Curt Cignetti retains key member of Indiana football staff pursued by Big Ten rival
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Indiana has continued to show a financial investment to football coach Curt Cignetti, his assistants and support staff. That continued to hold off league rival USC on Friday.
BLOOMINGTON — IU signed football's head strength coach, Derek Owings, to a new three-year deal on improved terms Friday, amid interest from Southern Cal.
Owings, who has been with Curt Cignetti for several years dating back to Cignetti's time at James Madison, has routinely been described by his coach as among the most important members of Cignetti's staff.
As recently as Thursday, during an appearance at a Boys and Girls Club fundraiser in Bloomington, Cignetti called Owings — whose official title is director of athletic performance, football — 'cutting edge' in his approach to strength and conditioning.
Owings attended that fundraiser with Cignetti. And more than once during the 2024 season, which for Indiana ended in the College Football Playoff, Cignetti cited Owings as a key pillar to his program's success.
All of which led USC to express serious interest in tempting Owings west to join Lincoln Riley's reclamation project in University Park.
Since November, Indiana has inked Cignetti to a robust eight-year contract and handed out more lucrative deals to nearly all his assistants. Owings himself got a raise to $635,000 per year in that round of new contracts last winter. His refreshed contract now becomes the latest example of that commitment.
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Al Selbach of the Giants went 6-for-7 with two doubles and four singles and scored four runs. 1906 — Boston snapped a 19-game losing streak by beating the St. Louis Cardinals 6-3. 1914 — Honus Wagner of the Pittsburgh Pirates got the 3,000th hit of his career off Philadelphia's Erskine Mayer in a 3-1 loss to the Phillies at the Baker Bowl. Wagner's hit, a double, came in the ninth. Wagner joined Cap Anson as the only members of the 3,000-hit club. 1935 — The St. Louis Cardinals became the 10th team in major league history to score a run in every inning in a 13-2 win over the Chicago Cubs. 1946 — Commissioner Happy Chandler imposed five-year suspensions on players who jumped to the Mexican League and three-year suspensions for those who broke the reserve clause. 1946 — The New York Giants' Mel Ott became the first manager to be ejected in both ends of a doubleheader. 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Sutton pitched a two-hit shutout to beat the White Sox 3-0. 1990 — Eddie Murray of the Dodgers tied Mickey Mantle's record by homering from each side of the plate in the same game for the 10th time in his career. The Dodgers beat the Padres 5-4 in 11 innings. 1998 — Cecil Fielder of the Angels and Yamil Benitez of the Diamondbacks each hit grand slams in the same inning in Anaheim's 10-8 win over Arizona. It was the first time both teams hit grand slams in the same inning since 1992. 2008 — Ken Griffey Jr. became the sixth player in baseball history to reach 600 homers with a drive off Mark Hendrickson in the first inning of the Cincinnati Reds' 9-4 victory over the Florida Marlins. 2014 — Lonnie Chisenhall had nine RBIs and three home runs in a five-hit game, Michael Brantley scored five times and the Cleveland Indians beat the Texas Rangers 17-7. 2015 — Chris Heston pitched the first no-hitter in his 13th career start, leading the San Francisco Giants over the New York Mets 5-0. The rookie allowed three baserunners — all on hit batters. He also had a two-run single for his first big league RBIs and finished with two more hits than the Mets. 2019 — The Nationals accomplish a very rare feat as four consecutive batters hit solo homers in the 8th inning in Petco Park in San Diego to break a 1-1 tie. Pinch-hitter Howie Kendrick starts things off against Craig Stammen, and is followed by Trea Turner, Adam Eaton and Anthony Rendon, who all go yard. This is only the ninth time in major league history this has happened, and the Nats were the last to do so, on July 27, 2017. 2019 — Former Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz shot in the back while visiting in his native Dominican Republic. 2022 — The Twins open the bottom of the 1st against the Yankees with three consecutive homers off Gerrit Cole at Target Field, by Luis Arraez, Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa. This is the first time in franchise history this has happened. Compiled by the Associated Press That concludes today's newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you'd like to see, email me at To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
