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LOU HOLTZ TRIBUTE TICKETS ON SALE
EAST LIVERPOOL -- Tickets still remain for today’s ‘Tribute to Lou Holtz’ with special guests Urban Meyer and Skip Holtz set for 7 p.m. at the East Liverpool High School auditorium. Tickets can be purchased online or at the Upper Ohio Valley Museum and Learning Center at the Lou Holtz Hall of Fame. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. For more information call (330) 386-5443.
SPAGHETTI BOWL IS TODAY
LISBON -- Lisbon will host Leetonia in the annual Spaghetti Bowl at 7 p.m. today at War Memorial Stadium. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for students. Gates open at 5:30 p.m.
WARRIORS FALL TO DUKES
BELOIT -- Marlington remained unbeaten with a 5-0 victory over West Branch on Wednesday. The Dukes swept all five varsity courts, with West Branch falling to 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the EBC.
FIRST SINGLES: Izzy Christian (M) def. Cailyn Brink (WB) 6-0, 6-2
SECOND SINGLES: Ember McCarty (M) def. Sydney Lane (WB) 6-3, 6-1
THIRD SINGLES: Victoria Byder (M) def. Addison Bloor (WB) 6-0, 6-1
FIRST DOUBLES: Lia Faith-Myla Christian (M) def. Leah Irey-Annabelle McGuire (WB) 6-2, 6-0
SECOND DOUBLES: Jackie Seaburn-Addy Christian (M) def. Sophia Hall-Lauren Sanor (WB) 6-2, 7-5
GUARDIANS FALL TO GIANTS
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Victor Bericoto had an RBI single, Matt Wilkinson worked two innings as an opener in his major league debut against the team that drafted the left-hander and the San Francisco Giants beat the Cleveland Guardians 1-0 on Wednesday night.
The 23-year-old Wilkinson allowed one hit a little more than three months after Cleveland’s 10th-round pick in the 2023 amateur draft was acquired from the AL wild card-chasing Guardians. He was the franchise’s first Canadian-born pitcher to make his big league debut as a starter since Tip O’Neill for the New York Gothams in 1883.
Wilkinson faced seven batters after being called up from Triple-A Sacramento, Adrian Houser (3-8) struck out three while allowing four hits and two walks in five innings and Dylan Smith had five strikeouts over the final two innings for his third save in San Francisco’s second 1-0 victory this season.
Rafael Devers scored from third with two outs in the fourth when Bericoto’s sharp grounder in the hole bounced away from diving shortstop Brayan Rocchio toward the left field line.
Willy Adames had three singles for the Giants, and Jung Hoo Lee added a single and a double.
Cleveland starter Parker Messick (9-8) tied his career high with 10 strikeouts while allowing six hits in 6 2/3 innings.
Angel Martínez and Angel Genao had two hits apiece for the Guardians, who were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base.
PIRATES STOP TIGERS
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Brandon Lowe homered off Detroit closer Kenley Jansen with two outs in the ninth inning to lift the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 4-3 victory over the Tigers on Wednesday.
Rafael Flores Jr. homered twice for Pittsburgh, including a tying shot off Jansen (3-5) with one out in the ninth. Lowe followed two batters later with a towering shot to right field that clanged high off the foul pole.
The homer was the 27th this season for Lowe, the most in club history by a second baseman. It was the 83rd this year by the Pirates at PNC Park, the most at the venue since it opened in 2001.
Mason Montgomery (5-3) pitched a scoreless top of the ninth as the Pirates went 4-2 during a six-game homestand against Boston and Detroit.
FUDD ENDS ROOKIE SEASON
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Dallas Wings guard Azzi Fudd is set for season-ending surgery on a sore knee that has sidelined this year’s No. 1 overall pick for the past five games.
The team said Wednesday that Fudd will have arthroscopic surgery on her right knee next week in Connecticut, where she starred for UConn before becoming the Huskies’ second consecutive top overall pick by Dallas. Reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers was the No. 1 choice last year.
Fudd was eased into the lineup as a rookie, coming off the bench for the first six games. She scored 24 points in that sixth game and immediately became a full-time starter. Fudd had a season-high 26 points in a win over Seattle in June.
Fudd, who averaged 13.1 points in 30 games, went through warmups before a home game against Golden State on Aug. 7 and was held out of the game “out of an abundance of caution,” according to the team. The soreness persisted.
MORE ELIGIBILITY GRANTED
Several athletes, including some who signed contracts with NFL teams, were granted a temporary restraining order by a Louisiana court that would make them eligible to return to college athletics, ESPN reported Wednesday.
Former Oregon State running back Anthony Hankerson (Seattle Seahawks), former Florida and LSU pass rusher Jack Pyburn (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and ex-Mississippi starters Dae’Quan Wright (Cleveland Browns) and Wydett Williams (Arizona Cardinals) are on NFL rosters and were part of the lawsuit.
NFL teams are deep into training camp, and rosters have to be cut to 53 players by Aug. 30. Many who don’t make those clubs could look for a fallback plan in college football, barring a successful appeal by the NCAA.
According to ESPN, 16 football players were part of the lawsuit that included 33 athletes across several sports who are seeking a fifth year of eligibility.
The NCAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The governing body for collegiate sports has been dealt a series of legal setbacks regarding its eligibility rules.
On July 31, a federal court in Denver ruled that all high school class of 2022 athletes who exhausted their fourth season of college eligibility this spring are eligible for a fifth season this academic year.
That decision came a little more than a month after the NCAA passed a rule that gives athletes five years to complete five seasons of competition, starting with those who enroll in the fall of 2027. The Colorado ruling eliminated the waiting period.