Latest news with #ChrisTorres
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
USC Upstate falls to Kentucky 7-3 in NCAA Regional; Spartans close season 36-25
CLEMSON, S.C. (USC Upstate SID) – Staying true to its identity until the final out, USC Upstate baseball showed its blue-collar, hard-working nature as it fought to stay alive in the program's first-ever NCAA Regional in an elimination game against (RV) Kentucky. The Spartans battled back from an early deficit to tie the game before seeing the Wildcats eventually pull away in a 7-3 decision Saturday afternoon. Not letting a three-run, first-inning deficit deter it, Upstate provided its answer in the fourth frame, using a similar recipe to how Clemson erased a deficit Friday evening. Stepping to the plate with the bases loaded, junior catcher Preston Lucas found the grass in the left-center gap, driving home a pair with his 19th double of the year, drawing the Spartans within a run. Junior second baseman Gage Griggs chased the two-bagger with a sac fly to center, knotting the game at three-all. Setting the Spartans up for their comeback, sophomore left-handed pitcher Chris Torres turned in 5.0 innings of work, settling in to hold the Wildcats off the board from the second to the fifth. He finished with three strikeouts, helping Upstate to hit the 500-strikeout mark on the year with sophomore right-hander Darin Kuskie and redshirt sophomore righty Max Bianchini racking up a pair apiece. Game InformationScore: (RV) Kentucky 7; USC Upstate 3Records: USC Upstate (36-25); Kentucky (30-25)Location: Doug Kingsmore Stadium | Clemson, S.C. How It Happened B1: Driving the first pitch he saw, Kentucky's Carson Hansen began the day's scoring with a three-run homer into the seats in left-center. T4: Using a similar recipe to how Clemson tied last evening's game, USC Upstate used a double and sac fly to begin the game anew. Hitting the gap in left-center with the bases juiced, Preston Lucas plated two before a sac fly to center from Gage Griggs tied the game. B6: Employing a squeeze with runners on the corners, Patrick Herrera's sac bunt pushed the Wildcats back to the lead. B8: Adding some insurance, Kentucky scratched three runs in the eighth behind an RBI single from Cole Hage and a two-run single from Hudson Brown. Notable With a double down the leftfield line in the fourth inning, Vance Sheahan extended his Division I era (2007-pres.) record reached base streak to 48 games. Playing in today's game, Sheahan is also the only player in program history to play in 61 games during a single season, having started each game this season. The Spartans' game versus Kentucky marked the program's single-season record 61st game of the 2025 campaign. Opening his outing with a strikeout in the sixth inning, Darin Kuskie recorded the Spartans' 500th strikeout of the season, hitting the mark as a team for the second straight season. Upstate finished the year with 503 strikeouts, the second-most in a single season in program history behind last year's 510 punchouts. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
USC Upstate baseball vs. Kentucky live updates: Start time, TV channel for NCAA regional
USC Upstate baseball is on the brink of elimination from the NCAA Tournament after losing to Clemson (45-16) in the opening game of regionals. The No. 4 seed Spartans (36-24) fell to No. 11 overall seed Clemson 7-3 on May 30 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. USC Upstate will now need to beat No. 3 seed Kentucky (29-25) in an elimination game at noon ET on May 31. Advertisement Kentucky lost to West Virginia earlier in the day 4-3. USC Upstate held a 2-0 lead over the Tigers thanks to a solo home run from Johnny Sweeney and an RBI single from Gage Griggs. Clemson had a three-run fifth inning and got four runs in the eighth for the win. If USC Upstate beats Kentucky, it would face the loser of Clemson and No. 2 seed West Virginia (42-14) in another elimination game on June 1 (noon ET). Watch USC Upstate baseball vs Kentucky on ESPN+ (Subscribe today) USC Upstate baseball vs Kentucky score updates What time does USC Upstate baseball vs Kentucky start? Date: Saturday, May 31 Time: Noon ET Location: Doug Kingsmore Stadium (Clemson, South Carolina) What TV channel is USC Upstate vs Kentucky on today? USC Upstate baseball starting pitcher Left-hander Chris Torres has a 4.72 ERA and an 8-4 record in 76⅓ innings. He secured a victory in his previous outing on May 24 against Charleston Southern. Torres allowed just three hits, four walks and one earned run while striking out four. Kentucky baseball starting pitcher Right-hander Nic McCray has a 4.37 ERA along with a 5-0 record in 68 innings. In his last start against Vanderbilt, McCray allowed six hits, two walks, four strikeouts and five runs, four of them earned in 3⅔ innings. NCAA baseball schedule Here is the latest college baseball schedule and NCAA Tournament bracket update. NCAA Tournament Clemson Regional baseball schedule May 30 Game 1: West Virginia, 4, Kentucky 3 Game 2: Clemson 7, USC Upstate 3 Advertisement May 31 Game 3: Kentucky vs. USC Upstate, noon, TBD (elimination game) Game 4: West Virginia vs. Clemson, 6 p.m., TBD June 1 Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, noon, TBD (elimination game) Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 6 p.m., TBD June 2 Game 7: Regional championship game (if necessary), TBD Our team of savvy editors independently handpicks all recommendations. If you make a purchase through our links, we may earn a commission. Prices were accurate at the time of publication but may change. This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: USC Upstate baseball vs Kentucky live updates: Start time, TV channel
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Loon-like waterfowl from dinosaur-era Antarctica is oldest 'modern' bird
By Will Dunham (Reuters) - Near the end of the age of dinosaurs, a bird resembling today's loons and grebes dove for fish and other prey in the perilous waters off Antarctica. Thanks to a nearly complete fossil skull, scientists now have identified this waterfowl as the oldest-known member of the lineage spanning all birds alive today. The new fossil unearthed on Vega Island near the Antarctic Peninsula of the ancient bird named Vegavis iaai dates to about 69 million years ago, approximately three million years before the asteroid strike at the end of the Cretaceous Period that wiped out the dinosaurs, aside from their avian descendants. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Fossils of Vegavis were first described two decades ago. But without sufficient cranial remains its place on the bird family tree had remained ambiguous. The researchers now were able to diagnose Vegavis as nesting among the anatomically modern birds based on two cranial characteristics - the bones of its upper beak and the shape of its brain. "Both of those features are observable in the new Vegavis specimen," said evolutionary biologist Chris Torres of the University of the Pacific in California, lead author of the research published in the journal Nature. Vegavis was an early waterfowl, a group that also includes ducks and geese. Vegavis appears to have been ecologically specialized to pursue fish and other prey underwater in a shallow marine ecosystem. Antarctica at the time was not the desolate land of snow and ice that it is today, but rather a forested landscape with a temperate climate. Birds evolved during the Jurassic Period from small feathered dinosaurs. The oldest-known bird, Archaeopteryx, dates to about 150 million years ago. With a mouthful of teeth and long bony tails, the earliest birds were a far cry from modern ones. Vegavis is one of only two modern birds known from the age of dinosaurs. The other one, Asteriornis maastrichtensis, lived about 67 million years ago in what is now Belgium. Vegavis was the size of a mallard but did not have a bill like a duck. It instead had a spear-shaped beak like a loon. Its skeletal structure indicates that it dove for its dinner. "Vegavis almost certainly preyed on fish and small invertebrates that lived in the shallow marine environment near the Antarctic Peninsula, like the diet of certain birds alive today like loons, grebes and even penguins. Exactly how deep it could go and the length of time it could spend underwater is not clear," said evolutionary biologist and study senior author Patrick O'Connor of Ohio University and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. "We know that Vegavis would have shared the marine ecosystem with other birds and an array of different fishes. But unlike today, it would have also shared the water with classic Cretaceous creatures," O'Connor added, including marine reptiles such as long-necked plesiosaurs and strong-jawed mosasaurs as well as large nautilus-like ammonites. As preserved, the skull measures about 3 inches (7.6 cm) long, but would have been a bit longer in life because it is incomplete. "Previous studies noted its body was shaped very similarly to - and thus functioned very similarly to - modern loons and especially grebes. The legs were shifted towards the back of the body, an adaptation to swimming and especially foot-propelled diving, like loons and grebes," Torres said. "The new fossil expands that similarity to the skull," Torres added, showing that Vegavis had a beak suited to fish hunting along with musculature adapted for pursuit diving, like loons and grebes. Functionally, its skull is similar to that of loons and grebes - birds that snap their jaws closed against the resistive forces of water in pursuit of fish, Torres said. Noting that waterfowl are a specialized avian form, the researchers suspect that the first anatomically modern birds actually appeared millions of years before Vegavis. "We predict that there should be even older examples," O'Connor said. "Whether in Antarctica or elsewhere remains to be seen."
Reuters
05-02-2025
- Science
- Reuters
Loon-like waterfowl from dinosaur-era Antarctica is oldest 'modern' bird
Summary Skull of ancient bird Vegavis is 69 million years old Key traits define Vegavis as anatomically modern bird Antarctica had a temperate climate during Cretaceous Period Feb 5 (Reuters) - Near the end of the age of dinosaurs, a bird resembling today's loons and grebes dove for fish and other prey in the perilous waters off Antarctica. Thanks to a nearly complete fossil skull, scientists now have identified this waterfowl as the oldest-known member of the lineage spanning all birds alive today. The new fossil unearthed on Vega Island near the Antarctic Peninsula of the ancient bird named Vegavis iaai dates to about 69 million years ago, approximately three million years before the asteroid strike at the end of the Cretaceous Period that wiped out the dinosaurs, aside from their avian descendants. Fossils of Vegavis were first described two decades ago. But without sufficient cranial remains its place on the bird family tree had remained ambiguous. The researchers now were able to diagnose Vegavis as nesting among the anatomically modern birds based on two cranial characteristics - the bones of its upper beak and the shape of its brain. "Both of those features are observable in the new Vegavis specimen," said evolutionary biologist Chris Torres of the University of the Pacific in California, lead author of the research published in the journal Nature, opens new tab. Vegavis was an early waterfowl, a group that also includes ducks and geese. Vegavis appears to have been ecologically specialized to pursue fish and other prey underwater in a shallow marine ecosystem. Antarctica at the time was not the desolate land of snow and ice that it is today, but rather a forested landscape with a temperate climate. Birds evolved during the Jurassic Period from small feathered dinosaurs. The oldest-known bird, Archaeopteryx, dates to about 150 million years ago. With a mouthful of teeth and long bony tails, the earliest birds were a far cry from modern ones. Vegavis is one of only two modern birds known from the age of dinosaurs. The other one, Asteriornis maastrichtensis, lived about 67 million years ago in what is now Belgium. Vegavis was the size of a mallard but did not have a bill like a duck. It instead had a spear-shaped beak like a loon. Its skeletal structure indicates that it dove for its dinner. "Vegavis almost certainly preyed on fish and small invertebrates that lived in the shallow marine environment near the Antarctic Peninsula, like the diet of certain birds alive today like loons, grebes and even penguins. Exactly how deep it could go and the length of time it could spend underwater is not clear," said evolutionary biologist and study senior author Patrick O'Connor of Ohio University and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. "We know that Vegavis would have shared the marine ecosystem with other birds and an array of different fishes. But unlike today, it would have also shared the water with classic Cretaceous creatures," O'Connor added, including marine reptiles such as long-necked plesiosaurs and strong-jawed mosasaurs as well as large nautilus-like ammonites. As preserved, the skull measures about 3 inches (7.6 cm) long, but would have been a bit longer in life because it is incomplete. "Previous studies noted its body was shaped very similarly to - and thus functioned very similarly to - modern loons and especially grebes. The legs were shifted towards the back of the body, an adaptation to swimming and especially foot-propelled diving, like loons and grebes," Torres said. "The new fossil expands that similarity to the skull," Torres added, showing that Vegavis had a beak suited to fish hunting along with musculature adapted for pursuit diving, like loons and grebes. Functionally, its skull is similar to that of loons and grebes - birds that snap their jaws closed against the resistive forces of water in pursuit of fish, Torres said. Noting that waterfowl are a specialized avian form, the researchers suspect that the first anatomically modern birds actually appeared millions of years before Vegavis. "We predict that there should be even older examples," O'Connor said. "Whether in Antarctica or elsewhere remains to be seen."
