Florida State cancels athletics events through Sunday after campus shooting
(This story has been updated to add new information).Florida State athletics announced the cancellation of all events through Sunday, April 20, following an active shooter incident on campus Thursday. Officials said a suspect was in custody, with two people killed and five injured after gunfire erupted on Florida State’s campus in Tallahassee, Florida. Athletics events canceled […]
(This story has been updated to add new information).Florida State athletics announced the cancellation of all events through Sunday, April 20, following an active shooter incident on campus Thursday.
Officials said a suspect was in custody, with two people killed and five injured after gunfire erupted on Florida State’s campus in Tallahassee, Florida.
Athletics events canceled include the Seminoles’ baseball series opener vs. Virginia at Dick Howser Stadium on Thursday, and softball’s game against Georgia Tech at the Seminole Softball Complex on Friday.
At least 6 injured in FSU shooting; person in custody: Live updates
A cancellation instead of a postponement could signify that the games will not be made up at a future date. The university also made note that updates for next week’s athletics home events will be “communicated when available.”
Women Win Too, You Just Weren’t Watching — The Pacifican
Commentary on Pacific Gives and the gender gap in athletics. Disclaimer: This is not an attack on our school, faculty, or student body, but a call for change. This article is based on the writer’s personal experiences and observations, and may not reflect the experiences of all. As the only sports writer for The Pacifican, […]
Commentary on Pacific Gives and the gender gap in athletics.
Disclaimer: This is not an attack on our school, faculty, or student body, but a call for change. This article is based on the writer’s personal experiences and observations, and may not reflect the experiences of all.
As the only sports writer for The Pacifican, I’ve attended nearly every home game, men’s and women’s, and I can say this with confidence: women’s sports are consistently overlooked, undervalued, and under-supported at the University of the Pacific.
I love covering basketball, a sport I know deeply from both coaching and being a lifelong fan, and Pacific’s recent athletic season revealed the disparity bare. The women’s basketball team opened at home with an impressive crowd of 2,505. But across their remaining 14 home games, attendance dropped dramatically, averaging just 554 fans per game. Their next largest crowd, 819 attendees, only came on faculty and staff appreciation night.
Now let’s compare that to the men’s team. They opened with 3,772 fans, and during their game against Gonzaga late in the season, likely boosted by the buzz around Gonzaga’s departure to the PAC-12, the crowd swelled to 3,178. Over their 15 home games, the men’s team averaged 1,360 fans per game, nearly two and a half times the women’s average.
Here’s the kicker, the women’s team had a better season. They went 15-19 overall, an 8-8 record at home, and made it to the third round of the West Coast Conference Championships held in Las Vegas, Nevada. The men concluded their season with a 5-10 home record, 6-24 overall, and a first-round tournament exit. The women’s team fought through overtime thrillers and showed grit, while the men’s team received the cheers, the crowds, and the clout.
The same inequality plays out in funding. While the women’s basketball team was the only women’s program to receive more donations than their male counterparts, $7,463 from 58 donors versus the men’s $3,207 from 21, it was still a slim margin. The bigger picture is even more discouraging.
With water polo, the men’s team raised a staggering $126,386 from 83 donors during Pacific Gives. The women’s team raised $21,920, even though they had 126 donors, the most of any team. Additionally, the men’s campaign featured a flashy matching donation, “once the team raises $10,000, they’ll receive an additional $10,000,” while the women’s page had no such offer. It was inevitable that, although the women’s team had more supporters, it was systemically rigged for the men to receive more funding.
More disparities within each sport speak for themselves.
Softball received just $2,349 from 21 donors, while baseball brought in a significantly higher $24,210 from only 36 donors.
Women’s tennis raised $6,488 from 12 donors, whereas men’s tennis received $27,618 from 44 donors, plus an automatic $15,000 match, giving them an even greater fundraising advantage.
Women’s swimming brought in $5,348 from 57 donors, but men’s swimming more than tripled that amount with $17,838 from a nearly identical 59 donors.
Women’s soccer actually outpaced men’s soccer in the number of donors, 213 compared to 187, yet they still raised less overall. $15,959 versus the men’s $20,056.
For Volleyball, while the team received a generous $15,000 challenge gift, it was contingent on donor numbers, not dollar-for-dollar matching like many of the men’s teams. Thankfully, they garnered support from 40 donors to raise $23,352, with $15,000 of that amount from the successful donor challenge.
The bias isn’t just in attendance or donations, it’s ingrained into our culture. I’ve written 19 sports articles during my time at The Pacifican, with five focused on men’s teams, nine on women’s, and five on general athletics. I asked the co-editors-in-chief to check the marketing side of the website to see which stories got the most clicks.Even when women outperform, dominate, or show real promise, the interest doesn’t follow, as there is an average of fewer clicks on women’s articles compared to men’s. Strangely, the neutral articles focusing on both men’s and women’s stayed consistent with men’s content. Therefore, further insinuating that if men’s sports aren’t involved, it’s a closed conversation.
These aren’t coincidental numbers. They’re reflections of what our community values, and what it doesn’t. At Pacific, women’s athletics are fighting an uphill battle not because of a lack of talent, effort, or achievement, but because of a lack of recognition. Ranging from funding, fan turnout, and media engagement, the disparities run deep. It’s not enough to say we support women’s sports, but we have to show it through equitable coverage, consistent attendance, and fair institutional backing.
Williams ’26, Quinn ’27 lead men’s track & field at Cornell invitational
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ITHACA, N.Y. – Hamilton College athletes qualified for the regional meet in two new men’s events at the multi-divisional, non-team scoring Big Red Invitational at Cornell University’s Robert J. Kane Sports Complex on Sunday, May 4. Hugh Williams ’26 and Jack Quinn ’27 made it into the All-Atlantic […]
ITHACA, N.Y. – Hamilton College athletes qualified for the regional meet in two new men’s events at the multi-divisional, non-team scoring Big Red Invitational at Cornell University’s Robert J. Kane Sports Complex on Sunday, May 4.
Hugh Williams ’26 and Jack Quinn ’27 made it into the All-Atlantic Region Track & Field Conference (AARTFC) Outdoor Championships in the 800-meter run and the 1,500-meter run, respectively.
The Continentals compete in the 2025 AARTFC Outdoor Championships at Williams College on May 14 and 15.
Texas UIL 5A 200 Freestyle State Champion Commits To South Carolina’s Class of 2029
Fitter and Faster Swim Camps is the proud sponsor of SwimSwam’s College Recruiting Channel and all commitment news. For many, swimming in college is a lifelong dream that is pursued with dedication and determination. Fitter and Faster is proud to honor these athletes and those who supported them on their journey. UIL 5A 200 freestyle […]
Fitter and Faster Swim Camps is the proud sponsor of SwimSwam’s College Recruiting Channel and all commitment news. For many, swimming in college is a lifelong dream that is pursued with dedication and determination. Fitter and Faster is proud to honor these athletes and those who supported them on their journey.
UIL 5A 200 freestyle state champion Bexon Harrison has announced his commitment to the University of South Carolina’s class of 2029.
“I am thrilled to announce my commitment to further my academic and athletic career at the University of South Carolina. I’m grateful to my coaches, Coach Aaron and Coach Scott as well as my family and friends for supporting me along the way. I would also like to thank Coach Jason and all of the coaching staff at South Carolina for this incredible opportunity. Spurs Up!”
Harrison told SwimSwam that in addition to the coaches and the team culture making him feel at home, “the program is going in a great direction and I want to be part of it!”
When he is not racing for his high school, Harrison competes for Streamline Aquatics. But though his mother swam at Yale and he learned to swim at a young age, it was only recently that he began to concentrate on competitive swimming. In addition to racing club, Harrison also did water polo, helping his high school team to the Texas State Championship tournament three years in a row and earning a First Team All-America award. Harrison cited the “limited number of water polo programs” as a factor in his decision to focus on swimming.
He made rapid improvements after that choice, qualifying for Winter and Summer Junior Nationals. To cap off his high school career, he won the 200 freestyle at the Texas UIL 5A State Championships in a record 1:35.67 and was the runner-up in the 100 freestyle (43.99). He has since bettered his 100 freestyle time, dropping to a 43.69 at the April 2025 ST SASA Championships.
Best Times (SCY):
100 freestyle: 43.69
200 freestyle: 1:35.67
100 breaststroke: 54.97
100 butterfly: 48.50
As Harrison has only recently focused on swimming, it’s likely he could continue to make big jumps in his events as a college athlete. He is already a valuable recruit for the South Carolina men. His 100 freestyle would have been the fastest on the 2024-25 team, and his 200 freestyle would have been second. The Gamecocks had one swimmer under 1:37 last season, so Harrison carrying a 1:35 into college is important for the team, which finished 11th at the 2025 SEC Championships.
As for his non-freestyle events, one of the South Carolina men’s strengths is breaststroke, and Harrison’s best would rank third on last season’s roster. Focusing on either the 100 breaststroke or 100 butterfly would give him a double on Day 3 of an NCAA Championship schedule; though notably, not the SEC Championship schedule, which runs the extended five-day swimming format.
Harrison joins Einar Agustsson, Merlin Ficher, Pierre Lageron, and Sam Brown in the South Carolina men’s class of 2026
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].
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Tristan H. Cockcroft May 5, 2025, 12:01 PM ET Open Extended Reactions A pair of young hitters who put on power displays over the weekend are among Monday’s top fantasy baseball pickups. One year ago to the day, these two were minor league teammates, slotting first and fourth in the lineup for Triple-A Norfolk. Today, […]
A pair of young hitters who put on power displays over the weekend are among Monday’s top fantasy baseball pickups. One year ago to the day, these two were minor league teammates, slotting first and fourth in the lineup for Triple-A Norfolk. Today, they’re beginning to flourish at the big-league level, albeit for different teams.
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The 2025 fantasy baseball season is here! Get the gang back together, or start a brand new tradition. Start or reactivate a league >>
Jackson Holliday, 2B, Baltimore Orioles(available in 65.8% of ESPN leagues): He’ll probably be a popular pickup these next few days after delivering his first career multi-homer game on Sunday — and that will be especially true should he continue the hot hitting into the Orioles’ week-opening trip to Minnesota’s Target Field.
Beyond merely the power outburst, Holliday has shown encouraging growth at the plate recently, batting .341/.449/.561 over his last 15 games while significantly decreasing both his ground ball (35.5%, down from 56.7% previously in his MLB career), chase (21.6%, down from 26.3%) and whiff rates (20.3%, down from 32.3%) during that time. Small sample size or not, he’s only 21 years old and brimming with top-shelf talent, meaning that any hot streak by Holliday warrants an optimistic viewpoint.
Kyle Stowers, OF, Miami Marlins(available in 75.6%): Stowers saw Holliday’s multi-homer game and did him one better. Yes, Stowers has a pair of multi-HR efforts in his past four games — and his most-recent of those home runs was a big one, a walk-off grand slam off a 101.7 mph fastball thrown by Athletics closer Mason Miller, hit to the opposite field at the Marlins’ pitcher-friendly home ballpark.
With it, Stowers now has a 12.1% Statcast Barrel rate, 12th-best among batting title-eligible hitters and better than historical standouts in the category, Matt Olson and Corey Seager. He also has a 50.6% hard-hit rate that places him in the 86th percentile. Considering the dearth of elite bats in the Marlins lineup, Stowers could quickly move into a more prominent spot in the order, as he did against right-handed starters on Friday and Saturday while Jesus Sanchez nursed a back issue.
Rotisserie-style player to add
Javier Baez, SS/3B/OF, Detroit Tigers(available in 83.9%): He’s a tough player to trust, after he hit just .221/.262/.347 across the first three seasons of his six-year, $140-million deal with the Tigers. In ESPN standard points leagues, that remains true. Despite starting 23 of Detroit’s last 29 games and batting a respectable .310/.356/.488, Baez’s 50 total fantasy points in that time has been exceeded by 112 other hitters. Ouch!
The low total is almost entirely the product of his free-swinging approach at the plate. Since he’s seeing regular starts between center field, third base and shortstop — and delivering the occasional big hit — he is still worth a look in rotisserie formats. After all, Baez has averaged 24 home runs and 14 stolen bases with a .252 batting average per 162 games played over his MLB career.
Two-start value pickup
Shane Smith, SP/RP, Chicago White Sox (available in 87.0%): One of the season’s most-unexpected breakthrough stories thus far, Smith has limited opponents to three or fewer runs while scoring at least 6.0 fantasy points in each of his first six starts. He can attribute much of that success to the changeup he added during the offseason, a pitch which has generated a 35.2% whiff rate and seven of his 26 strikeouts thus far.
This week, Smith faces the Kansas City Royals and the Marlins, making him one of the best two-start pickups in leagues with weekly transactions. The first start comes in HR-suppressing Kauffman Stadium against a Royals team that has struggled versus changeups (.190 BAA, 33.3% whiff rate). Meanwhile, the latter is a home assignment against a Marlins offense that grades out as one of MLB’s worst.
Deeper-league pickups
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Ben Casparius, SP/RP, Los Angeles Dodgers(available in 90.5%): He’ll get the start for the Dodgers on Monday, and don’t overlook manager Dave Roberts’ comments over the past week that Casparius might be stretched out further to serve as a regular starter while Tyler Glasnow is on the IL. Thus far, Casparius is leaning much more on his cutter versus left-handed hitters and his slider against right-handers, while posting a 3.5% walk rate across 10 relief appearances and one start. He brings enough velocity (95.8-mph average four-seam fastball) and depth to his repertoire that he’s worth a speculative pickup with this expanded opportunity.
Gunnar Hoglund, SP, Athletics(available in 92.5%): Acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays in 2022’s Matt Chapman trade while at the time recovering from Tommy John surgery, Hoglund joined the Athletics for his first career start on Friday. Though the matchup at Marlins Park was highly favorable for the right-hander, he exhibited the same good velocity and excellent control that he did in the minors, tossing six innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts and no walks. It’s that combination of control and ground ball-generating stuff that should make Hoglund’s transition to the majors smoother than an average prospect. Even if he’s only a “matchups type” for now, he’s well worth stashing.
Hyeseong Kim, 2B, Dodgers(available in 94.5%):Tommy Edman‘s placement on the IL this past weekend coaxed the Dodgers to give Kim (who left the KBO to sign a three-year, $12.5-million deal with them during the offseason), his first MLB chance. Although Kim didn’t start either of the team’s two games following his recall, his speed was on full display in Sunday night’s contest, as he stole his first career base in the ninth inning while serving as a pinch runner. Speed should be his ticket to fantasy success, at least initially, as he stole 13 bases over 28 games for Triple-A Oklahoma City while batting only .252/.328/.470 with a 24.4% strikeout rate.
2025 Frontier Conference Track and Field Championships Day 2 Recap | Frontier Conference
The Frontier Conference concluded its 2025 Track and Field Championships on Monday in Helena. The Carroll College men and Montana Tech women took home team championships. Jack Marshall SWX Local Sports Reporter
HELENA- The Frontier Conference concluded its 2025 Track and Field Championships on Monday in Helena. The Carroll College men and […]
The Frontier Conference concluded its 2025 Track and Field Championships on Monday in Helena. The Carroll College men and Montana Tech women took home team championships.
Jack Marshall
SWX Local Sports Reporter
HELENA- The Frontier Conference concluded its 2025 Track and Field Championships on Monday in Helena. The Carroll College men and Montana Tech women took home team championships.
Day 1 Recap:
HELENA- The Frontier Conference Track and Field Championships are underway at Vigilante Stadium in Helena.
Jack Marshall
SWX Local Sports Reporter
Day 2 Winners:
Women’s Coach of the Year: Chuck Merrifield (Tech)
Men’s Coach of the Year: Harry Clark (Carroll)
Women’s Field Athlete of the Year: Abby Clark (Tech)
Women’s Track Athlete of the Year: Alyssa Jany (Tech)
Men’s Field Athlete of the Year: Cade VanVleet (Tech)
Men’s Track Athlete of the Year: Brycen Gardner (Carroll)
