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Indianapolis Star
6 days ago
- General
- Indianapolis Star
Meet the five finalists for 2025 Indiana Miss Softball
The finalists for 2025 Indiana Miss Softball have been announced by the Indiana Softball Coaches Association. Each district gets one finalist for the senior-only award as voted upon by their respective coaches. The winner of this year's award will be announced at the SCAI All-Star games 21 at IU's Andy Mohr Field in Bloomington. Meet this year's finalists. Geyer finished her senior season with a 1.17 ERA (18 earned runs allowed) and it actually raised her career average to 0.98. She was that dominant in the circle, stringing together three consecutive seasons with a sub-1.00 ERA and totaling 1,096 strikeouts — 228 of which came this spring. The Western Michigan signee did this while also raking at the plate, batting .434 with 157 hits, 119 RBIs and 24 home runs for her career. She batted .444 with 40 hits, 37 RBIs, 12 doubles, a triple and five homers as a senior. Geyer led the Cougars to a Class 3A state championship as a sophomore, batting .478 with a career-high eight homers, and posting a 0.99 ERA with a career-high 300 strikeouts over 155 innings in the circle. Marx is a three-sport standout and among the most-decorated athletes in school history. She won three sectional titles with two state runner-up finishes in volleyball, helped secure a basketball state championship as a freshman and is currently in search of her fourth consecutive softball state finals appearance (titles in 2022 and 2023). Limited to her softball career, Marx set the single-season hits record as a freshman, broke it as a sophomore, then surpassed it once more with a couple hits in Tuesday's regional, leaving her with 56 for the season and 226for her career. The standout outfielder has also scored 43 runs and stolen 23 bases this season, and has 191 runs, 226 hits and 118 steals for her career — placing her among the all-time state leaders in each category. The future Buckeye batted an astonishing .588 (50 hits) against one of the state's toughest schedules as a senior. She only struck out three times, drew five walks and rounded out her line with 33 runs, a couple doubles and eight RBIs. Neal is a career .480 hitter with 153 hits, 114 runs scored, 35 RBIs and a paltry 22 strikeouts in 345 plate appearances. In addition to boasting a career-best .936 fielding percentage (42 putouts and two assists on 47 total chances), Neal broke her own school record with 39 steals, leaving her with 111 through four varsity seasons. Neal, a state track qualifier, helped the Dawgs to 63 wins during her career, with back-to-back 18-win campaigns. More: How a conversation her sophomore year helped Izzy Neal bat nearly .600 as a senior Stieneker exploded offensively this season, setting career-highs in average (.582), runs (52), hits (57), RBIs (49), doubles (20), triples (3), home runs (14) and stolen bases (8). She did her damage across 120 plate appearances (98 at-bats), and did so while striking out just nine times. The Marshall commit finished her career with a .459 average, 174 hits, 121 runs, 154 RBIs , 49 doubles and 29 homers. She did not strike out more than nine times in any of her four varsity seasons, and established herself as a dependable fielder, posting a .929 career fielding percentage on 325 total chances. Stieneker took part in two sectional championship runs, with the Golden Bears reaching the semistate finals her freshman season. Already a phenomenal fielder, Zachary is amidst her best season yet at the hot corner, committing a career-low one error on 45 chances at the hot corner with 17 putouts and 27 assists. She's increased her efficiency at the plate, as well, batting a career-high .548 with 46 hits in 84 at-bats. The Notre Dame commit has also driven in 60 runs, scored 43 runs herself, and rounds out her line with 10 doubles, four triples and seven home runs. Zachary is batting .481 for her career with 192 hits, 172 RBIs, 19 home runs, 19 triples, 41 doubles and 166 runs scored. She's also stolen 77 bases in four seasons (20this spring), and led the Kingsmen to a 4A state championship her sophomore season. More on Zachary: 'We're very lucky to be able to do this together.' Penn coach enjoys ride with daughters.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Michigan State football opener vs. Western Michigan moved to Friday, Aug. 29
EAST LANSING – It will be another Friday night, Labor Day weekend opener for Michigan State football. Coach Jonathan Smith will kick off his second season at 7 p.m. on Aug. 29 against Western Michigan, the Big Ten announced Thursday, May 29. It will be broadcast on FS1, one of a number of early season games which the league released start times and broadcast information for heading into the fall. Advertisement The Spartans get a second straight night game at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6, when they host Boston College (NBC), a return game for a road loss to the Eagles last season. MSU closes its three-game nonconference schedule at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 13 against Youngstown State of the Football Championship Subdivision (BTN). Homecoming at MSU will be a noon kickoff Oct. 11 against UCLA, with TV to be determined. The Spartans also have the framework without broadcast information for two other games, with Oct. 4 at Nebraska in Lincoln, Nebraska, and the Oct. 18 trip to Indiana starting either at noon, 3:30 p.m. or 4 p.m. They will close the regular season Nov. 29 at Ford Field against Maryland, time and TV still to be determined. The WMU game marks the 11th time in the last 15 seasons MSU has opened at home on the Friday of Labor Day weekend. Here is a look at the Spartans' 2025 schedule. Sunset shines on the northwest end of the Spartan Stadium in East Lansing during the game between Michigan State and Western Michigan on Friday, Sept. 2, 2022. Aug. 29: Western Michigan, 7 p.m. (FS1) Advertisement Sept. 6: Boston College, 7:30 p.m. (NBC) Sept. 13: Youngstown State, 3:30 p.m. (BTN) Sept. 20: at USC (TBD) Sept. 27: Bye Oct. 4: at Nebraska (noon/3:30 or 4 p.m., TV TBD) Oct. 11: UCLA (noon, TV TBD) Oct. 18: at Indiana (noon/3:30 or 4 p.m., TV TBD) Oct. 25: Michigan (TBD) Nov. 1: at Minnesota (TBD) Nov. 8: Bye Nov. 15: Penn State (TBD) Nov. 22: at Iowa (TBD) Nov. 29: Maryland at Ford Field, Detroit (TBD) Contact Chris Solari: csolari@ Follow him @chrissolari. Subscribe to the "Spartan Speak" podcast for new episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football opener vs. WMU moved to Friday, Aug. 29
USA Today
26-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Cowboys need 2nd-round pick to emerge from pack of high-pedigree depth chart
Cowboys need 2nd-round pick to emerge from pack of high-pedigree depth chart The Dallas Cowboys have made certain they have highly pedigreed talent in their edge rusher rotation. When the team went to the well in the second-round of this year's draft, once again, it was the continuation of a gold rush on the position across the last calendar year. And that year's worth of acquisition was in line with the efforts over the last five years. In 2021, the Cowboys selected all-world performer Micah Parsons in the first round, and followed that up by drafting Sam Williams in the seond round in 2022. In 2024, the team used another second-round pick on Western Michigan's Marshawn Kneeland, kicking off a year-long flurry of activity that brought in three former No. 1 picks and a new second rounder. And out of all of the additions, it's perhaps Kneeland that will compliment Parsons the best in 2025. Rundown Position: Defensive End Age: 23 Height: 6-foot-3 Weight: 268 pounds Hometown: Wyoming, MI High School: Weston (Houston) College: Western Michigan (Highlight Video) Draft: 2023 second-round pick No. 56 Acquired: 2024 Draft Contract: Four-year deal (2024), $6.8 million includes signing bonus of $1.8 million 2025 Base Salary: $1.1 million (guaranteed) | $1.55 million cap hit Career Earnings: $2.6 million (per Over The Cap) Profile Kneeland was drafted in the year-ahead vein, to replace DeMarcus Lawrence as the edge-setting starter opposite Parsons in the starting lineup. But even with Williams lost for the year with a torn ACL and Lawrence missing the final 13 games of the year, Kneeland didn't make much of an impression. Logging just 23 snaps between Week 5 and Week 11, his own injury may have kept him from a strong rookie season. Kneeland will be looking to improve on pedestrian stats. In 141 pass-rush snaps, he had 11 total pressures with four QB hits and seven hurries, but no sacks. He had two TFLs among his 14 tackles. However there were several bright spots. Several times when Kneeland received a large number of snaps, he made an impact. In the season opener he saw 44 snaps and have five pressures includng three hits on the QB. Against Tampa Bay he saw 31 snaps and had three presures. With the change in leadership from Mike Zimmer to Matt Eberflus, the Cowboys front office was under no edict to rely in his continued development. Instead, they went out and grabbed free agents Dante Fowler, Solomon Thomas and Payton Turner and then drafted Boston College's Donovan Ezeiruaku. Hopefully by the time training camp is down there's a clear pecking order of multiple contributors. Follow Cowboys Wire on Facebook to join in on the conversation with fellow fans!
USA Today
22-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Spartans drop hint that season-opener vs. Western Michigan is moving up to Friday
Spartans drop hint that season-opener vs. Western Michigan is moving up to Friday While it is not official yet, it appears Michigan State football will once again be opening the season on a Friday night. As the schedule currently stands, Michigan State will kickoff the 2025 football season on August 30 against Western Michigan. For those who don't have a calendar handy or memorized, August 30 is a Saturday. However, Michigan State football's official social media X account dropped a little nugget on Wednesday that suggests the game will be played on the Friday (or possibly even Thursday) of the opening weekend. Michigan State posted a graphic that stated 100 days to kickoff on Wednesday. If you do the math, that would mean opening kickoff on the 2025 season will be either on Thursday, August 28 or (most likely) Friday, August 29. If you count today's date, then 100 days would be Thursday, August 28 and if you don't start counting until tomorrow, then 100 days would be Friday, August 29. Here's the official post from the Spartans' account: Michigan State football has made it a tradition to open the season on the Friday night of Labor Day weekend. They've had their first game of the year on that Friday in 12 of the last 14 seasons, with the lone exceptions being in 2018 against Bowling Green and 2020 against Rutgers (which is a delayed start to the season due to COVID-19). The schedule most likely will be officially updated within the next month if previous years' patterns are followed. Michigan State, of course, could leave the game on Saturday and this post could just be off -- but I'm personally going to start preparing as if the Spartans will be taking the field for the season-opener against Western Michigan on Friday, August 29. Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
USA Today
19-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Spartans open as three-score favorites over Western Michigan in 2025 opener
Spartans open as three-score favorites over Western Michigan in 2025 opener See the opening betting line for Michigan State football's season-opener vs. Western Michigan Michigan State football has opened as a three-score favorite over Western Michigan in the 2025 season-opener. DraftKings has released betting lines for the opening weekend games in August, which included the Spartans' home non-conference matchup against in-state foe Western Michigan. As you would expect, Michigan State is listed as a favorite and it's by a sizable margin. Michigan State is officially listed as a 17.5-point favorite over the Western Michigan Broncos, according to DraftKings. For perspective and comparison, Minnesota is listed as an 18.5-point favorite over Buffalo, Rutgers is listed as a 10.5-point favorite over Ohio and Wisconsin is listed as a 17.5-point favorite over Miami (OH). Kickoff between the Spartans and Broncos is scheduled for August 30. The kickoff time has not yet been released, and I wouldn't be surprised if the opener is eventually moved up to Friday as well. Included in the post below are all of the Big Ten opening lines that DraftKings has posted thus far -- courtesy of The Big Ten Huddle: Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
