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American Press
a day ago
- Sport
- American Press
LSU one win from regional title after another shut out
Saturday's Games LSU 12, Dallas Baptist 0 Arkansas-Little Rock 22, Rhode Island 10 Sunday's Schedule 2 p.m. — (elimination game) — Arkansas-Little Rock vs. Dallas-Baptist. 8 p.m. — LSU vs. winner of first game. LSU is making this look way too easy. The Tigers won their second straight game of the Baton Rouge NCAA regional Saturday night, 11-0 over Dallas Baptist. It was the usual dominant performance from lefthander Kade Anderson and some unusual offense that seemed to be running down a creative check list of interesting ways to score. 'We played outstanding baseball tonight,' LSU coach Jay Johnson said. 'Obviously it starts and ends on the mound.' The Tigers still haven't allowed a run in the 18 innings of regional play and, after not scoring in their final 15 innings of last week's SEC tournament, have gotten runs in 11 of their 16 at-bats this weekend. Ethan Frey, who started the scoring with an RBI double in the first inning, also provided the most entertaining moment in the smorgasbord of runs scored. The game was long decided by then, but he led off the eighth with a 'Little League home run.' It was officially ruled a triple that doinked off the top of the centerfield wall, but when it was mishandled by the outfielder, the 6-foot-6, 225-pound Frey never slowed down and circled the bases to score on his own hit. The Tigers (45-14) advance to the regional finals where they'll need one more victory, with two chances to get it, to advance to the super regionals. 'We're in a good mindset,' Johnson said of the Tigers' 12th consecutive trip to a regional final, the longest streak in the nation. 'You can get to the postseason (and) a lot of times you hear stuff about 'one more,' finishing the job. That's not my mantra. My mantra is show up and enjoy competing.' LSU will play at 8 p.m. Sunday against the winner of a 2 p.m. elimination game between DBU and Arkansas-Little Rock, which bounced back from its 7-0 Friday night loss to LSU to hammer Rhode Island 22-10. An LSU loss Sunday would force a Monday game between the same two teams, winner take all. It would probably be too much to ask for another shut out as there's a drop-off between the co-aces who have blanked the regional thus far. Johnson wouldn't say who will be on the mound Sunday. The deep starts, however, have left virtually the entire bullpen available for the rest of the regional. 'We have a lot of options,' Johnson said. 'We put ourselves in a really good spot going into tomorrow with some guys that are throwing the ball really, really well. 'We'll let that (earlier) game finish tomorrow and then see where we got from there.' More of the same would probably work fine. 'As a starting pitcher your goal is to save the bullpen as much as you can for the next game,' Anderson said. 'We've got too many pitchers and not enough innings tomorrow. We're in a really good situation and I couldn't be more excited to watch them pitch.' The versatile Tigers scored early and often — and just about every way imaginable — against a former teammate as DBU started LSU transfer Micah Buc. He lasted only 2.2 innings while giving up six runs. Six of LSU's first nine runs came with two outs. Most of it was overkill as Anderson (9-1) blanked the Patriots on four hits for his seven innings. His 11 strike outs gave him the national lead with 156. 'Kade, as Kade has been all year was the best pitcher on the planet tonight and executed on a high level,' Johnson said. 'Defense continued to support him.' LSU got two runs rather routinely on Frey's 2-strike, 2-run double in the first. Then it got interesting. It included Chris Stanfield's first home run in the second inning, the first of three RBIs on a 3-for-4 night for the Tigers' No. 9 hitter. Small ball? The Tigers scored three in third, starting with a safety squeeze bunt by catcher Luis Hernandez that scored Steven Milam followed by RBI singles from Stanfield and Derek Curiel. By the sixth, it was almost showing off when Steven Milam crossed the plate on the tail end of a double-steal where both he and Hernandez were safe. Frey's eighth-inning 'round-tripper' was just icing on the cake. 'That was a really good offensive performance tonight,' Johnson said. 'Getting lead-off guys on, executing the bunting game, running bases smart and aggressive, clutch hitting, two-out hard and low line drives … that's a lot of what the blueprint looks like.' The Baton Rouge regional winner will play the survivor of the Clemson regional in a best-two-of-three super regional with a trip to the College World Series on the line. Host Clemson fell into the loser's bracket there with a loss to West Virginia. Saturday, but if LSU advances, it would host the super regional regardless of which team survives. The whole NCAA tournament got a lot more interesting Saturday when the top two overall seeds lost to fall into the losers' brackets at their regionals, now needing to win three straight to advance. No. 1 Vanderbilt lost to Louisville 3-2 and No. 2 Texas fell to UT-San Antonio 9-7. There was no such drama in Baton Rouge. .
American Press
2 days ago
- Sport
- American Press
LSU waits out the weather, opens NCAAs with shut out
LSU waits out the weather, opens NCAAs with shut out Published 1:53 am Saturday, May 31, 2025 Friday's Games LSU 7, Arkansas-Little Rock 0 Dallas Baptist 6, Rhode Island 2 Email newsletter signup Saturday's Schedule 2 p.m. (elimination game) — Arkansas-Little Rock vs. Rhode Island. 8 p.m. — LSU vs. Dallas Baptist. By Scooter Hobbs American Press It wouldn't be an Alex Box Stadium home postseason without a little rain on the parade at LSU. Even if it's very little actual wet stuff. But it was only a nuisance Friday as LSU got the obligatory weather-delayed game of the NCAA tournament over with early for this year's tournament. The Tigers' opener in the Baton Rouge regional was delayed five and a half hours by the threat of a rain storm that never really came before the Tigers' bats came to life and righthander Anthony Eyanson dominated Arkansas-Little Rock for a 7-0 shut out in the opening game of the Baton Rouge regional. Daniel Dickinson hit two home runs — and was just short into the wind on a third — as the top seed Tigers opened the NCAA tournament with a 7-0 victory over No. 4 seed Arkansas-Little Rock. Anthony Eyanson (10-2), normally the Tigers' No. 2 starter, got the ball for the regional opener and struck out seven while holding the Trojans scoreless over his 7 2/3 innings of work. 'Long day obviously working through the delays,' LSU coch Jay Johnson said. 'But we were ready to go. It was great to be back home after a couple of weeks (on the road) and I thought the crowd was electric.' LSU will play again Saturday in the regional's key game against No. 2 seed Dallas Baptist, which beat No. 3 Rhode Island 6-2 in a game that didn't end until 1:35 a.m. The winner of that game, called the 'marble game' by legendary coach Skip Bertman, will take control of the regional, needing only one more win to advance to the super regional with two chances to get it. Arkansas-Little Rock and Rhode Island will play an elimination game at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Baton Rouge regional winner will play the survivor of the Clemson regional in a best-two-of-three super regional with a trip to the College World Series on the line. LSU would host again for the super regional if it advances. The Tigers, who didn't score in their final 15 innings of last week's SEC tournament, broke that streak with Jake Brown's RBI single in the first inning and eventually scored in five of their eight at-bats Friday. They finished with 11 hits, with Dickinson leading the way with a 2-for-5 night. Derek Curiel and Brown also had two hits, with each driving in a run. 'Derek blitzed that ball, put a great swing on a double,' Johnson said. 'That was great to see, and then another. Homer for Dickinson.' Dickinson, grounded out in his first two at-bats, but Johnson stopped him on the way to his third plate appearance in the fifth. 'My first two at-bats were kind of rough,' Dickinson said. 'Kind of chased balls that were borderline strikes. 'He said, get something you can drive,' Dickinson remembered. 'You're chasing the ball a little bit and you're getting yourself in tough counts.' Advice well taken. Dickinson drove in three runs while going 2-for-5 with his pair homers — a solo shot in the fifth and a 2-run bomb in the sixth that put the Tigers up 6-0. He hit another ball to the wall for a loud out in the eighth. 'We had a couple of mistakes on some pitches and they made us pay for it,' UALR coach Chris Curry said. Eyanson, known for slipping his way out of jams, was rarely threatened while giving up five hits and walking only one. 'Credit to Eyanson,' Curry said. 'He had command of four pitches. Fastball early was really working, curveball was good and (he) found the slider late and did a good job of adjusting to our lineup the second and third time through.' 'Anthony on the mound did what he does,' Johnson said. 'Kind of customary at this point.' The Tigers improved to 44-13. Johnson reminded that you can't take anything for granted. On the tournament's opening day, four of the 16 No. 1 seeds— Oregon State, Oregon, Southern Miss and Ole Miss — lost to No. 4 seeds 'You can't try to force it,' Johnson said. 'You've got to let the game come to you a little bit. I thought we did that tonight, and when you have really good pitching and really good defense, if should allow your offense to play with great confidence. 'I thought we played well tonight. It was a good night for the Tigers on offense.' Featured Local Savings
American Press
3 days ago
- Sport
- American Press
Box of fun awaits: This is why they go to LSU
LSU will host the Baton Rouge Regional this weekend. The top-seeded Tigers open the schedule today against Ohio Valley Conference Tournament champion Arkansas-Little Rock, the No. 4 seed. LSU is making its 37th NCAA Tournament appearance since 1975. (Special to the American Press) Jay Johnson's strategy for dealing with the pressure his LSU players feel is to try and treat the entire regular season like it was the postseason. Nice try. And, it's true, Alex Box Stadium is known as one college baseball's best environments at any time, filled with fans who expect to win every game. But it will be s different place today, ramped up even another notch, when the Tigers open the NCAA Tournament's Baton Rouge Regional at 2 p.m. today against Arkansas-Little Rock. 'It's crazy,' said LSU first baseman Jared Jones, remembering the last time the Tigers hosted a regional when he was a freshman in 2023. The Tigers used it as a launch pad for the school's seventh national championship in Omaha, Nebraska. 'There's just a ton of energy in the place, you can really feel it,' he said. 'The crowd's always on their feet; they can kind of anticipate how baseball works, the situation of the game. 'They kind of know when we need a big strikeout right here (or) if we're up to the plate and it's a big spot, they just know when to get into it. Super energetic.' That was also Johnson's first and only experience with postseason in The Box. He remembered the super regional against Kentucky that year, a game that was delayed eight hours by rain, but still didn't send many fans home. Tré Morgan hit a home run in the first inning, Johnson recalled. It was different. 'I was like, that's what everybody's been telling me about,' Johnson said. 'That sound, you know? It was right there … everywhere.' Now the Tigers are back at home, primed for another run. Today's winner will play Saturday against the winner of tonight's late game between No. 2 seed Dallas Baptist (40-16) and No. 3 seed Rhode Island (38-20). The regional winner will be matched against the winner of the Clemson Regional. LSU would host that, too. But first things first. Asked what he knew about Arkansas-Little Rock, Jones said, 'I think it's in Arkansas.' That was early Thursday before the Tigers (43-13) got a detailed version of the brief scouting report all of them got by text earlier in the week. Further investigation would reveal the Trojans (24-32) are the lone team in the 64-team NCAA Tournament with a losing record and finished the regular season in eighth place in the Ohio Valley Conference. But Johnson noted there's something to be said for a team that had to win five games in four days to win the OVC Tournament and earn the automatic bid. That came out of nowhere — the Trojans lost 13 of their last 14 regular-season games before catching fire. Johnson hasn't said who he will pitch in the opener and UALR has also been mum. But the Trojans have an intriguing option in senior right-hander Jackson Wells. Two years ago Wells led the nation with a 1.65 ERA. 'That's a fact,' Johnson said. Also true: Wells has been far more pedestrian this season with 5-3 record and a 5.91 ERA. But Johnson has always said LSU concerns itself more with LSU than the opponent. 'I didn't really care who we played,' Jones said. 'I was just ready to get back out there and play.' It would be convenient, regardless of who pitches for either team, if the Tigers bring their bats. They went 1-1 in the Southeastern Conference Tournament and were probably fortunate to win one with its most anemic offensive weekend of the season. The Tigers hit .111 in Hoover, Alabama, and didn't score a run over their final 15 innings. Johnson didn't seem too concerned. The Tigers, he said, have bounced back strong from other offensive struggles. A packed Box will be counting on it.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
National Duals Invitational announces first 16-team field full of NCAA wrestling powers
If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission. Pricing and availability subject to change. The field for the National Duals Invitational is set. The first-of-its-kind college wrestling tournament announced the 16 teams that will compete in the inaugural event later this year. The field: Arizona State, Arkansas-Little Rock, Cornell, Illinois, Iowa, Lehigh, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, NC State, Nebraska, Northern Iowa, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech and Wyoming. Advertisement The tournament is set for Nov. 15 and 16 at the BOK Center in Tulsa. On the line will be $1 million in prize money. 'The National Duals Invitational is about elevating the sport,' tournament director Matt Surber said in a release. 'We want to create an event that wrestlers dream of competing in — something that brings national attention, rewards programs and grows wrestling's footprint. 'We look forward to an exciting weekend of high-stakes duals and incredible competition.' More: How Wyatt Hendrickson's NCAA upset created momentum for new National Duals Invitational The most noticeable absence in the National Duals Invitational field is Penn State, the four-time defending national champion. The Nittany Lions received an automatic invitation to compete as did the other top 12 teams at this past spring's NCAA Championships. But with Penn State declining a spot, five teams instead of the intended four were selected at random from the teams that finished from 13th to 24th at NCAAs. Advertisement Those five are Arizona State, Arkansas-Little Rock, Lehigh, Missouri and Wyoming. The 16 programs in the National Duals Invitational field have combined in their history to win more than 60 NCAA team titles and claim more than 450 individual national champs. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on May 23 through Ticketmaster and the BOK Center box office. Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at jcarlson@ Like her at follow her at @ and and support her work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: National Duals Invitational unveils college wrestling 16-team field
New York Times
18-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Will revenue sharing widen the gap between Penn State wrestling and everyone else?
Seven years ago, Arkansas-Little Rock made a bold decision. The Trojans, behind a $1.4 million pledge from Little Rock businessman Greg Hatcher, went all-in on establishing the state's only NCAA Division I wrestling program. 'When you think about one program or another, they may be known as a football school or a basketball school,' said Little Rock athletic director Frank Cuervo, who is finishing his first year at the school. 'Well, we think we certainly have an opportunity to be known as a school for multiple sports, certainly wrestling being one of those right there at the forefront.' Advertisement This wasn't like adding wrestling in a state steeped in the sport's history and tradition like Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin or Iowa. Wrestling wasn't a sanctioned high school sport in Arkansas until 2008. The newness of the sport is still reflected on Little Rock's roster as this year — its sixth season with a wrestling program — just two of 40 wrestlers have ties to the state. 'It wasn't an overnight success by any stretch,' Cuervo said. 'As (coach) Neil (Erisman) often says, we got our teeth kicked in on frequent occasions those first couple of years, but they stayed dogged, and last year was really the breakthrough year.' The Trojans have one of the best stories in college wrestling. The winner of this year's Pac-12 tournament for the first time in program history, Little Rock will send a program-record six wrestlers to the NCAA championships this week in Philadelphia. Among those are two All-America honorees from last season who turned down more lucrative offers from other programs to stay at Little Rock, Cuervo said. Little Rock's rise from newcomer to top-15 program — the Trojans are 15th in the NWCA Coaches Poll and finished last season ranked 20th — might make them the perfect case study for wrestling's next challenge. As college wrestling fans convene in Philadelphia, they'll cheer for a sport that could be on the verge of significant changes. The House vs. NCAA settlement, which will have a final hearing on April 7, could reshape the sport. If approved, one part of the settlement would allow schools to opt into revenue sharing with their athletes. This change would take effect for the 2025-2026 school year and would allow universities to directly pay athletes. Each school would decide how to distribute up to $20.5 million to its athletes. This change would bring about roster limits that would replace scholarship limits. For wrestling, which has 9.9 scholarships per team, including partial scholarships, the roster would be capped at 30 athletes. What sports and what percentage, if any, of the revenue the teams receive could be significant for wrestling where the divide between the top program and everyone else has given way to several dynasties. Penn State, a winner of 11 NCAA team titles since 2011 and the favorite to win another championship this year, will have wrestling as part of the school's revenue-sharing plan, athletic director Pat Kraft said. Advertisement Penn State expects to have the full allotment of $20.5 million available to share among the university's athletes. 'I always tell Cael (Sanderson), we're going to do whatever we need to do to give you all you need and the resources you need,' Kraft said of his program's longtime coach. 'I don't envision — and I may be wrong on this — but I don't envision any program doing 30 scholarships for wrestling. But we're going to give Cale what he needs, and I can tell you that we've added scholarships for him in the future.' Sanderson's team won the NCAA title last year by 100 points, setting an NCAA record with 172.5 points. Oklahoma State, which made the splashiest coaching hire of the offseason by bringing in Olympian David Taylor, Sanderson's protege, plans to have wrestling as part of the school's revenue-sharing plan, athletic director Chad Weiberg. The Cowboys, winners of a record 34 NCAA team titles, are in the process of raising funds for a new training facility that would have space for the regional Olympic Training Center program, which is a critical component to building an elite wrestling program that attracts the best wrestlers in the world. The regional training center is part of the blueprint that helps the best college wrestling programs separate themselves from the rest of the pack. Revenue sharing for these wrestling programs should only add to their power. 'I think the top programs are going to just get stronger, right?' Sanderson said. 'You're going to have more depth in those programs. I don't think very many programs are going to have 30 scholarships. I mean, we're definitely not going to have 30 scholarships, not even close. But, we are going to have more scholarships. I think the team dynamic changes a little bit. I think there's some sad aspects of that.' Advertisement Sanderson said Penn State typically has 37 or 38 wrestlers on the roster. This year, Little Rock has 41. Oklahoma State has 34. Capping the roster at 30 would mean those other wrestlers couldn't compete or practice with the team. Enforcement of who is in the wrestling room training, and ensuring the number aligns with the roster cap, is a detail not yet determined. It would pain Sanderson to see his roster shrink. 'A lot of times, those seven or eight are the ones that are really grateful to be on your team, those are the ones that are supporting the program 10, 15, years later,' Sanderson said. 'It's one thing to love the sport when you're just doing really well and kicking butt. You got to really love the sport if you go to practice, and you're getting your butt kicked every day, and you keep coming back, and you still love it.' Conversations between athletic directors and their coaches about what percentage of revenue could be shared with their athletes are happening on campuses nationwide. Many athletic directors are keeping their revenue-sharing percentages close to the vest for competitive reasons. Others are waiting for final approval of the settlement before discussing their plans publicly. Athletic directors at Nebraska, Minnesota, Ohio State, Iowa State, Missouri, Northern Iowa and Pitt — schools that emphasize wrestling or who are in regions where the sport thrives — were among those who declined to comment on their school's scholarship and revenue-sharing plans for wrestling. Iowa, the No. 2 team in the country, would seem likely to have a revenue-share plan in place for wrestling. For programs that don't have the financial resources or whose schools elect to dedicate most of their revenue sharing to other sports like football and basketball — programs that generate revenue in part because of lucrative television agreements that wrestling lacks — is it realistic to think these other wrestling programs can even compete for team titles in the future? 'When we made the decision to opt in (to revenue sharing), I think what we were saying, not only as an athletics program but as an institution overall, is that athletics matter here,' Cuervo said. 'Ultimately, for us, we have to make decisions about which programs we're going to choose to invest at a higher level and place our bets on. And of course, if you place a bet on a particular entity, you want to make sure that it has a chance to come home and bear fruit.' Wrestling, along with men's and women's basketball, will be among the sports that are part of Little Rock's revenue-sharing plan, Cuervo said. The school sponsors 15 sports, and it plans to increase the number of scholarships for wrestling, although the final figure is still to be determined. The notion that a school with the right alignment, coaching staff and investment can quickly become a powerhouse in wrestling is why Little Rock believes the sport should be part of their identity as a university. Advertisement 'You're looking at a universe of roughly 80 Division-I wrestling programs,' Cuervo said. 'You're not trying to swim your way upstream and pass 360 Division-I college basketball programs. If you make the right commitments and have the right support, you can get good in a hurry.' Oklahoma State will also have more than 9.9 scholarships in the revenue-sharing world, Weiberg said. It figures its scholarship number ultimately will be similar to whatever Penn State's is, Weiberg said. The school needs it to be comparable to close the gap. 'You have to keep it in a range,' Weiberg said. 'The student-athletes and their families are still making decisions based on who are the coaches, who's training my son and who's developing them. … You're not wanting to ask kids to take less to be part of your program. … We have to make sure that we're in the competitive range with Iowa, with Penn State, with the others in the sport.' In its first season under Taylor, Oklahoma State set a season attendance record and has seen an increase in contributions from donors, Weiberg said. Still, Weiberg was upfront with Oklahoma State fans and sent them an email this winter outlining his desire for the Cowboys to have the full allotment of revenue sharing available to their athletes. Programs that don't have the maximum to share will be fighting an uphill battle, he said. 'I think there are some realities that we all are just dealing with that are very similar across the board, and one of them is funding,' Weiberg said. 'The other is how that all fits into our Title IX mix, which is certainly still a reality of what we have to do as we transition from scholarship limits to roster limits.' Last month, Penn State announced the creation of the Legacy Fund in response to the pending House decision. Money from the fund will be used for athletic scholarships and ongoing maintenance of Penn State's 23 athletic venues. Football season ticket holders will be the first to notice a $20 per seat contribution to the fund as they go through their renewal process. Advertisement For each Penn State football season parking pass there will be a $45 fee that goes to the Legacy Fund. Fans can't opt out of either charge. They could see additional fees for postseason games. Penn State's single-game tickets and single-game parking will include fees that go toward building the Legacy Fund. Oklahoma State will increase season ticket prices for all sports and will direct a portion of that money to its Excellence Fund, Weiberg said. Penn State and Oklahoma State were adamant that they're not calling it a talent fee, which is what Tennessee rolled out in September when it announced plans starting in 2025 to add a 10 percent fee on all tickets to help pay athletes in the new era of revenue sharing. 'At the end of the day, it's a price increase,' Weiberg said. All schools will have to be strategic about how the money is raised, shared and spent. By next spring it could make catching the giants of the sport harder than ever. 'We're trying to be able to manage the money so that if we need to move on someone, no matter what the sport is, we have the ability to do so,' Kraft said. '(If it's) 'Hey, there's the No. 1 fencer in the world,' and we need to go use rev share to maybe tilt it our way, we're going to be able to do that.'
