OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Cade Beloso hit the tiebreaking homer in the top of the 11th inning, Ty Floyd struck out a career-high 17 for the most in a College World Series game in 51 years and LSU beat Florida 4-3 in Game 1 of the CWS finals. Beloso’s blast came after LSU left fielder Josh Pearson made a leaping catch to keep Florida from scoring the winning run in the 10th and moved the Tigers within a win of their seventh national championship. Floyd and Riley Cooper combined to strike out 20.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jordan Lyles ended an 11-game losing streak and the lowly Kansas City Royals beat the Tampa Bay Rays 9-4 on Saturday for their second win in three days against the team with the best record in the majors. Lyles allowed four runs and eight hits over six innings. It was his first victory since his final start last year on Sept. 30 while playing for the Baltimore Orioles. Tampa Bay is 5-7 over its last 12 games including two losses to Oakland, which has the worst record in the majors.
LONDON (AP) — Ian Happ hit two solo home runs, Justin Steele struck out eight and the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-1 in Major League Baseball’s pandemic-delayed return to the British capital. Happ led off the second inning with a drive to straightaway center and put another Adam Wainwright pitch over the right-field fence in the third as the Cubs won their fourth straight game. Chicago used a series of two-out hits to pile up runs against Wainwright, who was pulled after back-to-back doubles in the fourth. The Cardinals starter allowed 11 hits.
DENVER (AP) — The Los Angeles Angels got started early and then kept piling on the runs. The only question was how many they’d finish with. Mike Trout, Brandon Drury and Matt Thaiss hit homers on consecutive pitches to open a 13-run third inning and Mickey Moniak capped it win a two-run homer in the Angels’ record-setting 25-1 rout of the Colorado Rockies on Saturday night. The Angels set franchise marks for runs, hits (28) and margin of victory in a game and tied team records for runs and homers with their huge third inning. The margin of victory was tied for the third-highest in the majors since 1900, behind Texas’s 30-3 victory over Baltimore in 2007 and Boston’s 29-4 victory over the St. Louis Browns in 1950.
CINCINNATI (AP) — The Cincinnati Reds’ longest winning streak in 66 years was stopped at 12 games when Raisel Iglesias struck out Jonathan India for the final out as the Atlanta Braves prevailed 7-6 in an eight-homer slugfest. Each team homered four times. Matt Olson hit the 200th of his big league career and Travis d’Arnaud and Ozzie Albies also went deep off Graham Ashcraft. Marcell Ozuna homered against Alex Young. Cincinnati’s Matt McLain and Spencer Steer hit two-run homers, and Jake Fraley and Will Benson hit ninth-inning drives off Iglesias.
UNDATED (AP) — Assistant Josh Eilert has been selected as the interim coach at West Virginia, punctuating a hectic week after Hall of Famer Bob Huggins resigned following a drunken driving arrest. Athletic director Wren Baker announced the move Saturday night. The 43-year-old Eilert first joined Huggins as a graduate assistant at Kansas State in 2006, then followed him to West Virginia in 2007. Eilert has had a variety of roles with the Mountaineers. Under NCAA rules, West Virginia’s players have a 30-day window to enter the transfer portal, and several apparently have chosen to do so, although they have the option to return.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — As Victor Wembanyama took the stage for his first news conference inside his new home arena, he couldn’t help but notice an accessory that the San Antonio Spurs commissioned for the occasion. It was a replica of the Eiffel Tower made from Legos. Hundreds of them. Wembanyama loves Legos. He looked down at the 4-foot replica when he saw it and smiled. And then he sat next to Spurs general manager Brian Wright and started to talk business. The scene was a perfect microcosm of Wembanyama’s world right now. The teenager is more than just the player the Spurs are betting on to change their fortunes and help them return to championship contention. He's a global brand before playing his first NBA game.
CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) — Keegan Bradley shot a 6-under 64 on Saturday to break the tournament 54-hole scoring record at 21 under in the Travelers Championship, while Rickie Fowler had the second 60 of the week at TPC River Highlands. The previous three-round mark was 18 under, set by Brendan Todd on an empty course during the height of the pandemic in 2020. The four-round tournament record is 22 under, set by Kenny Perry in 2009. Bradley missed a 20-foot putt on 18 that would have tied the PGA Tour’s 54-hole mark of 188 set by Steve Stricker in the 2010 John Deere Classic and matched by Justin Thomas in the 2017 Sony Open. Fowler just missed the 13th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history.
MONTREAL (AP) — Dahrran Diedrick, the Canadian running back who starred at Nebraska and won three Grey Cup titles in a 10-year Canadian Football League career, died Saturday after fighting cancer. He was 44. The Montreal Alouettes, the team Diedrick helped win two Grey Cups, confirmed the death through his family. Born in Jamaica and raised in Toronto, Diedrick was the first Canadian-born scholarship recruit to play for Nebraska. In 2001, he started for the Cornhuskers, rushing for a Big 12-leading 1,299 yards and 15 touchdowns. Diedrick helped Nebraska reach the national championship game at the 2002 Rose Bowl, a 37-14 loss to Miami. He played his lone NFL game in 2004 with Washington, then joined Edmonton in 2005 and won his first Grey Cup that year.
SATURDAY SCORES
INTERLEAGUE
Final Cleveland 4 Milwaukee 2
Final L.A. Dodgers 8 Houston 7
Final L.A. Angels 25 Colorado 1
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Kansas City 9 Tampa Bay 4
Final N.Y. Yankees 1 Texas 0
Final Toronto 7 Oakland 3
Final Chicago White Sox 5 Boston 4
Final Baltimore 6 Seattle 4
Final Detroit 3 Minnesota 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Chicago Cubs 9 St. Louis 1
Final N.Y. Mets 4 Philadelphia 2
Final San Francisco 7 Arizona 6
Final Miami 4 Pittsburgh 3
Final Atlanta 7 Cincinnati 6
Final Washington 2 San Diego 0