Sports
Friday Sports – MLB’s Divisional Series Set
MLB – Major League Baseball Playoffs – Wild Card Round – Best of 3
Yesterday
New York Mets 4, Milwaukee Brewers 2 (NYM wins 2-1)
Mets 4, Brewers 2 – Alonso’s night turns around with season-saving homer for Mets in 9th inning
Pete Alonso was having a rather disappointing evening in what could have been his final game for the New York Mets. Then everything changed with one swing of the bat. The slugger broke out of a prolonged slump by smashing a three-run homer off closer Devin Williams in the ninth inning to put the Mets ahead for good in a 4-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in the decisive third game of their NL Wild Card Series.
Saturday
MLB Divisional Series – Best of 5
Detroit Tigers at Cleveland Guardians, 1:08 p.m. News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM 12:40
New York Mets at Philadelphia Phillies, 4:08 p.m.
Kansas City Royals at New York Yankees, 6:38 p.m.
San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers, 8:38 p.m.
MLB – Cincinnati Reds hiring Terry Francona as manager, year after leaving Cleveland.
Terry Francona has been hired to manage the Cincinnati Reds, returning to the major leagues a year after he stepped down in Cleveland because of health reasons. A person familiar with the situation confirmed the move on condition of anonymity because the Reds had not announced the decision. Francona is replacing David Bell, who was fired by Cincinnati in the final days of his sixth season. Bell had a 409-456 record with the Reds. Francona, who turns 66 in April, played for Cincinnati in 1987. He hit .227 with three homers and 12 RBIs in 102 games.
MLB – Overlooked AL Central gets its revenge by putting 3 teams in Division Series
The AL Central was overlooked to the point of mockery before opening day. Now, what was widely considered the weakest division in baseball is exacting a measure of revenge. Not only did the Central secure two wild cards in the Royals and Tigers, both won their series this week to reach the divisional round. Kansas City will face the AL East champion Yankees on Saturday night, while the Tigers will play AL Central champ Cleveland in a showdown of division rivals. Regardless of what happens in the best-of-five series, at least one team from the Central — and maybe two — will be playing for a spot in the World Series.
NFL – National Football League – Week 5
Last Night
Atlanta Falcons 36, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30 – OT
Falcons 36, Buccaneers 30 – OT – Cousins throws for 509 yards, to give Falcons 36-30 OT win over Bucs
Kirk Cousins threw for a career-high 509 yards and four touchdowns, the last of them a 45-yard scoring pass to KhaDarel Hodge in overtime that gave the Atlanta Falcons an improbable 36-30 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After a wild fourth quarter that featured a blocked field goal, a fumble and an interception, Cousins and the Falcons got the ball back at their own 20 with 1:14 remaining in regulation and no timeouts, trailing 30-27. Cousins completed five passes to push Atlanta to the Buccaneers 29, then hustled to the line to spike the ball with a single second on the clock. Younghoe Koo knocked it through from 52 yards to force overtime.
Sunday
Carolina Panthers at Chicago Bears, 1:00 p.m.
Indianapolis Colts at Jacksonville Jaguars, 1:00 p.m.
Detroit Lions (bye week)
NFL – Bears, Panthers meet linked by trade that changed both franchises
Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears will try to build on some of the progress they showed last week when they host Andy Dalton and the Carolina Panthers. Chicago’s offense displayed explosiveness and efficiency in a win over the Los Angeles Rams last week. The Panthers have gotten a spark from Dalton since he took over for Bryce Young two weeks ago. The two teams are inextricably linked by a blockbuster deal prior to the 2023 season. Carolina sent DJ Moore and the No. 9 overall pick to Chicago for the top selection in the draft that year. The Bears also got the Panthers’ 2024 first-rounder that wound up being the No. 1 overall pick and a second-rounder in 2025.
NCAAFB – College Football – Week 6
Tonight
Michigan State at (6) Oregon, 9:00 p.m. Superhits 103.7 Cosy-FM 7:30
Saturday
Western Michigan at Ball State, 2:00 p.m.
(10) Michigan at Washington, 7:30 p.m. News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM 6:30
Notre Dame, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan are off
NCAAFB – No. 6 Oregon steps up after bumpy start, faces Michigan State on Friday night
The No. 6 Ducks have seemingly put their season in order after a bumpy start. Oregon started out ranked No. 3 in the preseason AP Top 25 but dropped in subsequent polls following lackluster nonconference victories against Idaho and Boise State to open the season. But the Ducks have decisively won their last two games, including their conference opener at UCLA. Oregon outscored its last two opponents 83-27, building momentum ahead of Friday night’s game at home against Michigan State.
NCAAFB – National title rematch is now a conference game as Michigan visits Washington
Less than nine months ago, Washington and Michigan met with a national championship on the line in a traditional matchup between the Pac-12 and Big Ten that evoked the history of those two conferences. Fast forward to when the Huskies and 10th-ranked Wolverines meet on Saturday, and it’ll be an early season matchup between Big Ten schools who look almost nothing like the teams that met in Houston last January. Seemingly everything is different about this matchup between the schools now versus that night when Michigan claimed its first national title since 1997 with a 34-13 victory over Washington.
NHL – National Hockey League Preseason
Last Night
Toronto Maple Leafs 2, Detroit Red Wings 0
Last Night
Ottawa Senators at Detroit Red Wings, 7:00 p.m.
Minnesota Wild at Chicago Blackhawks, 8:00 p.m.
WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association Playoffs – Round 2 (best of five)
Tonight
Minnesota Lynx at Connecticut Sun, 7:30 p.m. (Series tied 1-1)
New York Liberty at Las Vegas Aces, 9:30 p.m. (NYL leads 2-0)
WNBA – Indiana’s Caitlin Clark a near-unanimous choice as WNBA’s Rookie of the Year
Caitlin Clark has been named WNBA Rookie of the Year in a near-unanimous vote. A national panel of sportswriters and sportscasters gave the Indiana Fever guard 66 of 67 votes. Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese received the other vote. Clark, the No. 1 overall pick from Iowa, averaged 19.2 points and a league-best 8.4 assists per game while helping the WNBA set attendance records and garner mainstream attention. She struggled a bit early in the season, but found her groove and was an All-Star starter. She led the Fever to the playoffs and a 20-20 record after a 1-8 start.
NCAAMBB – Conference expansion creates intriguing matchups for Big Ten
UCLA, Southern California, Oregon and Washington start their first year in the Big Ten in a few weeks. And along with the added revenue streams and recruiting avenues and potential travel headaches and everything else that comes with expansion, it’s also created some intriguing matchups. UCLA and Indiana will be playing for just the second time since 1992 when the storied programs meet at Assembly Hall. Their most recent game was in the 2007 NCAA Tournament. The two schools have played 12 times with the past seven meetings on neutral sites. The most recent home game for either team was at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in 1960. They haven’t played in Bloomington, Ind., since 1956.
MCCAA – Michigan Community College Athletic Association
Last Night
Women’s Volleyball
Southwestern Michigan College 3, Glen Oaks Community College 0
Saturday
Soccer
Lake Michigan College at St. Clair County Community College, 1:00 p.m. (Women), 3:00 p.m. (Men)
MHSAA – Michigan High School Athletic Association
Last Night
Boys Soccer
Portage Central 3, Loy Norrix 1 (SMAC Championship)
Mattawan 3, Kalamazoo Central 1 (SMAC 3rd place)
St. Joseph 2, Lakeshore 1 (SMAC 5th place)
-St. Joe’s Laurens Dusney scored the game winning goal with just :46 seconds left in the match.
Portage Northern 1, Gull Lake 0 (SMAC 7th place)
Buchanan 3, Our Lady of the Lake 1
Edwardsburg 8, Constantine 0
Allegan 3, Wyoming Potter’s House 2
Bangor 6, Watervliet 3
Kalamazoo Hackett 3, South Haven 0
Kalamazoo Christian 4, Battle Creek Pennfield 1
Coldwater 2, Battle Creek Lakeview 1
BC Calhoun Christian 4, Howardsville Christian 3
Volleyball
Niles 3, Vicksburg 1
Edwardsburg 3, Paw Paw 0
Plainwell 3, Three Rivers 1
Otsego 3, Sturgis 0
Mattawan 3, GR Forest Hills Northern 1
Dowagiac 3, Berrien Springs 1
Brandywine 3, Benton Harbor 0
Constantine 3, Coloma 0
Watervliet 3, Hartford 0
Kalamazoo Hackett 3, Colon 0
South Haven 3, Schoolcraft 0
Fennville 3, Parchment 2
Decatur 3, Bangor 0
Climax-Scotts 3, White Pigeon 2
Tonight
Football (all games start at 7:00 p.m.)
SMAC
Portage Northern (4-1) at St. Joseph (5-0) News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM 6:30
Mattawan (2-3) at Lakeshore (0-5) 97.5 Y-Country WYTZ 6:45
Kalamazoo Central (4-1) at Portage Central (3-2)
Gull Lake (0-5) at Battle Creek Central (0-5)
Battle Creek Lakeview (1-4) at Kalamazoo Loy Norrix (3-2)
Lakeland
Berrien Springs (2-3) at Buchanan (3-2) In game updates on News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM
Brandywine (0-5) at Dowagiac (4-1)
Wolverine
Edwardsburg (4-1) at Paw Paw (5-0)
Niles (4-1) at Vicksburg (2-3)
Three Rivers (2-3) at Plainwell (1-4)
Sturgis (0-5) at Otsego (0-5)
SAC
Watervliet (1-4) at South Haven (2-3)
Coloma (1-4) at Delton-Kellogg (2-3)
Parchment (4-1) at Allegan (2-3)
Constantine (5-0) at Kalamazoo United (4-1)
Galesburg-Augusta (2-3) at Saugatuck (4-1)
Lawton (4-1) at Schoolcraft (4-1)
Southwest 10
Cassopolis (0-5) at Comstock (0-4)
Centreville (2-3) at Decatur (4-1)
Hartford at White Pigeon (5-0)
Non-Conference
Benton Harbor (0-5) at Wyoming Kelloggsville (0-5)
8-Man Football
SW Michigan 8-Man
Grand Rapids Sacred Heart (5-0) at Twin Cities (4-1)
Bridgman (2-3) at Grandville Calvin Christian (3-2)
Red Arrow (1-4) at Wyoming-Lee (2-3)
Gobles (5-0) at Eau Claire (2-3)
Onaway (2-3) at Fennville (1-4)
Martin (4-0) at Brethren (1-4)
Bangor (0-4) at Grand Rapids Northpointe Christian (3-2)
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