Weekday Morning Sports – Thursday 3/26/15

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Sports Radio 1400 WSJM     @wsjmsports     wsjmsports.com     Thursday, March 26, 2015

NCAA Tournament – Men’s – Sweet 16
Tonight
Midwest Regional (Cleveland, OH)
(7) Wichita St vs. (3) Notre Dame, 7:15 p.m.
(5) West Virginia vs. (1) Kentucky, 9:45 p.m.

West Regional (Los Angeles, CA)
(4) North Carolina vs. (1) Wisconsin, 7:47 p.m.
(6) Xavier vs. (2) Arizona, 10:17 p.m.

NCAA Tournament – Re-energized Brey leads Notre Dame against steady Shockers
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey has relied heavily on the toughness instilled with him by his mother while preparing for a Sweet 16 showdown with Wichita State on Thursday night. Brey’s mother Betty died last Saturday, hours before Notre Dame beat Butler in the NCAA Tournament’s round of 32. Brey didn’t tell his team until afterward. The coach says he didn’t want to provide a distraction. Brey spent last Sunday with his family in Florida to celebrate his mother’s life before returning to South Bend to prepare the third-seeded Irish (31-5) for the Shockers. Wichita State crushed in-state rival Kansas in the round of 32. The seventh-seeded Shockers (30-4) say they were careful not to get too high after knocking off the Jayhawks. Guard Ron Baker says beating Kansas was like landing on cloud nine, but added his team can reach cloud 10 with two wins this weekend.

NCAA Tournament – Oklahoma’s Hield making clutch plays
The Big 12 Player of the Year might need to deliver again when Oklahoma faces Michigan State on Friday night for a trip to the Elite Eight. With Oklahoma up four points and just over a minute remaining against Dayton in the round of 32, Hield missed a handoff from point guard Jordan Woodard, leading to a Dayton fast break. Hield got back and stuffed Darrell Davis’ layup attempt with 1:02 remaining. Oklahoma held on and advanced. He had made big plays before. He drained two 3-pointers in overtime during a win at Texas Tech after going 1 for 10 from the field in regulation, and his putback with 0.2 seconds left gave Oklahoma a 75-73 win over Kansas.

NHL – National Hockey League
Last Night
Philadelphia Flyers 4, Chicago Blackhawks 1

Flyers 4, Blackhawks 1 – Flyers roll past Blackhawks 4-1 in Timonen’s return
Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds, Ryan White and Michael Raffl scored goals to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night. Giroux had his 22nd goal for his first even-strength score at home this season. Steve Mason was stout again for the Flyers, finishing with 34 saves. Andrew Shaw scored for the Blackhawks. Flyers fans gave Blackhawks defenseman Kimmo Timonen a standing ovation during a video tribute for the returning defenseman who helped lead Philadelphia to the 2010 Stanley Cup final. Timonen returned to Philadelphia for the first time since he was traded to Chicago in February for two draft picks.

Tonight
San Jose Sharks at Detroit Red Wings, 7:30 p.m.

NBA – National Basketball Association
Last Night
Chicago Bulls 116, Toronto Raptors 103

Bulls 116, Raptors 103 – Bulls beat Raptors for fifth straight time, 116-103
Jimmy Butler scored 23 points, Pau Gasol had 18 and the Chicago Bulls beat Toronto 116-103 on Wednesday night for their fifth consecutive victory against the Raptors. Tony Snell scored 17 points as the Bulls moved 1 ½ games ahead of the Raptors for third in the Eastern Conference. Aaron Brooks had 16 points, and Nikola Mirotic finished with 15.  Toronto has dropped three of four. It hasn’t defeated Chicago since Dec. 31, 2013. Greivis Vasquez had 22 points for the Raptors, and DeMar DeRozan scored 20. Vasquez also matched a career high with six 3-pointers.

NCAA Tournament – Women’s – Notre Dame women’s flight diverted by storms in Oklahoma
The Notre Dame women’s basketball team had its flight diverted to Lawton, Oklahoma, Wednesday because of storms and tornadoes in the Oklahoma City area. Tornadoes in Tulsa killed one person and injured several others. A small tornado also swept across parts of Moore, an Oklahoma City suburb where seven school children were among 24 people who died in a top-of-the-scale EF5 tornado in 2013. The Irish will travel by bus the 100 miles from Lawton to Oklahoma City, where they face Stanford in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 on Friday night. Notre Dame hung out at the airport eating pizza and relaxing during the storm.

MLB – Major League Baseball – Spring Training
Yesterday
Detroit Tigers 8, Miami Marlins 4
Chicago White Sox 6, Kansas City Royals 0
Seattle Mariners 3, Chicago Cubs 2

Tigers 8, Marlins 4 – Cabrera makes debut at 1B, does well as Tigers beat Marlins
Tigers star Miguel Cabrera played the field for the first time this spring as Detroit beat the Miami Marlins 8-4 yesterday. Cabrera had been limited to designated hitter duty while recovering from ankle surgery. The former Triple Crown winner went 0 for 2. Victor Martinez went 1 for 3.

White Sox 6, Royals 0 – Rodon dominates with 9 Ks, White Sox blank Royals 6-0
Carlos Rodon struck out nine in four dazzling innings Wednesday night, making his latest impressive bid to join the White Sox rotation, and Chicago cruised to a 6-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

Mariners 3, Cubs 2 – Walker runs shutout streak to 18 innings, Mariners top Cubs
Mike Zunino homered for the Seattle Mariners in a 3-2 victory last night over the Chicago Cubs. Taijuan Walker extended his flawless spring to 18 scoreless innings. Walker struck out six and walked one in six more shutout innings. He gave up two hits.

Today
Baltimore Orioles vs. Detroit Tigers                       at Lakeland, Fla., 1:05 p.m.
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Chicago White Sox             at Glendale, Ariz., 4:05 p.m.
Los Angeles Angels vs. Chicago Cubs                       at Mesa, Ariz., 7:05 p.m.

Japanese baseball team ordered to pay damages for foul ball
Japanese baseball team the Nippon Ham Fighters have been ordered to pay a woman $350,000 in damages after she was hit in the face by a foul ball at Sapporo Dome. The incident occurred in August 2010 and the woman, who is in her 30s, lost sight in her right eye after being hit by the ball. Sapporo district court judge Yasuhiro Hasegawa ruled Thursday in favor of the woman, Kyodo news agency reported. The Fighters say they are considering an appeal of the ruling. The Fighters argued there are sufficient safeguards in place at Sapporo Dome including announcements to be careful of foul balls and notices posted on the giant screen. Baseball stadiums in Japan have protective netting around the field of play, but balls often fly into stands.

NFL – Zimmer: Vikings will keep Peterson
The Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer was emphatic about keeping Adrian Peterson at the NFL owners’ meetings Wednesday. The running back’s agent has told the Associated Press that it’s in Peterson’s best interest to move on.  Zimmer points out that Peterson is still under contract to Minnesota and expects him to go into the Hall of Fame as a Viking.  Peterson was forced to sit out last season by the NFL when he was charged with disciplining his 4-year old son with a wooden switch. The 2012 league MVP has balked at returning to the team, questioning the Minnesota organization’s support of him after his suspension.

USA Soccer – US gives up two late goals in loss
The United States gave up goals in the 83rd minute and the first minute of stoppage time in a 3-2 exhibition loss to Denmark.  Jozy Altadore and Aron Johnansson scored for the Americans who are 2-6-3 in their last eleven matches.

MCCAA – Junior College Baseball
Today
Lake Michigan College at Kalamazoo Valley Community College, 2:00 p.m.

MCCAA – Junior College Softball
Today
Lake Michigan College at Ancilla College, 3:00 p.m. (DH)

ECHL – East Coast Hockey League
Last Night
Toledo Walleye 3, Wheeling Nailers 2

NBADL – NBA D-League
Last Night
Grand Rapids Drive 107, Iowa Energy 95

MHSAA – Michigan High School Athletic Association – High School Sports
Yesterday
Girls Soccer
Lakeshore 3, Mattawan 2
Carley Dubbert scored twice and Lindsay Ebeling’s goal with 8 minutes left broke a 2-2 tie and gave Lakeshore a 3-2 season opening win over Mattawan.  Mackenzie Swinehart scored both goals for Mattawan.  Natalie Stampfly, Molley Buckleitner, Sarah Dubbert had the assists for the Lancers.

Niles 3, Dowagiac 0
Jaycee Meyer scored twice and Emily Gaines added another goal as Niles shut out Dowagiac 3-0.

Baseball
South Haven 12, St. Joseph 11 – 9 Innings
Niles 6, Coloma 1

Softball
St. Joseph 10, South Haven 1 – Game 1
St. Joseph 9, South Haven 6 – Game 2

Today
Baseball
Niles at Three Rivers, 4:15 p.m. (DH)
Saugatuck at Decatur, 4:30 p.m.
Bangor at Lawton, 4:30 p.m.
Gobles at Marcellus, 4:30 p.m.
Martin at Watervliet, 4:30 p.m.

Softball
Niles at Dowagiac, 4:00 p.m. (DH)
Saugatuck at Decatur, 4:30 p.m.
Bangor at Lawton, 4:30 p.m.
Gobles at Marcellus, 4:30 p.m.
Martin at Watervliet, 4:30 p.m.

Girls Soccer

South Haven at Saugatuck, 4:30 p.m.
Lawton at Berrien Springs, 5:00 p.m.
Fennville at Coloma, 5:00 p.m.
Brandywine at Hartford, 5:00 p.m.
Lake Michigan Catholic at River Valley, 5:00 p.m.
Granger Christian (IN) at Edwardsburg, 5:00 p.m.
Quincy at Sturgis, 5:30 p.m.
Zeeland West at Allegan, 6:45 p.m.
Caledonia at Plainwell, 6:45 p.m.