KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Michael A. Taylor homered and drove in three runs for the second straight game, leading the Kansas City Royals over the Texas Rangers 11-4. Released by Washington after hitting .196 last season, Taylor is off to a sensational start for Kansas City. After getting three hits and throwing out two runners at the plate from center field in a 14-10 win on opening day, Taylor came back with a home run and double as the Royals improved to 2-0. Whit Merrifield also homered for the second game in a row. Texas starter Kohei Arihara allowed three runs in five innings in his major league debut after six seasons in Japan.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Jared Butler scored 17 points to lead five Baylor players in double figures, and the Bears roared to a 78-59 victory over Houston in the Final Four. Matthew Mayer and Davion Mitchell added 12 points apiece for the Bears, whose first trip to a national semifinal since 1950 will continue to the title game. They'll face undefeated Gonzaga on Monday night. Marcus Sasser had 20 points and Quentin Grimes scored 13 for the Cougars, whose trip to their first Final Four since 1984 was over by halftime.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Gonzaga has given fans the NCAA championship game they wanted with a shot for the ages. Jalen Suggs banked in a shot from near midcourt at the buzzer, giving the heavily favored Zags a 93-90 overtime victory against upstart UCLA. Gonzaga, the No. 1 overall seed, will play second-seeded Baylor for the title Monday night. Those teams were 1-2 in The Associated Press Top 25 most of the season.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The last time that Tara VanDerveer and Stanford were playing for a national championship, the Pac-12 had just 10 schools and the Cardinal were the standard bearer for the conference. Now 11 years later, the Pac-12 is on top of the women’s basketball world with the Cardinal facing Arizona on Sunday night for the title. The conference is guaranteed its first champion since the Hall of Fame coach and the Cardinal won their last title in 1992.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Health officials in Indiana say they are investigating whether anyone was exposed to COVID-19 by Alabama residents following Friday night’s death of a Crimson Tide fan who was in Indianapolis for the NCAA Tournament last weekend. The Tuscaloosa News says Alabama student Luke Ratliff was hospitalized shortly after returning to Tuscaloosa on March 29, one day after attending Alabama’s game against UCLA at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The 23-year-old Ratliff was a well-known fan known as Fluffopotamus.
UNDATED (AP) — USA Basketball has announced that Grant Hill will replace the retiring Jerry Colangelo as its men’s national team managing director following the Tokyo Olympics. Hill helped the U.S. win Olympic gold at the 1996 Atlant Games and was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018. The managing director role was created for Colangelo in 2005, after the Americans won bronze at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Colangelo has led a program that has won three Olympic gold medals and gone 97-4 in major competitions since. USA Basketball Board of Directors chair and retired Gen. Martin Dempsey said Saturday that Hill “is a proven leader of consequence and character.”
SATURDAY SCORES
INTERLEAGUE
Final Miami 12 Tampa Bay 7
Final Minnesota 2 Milwaukee 0
Final Seattle 4 San Francisco 0
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Baltimore 4 Boston 2
Final Detroit 5 Cleveland 2
Final N.Y. Yankees 5 Toronto 3
Final Kansas City 11 Texas 4
Final Houston 9 Oakland 1
Final L.A. Angels 5 Chicago White Sox 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
N-Y Mets at Washington 4:05 p.m. (Postponed)
Final Chicago Cubs 5 Pittsburgh 1
Final Philadelphia 4 Atlanta 0
Final Cincinnati 9 St. Louis 6
Final San Diego 7 Arizona 0
Final L.A. Dodgers 6 Colorado 5
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Dallas 109 Washington 87
Final New York 125 Detroit 81
Final Miami 115 Cleveland 101
Final Philadelphia 122 Minnesota 113
Final Utah 137 Orlando 91
Final OT Indiana 139 San Antonio 133
Final Portland 133 Oklahoma City 85
Final Milwaukee 129 Sacramento 128
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (1)Gonzaga 93 UCLA 90
Final (3)Baylor 78 (6)Houston 59