Month: June 2024

Angel Reese got ejected from the Sky-Liberty game for the most bizarre reason

Wait, how is this worthy of an ejection??

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As the discourse around the WNBA wasn’t already getting to be a lot right now, Chicago Sky rookie forward Angel Reese just got ejected from her team’s game against the New York Liberty for simply waving off a ref for a call she didn’t like.

Reese picked up a double technical foul during the contest and was dismissed from the game, with the final straw apparently her waving off a referee for assessing her with a personal foul.

While it’s possible she also said something to anger the ref after the first call, this is still an absurd way for Reese to be thrown out of the game … especially after, y’know, that whole hard foul situation went down over the weekend between Sky guard Chennedy Carter and Indiana Fever rookie guard Caitlin Clark.

There’s just not much to say after this other than how flummoxing this is for Chicago and Reese. She shouldn’t have been ejected for waving off the referee, even if she did say something inappropriate in the process.

Her coach Teresa Weatherspoon was equally mystified:

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UNC star closer Dalton Pence was the biggest pitching factor in Monday night win

Dalton Pence kept pushing through in Monday night’s Chapel Hill Regional Final, helping deliver UNC an extremely exciting victory.

Before Monday night’s Chapel Hill Regional Final, UNC head baseball coach Scott Forbes said “all his horses would be ready to go.”

In this case, Forbes referred to his star-studded bullpen, which includes 12-game winner Matthew Matthijs and star closer Dalton Pence.

North Carolina ended up starting the game with freshman ace Jason DeCaro, who tossed two innings of 2-hit, 2-run ball, then turned to Matthijs for 4 1/3 innings. After giving up a go-ahead home run to Jared Jones in the third inning, Matthijs only allowed one hit the rest of his outing.

Pence, normally the Diamond Heels’ ninth inning, came into the game with one goal – limit LSU’s power-hitting lineup.

Pence did exactly that, hurling 3 2/3 innings while only allowing one hit and two walks, on a season-high 63 pitches. This included facing the likes of Jared Jones and Jake Brown, who homered for the Tigers earlier in the night.

It’s no surprise to Tar Heel Nation that UNC named Pence its Player of the Game.

Even with how well Pence pitched, it wouldn’t be a postseason baseball game without a little late-inning drama.

Pence quickly retired Tommy White and Steven Milam, then walked Jared Jones, who took second on a wild pitch. Josh Pearson, the possible final out, sent a deep fly ball to center field.

The ball looked like it could’ve gone out of Boshamer Stadium, but North Carolina star center fielder Vance Honeycutt made a great catch to send UNC onto the Super Regionals.

You can bet the Diamond Heels will call on Pence for more clutch situations in the Super Regionals.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

Commanders finalize 2024 preseason schedule

Commanders announce preseason schedule and a new partnership.

We knew who the opponents were. Now we know the Washington Commanders’ full preseason schedule.

On Tuesday, the Washington Commanders revealed the dates, time and television for the three preseason games.

  • Saturday, Aug. 10: at New York Jets, noon ET, WUSA Channel 9
  • Saturday, Aug. 17: at Miami Dolphins, 7:00 p.m. ET, WUSA Channel 9
  • Sunday, Aug. 25: vs. New England Patriots, 8:00 p.m. ET, NBC

Earlier on Tuesday, the Commanders announced a new partnership with WUSA9 in D.C. that will increase coverage of the team with two new WUSA-produced shows, one of which is a weekly pregame show.

The new agreement gives WUSA exclusive rights to Commanders’ non-national preseason games.

Three current shows currently produced by the Commanders will also air on WUSA9: Command Center, The Player’s Club and The Gameplan. The Gameplan will be former player and current analyst Logan Paulsen breaking down game film with head coach Dan Quinn.

UFC Denver official with Maycee Barber vs. Rose Namajunas main event

A potential UFC women’s flyweight title eliminator is set as Maycee Barber battles Rose Namajunas in a five-round fight.

A potential UFC women’s flyweight title eliminator is set for five rounds this summer.

At a UFC Fight Night event July 13 in Denver, top contenders [autotag]Maycee Barber[/autotag] and [autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag] will collide at Ball Arena, promotion CEO Dana White announced Tuesday. Ariel Helwani was first to reported the news on X.

Barber (14-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) is on the most successful stretch of her UFC career as she enters the bout on a six-fight winning streak. Her two most recent wins have come over perennial contenders Amanda Ribas (by TKO) and Katlyn Cerminara (by unanimous decision).

Namajunas (12-6 MMA, 10-5 UFC) is 1-1 since she shifted to flyweight from strawweight in 2023. After a unanimous decision loss to Manon Fiorot in her divisional debut, Namajunas defeated Amanda Ribas by unanimous decision in March.

While unofficially a title eliminator, the winner of the bout could get a crack at the winner of champion Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko, a bout expected to take place in the fall following the conclusion of the airing of “The Ultimate Fighter 32.”

With the addition, the July 13 lineup includes:

  • Maycee Barber vs. Rose Namajunas
  • Mike Malott vs. Gilbert Urbina
  • Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Muslim Salikhov
  • Gabriel Bonfim vs. Ange Loosa
  • Mariya Agapova vs. Luana Santos
  • Viviane Araujo vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
  • Cody Brundage vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan
  • Julian Erosa vs. Christian Rodriguez
  • Josh Fremd vs. Andre Petroski

Lily Yohannes, 16, makes history with goal in first USWNT cap

The teenager made it a debut to remember on Tuesday night

Lily Yohannes, 16, had a U.S. women’s national team debut to remember on Tuesday, scoring a goal against South Korea in a 3-0 win.

The midfielder entered in the 72nd minute of the friendly in St. Paul, Minnesota, becoming the eighth-youngest USWNT player ever and the youngest since 2001.

That would have been enough for memorable evening for the Virginia-born teenager, but she was not done. Not by a longshot.

Just 10 minutes after stepping onto the pitch, Yohannes found the net with a composed finish to make it 3-0. At age 16 years, 358 days, Yohannes became the third-youngest scorer in USWNT history.

Trinity Rodman got on the end of a short corner and beat her marker before sending a low cross into the area. The ball made its way through a crowd of players before finding Yohannes, who swept home with a cool first-time finish.

“It’s a dream come true, really,” Yohannes said on TNT after the game.

“I played this scenario out in my head like how many times before this game, just having the idea of coming on and scoring. That was really amazing support from my teammates all running up to me. That made it so much more special.”

Yohannes became the youngest USWNT call-up since 2017 when she was named to the SheBelieves Cup roster in March, though she did not play in either match.

This time around the Ajax midfielder did see the field, and made a huge impression in her 20 minutes on the Allianz Field pitch.

Watch Yohannes score on USWNT debut

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16-year-old Lily Yohannes scored her first goal for USWNT in a historic moment for the team

The future for USWNT is bright with players like 16-year-old Lily Yohannes.

The United States women’s national soccer team might have a rising star on its hands.

During a friendly match against South Korea on Tuesday night, 16-year-old midfielder Lily Yohannes scored her first goal in her debut with USWNT.

Per the team, Yohannes is the eighth-youngest player to make their USWNT debut and is the youngest athlete to play for the team since 2001. With her stellar goal, she’s the third-youngest player to ever score for the U.S. during a competition.

She made the first USWNT roster for new coach Emma Hayes last month.

That has to make you all at once very impressed and very excited for the future of the UWSNT with players like Yohannes coming into their own on the pitch at such a young age.

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USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, June 4: Jailton Almeida, Ailin Perez climb up

UFC 302 is in the books. Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings.

UFC 302 is in the books and with a handful of ranked fighters on the card, there was bound to be movement.

The biggest winner in the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings is heavyweight contender [autotag]Jailton Almeida[/autotag], who quickly submitted Alexandr Romanov in the first round. As a result, Almeida has moved from No. 10 to No. 7 in the divisional rankings.

Also, women’s bantamweight [autotag]Ailin Perez[/autotag] entered the honorable mentions, replacing Melissa Gatto. Perez defeated rival Joselyne Edwards by unanimous decision on the prelims.

Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.

Bengals’ Geno Stone named one of NFL’s top safeties

Huge praise for new Bengals safety Geno Stone.

Praise continues to flow for new Cincinnati Bengals safety Geno Stone.

A signing aimed at fixing a secondary that allowed tons of explosives last year while struggling with communication, Stone is technically a Jessie Bates replacement one year after the fact.

In other words, Bengals fans will like to hear that Stone is one of the 11 best safeties in the NFL in the mind of Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar:

He had 50 solo tackles and 13 stops, but that wasn’t his game — Stone was there to make sure that Macdonald could deploy his other safeties (including the No. 1 player on our list) in other interesting ways. And as a deep-third defender, Stone allowed 28 catches on 42 targets for 197 yards, 145 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, seven interceptions, eight pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 53.5.

We could throw out more basic stats and snap counts, too, but the point with Stone that makes him a really appealing fit in Cincinnati is simple — his versatility opens up the defense for other players and coordinator Lou Anarumo himself.

With Stone’s skill set and Vonn Bell back to help run a defense he already understands, the goal (while Dax Hill competes at corner) is super obvious.

No wonder Stone and Bell have already been working together.

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Colby Wilkerson, Alex Madera deliver the clutch hitting UNC needed in Monday’s win

UNC baseball players Colby Wilkerson and Alex Madera are heroes amongst everyone in Tar Heel Nation.

The UNC baseball team appeared well on its way to a blowout victory in Monday Night’s Chapel Hill Regional Final against defending national champion LSU, scoring two quick runs in the first inning on a bases-loaded walk and a double-play groundout.

North Carolina could’ve easily added more insurance runs, but hitters decided to be aggressive early in the count – a head-scratching choice after Tiger pitchers struggled with control.

The LSU bats then wasted no time jumping on star UNC freshman pitcher Jason DeCaro, tying the winner-take-all contest on a second-inning home run from standout freshman Jake Brown. Thanks to a Jared Jones home run, the Tigers then took a 3-2 lead in the following inning.

Given how the Diamond Heels started Monday’s game offensively, surely they would rebound and showcase a hitting barrage.

North Carolina didn’t threaten much at all after LSU took the lead – until it was crunch time.

Starting UNC shortstop Colby Wilkerson battled back from a 1-out, 0-2 count against Gage Jump in the ninth inning, tying the game at three on a single to left field.

In the top of the 10th (we agree, it’s weird the Diamond Heels are visitors in their own stadium), facing a 3-2, 2-out count, starting second baseman Alex Madera gave North Carolina the lead when he drove a hard ground ball into center field.

Pandemonium then ensued in Chapel Hill and – in the next half inning – star UNC closer Dalton Pence baited Josh Pearson into a game-ending flyout.

In two desperate situations when the Diamond Heels needed runs, the last two hitters in their lineup came through.

Thanks to Wilkerson and Madera, North Carolina will now host West Virginia this coming weekend in a Super Regional.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

Ryan Nicholson was named the Lexington Regional Most Outstanding Player

Kentucky baseball player Ryan Nicholson named as Lexington Regional Most Outstanding Player.

Kentucky baseball had a good weekend, sweeping the Lexington Regional, defeating all three of the other teams, including a 5 – 0 win over Indiana State in the final. Several individual players had good performances in the three games, and Ryan Nicholson played well enough to be named Most Outstanding Player.

Wildcats pitching was the key to winning the final two games, and the offense was held in check in large part. However, Nicholson did some timely damage for the Cats.

Related: Ryan Waldschmidt projected to be first round draft pick

Over the course of the three wins, Nicholson had three hits, and two of them were homeruns. He also drove in four runs over the weekend.

Nicholson had a terrific season overall. He posted a .290 average, with 20 homeruns and 58 RBIs. He was especially effective down the stretch, and has had at least one hit in seven of his last eight games.

Kentucky moves on the super regionals where they will face Oregon State. If the Wildcats want to advance to College World Series for the first time, they’ll need Nicholson to continue to hit the ball well.