TONIGHT ON AM-1300 KGLO:

— NCAA men’s national championship game — Texas Tech vs. Virginia — pre-game 5:30, tipoff 8:20

 

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Rhys Hoskins hit a two-run homer, Zach Eflin threw seven sharp innings and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Minnesota Twins 2-1 Sunday.

Eflin (2-0) allowed a leadoff homer to Max Kepler and five singles, striking out five.

Jose Berrios (1-1) gave up only an infield hit before Hoskins connected. He had seven strikeouts in six innings.

Bryce Harper was 0 for 2 with two walks and stole a base. Phillies left fielder Andrew McCutchen made a perfect one-hop throw to the plate to prevent Marwin Gonzalez from scoring on Ehire Adrianza’s single in the third.

David Robertson got two outs in the eighth and Adam Morgan finished the inning. Hector Neris tossed a perfect ninth for his first save since last Sept. 18 against the Mets.

Kepler gave the Twins a 1-0 lead when he drove a fastball into the seats in right-center for his first career leadoff homer. He went deep in each game of the series.

Hoskins fouled off three straight 3-2 pitches in the sixth before launching his third homer into the flower bed just over the left-center field wall.

After averaging 8.2 runs in their first six games, the Phillies have only scored four in the last two.

 

 

MASON CITY — The NIACC baseball team dropped three of four games at home against Kirkwood over the weekend. The Trojans suffered a pair of one-run losses on Saturday, with Kirkwood scoring in the final inning of both games to take 4-3 and 5-4 wins. Shane Kelleher and Will Sturek each had solo homers for NIACC in the opener, with Kelleher and Gabe Denton going deep in the nightcap. On Sunday, NIACC won game one 10-4, but gave up six runs each in the second, sixth and seventh in the nightcap for an 18-6 loss. NIACC is now 13-16 overall and 4-8 in the conference. The Trojans travel to Pella on Wednesday to face the Central College JV before hosting Southeastern on Saturday and Sunday in a four-game conference series.

 

 

MASON CITY — The NIACC softball team won three of their four conference games at home this weekend. On Saturday, the Lady Trojans picked up a pair of five-inning wins over Northeast Community College. After winning the first game 8-0, Kylie Sherwood fired a no-hitter in the second game, winning 9-0. On Sunday, NIACC split their doubleheader with Iowa Central. In the opener, Kaci Sherwood, Alyssa Larson, Kristen Peka and Marissa Norby each drove in three runs in a 15-1 win. Iowa Central took game two by a 4-2 margin. NIACC is now 16-8 overall and 8-2 in the conference. They’ll host Marshalltown on Thursday before returning to conference play at Southwestern on Saturday and at home against Iowa Lakes on Sunday.

 

 

MINNEAPOLIS — Former Loras College head basketball coach Brad Soderberg will be coaching in tonight’s NCAA National Title game in Minneapolis. He is a top assistant coach at Virginia for Tony Bennett. Soderberg was head coach at Loras in Dubuque from 1988 through 1993 He also had head coaching stints at South Dakota State, St. Louis University, and Lindenwood. Soderberg played for Tony Bennett’s father at Wisconsin-Stevens Point and later coached under Dick Bennett at Wisconsin, where he eventually was the interim head coach. Soderberg says he is a “Division Three” guy at heart and always thinks back to his days at that level, including coaching at Loras. Soderberg says his time as a head coach, including his stop in Dubuque, has helped him be a top assistant for Virginia.

Soderberg says he has learned something important about being a head coach in observing Bennett

Soderberg says Bennett is great at keeping his team calm.

Soderberg says he’ll never forget his roots and he remembers his time as a head coach at Loras.

He also served a stint as the interim athletic director at Loras College in 2008.

 

 

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Russell Westbrook had 27 points, 10 rebounds and 15 assists as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 132-126. Paul George also scored 27 points and Dennis Schroder had 14 of his 21 in the fourth quarter as the Thunder remained a half-game ahead of San Antonio for seventh place in the Western Conference.

 

 

DALLAS (AP) — Tyler Seguin broke open a scoreless game with two third-period goals, and the Dallas Stars beat the Minnesota Wild 3-0 Saturday night to take the Western Conference’s top wild-card spot. Ben Bishop made 22 saves for his career-high seventh shutout of the season, and Tyler Pitlick also scored for the Stars. Dallas will open the postseason against Nashville. The Wild end the season with a 37-36-9 record, finishing in last place in the Central Division.