linn
Sharon Springs-Wallace County
South Haven
&nbsp;</div>Boys<div>Class 6A&nbsp;
Derby
Maize
Mill Valley
Olathe North
Shawnee Mission South
Shawnee Mission Northwest
Washburn Rural
Wichita Heights
&nbsp;
Class 5A
Andover
Andover Central
Bonner Springs
Kapaun Mt. Carmel
KC Piper
Shawnee Heights
Topeka Highland Park
Topeka West
&nbsp;
Class 4A
Abilene
Andale
Atchison
Baldwin
McPherson
Pratt
Ottawa
St. George-Rock Creek
&nbsp;
Class 3A
Bishop Ward
Burlington
Galena
Cheney
Goodland
Hesston
Lakin
Silver Lake
&nbsp;
Class 2A
Chase County
Ell-Saline
Moundridge
Pittsburg-St. Mary's Colgan
Rossville
Sterling
Syracuse
Valley&nbsp;Falls
&nbsp;
Class 1A - Division I
Central Plains
Clifton-Clyde
Frankfort
Little River
Olpe
Quinter
South Central
South Gray
&nbsp;
Class 1A - Division II
Axtell
Bucklin
Cunningham
Dighton
Hanover
Hutchinson-Central Christian School
Lebo
McPherson-Elyria Christian</div>

🏀 KSHSAA releases state tournament brackets

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741530418622.png" alt="Photo Courtesy Big 12 Conference" />
 <figcaption>Photo Courtesy Big 12 Conference</figcaption>
 </figure><div>Big 12 Conference
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The bracket is set for the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men&rsquo;s Basketball Championship, held March 11-15 at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. Houston, who matched a Conference record by winning the regular season title by four games, earned the top seed with a 19-1 record. The 2025 event marks the first with 16 schools and is the 25th&nbsp;time Kansas City has served as host. &nbsp; No. 2 seed Texas Tech (15-5), No. 3 seed Arizona (14-6) and No. 4 seed BYU (14-6) earned the remainder of the coveted double-byes and will start their postseason in the quarterfinals on March 13. No. 5 Iowa State (13-7), No. 6 Kansas (11-9), No. 7 Baylor (10-10) and No. 8 West Virginia (10-10) each earned byes, allowing teams to skip the first round and begin play on March 12. &nbsp; The event begins with No. 12 Oklahoma State (7-13) facing No. 13 Cincinnati (7-13) at 11:30 a.m. CT/12:30 p.m. ET on March 11, followed by No. 9 TCU (9-11) taking on No. 16 Colorado (3-17) at 2 p.m. CT/1 p.m. MDT. No. 10 Kansas State (9-11) plays No. 15 Arizona State (4-16) at 6 p.m. CT/4 p.m. MST followed by No. 11 Utah (8-12) against No. 14 UCF (7-13) at 8:30 p.m. CT/7:30 p.m. MDT/9:30 p.m. ET. &nbsp; Single-session&nbsp;tickets, including premium options, for the event remain on sale. Premium options include the Championship Club, Konica Minolta Founders Club, The Lounge and Modelo Courtside Lounge. Tickets are available&nbsp;<a title="Original URL: https://www.axs.com/events/829763/2025-big-12-men-s-basketball-championship-all-session-tickets?skin=tmobilecenter&amp;tags=tmobilecenterweb. Click or tap if you trust this link." href="https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.axs.com%2Fevents%2F829763%2F2025-big-12-men-s-basketball-championship-all-session-tickets%3Fskin%3Dtmobilecenter%26tags%3Dtmobilecenterweb&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cdwaxman%40Big12Sports.com%7Cd87fc73b7d6d42e114a608dd542cfa47%7Cd6ecef26f0b94b558a3f3d8f0af048ea%7C0%7C0%7C638759274336621229%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=kCjeDliASPSHCdoZnwziJINRvl2vSK3MDUGahwh%2F8YY%3D&amp;reserved=0">here</a>. &nbsp; &nbsp; 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men&rsquo;s Basketball Championship Schedule (<a href="https://big12sports.com/documents/2025/3/8//2025_Phillips_66_Big_12_Men_s_Basketball_Championship_Bracket.pdf?id=7685">Printable Bracket</a>) First Round &ndash; Tuesday, March 11 Session 1 Game 1 - No. 12 Oklahoma State vs. No. 13 Cincinnati - 11:30 a.m. CT/12:30 p.m. ET &ndash; ESPN+ Game 2 &ndash; No. 9 TCU vs. No. 16 Colorado - 2 p.m. CT/1 p.m. MT &ndash; ESPN+ Session 2 Game 3 &ndash; No. 10 K-State vs. No. 15 Arizona State - 6 p.m. CT/4 p.m. MST &ndash; ESPN+ Game 4 &ndash; No. 11 Utah vs. No. 14 UCF - 8:30 p.m. CT/7:30 p.m. MDT/9:30 p.m. ET &ndash; ESPN+ Second Round &ndash; Wednesday, March 12 Session 3 Game 5 &ndash; No. 5 Iowa State vs. Winner of Game 1 - 11:30 a.m. CT Game 6 &ndash; No. 8 West Virginia vs. Winner of Game 2 - 2 p.m. CT/3 p.m. ET Session 4 Game 7 &ndash; No. 7 Baylor vs. Winner of Game 3 - 6 p.m. CT Game 8 &ndash; No. 6 Kansas vs. Winner of Game 4 - 8:30 p.m. CT Quarterfinals &ndash; Thursday, March 13 Session 5 Game 9 &ndash; No. 4 BYU vs. Winner of Game 5 - 11:30 a.m. CT/10:30 a.m. MDT Game 10 &ndash; No. 1 Houston vs. Winner of Game 6 - 2 p.m. CT Session 6 Game 11 &ndash; No. 2 Texas Tech vs. Winner of Game 7 - 6 p.m. CT Game 12 &ndash; No. 3 Arizona vs. Winner of Game 8 - 8:30 p.m. CT/6:30 p.m. MST Semifinals &ndash; Friday, March 14 Session 7 Game 13 &ndash; Winner of Game 9 vs. Winner of Game 10 - 6 p.m. CT Game 14 &ndash; Winner of Game 11 vs. Winner of Game 12 - 8:30 p.m. CT Final &ndash; Saturday, March 15 Session 8 Game 15 &ndash; Winner of Game 13 vs. Winner of Game 14 - 5 p.m. CT</div>

🏀 Bracket set for Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Championship

LeBron James has 'not much concern' after exiting loss to Celtics with late groin injury

BOSTON (AP) — LeBron James didn't sound overly concerned about the strained groin that he suffered in the waning minutes of Los Angeles' loss to Boston. He also wasn't willing to put a timetable on how fast he could be back on the court as the Lakers look to maintain their recent surge in the standings. He said his first thoughts went to his first season in Los Angeles in 2018 when he suffered a groin injury during a Christmas Day matchup with Golden State. He missed the next 17 games and the injury bothered him for most of the remainder of the season. The good news is he doesn't believe this latest injury is as severe as the 2018 one. For how he's day-to-day as the Lakers enter pivotal upcoming stretch.

Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy released after Texas district attorney declines to pursue charges

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Xavier Worthy was released Saturday after a district attorney in Texas declined to pursue charges against the Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver following an arrest in which he had been accused of felony domestic violence. Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick told the Austin American-Statesman his office had spoken with witnesses and was not accepting the case. Dick also said Worthy and his lawyers were fully cooperating with the investigation. In a statement, Worthy's attorneys said their client was innocent of the charge against him. Williamson County includes parts of Austin, where Worthy played college football at the University of Texas.

Magomed Ankalaev wins undisputed light heavyweight belt with unanimous decision over Alex Pereira

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Magomed Ankalaev scored a stunning upset with a unanimous decision to take Alex Pereira's undisputed light heavyweight belt at UFC313. All three judges scored in favor of Ankalaev (21-1-1), with scores of 29-26 and two at 28-27. In the co-main event, the No. 3-ranked lightweight and fan favorite Justin Gaethje (27-5-0) earned a unanimous decision over No. 11 Rafael Fiziev (12-4-0). Gaethje was scheduled to fight Dan Hooker, who pulled out because of a hand injury. Gatheje dropped Fiziev with a stiff right uppercut in the second round.

Warriors star Stephen Curry reaches 25,000 career points

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stephen Curry became the 26th player in NBA history to score 25,000 career points, reaching the milestone during the third quarter of the Golden State Warriors' 115-110 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Saturday night. "BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!" Curry yelled while running back through the hallway to the locker room following a quick return to the court postgame — a tribute to Draymond Green's signature celebration of making a 3. Curry surpassed 25,000 on a 3-pointer with 8:32 left in the third and received a warm ovation during a timeout with 5:42 to go. Curry has 25,017 career points.

Super Bowl stars Josh Sweat and Milton Williams headline a list of NFL free agents

NFL teams can start reshaping their rosters by signing free agents this week. There's plenty of attention on the quarterbacks, including Sam Darnold, Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. Aaron Rodgers technically isn't a free agent but the New York Jets already said they plan to release him so he's free to find a new team. Agents can start negotiating with teams at noon EDT Monday when the legal tampering period opens. Players can't officially sign new deals until the start of the league's new year at 4 p.m. EDT Wednesday.

Bubble watch: Georgia is in position to end 10-year NCAA Tournament drought after beating Vanderbilt

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Georgia may have ended its 10-year NCAA Tournament drought by beating Vanderbilt 79-68. In one of several games on Saturday involving teams perceived to be on the NCAA bubble, the Bulldogs improved to 20-11 overall and may have ended any remaining doubt about their hopes to make the NCAA field for the first time since 2015. In another Southeastern Conference game with NCAA implications, Arkansas edged No. 25 Mississippi State 93-92. Also, Wake Forest improved its fading NCAA hopes by beating Georgia Tech 69-43. Indiana beat Ohio State 66-60 in a Big Ten matchup of two bubble teams.

Tatum scores 40, Celtics beat Lakers 111-101 after James leaves late with groin injury

BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum had 40 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists, and the Boston Celtics held off a late rally to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 111-101. Jaylen Brown added 31 points as the Celtics earned their fourth straight victory. With LeBron James in the locker room with a strained groin, the Lakers cut a 20-point, fourth-quarter deficit to single digits. But Tatum and Brown scored Boston's final 12 points to preserve the win. The loss stopped Los Angeles' win streak at eight games. Doncic had 34 points and eight rebounds in his first game in Boston since he and the Dallas Mavericks' Game 5 loss to the Celtics in last season's NBA Finals. James finished with 22 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists.

March Madness: Omaha headed to 1st NCAA Tournament, even with a loss in Summit League final

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Omaha is headed to its first NCAA Tournament — even if the Mavericks lose the Summit League championship game. Omaha will play St. Thomas in the tournament final Sunday night, but St. Thomas is ineligible for the NCAA Tournament while completing its transition to Division I. That means Omaha will receive the league's automatic bid no matter the result, because the Mavericks won the regular-season conference title. Tony Osburn scored 30 points in Omaha's 100-75 victory over South Dakota in the semifinals Saturday night. St. Thomas beat North Dakota 85-69. Playing its 14th season since moving up to Division I status, Omaha is in the Summit League championship game for the third time but has never won it.

No. 6 St. John's preps for March Madness with Pitino's 'favorite win of the season by far'

MILWAUKEE (AP) — St. John's coach Rick Pitino wanted his Red Storm to close the regular season with the kind of challenge they could expect to face in the NCAA Tournament. They got all that and then some Saturday. And they responded by producing perhaps their most thrilling victory in a season full of memorable moments. Zuby Ejiofor hit a game-winning shot to beat the overtime buzzer as the sixth-ranked Red Storm beat No. 20 Marquette 86-84 for their sixth straight victory. Not a bad way to head into March Madness.

Mikaela Shiffrin slips from first-run lead to place 3rd in World Cup slalom won by Katharina Truppe

ARE, Sweden (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin let a slalom win slip away Sunday yet set an all-time World Cup record with her 156th finish on a race podium. Shiffrin raced through steady falling snow with a first-run lead in Are, Sweden yet was only 25th-fastest in the second run. Shiffrin finished in third place trailing 0.19 seconds behind the winner Katharina Truppe. Katharina Liensberger was second, 0.05 behind her Austria teammate. Shiffrin said "Katharina Day!" as she hugged the two racers who beat her. Shiffrin's 156th top-3 result in her World Cup career breaks a tie with Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark.

Here are the scores from yesterday's sports events:

Final	Chicago White Sox	5	L.A. Dodgers	2	

Final	Arkansas	93	(25)Mississippi St.	92	

Final	D.C. United	2	Sporting Kansas City	1	

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/12/1701494597443.png" alt="Sports Headlines and News.png" />
 <figcaption>Sports Headlines and News.png</figcaption>
 </figure>AP Sports Summary for March 9th, 2025:LeBron James has 'not much concern' after exiting loss to Celtics with late groin injuryBOSTON (AP) — LeBron James didn't sound overly concerned about the strained groin that he suffered in the waning minutes of Los Angeles' loss to Boston. He also wasn't willing to put a timetable on how fast he could be back on the court as the Lakers look to maintain their recent surge in the standings. He said his first thoughts went to his first season in Los Angeles in 2018 when he suffered a groin injury during a Christmas Day matchup with Golden State. He missed the next 17 games and the injury bothered him for most of the remainder of the season. The good news is he doesn't believe this latest injury is as severe as the 2018 one. For how he's day-to-day as the Lakers enter pivotal upcoming stretch.Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy released after Texas district attorney declines to pursue chargesAUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Xavier Worthy was released Saturday after a district attorney in Texas declined to pursue charges against the Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver following an arrest in which he had been accused of felony domestic violence. Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick told the Austin American-Statesman his office had spoken with witnesses and was not accepting the case. Dick also said Worthy and his lawyers were fully cooperating with the investigation. In a statement, Worthy's attorneys said their client was innocent of the charge against him. Williamson County includes parts of Austin, where Worthy played college football at the University of Texas.Magomed Ankalaev wins undisputed light heavyweight belt with unanimous decision over Alex PereiraLAS VEGAS (AP) — Magomed Ankalaev scored a stunning upset with a unanimous decision to take Alex Pereira's undisputed light heavyweight belt at UFC313. All three judges scored in favor of Ankalaev (21-1-1), with scores of 29-26 and two at 28-27. In the co-main event, the No. 3-ranked lightweight and fan favorite Justin Gaethje (27-5-0) earned a unanimous decision over No. 11 Rafael Fiziev (12-4-0). Gaethje was scheduled to fight Dan Hooker, who pulled out because of a hand injury. Gatheje dropped Fiziev with a stiff right uppercut in the second round.Warriors star Stephen Curry reaches 25,000 career pointsSAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stephen Curry became the 26th player in NBA history to score 25,000 career points, reaching the milestone during the third quarter of the Golden State Warriors' 115-110 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Saturday night. "BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!" Curry yelled while running back through the hallway to the locker room following a quick return to the court postgame — a tribute to Draymond Green's signature celebration of making a 3. Curry surpassed 25,000 on a 3-pointer with 8:32 left in the third and received a warm ovation during a timeout with 5:42 to go. Curry has 25,017 career points.Super Bowl stars Josh Sweat and Milton Williams headline a list of NFL free agentsNFL teams can start reshaping their rosters by signing free agents this week. There's plenty of attention on the quarterbacks, including Sam Darnold, Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. Aaron Rodgers technically isn't a free agent but the New York Jets already said they plan to release him so he's free to find a new team. Agents can start negotiating with teams at noon EDT Monday when the legal tampering period opens. Players can't officially sign new deals until the start of the league's new year at 4 p.m. EDT Wednesday.Bubble watch: Georgia is in position to end 10-year NCAA Tournament drought after beating VanderbiltATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Georgia may have ended its 10-year NCAA Tournament drought by beating Vanderbilt 79-68. In one of several games on Saturday involving teams perceived to be on the NCAA bubble, the Bulldogs improved to 20-11 overall and may have ended any remaining doubt about their hopes to make the NCAA field for the first time since 2015. In another Southeastern Conference game with NCAA implications, Arkansas edged No. 25 Mississippi State 93-92. Also, Wake Forest improved its fading NCAA hopes by beating Georgia Tech 69-43. Indiana beat Ohio State 66-60 in a Big Ten matchup of two bubble teams.Tatum scores 40, Celtics beat Lakers 111-101 after James leaves late with groin injuryBOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum had 40 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists, and the Boston Celtics held off a late rally to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 111-101. Jaylen Brown added 31 points as the Celtics earned their fourth straight victory. With LeBron James in the locker room with a strained groin, the Lakers cut a 20-point, fourth-quarter deficit to single digits. But Tatum and Brown scored Boston's final 12 points to preserve the win. The loss stopped Los Angeles' win streak at eight games. Doncic had 34 points and eight rebounds in his first game in Boston since he and the Dallas Mavericks' Game 5 loss to the Celtics in last season's NBA Finals. James finished with 22 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists.March Madness: Omaha headed to 1st NCAA Tournament, even with a loss in Summit League finalSIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Omaha is headed to its first NCAA Tournament — even if the Mavericks lose the Summit League championship game. Omaha will play St. Thomas in the tournament final Sunday night, but St. Thomas is ineligible for the NCAA Tournament while completing its transition to Division I. That means Omaha will receive the league's automatic bid no matter the result, because the Mavericks won the regular-season conference title. Tony Osburn scored 30 points in Omaha's 100-75 victory over South Dakota in the semifinals Saturday night. St. Thomas beat North Dakota 85-69. Playing its 14th season since moving up to Division I status, Omaha is in the Summit League championship game for the third time but has never won it.No. 6 St. John's preps for March Madness with Pitino's 'favorite win of the season by far'MILWAUKEE (AP) — St. John's coach Rick Pitino wanted his Red Storm to close the regular season with the kind of challenge they could expect to face in the NCAA Tournament. They got all that and then some Saturday. And they responded by producing perhaps their most thrilling victory in a season full of memorable moments. Zuby Ejiofor hit a game-winning shot to beat the overtime buzzer as the sixth-ranked Red Storm beat No. 20 Marquette 86-84 for their sixth straight victory. Not a bad way to head into March Madness.Mikaela Shiffrin slips from first-run lead to place 3rd in World Cup slalom won by Katharina TruppeARE, Sweden (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin let a slalom win slip away Sunday yet set an all-time World Cup record with her 156th finish on a race podium. Shiffrin raced through steady falling snow with a first-run lead in Are, Sweden yet was only 25th-fastest in the second run. Shiffrin finished in third place trailing 0.19 seconds behind the winner Katharina Truppe. Katharina Liensberger was second, 0.05 behind her Austria teammate. Shiffrin said "Katharina Day!" as she hugged the two racers who beat her. Shiffrin's 156th top-3 result in her World Cup career breaks a tie with Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark.AP-ScorecardHere are the scores from yesterday's sports events:___INTERLEAGUEFinal	Philadelphia	5	Toronto	4	Final	San Francisco	7	Kansas City	3	Final	San Diego	7	Cleveland	2	Final	Chicago Cubs	9	Seattle	8	Final	Chicago White Sox	5	L.A. Dodgers	2	Final	L.A. Angels	6	Milwaukee	2	Final	Athletics	8	Colorado	1	Final	Athletics	4	Arizona	2	___AMERICAN LEAGUEFinal	Toronto	5	Detroit	0	Final	Tampa Bay	6	Baltimore	3	Final	Minnesota	9	Boston	8	Final	Texas	5	Kansas City	3	Final	Houston	5	N.Y. Yankees	2	___NATIONAL LEAGUEFinal	St. Louis	5	Washington	3	Final	Atlanta	6	Pittsburgh	5	Final	Cincinnati	9	Arizona	8	Final	N.Y. Mets	7	Miami	3	___NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATIONFinal	Charlotte	105	Brooklyn	102	Final	Houston	146	New Orleans	117	Final	Washington	118	Toronto	117	Final	Atlanta	120	Indiana	118	Final	Chicago	114	Miami	109	Final	Orlando	111	Milwaukee	109	Final	Boston	111	L.A. Lakers	101	Final	Golden State	115	Detroit	110	___NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUEFinal	Seattle	4	Philadelphia	1	Final OT	Ottawa	4	N-Y Rangers	3	Final	Boston	4	Tampa Bay	0	Final	Florida	4	Buffalo	0	Final	Calgary	1	Montreal	0	Final	Colorado	7	Toronto	4	Final OT	Nashville	3	Chicago	2	Final OT	Los Angeles	2	St. Louis	1	Final	Edmonton	5	Dallas	4	Final	N-Y Islanders	4	San Jose	2	___TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALLFinal	(7)Alabama	93	(1)Auburn	91	Final	(2)Duke	82	North Carolina	69	Final	(3)Houston	65	Baylor	61	Final	(4)Tennessee	75	South Carolina	65	Final	(5)Florida	90	Mississippi	71	Final	(6)St. John's	86	(20)Marquette	84	Final	(9)Texas Tech	85	Arizona St.	57	Final	(10)Iowa St.	73	Kansas St.	57	Final	(11)Clemson	65	Virginia Tech	47	Final	Penn St.	86	(12)Wisconsin	75	Final	(13)Maryland	74	Northwestern	61	Final	(14)Louisville	68	Stanford	48	Final	(19)Kentucky	91	(15)Missouri	83	Final	(22)Texas A&amp;M	66	LSU	52	Final	(23)BYU	85	Utah	74	Final	Kansas	83	(24)Arizona	76	Final	Arkansas	93	(25)Mississippi St.	92	___MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCERFinal tie	Houston	0	Columbus	0	Final	Seattle	5	Los Angeles FC	2	Final tie	New York	0	Atlanta	0	Final	Cincinnati	2	Toronto FC	0	Final	D.C. United	2	Sporting Kansas City	1	Final	Philadelphia	2	New England	0	Final	New York City FC	2	Orlando City	1	Final	Colorado	1	Austin FC	0	Final	Chicago	3	FC Dallas	1	Final	Nashville	2	Portland	0	Final	San Diego FC	3	Real Salt Lake	1	Final	Vancouver	2	CF Montréal	0	Final	Minnesota	1	San Jose	0	___TODAY'S SPORTS SCHEDULE___INTERLEAGUE		Atlanta	at	Boston	1:05 p.m.			Pittsburgh	at	Detroit	1:05 p.m.			Miami	at	Houston	1:05 p.m.			Baltimore	at	Philadelphia	1:05 p.m.			N-Y Yankees	at	St. Louis	1:05 p.m.			Arizona	at	Athletics	4:05 p.m.			Milwaukee	at	Kansas City	4:05 p.m.			Athletics	at	L-A Dodgers	4:05 p.m.			Texas	at	Arizona	4:10 p.m.			Cincinnati	at	L-A Angels	4:10 p.m.			Colorado	at	Seattle	4:10 p.m.	___AMERICAN LEAGUE		Minnesota	at	Baltimore	1:05 p.m.			Toronto	at	Tampa Bay	1:05 p.m.			Chi White Sox	at	Cleveland	4:05 p.m.	___NATIONAL LEAGUE		Washington	at	N-Y Mets	1:10 p.m.			San Francisco	at	Chi Cubs	4:05 p.m.			San Diego	at	San Francisco	4:05 p.m.	___NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION		Denver	at	Oklahoma City	1 p.m.			Phoenix	at	Dallas	3:30 p.m.			Memphis	at	New Orleans	7 p.m.			Utah	at	Philadelphia	7:30 p.m.			Cleveland	at	Milwaukee	8 p.m.			San Antonio	at	Minnesota	8 p.m.			Detroit	at	Portland	9 p.m.			Sacramento	at	L.A. Clippers	9:30 p.m.	___NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE		New Jersey	at	Philadelphia	1 p.m.			Pittsburgh	at	Minnesota	3:30 p.m.			Seattle	at	Washington	3:30 p.m.			Winnipeg	at	Carolina	5 p.m.			Columbus	at	N-Y Rangers	6 p.m.			Los Angeles	at	Vegas	8 p.m.			Dallas	at	Vancouver	9 p.m.			N-Y Islanders	at	Anaheim	9 p.m.	___TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL		(17)Michigan	at	(8)Michigan St.	12 p.m.	___MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER		Charlotte FC	at	Miami	4 p.m.			St Louis City	at	LA Galaxy	7 p.m.	___

📢📰 Sports Headlines for Sunday

LUBBOCK, Texas – For the second-straight day, Hutchinson Community College sophomore&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/mtrack/2024-25/bios/legrand_leo_gfpl">Leo LeGrand</a>&nbsp;broke a Blue Dragon school record in the 800 meters.

There was an added perk to Saturday's record-breaking run for LeGrand – a national championship.

The sophomore from Mansfield, Texas, became the eighth Blue Dragon in program history to win an NJCAA Indoor national championship, winning the 800-meter run on Saturday at the Texas Tech Sports Performance Center.

LeGrand won the championship with a Blue Dragon-record time of 1 minute, 50.12 seconds. He qualified for Saturday's finals with a Blue Dragon-record of 1:52.40, which was the third-fastest time in Friday's preliminary round.

LeGrand is the first Blue Dragon to win an NJCAA Indoor national championship since 2020 when Andrew Kibet won both the 1,000 meters and Mile run national titles.

LeGrand earned his second first-team All-America award. As a freshman, LeGrand was the national runner-up in the 1,000 meters in 2024.

The Region 6 champion Blue Dragons placed 16th in the 2025 NJCAA Indoor championships with 17 points. South Plains won the men's title with 119.5 points. New Mexico Junior College was second with 86 points. Barton was the top Region 6 team, finishing seventh with 36 points.

Other Blue Dragon performances on Saturday:

+ Sophomore&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/mtrack/2024-25/bios/mangelson_farrin_7y5g">Farrin Mangelson</a>&nbsp;placed 11th the Mile run on Saturday with a time of 4:12.01. That time ranks third in Blue Dragon indoor history.

+ Sophomore&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/mtrack/2024-25/bios/kiprotich_titus_hgfs">Titus Kiprotich</a>&nbsp;placed 16th with a time of 4:15.62.

+ Freshman&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/mtrack/2024-25/bios/parkinson_malique_53uy">Malique Parkinson</a>&nbsp;was 16th in the triple jump with a top jump of 46 feet, 8 3/4 inches (14.24 meters).

The Blue Dragons will open the 2025 outdoor season on Saturday, March 29 at the Mark A. Phillips Classic in Arkansas City.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741533277033.jpeg" alt="Photo Courtesy HutchCC Athletics" />
 <figcaption>Photo Courtesy HutchCC Athletics</figcaption>
 </figure>Hutchinson CC Sports InformationLUBBOCK, Texas – For the second-straight day, Hutchinson Community College sophomore&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/mtrack/2024-25/bios/legrand_leo_gfpl">Leo LeGrand</a>&nbsp;broke a Blue Dragon school record in the 800 meters.There was an added perk to Saturday's record-breaking run for LeGrand – a national championship.The sophomore from Mansfield, Texas, became the eighth Blue Dragon in program history to win an NJCAA Indoor national championship, winning the 800-meter run on Saturday at the Texas Tech Sports Performance Center.LeGrand won the championship with a Blue Dragon-record time of 1 minute, 50.12 seconds. He qualified for Saturday's finals with a Blue Dragon-record of 1:52.40, which was the third-fastest time in Friday's preliminary round.LeGrand is the first Blue Dragon to win an NJCAA Indoor national championship since 2020 when Andrew Kibet won both the 1,000 meters and Mile run national titles.LeGrand earned his second first-team All-America award. As a freshman, LeGrand was the national runner-up in the 1,000 meters in 2024.The Region 6 champion Blue Dragons placed 16th in the 2025 NJCAA Indoor championships with 17 points. South Plains won the men's title with 119.5 points. New Mexico Junior College was second with 86 points. Barton was the top Region 6 team, finishing seventh with 36 points.Other Blue Dragon performances on Saturday:+ Sophomore&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/mtrack/2024-25/bios/mangelson_farrin_7y5g">Farrin Mangelson</a>&nbsp;placed 11th the Mile run on Saturday with a time of 4:12.01. That time ranks third in Blue Dragon indoor history.+ Sophomore&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/mtrack/2024-25/bios/kiprotich_titus_hgfs">Titus Kiprotich</a>&nbsp;placed 16th with a time of 4:15.62.+ Freshman&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/mtrack/2024-25/bios/parkinson_malique_53uy">Malique Parkinson</a>&nbsp;was 16th in the triple jump with a top jump of 46 feet, 8 3/4 inches (14.24 meters).The Blue Dragons will open the 2025 outdoor season on Saturday, March 29 at the Mark A. Phillips Classic in Arkansas City.

👟 LeGrand captures indoor 800-meter national championship

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741533199886.jpeg" alt="Lachlan Rosser tossed a three-hit complete game in the No. 21 Blue Dragons' 11-1 win over Dodge City in the final game of a four-game series with the Conquistadors on Saturday at Hobart-Detter Field. (Sammi Carpenter/Blue Dragon Sports Information)" />
 <figcaption>Lachlan Rosser tossed a three-hit complete game in the No. 21 Blue Dragons' 11-1 win over Dodge City in the final game of a four-game series with the Conquistadors on Saturday at Hobart-Detter Field. (Sammi Carpenter/Blue Dragon Sports Information)</figcaption>
 </figure><div>Hutchinson CC Sports Information
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
The No. 21-ranked Hutchinson Community College baseball team won its seventh-consecutive Jayhawk West series dating back to last season with a doubleheader sweep of the Dodge City Conquistadors.
Sophomore&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/bsb/2024-25/bios/stokes_taber_u8n0">Taber Stokes</a>&nbsp;drove in two runs and scored another as the Blue Dragons defeated Dodge City 5-2 in Game 1 on Saturday at Hobart-Detter Field. The Blue Dragons completed the series win as freshman pitcher&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/bsb/2024-25/bios/rosser_lachlan_s3z7">Lachlan Rosser</a>&nbsp;tossed a three-hit complete game in an 11-1 win in seven innings.
Now 16-3, the Blue Dragons match the best start in program history through 19 games, tying the 2006 Blue Dragons. The Dragons are 3-1 in Jayhawk West play. Hutchinson plays host to the Cowley Tigers at 2 p.m. on Tuesday and will play the Barton Cougars in a four-game Jayhawk West series beginning Thursday at Hobart-Detter Field. Dodge City is now 12-6 and 1-3.
GAME 1 RECAP &ndash; Hutchinson 5, Dodge City 2 Stokes, who went 8 for 13 in the four-game series, started the game off with two-run single in the bottom of the first inning. Stokes then led off the third inning with a triple and scored on a&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/bsb/2024-25/bios/allen_griffin_bmj4">Nick Glantz</a>&nbsp;ground ball for a 3-0 lead.
That gave Blue Dragon pitchers&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/bsb/2024-25/bios/wolcott_jake_0h6q">Jake Wolcott</a>&nbsp;and Collin Flores the run support they needed to get the victory.
Wolcott (2-0) pitched a season-long five innings to earn the victory. He scattered five hits and allowed two runs and two walks with two strikeouts. He pitched with runners on base in every inning, but got out of early jams when catcher&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/bsb/2024-25/bios/mazza_antony_9347">Anthony Mazza</a>&nbsp;threw out two Dodge City base stealers in the second and third innings. The Conquistadors broke through with two runs in the fifth against Wolcott, which cut the Dragon lead to 4-2.
Flores entered the game in the sixth inning and retired all six batters he faced for his first save of the season. Flores had two strikeouts.
Stokes led the Dragons' seven-hit attack going 2 for 3 with a triple, run scored and two RBIs. Mazza went 2 for 3 with a double and triple with a run and RBI. Mazza's fourth-inning triple that scored&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/bsb/2024-25/bios/tygart_baker_ked6">C.J. Reid</a>&nbsp;gave the Dragons a 4-0 lead.
Reid went 2 for 4 with two runs scored and a stolen base.&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/bsb/2024-25/bios/fegen_scotty_n1yk">Scotty Fegen</a>&nbsp;had an RBI single in the sixth to score pinch runner&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/bsb/2024-25/bios/hamrick_cael_iiy0">Cael Hamrick</a>&nbsp;for a 5-2 Dragon lead.
GAME 2 RECAP &ndash; Hutchinson 11, Dodge City 1 (7 innings) Rosser's first start of the season became the first complete game of the season for the Blue Dragons. Rosser allowed just three hits and one earned run, tying a season high for strikeouts with 6.
Rosser (1-1) faced no more than four batters in any one inning. The Dragons got defensive held with an inning-ending double play in the third inning and Mazza throwing out a Conquistador baserunner in the seventh inning.
Offensively the Blue Dragons scored four runs in the first inning.&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/bsb/2024-25/bios/mustow_adam_sf8t">A.J. Mustow</a>&nbsp;had a two-run double, while&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/bsb/2024-25/bios/griffin_leo_z3t1">Leo Griffin</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/bsb/2024-25/bios/allen_griffin_bmj4">Nick Glantz</a>&nbsp;had RBI hits in the inning. The Dragons added three runs in the third inning to take a 7-0 lead.
Mustow had his first career four-hit game going 4 for 4 with two doubles, two RBIs and three runs scored to lead the Blue Dragons.
Griffin went 2 for 4 with a double and two RBIs. Glantz had an RBI double and two sacrifice flies for a three-RBI game going 1 for 3.
The Blue Dragons had 12 hits with six doubles.
The Blue Dragons scored three runs in the seventh to get the game to a run-rule walk-off.&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/bsb/2024-25/bios/maher_quinn_nqj4">Quinn Maher</a>&nbsp;led off the inning with a home run. Stokes added an RBI double and then scored the Dragons' 11th run on Glantz's sacrifice fly.</div>

⚾ Blue Dragons claim series win over Dodge City

LUBBOCK, Texas – Sophomores&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/wtrack/2024-25/bios/green_aiyanna_nkel">Aiyanna Green</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/wtrack/2024-25/bios/picolet_jordan_z3sx">Jordyn Picolet</a>&nbsp;both had Hutchinson Community College women's track and field indoor Top-10 performances on Saturday on the final day of the 2025 NJCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Texas Tech Sports Performance Center.

Green, a sophomore thrower from Hutchinson, had the best Blue Dragon finish of Day 2 with a ninth-place performance in the women's weight throw. Green posted a career-best throw of 50 feet, 6 inches (15.39 meters). That throw ranks third in Blue Dragon women's indoor history.

Picolet, a sophomore distance runner from Council Grove, Kansas, posted the fifth-best time in the women's 1,000-meter run, finishing 12th with a time of 5:18.67.

The Blue Dragons finished in a tie for 25th place with five points. Those points came from Deisheline Mayer Scott and&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/wtrack/2024-25/bios/montaque_janiel_88cd">Janiel Montaque</a>, who placed sixth and seventh, respectively, in the shot put on Friday.

+ Mayer Scott placed 18th in the weight throw with a top throw of 44-0 (13.41 meters).

+ Sophomore&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/wtrack/2024-25/bios/grantham_abigail_40ez">Abigail Grantham</a>&nbsp;was 20th in the 1,000 meters with a time of 5:20.85.

+ Sophomore Laura Avila was 27th in the 1,000 meters in a time of 5:38.88.

Iowa Western won the women's team national championship with 114 points. Barton was the women's national runner-up with 105 points.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741533113944.jpeg" alt="Deisheline Mayer Scott's sixth-place finish in the shot put on Friday led the Blue Dragon women's track and field team this weekend at the 2025 NJCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Lubbock, Texas." />
 <figcaption>Deisheline Mayer Scott's sixth-place finish in the shot put on Friday led the Blue Dragon women's track and field team this weekend at the 2025 NJCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Lubbock, Texas.</figcaption>
 </figure>Hutchinson CC Sports InformationLUBBOCK, Texas – Sophomores&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/wtrack/2024-25/bios/green_aiyanna_nkel">Aiyanna Green</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/wtrack/2024-25/bios/picolet_jordan_z3sx">Jordyn Picolet</a>&nbsp;both had Hutchinson Community College women's track and field indoor Top-10 performances on Saturday on the final day of the 2025 NJCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Texas Tech Sports Performance Center.Green, a sophomore thrower from Hutchinson, had the best Blue Dragon finish of Day 2 with a ninth-place performance in the women's weight throw. Green posted a career-best throw of 50 feet, 6 inches (15.39 meters). That throw ranks third in Blue Dragon women's indoor history.Picolet, a sophomore distance runner from Council Grove, Kansas, posted the fifth-best time in the women's 1,000-meter run, finishing 12th with a time of 5:18.67.The Blue Dragons finished in a tie for 25th place with five points. Those points came from Deisheline Mayer Scott and&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/wtrack/2024-25/bios/montaque_janiel_88cd">Janiel Montaque</a>, who placed sixth and seventh, respectively, in the shot put on Friday.Other Blue Dragon performances on Saturday:+ Mayer Scott placed 18th in the weight throw with a top throw of 44-0 (13.41 meters).+ Sophomore&nbsp;<a href="https://bluedragonsports.com/sports/wtrack/2024-25/bios/grantham_abigail_40ez">Abigail Grantham</a>&nbsp;was 20th in the 1,000 meters with a time of 5:20.85.+ Sophomore Laura Avila was 27th in the 1,000 meters in a time of 5:38.88.Iowa Western won the women's team national championship with 114 points. Barton was the women's national runner-up with 105 points.The Blue Dragons will open the 2025 outdoor season on Saturday, March 29 at the Mark A. Phillips Classic in Arkansas City.

👟 Dragons post two top-10 times on final day at NJCAA indoor 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Hutchinson High School graduate Myles Thompson has delivered big plays in March throughout his basketball career. Now, he'll have the chance to do it on the biggest stage.

Thompson and his Southern Illinois Edwardsville (SIUE) team secured a spot in the NCAA Tournament with a 69-48 win over Southeast Missouri State in the Ohio Valley Conference championship game Saturday in Evansville, Indiana. The Cougars will enter the big dance with a 22-11 record.

Thompson contributed nine points and a team-high seven rebounds in the victory. This is the first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament for the Cougars.

In his first season at SIUE, he has played in 32 games, making one start while averaging 5.6 points and 3.9 rebounds in 18 minutes per game.

Before joining SIUE, Thompson helped lead Barton Community College to the NJCAA Division I national championship last March at Hutchinson Sports Arena. He had a breakout tournament, averaging 20.3 points and 8.3 rebounds, including three 20-point performances in four games as Barton captured its first-ever national title.

Thompson earned first-team all-conference honors and was named to the all-tournament teams for both the Region VI Tournament and the NJCAA National Tournament.

SIUE, an NCAA Division I program in the Ohio Valley Conference, is located in Edwardsville, Illinois. The Cougars are coached by former Butler Community College coach Brian Barone.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741496535304.png" alt="Photo Courtesy SIUE Athletics" />
 <figcaption>Photo Courtesy SIUE Athletics</figcaption>
 </figure><a href="mailto:sean.boston@eaglemedia.com">SEAN BOSTON</a> Hutch PostEVANSVILLE, Ind. — Hutchinson High School graduate Myles Thompson has delivered big plays in March throughout his basketball career. Now, he'll have the chance to do it on the biggest stage.Thompson and his Southern Illinois Edwardsville (SIUE) team secured a spot in the NCAA Tournament with a 69-48 win over Southeast Missouri State in the Ohio Valley Conference championship game Saturday in Evansville, Indiana. The Cougars will enter the big dance with a 22-11 record.Thompson contributed nine points and a team-high seven rebounds in the victory. This is the first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament for the Cougars.In his first season at SIUE, he has played in 32 games, making one start while averaging 5.6 points and 3.9 rebounds in 18 minutes per game.Before joining SIUE, Thompson helped lead Barton Community College to the NJCAA Division I national championship last March at Hutchinson Sports Arena. He had a breakout tournament, averaging 20.3 points and 8.3 rebounds, including three 20-point performances in four games as Barton captured its first-ever national title.Thompson earned first-team all-conference honors and was named to the all-tournament teams for both the Region VI Tournament and the NJCAA National Tournament.SIUE, an NCAA Division I program in the Ohio Valley Conference, is located in Edwardsville, Illinois. The Cougars are coached by former Butler Community College coach Brian Barone.

🏀 Hutch High grad helps SIUE reach NCAA Tournament

The first round of the Region VI men's and women's basketball tournaments are underway with eight games complete, setting up eight quarterfinal games to be played on Tuesday, March 11.

Below you will find scores from the first round and quarterfinal matchups.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741279495945.jpeg" alt="Photo Courtesy NJCAA" />
 <figcaption>Photo Courtesy NJCAA</figcaption>
 </figure>The first round of the Region VI men's and women's basketball tournaments are underway with eight games complete, setting up eight quarterfinal games to be played on Tuesday, March 11.Below you will find scores from the first round and quarterfinal matchups.<div><h1>Region VI Women's First Round (Saturday, March 8)</h1>
No. 5 Cowley 99, No. 12 Independence 58
No. 8 Barton 66, No. 9 Garden City 58
No. 10 Colby 56,&nbsp;No. 7 Cloud County 55
No. 6 Seward County&nbsp;81, No. 11 Pratt 49
&nbsp;
<h1>Region VI Men's First Round (Saturday, March 8)</h1>
No. 11 Cloud County 85,&nbsp;No. 6 Colby 83
No. 5 Butler 95, No. 12 Pratt 78
No. 7 Garden City 88, No. 10 Independence 86 (OT)
No. 9 Dodge City 96,&nbsp;No. 8 Fort Hays Tech NW 82
&nbsp;
<h1>Region VI Women's&nbsp;Second Round (Tuesday, March 11)</h1>
<h3>Games played at higher seeds</h3>
No.&nbsp;1 Dodge City vs.&nbsp;No. 8 Barton, 7 p.m.
No. 2 Hutchinson vs.&nbsp;No. 10 Colby, 5:30 p.m.
No. 3 Coffeyville vs.&nbsp;No. 6 Seward County, 5:30 p.m.
No. 4 Butler vs.&nbsp;No. 5 Cowley, 5:30 p.m.
&nbsp;
<h1>Region VI Men's&nbsp;Second Round (Tuesday, March 11)</h1>
<h3>Games played at higher seeds</h3>
No. 1 Cowley vs.&nbsp;No. 9 Dodge City, 7 p.m.
No. 2 Coffeyville vs.&nbsp;No. 7 Garden City, 7:30 p.m.
No. 3 Barton vs. No. 11 Cloud County, 7 p.m.
No. 4 Hutchinson vs. No. 5 Butler, 7:30 p.m.</div>

🏀 Region VI Tournament first round complete, quarterfinals set

The 56 boys basketball teams that have qualified for the state tournament in their respective classifications are now set. Below you will find each and every qualifier for class 6A through 1A Division II.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741495477130.png" alt="Photo Courtesy @CCS_AD on X" />
 <figcaption>Photo Courtesy @CCS_AD on X</figcaption>
 </figure>The 56 boys basketball teams that have qualified for the state tournament in their respective classifications are now set. Below you will find each and every qualifier for class 6A through 1A Division II.<div>Class 6A&nbsp;
Derby
Maize
Mill Valley
Olathe North
Shawnee Mission South
Shawnee Mission Northwest
Washburn Rural
Wichita Heights
&nbsp;
Class 5A
Andover
Andover Central
Bonner Springs
Kapaun Mt. Carmel
KC Piper
Shawnee Heights
Topeka Highland Park
Topeka West
&nbsp;
Class 4A
Abilene
Andale
Atchison
Baldwin
McPherson
Pratt
Ottawa
St. George-Rock Creek
&nbsp;
Class 3A
Bishop Ward
Burlington
Galena
Cheney
Goodland
Hesston
Lakin
Silver Lake
&nbsp;
Class 2A
Chase County
Ell-Saline
Moundridge
Pittsburg-St. Mary's Colgan
Rossville
Sterling
Syracuse
Valley&nbsp;Falls
&nbsp;
Class 1A - Division I
Central Plains
Clifton-Clyde
Frankfort
Little River
Olpe
Quinter
South Central
South Gray
&nbsp;
Class 1A - Division II
Axtell
Bucklin
Cunningham
Dighton
Hanover
Hutchinson-Central Christian School
Lebo
McPherson-Elyria Christian</div><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741495511925.jpeg" alt="Sterling - Photo Courtesy @sportsinkansas on X" />
 <figcaption>Sterling - Photo Courtesy @sportsinkansas on X</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741495562629.png" alt="McPherson - Photo Courtesy @MHSBullpups on X" />
 <figcaption>McPherson - Photo Courtesy @MHSBullpups on X</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741495812864.png" alt="Moundridge - Photo Courtesy Moundridge MS/HS Academics-Arts-Activities on Facebook" />
 <figcaption>Moundridge - Photo Courtesy Moundridge MS/HS Academics-Arts-Activities on Facebook</figcaption>
 </figure>

🏀 Central Christian School, Sterling highlight area boys state qualifiers

The 56 girls basketball teams that have qualified for the state tournament in their respective classifications are now set. Below you will find each and every qualifier for class 6A through 1A Division II.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741492435091.png" alt="Photo Courtesy @SeuserJ on X" />
 <figcaption>Photo Courtesy @SeuserJ on X</figcaption>
 </figure>The 56 girls basketball teams that have qualified for the state tournament in their respective classifications are now set. Below you will find each and every qualifier for class 6A through 1A Division II.<div>Class 6A
Derby
Blue Valley North
Olathe North
Olathe South
Olathe West
Washburn Rural
Wichita East
Wichita Heights
&nbsp;
Class 5A
Andover
Hays
KC Piper
Maize South
Spring Hill
St. James Academy
St. Thomas Aquinas
Topeka Seaman
&nbsp;
Class 4A
Andale
Bishop Miege
Buhler
Clay Center
Eudora
Labette County
Topeka Hayden
Wellington
&nbsp;
Class 3A
Colby
Girard
Halstead
Hesston
Holcomb
Neodesha
Osage City
Silver Lake
&nbsp;
Class 2A
Chase County
Doniphan West
Hays-Thomas More Prep-Marian
Inman
Moundridge
Phillipsburg
Pittsburg-St. Mary's Colgan
Valley Heights
&nbsp;
Class 1A - Division I
Centralia
Central Plains
Colony-Crest
Little River
Quinter
South Gray
St. John-Hudson
Troy
&nbsp;
Class 1A - Division II
Attica
Bucklin
Hanover
Hodgeman County
Lebo
Linn
Sharon Springs-Wallace County
South Haven
&nbsp;</div><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741492904042.png" alt="Halstead - Photo Courtesy @sportsinkansas on X" />
 <figcaption>Halstead - Photo Courtesy @sportsinkansas on X</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741492704337.png" alt="Hesston - Photo Courtesy @SwatherAD on X" />
 <figcaption>Hesston - Photo Courtesy @SwatherAD on X</figcaption>
 </figure>

🏀 Buhler, Inman highlight area girls state qualifiers

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741493217181.png" alt="Photo Courtesy Kansas Athletics" />
 <figcaption>Photo Courtesy Kansas Athletics</figcaption>
 </figure><div>Kansas Athletics
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
WICHITA, Kan. &ndash;&nbsp;Kansas baseball has claimed its best start to a season in program history as the Jayhawks defeated Milwaukee 9-5 on Saturday afternoon at Equity Bank Park. The Jayhawks are now 13-1 on the season, marking the best 14-game start to a season in school history, and have won five consecutive games. &nbsp; Kansas trailed early in the game but used a three-run fourth inning and three-run fifth to take the lead for the remainder of the game. Senior&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/ian-francis/16139" rel="smarttag" rev="16139" data-airgap-id="71">Ian Francis</a></dfn>&nbsp;led the way offensively with three hits, five RBIs and a run scored. Two of his three hits were doubles and his five RBIs matched his career high. &nbsp; HOW IT HAPPENED &bull; Milwaukee (1-13) scored in the first inning to take an early lead for a second consecutive day. The Panthers scored a run on an RBI groundout. &bull; The Jayhawks tied up the game in the bottom of the first as a balk brought in&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/brady-ballinger/16147" rel="smarttag" rev="16147" data-airgap-id="72">Brady Ballinger</a></dfn>&nbsp;from third base. The score was 1-1 after an inning. &bull; The Panthers took the lead back with solo home runs in the third and fourth innings. Tate Schmidt hit his home run in the third and Cade Palkowski went deep in the fourth. The two solo homers made it 3-1 Milwaukee. &bull; A three-run fourth inning put the Jayhawks ahead 4-3. Francis had an RBI single in the inning and Ballinger hit a two-run single to left center to give Kansas the lead. &bull; Milwaukee evened up the game at 4-4 in the fifth when a run scored on an error. &bull; Kansas answered back with three runs in the bottom of the fifth.&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/sawyer-smith/16138" rel="smarttag" rev="16138" data-airgap-id="73">Sawyer Smith</a></dfn>&nbsp;hit a sac fly to score a run and Francis hit a two-run double to bring the score to 7-4. &bull; Francis came up in the seventh inning and did the same thing as he hit a two-run double down the left field line. That made it 9-4 Kansas. &bull; The Panthers hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth to close out the scoring at 9-5. &nbsp; PITCHERS OF RECORD Win:&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/connor-maggi/16157" rel="smarttag" rev="16157" data-airgap-id="74">Connor Maggi</a></dfn>&nbsp;(2-0) Final line: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO Loss: Logan Schulfer (0-4) Final line: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 7 R, 7 BB, 4 SO &nbsp; PLAYER OF THE GAME <dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/ian-francis/16139" rel="smarttag" rev="16139" data-airgap-id="75">Ian Francis</a></dfn>: The senior transfer from Youngstown State had his best day offensively as a Jayhawk. After a three-hit performance on Friday, Francis had three hits on Saturday. He tied his career high with five RBIs and had a pair of two-run doubles. &nbsp; SOCIAL POST OF THE GAME
<div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" class="" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=%40KUBaseball&amp;dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1898505121874444629&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fkuathletics.com%2Fnews%2F2025%2F3%2F8%2Fbaseball-kansas-off-to-best-start-in-program-history-beat-milwaukee-9-5-2.aspx&amp;sessionId=f16e035dc062395c7bd69b079f6e1a328c120a3b&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px" width="300" height="150" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-tweet-id="1898505121874444629"></iframe></div>
&nbsp; QUOTABLES &amp; NOTABLES "I like that we won and I thought we had some great at-bats when we needed it in the middle. Honestly, I thought our approach early was fine. Their guy did a nice job. He went for a long time and did a nice job. The key to it was you string together runs in the fourth and fifth and we used (<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/alex-breckheimer/16154" rel="smarttag" rev="16154" data-airgap-id="77">Alex Breckheimer</a></dfn>) in the sixth, kind of like a mid-game stop. Breck came in and threw up a zero on the sixth, which we thought just mapping it out was the part of their lineup we wanted him to face. Then, thought Trumper was great for two and then Eric (Lin) did a really nice job. Proud of how we competed. It's baseball, so every game we play there's something to address and something to learn from and we'll certainly learn from this." &ndash; Head Coach&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/dan-fitzgerald/871" rel="smarttag" rev="871" data-airgap-id="78">Dan Fitzgerald</a></dfn> &nbsp; "I think that we all just wake up every day and we show up and put the work in. That's kind of who we are and what we do. Our coaches hold us to a pretty high standard, which I really like. I think all the guys are bought in and it helps us come together and win a lot of baseball games." &ndash;&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/ian-francis/16139" rel="smarttag" rev="16139" data-airgap-id="79">Ian Francis</a></dfn> &nbsp; "We're just sticking to our approach. We're seeing the ball up and we're getting good reports from our coaches. We're just executing the plan they give us." &ndash;&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/brady-ballinger/16147" rel="smarttag" rev="16147" data-airgap-id="80">Brady Ballinger</a></dfn> &nbsp; &bull; Kansas is off to its best start in program history with a 13-1 record. &bull; Kansas has won five consecutive games. &bull; Kansas matched its season high with 10 walks. &bull; Francis matched his career high with five RBIs. &bull; Ballinger has reached base safely in all 14 games this season. &bull;&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/connor-maggi/16157" rel="smarttag" rev="16157" data-airgap-id="81">Connor Maggi</a></dfn>&nbsp;is now 2-0 on the season. &bull;&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/chase-diggins/16124" rel="smarttag" rev="16124" data-airgap-id="82">Chase Diggins</a></dfn>&nbsp;had three walks and three runs scored. &nbsp; UP NEXT Kansas will wrap up its four-game series against Milwaukee on Sunday at Hoglund Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live audio available on the Jayhawk Sports Network.</div>

⚾ KU beats Milwaukee, off to best start in program history

GLEN GRUNWALD Hutch Post

HAYS, Kan. — The Hutchinson High School Salthawk girls' season came to a heartbreaking end in the sub-state championship Friday night, falling to the Hays High Indians 56-17.

The Salthawk boys came up short against Hays on Wednesday night in the first round of sub-state play, seeing a four-point lead slip away in the final quarter as the Indians advanced with a 48-43 win.

Despite the girls' tough loss, the Salthawks had already established themselves as one of the most formidable teams in Kansas, finishing with a 16-8 record and proving they were more than capable of competing with the state’s best.

The Salthawks had an impressive run that included some unforgettable moments. Just as they started the season strong, the Salthawks opened Friday night's game with a brief but promising 4-0 lead, but the Indians’ relentless defense and efficient offense quickly turned the tide.

Still, Hutchinson had already earned its place in the spotlight earlier in the season with a stunning 58-54 victory over the top-ranked Derby Panthers on Valentine’s Day. The win was a statement, as Derby was not only the top team in Class 6A but also ranked No. 1 in the state across all classifications.

Another standout moment came in the first round of sub-state against No. 9 seed Andover Central, where the Salthawks cruised to a 60-37 win. That performance was a testament to the team's depth and resilience, especially with players stepping up in key moments.

But as much as this season was about victories, it was also about the players who made it all possible. Hutchinson will miss the leadership of Grace Posh, a four-year varsity player who scored 971 points in her high school career. Posh’s commitment, skill and competitive spirit will be hard to replace as the team looks to rebuild.

Along with Posh, the Salthawks will say goodbye to senior standouts Lily Rodriguez and Kaia Smith. Smith averaged 13.8 points per game, while Rodriguez was the player who initiated the offense at point guard. Their contributions were invaluable and will leave a lasting mark on Hutchinson basketball. However, their legacy will be carried on by junior starters Ava Krone and Kohlbie Craft. Both have proven themselves as key players and will be instrumental in the team's future.

Sophomore point guard Tenley Keeton and junior shooting guard Clara Ontjes also made a significant impact off the bench this season and will be players to watch moving forward. The Salthawks will look to build on this season’s momentum and develop their younger players as they prepare for next year.

Meanwhile, the Hays High Indians will take their undefeated 22-0 record to Emporia, where they will compete in the Class 5A state tournament for the first time in 29 years. Their victory over Hutchinson solidified their standing as one of the top teams in the state, but Hutchinson’s grit and determination throughout the season showed they were not far behind.

As the Salthawks reflect on a season full of highs and lows, one thing is clear: this group of players, coaches and fans created something special. And while they will miss their seniors, the future is bright for Hutchinson basketball under second-year head coach Kalen Hilst and assistant coaches Shayla DeGarmo-Cruz and Lyric Martin.

The 2024-25 season for the Hutchinson Salthawk boys basketball team was also full of highs and lows. With a final record of 10-11, the team faced numerous challenges but also enjoyed moments of brilliance. Among the most memorable was a dramatic Valentine's Day victory that sent shockwaves through Kansas basketball — a 67-63 win over the undefeated, top-ranked team in Class 6A, which was also No. 1 in the state overall.

The season got off to a rough start as the Salthawks hit a tough stretch in January. A grueling seven-game losing streak, including three losses at the McPherson Invitational, had Hutchinson reeling. That tournament seemed like a microcosm of their entire month: competitive games that ended in heartbreak. The Salthawks went 0-3 at McPherson, but the close losses stung the most. Four of those setbacks in January were by a combined total of just 12 points, underscoring the team’s resilience. Still, the inability to close out opponents left Hutchinson searching for answers.

Despite the adversity, the Salthawks didn’t fold under pressure. The grit they showed during that tough stretch paid off as they managed to string together five consecutive victories. The momentum was palpable, and Hutchinson started to find its rhythm just when it mattered most. This late-season surge gave them confidence heading into their sub-state game against Hays.

Then came the night that changed everything — the unforgettable Feb. 14 upset.

The Hutchinson Salthawks took the court against an undefeated, top-ranked opponent in a game that had all the makings of a David vs. Goliath matchup. Their opponent, a powerhouse with a perfect season record, was expected to dominate. But the Salthawks were not intimidated. With precision shooting, sharp defense and collective willpower, Hutchinson pulled off a stunning 67-63 win.

Led by standout performances from key players, the Salthawks capitalized on every opportunity, making clutch shots and playing tenacious defense down the stretch. The game was tight throughout, with both teams exchanging leads multiple times. But with seconds remaining and the score neck and neck, Hutchinson remained calm under pressure. A pair of crucial free throws and a final defensive stop sealed the win, sending the visiting Hutchinson fan section into a frenzy.

For Hutchinson, it was more than just a win — it was a statement. The Salthawks had proven they could compete with the best. In a season filled with near misses, they showed the heart and determination to fight through any challenge.

That victory over the state’s No. 1 team gave the Salthawks a massive boost in confidence and solidified their place as a team that could never be counted out. With the wind at their backs, Hutchinson entered its sub-state game against Hays with momentum — and while the season ended there, the team's resilience was something its fans would never forget.

As the Salthawks look ahead, they will have to say goodbye to key players who left a lasting impact on the program. Point guard Terrell King, in particular, will be greatly missed. His leadership on the court was invaluable, running the offense with poise and keeping the Salthawks competitive in every game. Alongside him, senior starters Taishaun Govain and Levi Kepler played critical roles, each bringing unique skills and experience. Their contributions, both on and off the court, will be hard to replace.

However, the future looks bright. Sophomore Lamar Govain stepped up in a big way this season, seamlessly taking over a starting role and proving he is more than capable of leading the team moving forward. Along with Danny Boone, who was a consistent force off the bench, sharpshooter Jalen Crable and Tramel Walker, who provided energy and hustle, Hutchinson has a solid foundation to build on.

Head coach Bryan Miller, now in his fifth year, will look to reload and rebuild next season. His experience and leadership have been crucial to the program's development, and with emerging young talent, Miller is confident the Salthawks will remain competitive. While losing several key seniors will create some gaps, the foundation of strong returning players and the promise of future talent should keep Hutchinson in the mix.

Though the 2024-25 season is over, Hutchinson basketball is in good hands. The Salthawks will aim to build on the momentum they’ve created and push for even greater success in the coming years.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741440872076.jpeg" alt="Salthawk Girls vs Hays. for Friday's Sub-State Championship Game" />
 <figcaption>Salthawk Girls vs Hays. for Friday's Sub-State Championship Game</figcaption>
 </figure>GLEN GRUNWALD Hutch PostHAYS, Kan. — The Hutchinson High School Salthawk girls' season came to a heartbreaking end in the sub-state championship Friday night, falling to the Hays High Indians 56-17.The Salthawk boys came up short against Hays on Wednesday night in the first round of sub-state play, seeing a four-point lead slip away in the final quarter as the Indians advanced with a 48-43 win.Despite the girls' tough loss, the Salthawks had already established themselves as one of the most formidable teams in Kansas, finishing with a 16-8 record and proving they were more than capable of competing with the state’s best.The Salthawks had an impressive run that included some unforgettable moments. Just as they started the season strong, the Salthawks opened Friday night's game with a brief but promising 4-0 lead, but the Indians’ relentless defense and efficient offense quickly turned the tide.Still, Hutchinson had already earned its place in the spotlight earlier in the season with a stunning 58-54 victory over the top-ranked Derby Panthers on Valentine’s Day. The win was a statement, as Derby was not only the top team in Class 6A but also ranked No. 1 in the state across all classifications.Another standout moment came in the first round of sub-state against No. 9 seed Andover Central, where the Salthawks cruised to a 60-37 win. That performance was a testament to the team's depth and resilience, especially with players stepping up in key moments.But as much as this season was about victories, it was also about the players who made it all possible. Hutchinson will miss the leadership of Grace Posh, a four-year varsity player who scored 971 points in her high school career. Posh’s commitment, skill and competitive spirit will be hard to replace as the team looks to rebuild.Along with Posh, the Salthawks will say goodbye to senior standouts Lily Rodriguez and Kaia Smith. Smith averaged 13.8 points per game, while Rodriguez was the player who initiated the offense at point guard. Their contributions were invaluable and will leave a lasting mark on Hutchinson basketball. However, their legacy will be carried on by junior starters Ava Krone and Kohlbie Craft. Both have proven themselves as key players and will be instrumental in the team's future.Sophomore point guard Tenley Keeton and junior shooting guard Clara Ontjes also made a significant impact off the bench this season and will be players to watch moving forward. The Salthawks will look to build on this season’s momentum and develop their younger players as they prepare for next year.Meanwhile, the Hays High Indians will take their undefeated 22-0 record to Emporia, where they will compete in the Class 5A state tournament for the first time in 29 years. Their victory over Hutchinson solidified their standing as one of the top teams in the state, but Hutchinson’s grit and determination throughout the season showed they were not far behind.As the Salthawks reflect on a season full of highs and lows, one thing is clear: this group of players, coaches and fans created something special. And while they will miss their seniors, the future is bright for Hutchinson basketball under second-year head coach Kalen Hilst and assistant coaches Shayla DeGarmo-Cruz and Lyric Martin.The 2024-25 season for the Hutchinson Salthawk boys basketball team was also full of highs and lows. With a final record of 10-11, the team faced numerous challenges but also enjoyed moments of brilliance. Among the most memorable was a dramatic Valentine's Day victory that sent shockwaves through Kansas basketball — a 67-63 win over the undefeated, top-ranked team in Class 6A, which was also No. 1 in the state overall.The season got off to a rough start as the Salthawks hit a tough stretch in January. A grueling seven-game losing streak, including three losses at the McPherson Invitational, had Hutchinson reeling. That tournament seemed like a microcosm of their entire month: competitive games that ended in heartbreak. The Salthawks went 0-3 at McPherson, but the close losses stung the most. Four of those setbacks in January were by a combined total of just 12 points, underscoring the team’s resilience. Still, the inability to close out opponents left Hutchinson searching for answers.Despite the adversity, the Salthawks didn’t fold under pressure. The grit they showed during that tough stretch paid off as they managed to string together five consecutive victories. The momentum was palpable, and Hutchinson started to find its rhythm just when it mattered most. This late-season surge gave them confidence heading into their sub-state game against Hays.Then came the night that changed everything — the unforgettable Feb. 14 upset.The Hutchinson Salthawks took the court against an undefeated, top-ranked opponent in a game that had all the makings of a David vs. Goliath matchup. Their opponent, a powerhouse with a perfect season record, was expected to dominate. But the Salthawks were not intimidated. With precision shooting, sharp defense and collective willpower, Hutchinson pulled off a stunning 67-63 win.Led by standout performances from key players, the Salthawks capitalized on every opportunity, making clutch shots and playing tenacious defense down the stretch. The game was tight throughout, with both teams exchanging leads multiple times. But with seconds remaining and the score neck and neck, Hutchinson remained calm under pressure. A pair of crucial free throws and a final defensive stop sealed the win, sending the visiting Hutchinson fan section into a frenzy.For Hutchinson, it was more than just a win — it was a statement. The Salthawks had proven they could compete with the best. In a season filled with near misses, they showed the heart and determination to fight through any challenge.That victory over the state’s No. 1 team gave the Salthawks a massive boost in confidence and solidified their place as a team that could never be counted out. With the wind at their backs, Hutchinson entered its sub-state game against Hays with momentum — and while the season ended there, the team's resilience was something its fans would never forget.As the Salthawks look ahead, they will have to say goodbye to key players who left a lasting impact on the program. Point guard Terrell King, in particular, will be greatly missed. His leadership on the court was invaluable, running the offense with poise and keeping the Salthawks competitive in every game. Alongside him, senior starters Taishaun Govain and Levi Kepler played critical roles, each bringing unique skills and experience. Their contributions, both on and off the court, will be hard to replace.However, the future looks bright. Sophomore Lamar Govain stepped up in a big way this season, seamlessly taking over a starting role and proving he is more than capable of leading the team moving forward. Along with Danny Boone, who was a consistent force off the bench, sharpshooter Jalen Crable and Tramel Walker, who provided energy and hustle, Hutchinson has a solid foundation to build on.Head coach Bryan Miller, now in his fifth year, will look to reload and rebuild next season. His experience and leadership have been crucial to the program's development, and with emerging young talent, Miller is confident the Salthawks will remain competitive. While losing several key seniors will create some gaps, the foundation of strong returning players and the promise of future talent should keep Hutchinson in the mix.Though the 2024-25 season is over, Hutchinson basketball is in good hands. The Salthawks will aim to build on the momentum they’ve created and push for even greater success in the coming years.

🏀 Salthawk teams show grit in tough losses, celebrate a remarkable season

LAWRENCE, Ks. (AP) — Hunter Dickinson matched a career high with 33 points to lead Kansas past&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll">No. 24</a>&nbsp;Arizona 83-76 on Saturday.

Zeke Mayo drilled five three-pointers and had 20 points while KJ Adams Jr. scored 12, including three dunks while the Jayhawks (20-11, 11-9 Big 12) built a 14-point first-half lead.

The Wildcats (20-11, 14-6) rallied for a brief lead before Dickinson took over, scoring 16 in the first half on 8-of-9 shooting, giving the Jayhawks a 39-30 halftime advantage.

Dickinson grabbed 10 rebounds for his 15th double-double of the year. He was 15 of 23 from the floor.

Jaden Bradley led Arizona with 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting and made all seven of his free-throw attempts. Caleb Love had 16 points and Trey Townsend scored 13 off the bench.

As Bradley and Love traded baskets, Arizona erased Kansas’ halftime advantage, taking a short-lived two-point lead at 68-66 with 6:02 to play. The pair combined for 26 second-half points.

Kansas has won 42 consecutive home finales and reached the 20-win mark for the 36th straight year.

Arizona has lost 5 of 8 since a six-game winning streak.

Adams tipped a rebound of Dickinson’s 3-point miss, then dunked an alley-oop pass for a 79-72 lead with 1:22. Adams had four dunks.

Kansas recorded 14 assists against one first-half turnover.

Arizona: Begins Big 12 Tournament play Thursday as the No. 2 or 3 seed.

Kansas: Begins Big 12 Tournament play Tuesday as No. 9 seed or Wednesday as No. 7 or 8 seed.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741477678993.png" alt="Photo Kansas athletics" />
 <figcaption>Photo Kansas athletics</figcaption>
 </figure>LAWRENCE, Ks. (AP) — Hunter Dickinson matched a career high with 33 points to lead Kansas past&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll">No. 24</a>&nbsp;Arizona 83-76 on Saturday.Zeke Mayo drilled five three-pointers and had 20 points while KJ Adams Jr. scored 12, including three dunks while the Jayhawks (20-11, 11-9 Big 12) built a 14-point first-half lead.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741477727642.png" alt="photo Kansas athletics" />
 <figcaption>photo Kansas athletics</figcaption>
 </figure>The Wildcats (20-11, 14-6) rallied for a brief lead before Dickinson took over, scoring 16 in the first half on 8-of-9 shooting, giving the Jayhawks a 39-30 halftime advantage.Dickinson grabbed 10 rebounds for his 15th double-double of the year. He was 15 of 23 from the floor.Jaden Bradley led Arizona with 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting and made all seven of his free-throw attempts. Caleb Love had 16 points and Trey Townsend scored 13 off the bench.As Bradley and Love traded baskets, Arizona erased Kansas’ halftime advantage, taking a short-lived two-point lead at 68-66 with 6:02 to play. The pair combined for 26 second-half points.<h2>Takeaways</h2>Kansas has won 42 consecutive home finales and reached the 20-win mark for the 36th straight year.Arizona has lost 5 of 8 since a six-game winning streak.<h2>Key moment</h2>Adams tipped a rebound of Dickinson’s 3-point miss, then dunked an alley-oop pass for a 79-72 lead with 1:22. Adams had four dunks.<h2>Key stat</h2>Kansas recorded 14 assists against one first-half turnover.<h2>Up next</h2>Arizona: Begins Big 12 Tournament play Thursday as the No. 2 or 3 seed.Kansas: Begins Big 12 Tournament play Tuesday as No. 9 seed or Wednesday as No. 7 or 8 seed.

🏀 Dickinson's 33 points leads Kansas over Arizona 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741493532041.png" alt="Photo Courtesy Kansas State Athletics" />
 <figcaption>Photo Courtesy Kansas State Athletics</figcaption>
 </figure><div>Kansas State Athletics
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MANHATTAN, Kan. &ndash;&nbsp;K-State's five home runs, led by&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/baseball/roster/maximus-martin/12314" rel="smarttag" rev="12314">Maximus Martin's</a></dfn>&nbsp;grand slam in the first inning, powered K-State to a 17-5 walk-off, run-rule victory over William and Mary at Tointon Family Stadium to clinch the weekend series on Saturday. K-State (8-5) tallied season-highs in runs and extra-base hits (8) on its way to winning the first weekend series of the season. Four different Wildcats turned in multi-hit efforts and four carded multiple RBI. The Cats scored multiple runs in four separate frames, including 12 in the game's first three innings. &nbsp;&nbsp; "We're playing with great energy, and that's a difference maker in college baseball," said K-State's head coach&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/pete-hughes/2603" rel="smarttag" rev="2603">Pete Hughes</a></dfn>. "I thought our guys did a great job controlling the energy and tempo of the game and setting the tone. Being consistent scoring four in the first three innings is not an easy task. Really happy with our offensive effort today &ndash; top to bottom. Martin, the Big 12 Player of the Week, became the first Wildcat to turn in a multi-homer game this season with his grand slam and three-run homer in the second. The Edgewater Park, N.J., product drove a game-leading eight runs batted in, finishing 2-for-4. "<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/baseball/roster/maximus-martin/12314" rel="smarttag" rev="12314">Maximus Martin</a></dfn>&nbsp;set the tone for us, obviously. He had a monster day setting the tone like he did yesterday and got our offense going." <dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/baseball/roster/donte-lewis/12313" rel="smarttag" rev="12313">Donte Lewis</a></dfn>&nbsp;(2-0) was awarded the victory in relief, as the true freshman held the Tribe (4-10) to one earned run and allowed just two hits in his 3 1/3 innings of work. Lewis retired 11 of the 13 batters he faced in his fourth outing of the season, striking out a season-high five. K-State starter&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/baseball/roster/michael-quevedo/12322" rel="smarttag" rev="12322">Michael Quevedo</a></dfn>&nbsp;recorded a pair of punch outs on his way to retiring the side in the opening frame. Quevedo's day ended after 3 2/3 innings, with a season-high four earned runs surrendered on six hits. Both pitchers achieved above a 68% strike percentage. <dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/baseball/roster/ty-smolinski/12325" rel="smarttag" rev="12325">Ty Smolinski</a></dfn>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/baseball/roster/bear-madliak/12309" rel="smarttag" rev="12309">Bear Madliak</a></dfn>&nbsp;added to the Cats home run total with their solo shots while&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/baseball/roster/aj-evasco/12312" rel="smarttag" rev="12312">AJ Evasco</a></dfn>, who produced a season-high three hits (3-for-5), rounded out the Cats' home run count with his walk-off, three-run blast in the seventh. &nbsp; Eleven different Wildcats have hit the long ball this season, led by Maritn with five, while it is K-State's first five-home run game since May 31, 2024, against La Tech in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. K-State has homered in nine of 13 games this season, including multiple in six. HOW IT HAPPENED After Quevedo retired the Tribe in order, K-State erupted for four runs in the opening frame. <dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/baseball/roster/nick-english/12292" rel="smarttag" rev="12292">Nick English</a></dfn>&nbsp;was issued a walk to lead off the home half of the inning and advanced to third on a double from&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/baseball/roster/kyan-lodice/12298" rel="smarttag" rev="12298">Kyan Lodice</a></dfn>.&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/baseball/roster/seth-dardar/12320" rel="smarttag" rev="12320">Seth Dardar</a></dfn>&nbsp;was clipped to load the bases and bring Martin to the plate. The junior shortstop turned on a 0-2 pitch and belted his fourth homer of the season into left field to clear the bases and hand K-State a 4-0 lead. WM's Christian Rush tacked a run onto the board with a leadoff solo shot in the second. K-State immediately answered in the bottom of the inning, as Smolinski launched his first collegiate hit and home run out to deep center field. After issuing a pair of walks, WM made a call to the bullpen and bring Daniel Lingle to the mound before Martin shelled his second homer of the game to expand the Cats lead 8-1. With four hits in the third frame, K-State stretched its lead into double figures, 12-1, &nbsp; WM scored three runs in the fourth, highlighted by back-to-back doubles from Owen Wilson and Kevin Francella. Lewis relieved Quevedo in the fourth, inheriting runners on first and second. The freshman from Pearland, Texas fanned the first batter he faced to get out of the jam. &nbsp; Leading 14-5, Evasco delivered his first collegiate three-run homer to center field to seal the walk-off victory. INSIDE THE BOX
<ul>
<li>K-State scored 17 runs on 13 hits, committed one error and left five runners on base.</li>
<li>WM scored five runs on eight hits, while committing two errors with six men left on base.</li>
<li>Eight different players generated a hit, led by Evasco (3-for-5).</li>
<li>Martin drove in a team-leading eight RBI.</li>
<li>Four different players homered &ndash; Maritn (2), Smolinski, Madliak, Evasco.</li>
<li>K-State hit five home runs including two from Martin (grand slam, 3-run).</li>
<li>English drew three walks.</li>
<li>Lewis (2-0) picked up the victory in relief, tossing 3 1/3 innings and allowing one earned run on two hits with five strikeouts.</li>
<li>Quevedo allowed four earned runs in his 3 2/3 inning start.</li>
<li>K-State hit .368 (7-for-19) with runners on and .333 (5-for-15) with men in scoring position.</li>
<li>WM went 4-for-13 (.308) with runners on base and was 1-for-5 in scoring position.</li>
</ul>
NOTES
<ul>
<li>K-State leads the all-time series, 2-0.</li>
<li>The Cats are 7-3 in their last 10 outings, with a four-game winning streak.</li>
<li>Martin becomes the first Wildcat this season to produce a multi-home run game this season (Last:&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/baseball/roster/chuck-ingram/11526" rel="smarttag" rev="11526">Chuck Ingram</a></dfn>&nbsp;vs. La Tech, May 31, 2024).</li>
<li>Martin homered for the third consecutive game with his grand slam, recording the first K-State grand slam (Last:&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/baseball/roster/nick-english/12292" rel="smarttag" rev="12292">Nick English</a></dfn>&nbsp;vs. UMass Lowell on March 2, 2024).</li>
<li>Smolinski became the fourth to make their first collegiate start, and third true freshmen.</li>
<li>K-State has produced multi-home run games in 4 of the last 5 games - six overall on the season.</li>
<li>Cats hit five homers for the first time May 31, 2024 (vs. La Tech).</li>
<li>Eleven different players have homered this season.</li>
</ul>
UP NEXT Sunday's series finale is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Tointon Family Stadium and can be seen on ESPN+, while a free live streaming audio available for all games at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kstatesports.com/watch/?Live=3268&amp;type=Archive">KStateSports.com/watch</a>&nbsp;and on the K-State Sports app. Season and single-game tickets are now available. To purchase season tickets, fans can visit KStateSports.com, call 1-800-221-CATS (2287), or stop by the K-State Athletics Ticket Office in Bramlage Coliseum.</div>

⚾ K-State launches five homers to clinch series

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741493315506.png" alt="Photo Courtesy Kansas Athletics" />
 <figcaption>Photo Courtesy Kansas Athletics</figcaption>
 </figure><div>Kansas Athletics
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WACO, Texas&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;The Jayhawks secured their first conference win of the season with a 3-2 victory over Baylor, evening the series at 1-1 in a game that came down to Baylor's final batter.&nbsp;<a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/softball/roster/olivia-bruno/6949" data-airgap-id="70">Olivia Bruno</a>&nbsp;delivered a standout performance, excelling in pitching, fielding, and crushing a home run that gave Kansas an early lead. "I'm extremely proud of Bruno today. We needed her bat, and she delivered in the first inning with a big two-run bomb that gave us an early lead. But what stood out even more was her performance in the circle. She was really strong, and we needed every bit of that to keep Baylor at bay. Her ability to compete in both aspects of the game really showed her value to the team today," Head Coach&nbsp;<a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/softball/roster/coaches/jennifer-mcfalls/526" data-airgap-id="71">Jennifer McFalls</a>&nbsp;said. "I'm also proud of the entire team. We didn't get the hits we were looking for, but we jumped on it early, which was exactly what we challenged them to do. It was a team effort, and everyone stepped up when we needed them." The Jayhawks wasted no time making their presence felt in their first at-bat, jumping out to an early lead.&nbsp;<a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/softball/roster/olivia-bruno/6949" data-airgap-id="72">Olivia Bruno</a>&nbsp;launched a two-run home run, driving in&nbsp;<a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/softball/roster/hailey-cripe/6977" data-airgap-id="73">Hailey Cripe</a>&nbsp;and giving Kansas a quick 2-0 advantage. Following her blast over the fence, Bruno also took the circle for Kansas, giving Baylor a different look. She efficiently retired three batters on 21 pitches, quickly sending the Jayhawks back to the plate for another scoring opportunity. Kansas answered when&nbsp;<a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/softball/roster/anna-soles/6934" data-airgap-id="74">Anna Soles</a>&nbsp;singled to first base, bringing in Hays, a prime base stealer, to pinch-run. On back-to-back wild pitches by the Baylor pitcher, Hays easily scored, extending the lead to 3-0. Baylor put pressure on the Jayhawks by loading the bases with a runner on first. However,&nbsp;<a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/softball/roster/olivia-bruno/6949" data-airgap-id="75">Olivia Bruno</a>&nbsp;fielded a double play, transitioning the ball from second to first for two quick outs. The next batter grounded out softly to second, ending the threat. The score remained unchanged through five innings. Despite Baylor's efforts to put base runners on each inning, the defense behind Bruno continued to excel, leaving the Bears stranded and scoreless. . In the bottom of the sixth, the Bears threatened again. This time, Baylor managed to get a run across after hitting a deep double to left field, cutting into the Jayhawks' lead and making the score 3-1. It all came down to the final inning for Kansas, with the defense needing to stay solid. The first out came on a strikeout by Bruno, followed by a pop-up to second for the second out. With the bases loaded, Junior&nbsp;<a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/softball/roster/lizzy-ludwig/6881" data-airgap-id="76">Lizzy Ludwig</a>&nbsp;entered to pitch and take on the challenge against the Bears. Baylor managed to push a run across on a walk, but an unfazed Ludwig fielded her position on the next at-bat, securing KU's first conference win of the season with a 3-2&nbsp; victory. Pitchers of Record Win:&nbsp;<a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/softball/roster/olivia-bruno/6949">Olivia Bruno</a>&nbsp; Line: 6.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 6 BB, 4 SO Save:&nbsp;<a href="https://kuathletics.com/sports/softball/roster/lizzy-ludwig/6881">Lizzy Ludwig</a>&nbsp; Loss: Lexia Warncke&nbsp; Line: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 1 SO Up Next Kansas will conclude its three-game series against Baylor tomorrow at 12 p.m. CT, aiming to secure its first conference series win of the season.
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🥎 Kansas secures first conference win of season, evens series against Baylor

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741497572319.png" alt="Photo Courtesy Wichita State Athletics" />
 <figcaption>Photo Courtesy Wichita State Athletics</figcaption>
 </figure><div>Wichita State Athletics
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WICHITA, Kan. --&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/baseball/roster/grant-adler/9422" rel="smarttag" rev="9422" data-airgap-id="58">Grant Adler</a></dfn>&nbsp;struck out 10 over seven innings of one-run ball and&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/baseball/roster/jace-miner/9423" rel="smarttag" rev="9423" data-airgap-id="59">Jace Miner</a></dfn>&nbsp;slammed the door with three strikeouts in the ninth as Wichita State secured a series win with a 4-2 victory over Missouri State on Saturday afternoon at Eck Stadium. Adler (1-0) allowed just four hits and did not walk a batter, finishing one off his career high in strikeouts. The redshirt senior retired the first 10 hitters he faced and closed his outing by setting down the final five Bears, including consecutive strikeouts to end the seventh. Wichita State (5-9) gave Adler all the run support he would need with three runs worth of small ball in the bottom of the fourth inning. After a single, double and walk loaded the bases with nobody out, the Shockers got consecutive run-scoring groundouts&nbsp;from&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/baseball/roster/ryan-callahan/9175" rel="smarttag" rev="9175" data-airgap-id="60">Ryan Callahan</a></dfn>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/baseball/roster/jaden-gustafson/9178" rel="smarttag" rev="9178" data-airgap-id="61">Jaden Gustafson</a></dfn>&nbsp;to take a 2-0 lead. A&nbsp;hit by pitch put two on base for&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/baseball/roster/jordan-rogers/9191" rel="smarttag" rev="9191" data-airgap-id="62">Jordan Rogers</a></dfn>, who placed a perfect bunt down the third base line, adding another run on the RBI single for a 3-0 lead. Missouri State (5-6) got their lone run against Adler in the sixth when Caden&nbsp;Bogenpohl singled with one out and came around to score on a double to right-center off the bat of Taeg Gollert, cutting the WSU lead to 3-1. The Bears threatened late against the Shocker bullpen, pulling to within 3-2 on a&nbsp;Bogenpohl&nbsp;RBI single in the eighth, but WSU reliever&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/baseball/roster/jace-miner/9423" rel="smarttag" rev="9423" data-airgap-id="63">Jace Miner</a></dfn>&nbsp;induced a double play to end the inning and then pitched around a leadoff double in the ninth with three straight strikeouts to record his first save of the season. WSU manufactured an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth thanks to some Missouri State charity.&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/baseball/roster/josh-livingston/9185" rel="smarttag" rev="9185" data-airgap-id="64">Josh Livingston</a></dfn>&nbsp;reached on a dropped third strike, advanced to second on a throwing error and third on a fly ball before reliever Kaleb Thomas bounced a wild pitch, scoring Livingston for the final margin. Starter Jackson Holmes (1-3) took the loss for Missouri State, allowing three runs in just 3.2 innings with three walks and three strikeouts. The Shockers finished with just four hits on the day, two from&nbsp;<dfn><a href="https://goshockers.com/sports/baseball/roster/camden-johnson/9183" rel="smarttag" rev="9183" data-airgap-id="65">Camden Johnson</a></dfn>&nbsp;and one apiece from Rogers and Livingston. The series concludes on Sunday morning, with first pitch of game three scheduled for 11:30 am CT.</div>

⚾ Dominate Adler lifts Shockers to series win

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Curtis Jones scored 24 points to lead&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll">No. 10</a>&nbsp;Iowa State past Kansas State 73-57 on Saturday.

The Cyclones (23-8, 13-7 Big 12) led wire-to-wire. They got 14 points from Joshua Jefferson and 11 points from Dishon Jackson.

Kansas State (15-16, 9-11) was led by senior David N'Guessan with 19 points. Dug McDaniel had 14 points.

The Wildcats shot just 37.7% from the field and 9.5% from 3-point range.

Iowa State: The Cyclones remembered the first meeting between the two teams, when they jumped out to an early lead only to see the Wildcats take an 80-61 win, snapping the Cyclones' 29-game home winning streak. The Cyclones led by 11 early in the first half and never allowed the Wildcats back in the game.

Kansas State: The Wildcats need to find consistency to even have a chance at postseason play.

Kansas State closed the first half on an 8-0 run to trim the halftime deficit to 34-26. But the Wildcats couldn't carry the momentum into the second half. After K-State got within 6 points, the Cyclones went on an 11-0 run to grab their largest lead to that point in the game.

The Cyclones took advantage of their opponent's mistakes, earning a 22-6 advantage in points off turnovers.

Both teams will appear in the Big 12 Tournament, with the pairings announced later Saturday.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741470965409.png" alt="Photo K-State Athletics" />
 <figcaption>Photo K-State Athletics</figcaption>
 </figure>MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Curtis Jones scored 24 points to lead&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll">No. 10</a>&nbsp;Iowa State past Kansas State 73-57 on Saturday.The Cyclones (23-8, 13-7 Big 12) led wire-to-wire. They got 14 points from Joshua Jefferson and 11 points from Dishon Jackson.Kansas State (15-16, 9-11) was led by senior David N'Guessan with 19 points. Dug McDaniel had 14 points.The Wildcats shot just 37.7% from the field and 9.5% from 3-point range.<h2>Takeaways</h2>Iowa State: The Cyclones remembered the first meeting between the two teams, when they jumped out to an early lead only to see the Wildcats take an 80-61 win, snapping the Cyclones' 29-game home winning streak. The Cyclones led by 11 early in the first half and never allowed the Wildcats back in the game.Kansas State: The Wildcats need to find consistency to even have a chance at postseason play.<h2>Key moment</h2>Kansas State closed the first half on an 8-0 run to trim the halftime deficit to 34-26. But the Wildcats couldn't carry the momentum into the second half. After K-State got within 6 points, the Cyclones went on an 11-0 run to grab their largest lead to that point in the game.<h2>Key stat</h2>The Cyclones took advantage of their opponent's mistakes, earning a 22-6 advantage in points off turnovers.<h2>Up next</h2>Both teams will appear in the Big 12 Tournament, with the pairings announced later Saturday.

🏀 Jones scores 24 to lead Iowa State past Kansas State

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741279495945.jpeg" alt="Photo Courtesy NJCAA" />
 <figcaption>Photo Courtesy NJCAA</figcaption>
 </figure><div><h1>Region VI Women's First Round (Saturday, March 8)</h1>
<h3>Games played at higher seeds</h3>
No. 5 Cowley vs. No. 12 Independence, 1 p.m.
No. 8 Barton vs. No. 9 Garden City, 2 p.m.
No. 7 Cloud County vs. No. 10 Colby, 2 p.m.
No. 6 Seward County vs. No. 11 Pratt, 7 p.m.
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<h1>Region VI Men's First Round (Saturday, March 8)</h1>
<h3>Games played at higher seeds</h3>
No. 6 Colby vs. No. 11 Cloud County, 2 p.m.
No. 5 Butler vs. No. 12 Pratt,&nbsp; 4 p.m.
No. 7 Garden City vs. No. 10 Independence, 4 p.m.
No. 8 Fort Hays Tech NW vs. No. 9 Dodge City, 6:30 p.m. CST
&nbsp;
<h1>Region VI Women's&nbsp;Second Round (Tuesday, March 11)</h1>
<h3>Games played at higher seeds</h3>
No.&nbsp;1 Dodge City vs. Barton-Garden City winner
No. 2 Hutchinson vs. Cloud County-Colby winner
No. 3 Coffeyville vs. Seward County-Pratt winner
No. 4 Butler vs. Cowley-Independence winner
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<h1>Region VI Men's&nbsp;Second Round (Tuesday, March 11)</h1>
<h3>Games played at higher seeds</h3>
No. 1 Cowley vs. Fort Hays Tech NW-Dodge City winner
No. 2 Coffeyville vs. Garden City-Independence winner
No. 3 Barton vs. Colby-Cloud County winner
No. 4 Hutchinson vs. Butler-Pratt winner</div>