Sports

Shildt Says

Photo of the video board at Petco Park April 15 is the annual date that Major League Baseball salutes Jackie Robinson and the infielder’s historic legacy. Padres’ manager Mike Shildt opened his daily media session discussing the man who broke baseball’s color barrier: “Jackie Robinson Day means a lot to me,” said Shildt. “Actually, I’m […]

Published

1 month ago

April 30, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Photo of the video board at Petco Park

April 15 is the annual date that Major League Baseball salutes Jackie Robinson and the infielder’s historic legacy. Padres’ manager Mike Shildt opened his daily media session discussing the man who broke baseball’s color barrier:

“Jackie Robinson Day means a lot to me,” said Shildt. “Actually, I’m glad that Major League Baseball celebrates this day. I’m glad his number is permanently retired. The one thing about this game is that it’s a beautiful game and it’s always said to be America’s Game.

“But quite frankly, now it’s more of an international game because the game is so wonderful. But specifically the game is fantastic because it doesn’t discriminate. I just appreciate the fact that we are honoring a great man who had a lot of courage.

“Jackie Robinson went through a lot of hard things at a time when people weren’t as open-minded about equality. Major League Baseball, the Padres … we have the responsibility to be stewards of the game and carry ourselves in a manner that people want to emulate.”

Shildt then turned his thoughts to his Tuesday night starter, Randy Vásquez:

Photo of Randy Vásquez at Sutter Health Park

“Randy Vásquez has been good,” said Shildt. “He’s done a nice job and has been dependable as anybody on our staff as far as being able to — A: Give us a chance to win and B: Be able to give us quality innings and make sure the bullpen is in a good place. He’s been great.

Shildt on seeing Cubs’ left-handed starter Shota Imanaga for the second time in a week:

“I think it helps that we’ve seen him recently,” said Shildt. “Pitching is usually ahead of hitting in spring training. Pitchers usually have an edge over hitters, initially. The longer an at-bats goes — you know Manny (Machado) had that 11-pitch at-bat last night — the more times you get to see the other pitcher the greater the chance to have a better swing. He’s a good pitcher and we’re excited to compete against him tonight.”

Shildt on Padres’ left-handed reliever Adrian Morejon:

Photo of Adrian Morejon at Petco Park

“I’m really proud of Adrian,” said Shildt. “He’s really taken the next steps. The talent is there. He has a nice arm, multiple pitches and a feel for spin. But he’s also now really dedicated himself and put a lot of time and energy into the competition standpoint and the consistency standpoint.

“High-leverage situations aren’t for everybody. But he proved last night what he can do if he gets into a little bit of trouble early on in a close game. Last night he came in and it got away from him a little bit. But he went out and made a lot of quality pitches to keep the game where it was. He’s just done a great job for us. He’s a major part of our club.”

Shildt on the rotation in center field with both Jackson Merrill and Brandon Lockridge on the injured list. Jason Heyward got the start Tuesday night:

“Tyler Wade was challenged a lot Monday, but we trust him out there and we’ll trust him some more,” said Shildt. “They have a lefty today on the mound. (Oscar) Gonzalez is swinging the bat well and we wanted to create an opportunity for him. Then you look up and you have Heyward sitting there.

“He has multiple Gold Gloves and has played a lot of center field, so last night after the game I told him I’ve seen him a lot of years on the other side and I’m ready to see him on this side. He’s a veteran guy who knows how to play the position for sure.”

Photo of Jason Heyward at Petco Park

Shildt on Merrill’s rehab progress:

“He’s getting to the point now where he can do some dribbling, which is not basketball,” said the manager. “But on the rehab side, he’s doing some things that allows him to move around a little bit more. He’s doing some stuff in the pool.

“He’s doing a lot of good recovery techniques and, as we would expect, doing them very well and intently. He’s doing a little baseball activity to keep the timing down with his eyes. And he’s been able to progress to a little bit more strengthening. He’s getting closer. I don’t want to put a time frame on it, but he’s getting closer.”

Shildt on Yu Darvish’s rehab:

“Yu played catch off the mound yesterday,” said Shildt. “So, he’s getting to the point where he’ll throw some bullpens. He’s not quite there yet, but he’s playing more aggressive catch. And he’s getting on the mound and playing catch off the mound. Those are all trending in a good direction and also encouraging.”

Shildt on the rehab programs of relievers Bryan Hoeing and Sean Reynolds:

“Hoeing came in and played catch today,” said Shildt. “ I love the fact that we had Sean Reynolds in at the start of the homestand. Now we have Hoeing in a good spot. We talked to him today about his calendar and his future in Arizona. We’ll see from there.

“The good news about Bryan is he’s recovering well. The reports are good from the medical staff. The ball is coming out and the movement is good. So, it was a very encouraging day.

“Hoeing was a big part of our club’s success last year after we acquired him. He filled a huge role and multiple roles. He’d come in and finish out an inning and grab the next inning in high-leverage situations as a bridge guy or a back-end guy.

“For us to have done what we’ve done without him is encouraging. Sean was a nice piece last season as well while finding his footing in the Major Leagues. It’s a good group that we have and we’re looking forward to getting those guys back and ready when called upon.”

Sports

Okeke Set for NCAA Championships

Story Links EUGENE, Ore. — Obiora Okeke will represent the Columbia Track & Field team at the Outdoor NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon tomorrow night. Okeke punched his ticket to the NCAA Finals on Memorial Day Weekend at the NCAA Outdoor Eastern Prelims in Jacksonville. In order to advance, Okeke needed […]

Published

9 seconds ago

June 10, 2025

Your Sports Nation

EUGENE, Ore. — Obiora Okeke will represent the Columbia Track & Field team at the Outdoor NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon tomorrow night.

Okeke punched his ticket to the NCAA Finals on Memorial Day Weekend at the NCAA Outdoor Eastern Prelims in Jacksonville. In order to advance, Okeke needed a top-12 finish and he came through in a big way. After fouls on both his first two throws, Okeke clutched up on his third and final throw with an impressive mark of 19.52m (64-1) to finish fourth overall and secure his spot in tomorrow’s finals.

Okeke will be competing in the final round of the men’s shot put on Wednesday night at 9:15 p.m. eastern time. The field consists of 24 student-athletes broken into two flights. Each student-athlete will receive three throws, with the top-nine marks earning three more throws and a chance at the NCAA Title.

The top-eight overall finishers in the event will be named an NCAA All-American. 9-16 will receive NCAA All-American Second Team honors.

Live television coverage of the NCAA Track & Field Championships will be on the ESPN family of networks. The men’s shot put can be streamed on ESPN+, HERE. Live results can be tracked HERE.

Stay up to date on all things Columbia track & field by following the Lions on Twitter (@CULionsXCTF), Instagram (@culionsxctf) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).

Link

Sports

Lady Jackets reveal 2025 volleyball slate

Story Links 2025 VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE CEDARVILLE, Ohio – The Cedarville Invite plus a match on Homecoming Saturday highlights the 2025 volleyball schedule. The Lady Jackets will play 12 contests in the Callan Athletic Center across ten dates beginning with their own tournament on September 12-13. The hosts will welcome […]

Published

1 minute ago

June 10, 2025

Your Sports Nation

2025 VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE

CEDARVILLE, Ohio – The Cedarville Invite plus a match on Homecoming Saturday highlights the 2025 volleyball schedule.

The Lady Jackets will play 12 contests in the Callan Athletic Center across ten dates beginning with their own tournament on September 12-13.

The hosts will welcome D’Youville, Indianapolis, Saginaw Valley State, and West Liberty to the ten-match round robin event.

Cedarville will be on campus for Homecoming Saturday for the first time in three years when Findlay visits for a G-MAC encounter.

There are seven other home matches culminating with Senior Night on November 15 against Walsh in the regular season finale.

Following an exhibition at Division I Ball State on August 23, CU opens the campaign at the Warrior Invitational on September 5-6 against Upper Iowa, Winona State, and host Wayne State.

The Midwest Region Crossover returns to Hammond, Indiana on October 17-18.

The G-MAC Championship is scheduled for November 18, 21, and 22 with the quarterfinals on campus sites and then the top remaining seed hosting the semifinals and final.

# # # # #

Link

Sports

Chrissy Schoonmaker Named Softball Head Coach

Thank you to the University of Houston, Chancellor Renu Khator, Eddie Nuñez, David Williams, DeJuena Chizer and the entire search committee for their belief in my vision for this program and their continued investments into driving the team and university forward. It is an exciting time to be a Houston Cougar and I am overjoyed […]

Published

18 minutes ago

June 10, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Chrissy Schoonmaker Named Softball Head Coach

In 2025, Schoonmaker tutored her second A-10 Pitcher of the Year in four seasons while guiding George Washington to the 25th-best ERA in the nation and leading the A-10 in ERA, strikeout-to-walk ratio, shutouts, strikeouts per seven innings and WHIP. Previously in 2024, Schoonmaker guided the Buff and Blue to the top spot in the A-10 in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging and scoring.

Over four seasons at George Washington, Schoonmaker led GW to two 30+ win seasons and turned the Revolutionaries around from 17 wins in 2023 to 27 victories in 2024 and 33 wins in 2025, a 16-win improvement over the last two years. She stands as the only head coach to lead GW to three winning seasons in the program’s history.

Schoonmaker rejoins the Big 12 Conference after beginning her coaching career at Texas Tech in 2012 and has mentored 18 All-Conference selections, six All-Region honorees, two Pitchers of the Year, a Player of the Year and an All-American.

Led by NFCA All-American Sierra Lange and A-10 Player of the Year Alexa Williams, GW went 36-17 in 2022, including a 21-3 mark in conference play, and advanced to the A-10 Championship final before concluding its season at the National Invitational Softball Championship in Fort Collins, Colo.

After a 6-10 start, the group surged down the stretch by winning 27 of 30 to finish the regular season, highlighted by a 13-game winning streak which tied a program record.

The Buff and Blue finished the regular season ranked among the top 100 nationally in RPI and ended up among the national leaders in several statistical categories. They were recognized for a memorable spring with Lange and Williams pacing a program-record five All-Conference First-Team selections.

Schoonmaker also led George Washington to academic success. During her tenure, the Revolutionaries collected 15 academic honors from College Sport Communicators as well as 30 student-athletes to academic awards from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

“I would also like to thank George Washington University, along with our former student-athletes, coaching staffs and support staff for their contributions during my tenure in Washington, D.C.,” Schoonmaker said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to have been a guardian of the program and it was a privilege to be surrounded by such incredible people. Our time together was special and I wish the team continued success.”

A veteran leader with more than a decade of experience at the highest levels of the sport, Schoonmaker arrived at Houston for her second head coach position after four years at GW and assistant coach stints at Harvard, UConn, Houston, Texas Tech and her alma mater South Carolina.

Schoonmaker spent the 2020-21 academic year on staff at Harvard, during which she helped lead the Crimson’s virtual programming amid the COVID-19 pandemic with an emphasis on team building and leadership development through core value study. The Sebastian, Fla., native also contributed to the SEC Network’s softball coverage as a game analyst this spring for the second consecutive season.

Before heading to the Ivy League, Schoonmaker spent a year as assistant director of development at South Carolina where she was part of major-gift fundraising efforts for the athletics department, including creating an initiative – The Women of South Carolina – which has raised more than $1 million to date to provide resources for female student-athletes at her alma mater.

Schoonmaker’s latest tenure at USC followed five seasons as lead assistant at UConn. Her wide-ranging responsibilities included practice planning, scouting and recruiting for the Huskies, who recorded 95 wins from 2015-19 competing in the American Athletic Conference. In her final campaign, the program produced five All-AAC performers, including a pair of First-Team picks, as well as 14 AAC All-Academic Team honorees.

In 2014, Schoonmaker was on staff for Houston’s run to the NCAA Regionals. The Cougars totaled 33 victories and earned an at-large berth in the Waco Regional. She served as infield coach for a group that set a single-season program record for double plays turned and helped increase the team fielding percentage by 12 points from the previous spring.

Sports

Conway Chosen to Philly-SIDA Academic All-Area Men’s Track & Field Team

Story Links PHILADELPHIA — For the second-straight year, Matthew Conway was selected to the Philly-SIDA Academic All-Area Men’s Track & Field Team. The team is selected by votes from 30 four-year institutions in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. To be considered for Academic All-Area recognition, individuals had to have at least a […]

Published

18 minutes ago

June 10, 2025

Your Sports Nation

PHILADELPHIA — For the second-straight year, Matthew Conway was selected to the Philly-SIDA Academic All-Area Men’s Track & Field Team.

The team is selected by votes from 30 four-year institutions in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. To be considered for Academic All-Area recognition, individuals had to have at least a 3.3 GPA or above.

The Chemical Engineering major, who also minors in Spanish, is a 2024-25 Goldwater Scholarship Winner, a two-time College Sports Communicators Academic (CSC) All-District, a Rowan Scholar of Distinction (Student-Athletes with 3.80 or above), an NJAC All-Academic Honorable Mention, a member of Chi Alpha Sigma (National Student-Athlete Honor Society), and is a board member of Rowan’s American Institute of Chemical Engineers chapter. The recent graduate plans to pursue a Ph.D. in chemical engineering

On the track, Conway is a two-time NJAC Outdoor Champion in the 10,000 meters (2024, 2025), and an 2025 NJAC Indoor Champion in the 5000 meters. He is also a member of the Profs’ cross country team. He was part of three NJAC Championship teams this season (cross country, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field).

Conway is joined on the Academic All-Area team by Villanova’s Liam Murphy and Dan Watcke, Haverford’s Reza Eshghi and Peter LaRochelle, Javon Bowen of Holy Family, Kampton Kam of Penn, Samuel Knowles of Widener, Jayden McKeen of Ursinus, and Luke Noss of Saint Joseph’s. Murphy was named the performer of the year.

Link

Sports

Rowan Finishes 17th in LEARFIELD Division III Directors’ Cup Final Standings; Marks Best Finish in Over 20 Years

Story Links CLEVELAND, OH – Rowan University Athletics earned a 17th-place finish in the final 2024-25 LEARFIELD Division III Directors’ Cup standings, which recognizes the overall excellence of the athletics program. It marks the highest finish for the Profs since 1998-99 when the program garnered a fifth-place finish, and a 17th-place finish in […]

Published

39 minutes ago

June 10, 2025

Your Sports Nation

CLEVELAND, OH – Rowan University Athletics earned a 17th-place finish in the final 2024-25 LEARFIELD Division III Directors’ Cup standings, which recognizes the overall excellence of the athletics program. It marks the highest finish for the Profs since 1998-99 when the program garnered a fifth-place finish, and a 17th-place finish in 2005-06.

Throughout the course of the year, Directors’ Cup points are awarded based on a school’s finish in up to 18 sports in the NCAA Championships.

Rowan, which had representation in 13 NCAA Championships by either full teams or individuals, saw the baseball, men’s indoor track & field and men’s outdoor track & field teams register third-place national finishes, with softball finishing fifth.

Rowan totaled 708.0 points in the Directors’ Cup standings for NCAA Division III and was the top-finishing program in the NJAC. The Profs recently captured their fifth consecutive NJAC Cup, which signifies success for an institution’s athletic program during the year of conference competition.

Rowan’s 2024-25 NCAA Team Finishes

Men’s Outdoor Track & Field – 3rd (NCAA Championship)

Men’s Indoor Track & Field – 3rd (NCAA Championship)
Baseball – 3rd (NCAA World Series)
Softball – 5th (NCAA World Series)
Women’s Lacrosse – 9th (NCAA Third Round)
Field Hockey – 9th (NCAA Second Round)
Women’s Swimming –19th (NCAA Championship)
Men’s Swimming – 28th (NCAA Championship)
Women’s Cross Country – 32nd (NCAA Championship)
Men’s Cross Country – 33rd (NCAA Championship)
Women’s Soccer – 33rd (NCAA First Round)
Men’s Soccer – 33rd (NCAA First Round)

Women’s Outdoor Track & Field – 38th (NCAA Championship)

Emory was the overall LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup champion with 1198.75 total points with last year’s champion Johns Hopkins finishing second (1147.0 points) and Tufts placing third (1069.00).

The LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. Directors’ Cup points accumulated can vary by sport based on the size of a team bracket or the number of teams that score points at a particular NCAA Championship.

Rowan All-Time in the LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup

1995-96         5th place

1996-97         9th

1998-99         5th

(standings from 2000-02 N/A)

2003-04         53rd

2004-05         29th

2005-06         19th

2006-07         74th

2007-08         61st

2008-09         53rd

2009-10         68th

2010-11         63rd

2011-12         26th

2012-13         39th

2013-14         65th

2014-15         98th

2015-16         33rd

2016-17         43rd

2017-18         21st

2018-19         30th

2019-20         No standings due to Covid-19

2020-21         No standings due to Covid-19

2021-22         29th

2022-23         21st

2023-24         21st

Link

Sports

Seven of eight tickets secured for 2026 European Water Polo Championships on penultimate day of qualifiers

Slovenia’s players and coaches celebrate after beating Great Britain to secure their qualification. Photo: Gorazd Kavčič (Gorazd Kavcic/www.rezultat.si) Only one of the eight qualification spots is still to be booked after a thrilling penultimate day at the men’s qualifiers for the 2026 European Water Polo Championships. So far, there has been no changing of the […]

Published

49 minutes ago

June 10, 2025

Your Sports Nation

*Slovenia’s players and coaches celebrate after beating Great Britain to secure their qualification. Photo: Gorazd Kavčič (Gorazd Kavcic/www.rezultat.si)*

Only one of the eight qualification spots is still to be booked after a thrilling penultimate day at the men’s qualifiers for the 2026 European Water Polo Championships. So far, there has been no changing of the guard, as the advancing teams are all set to return to the grand stage, while the challengers were unable to bring any of them down.

European Water Polo Championships
Men’s Qualifications, Day 3
Tuesday 10 June 2025

Group A (Kranj)

Great Britain 11-9 Poland
Netherlands 35-4 Czechia
Slovenia 16-6 Great Britain
Netherlands 29-3 Poland

Group B (Istanbul)

Finland 5-30 Germany
Sweden 7-30 Türkiye

Group C (Tbilisi)

Israel 16-9 Bulgaria
Georgia 29-5 Switzerland

Group D (Gzira)

Ukraine 10-24 France
Portugal 13-17 Malta

Netherlands’ Bilal Gbadamassi helped steer his team to qualification on day three in Kranj. *Photo: Gorazd Kavčič (Gorazd Kavcic/www.rezultat.si)*

In Group A, Great Britain claimed a heroic win over Poland in the morning to set up a do-or-die clash against hosts Slovenia in the evening. The young Brits came back from 1-5 down, as James Blenkinship stepped up and scored three in the fourth period, after 8-8, to secure a memorable 11-9 victory.

However, playing twice on the same day is challenging, even for the pros sometimes, so it was no wonder the up-and-coming Brits couldn’t carry on their great run in the evening when they faced off with Slovenia.

The hosts would have been the favourites anyway, but taking on an inexperienced rival who had to play their second match of the day made it even easier. It was all over by half-time, as the Slovenians stormed to an 8-2 lead and never looked back to secure another appearance at the Europeans with a powerful 16-6 victory.

The strongest team in Kranj, the Netherlands, passed their double test with ease, netting 64 goals in total against Czechia (35-4) and Poland (29-3) to qualify as expected.

*Great Britain captain Dan Paddon scored twice against Poland in the morning session. Photo: Gorazd Kavčič (Gorazd Kavcic/www.rezultat.si)*

In Group B, Slovakia have already reached safe waters and need just a win against Finland on Wednesday to finish top. This group is the only one where the second spot is yet to be decided.

Hosts Türkiye and Germany warmed up for their final day showdown by each hitting 30 goals against their respective Nordic opponents – the Türks thrashed Sweden 7-30, while the Germans blew away the Finns 5-30.

Elsewhere, neither Georgia, nor Israel had any hardships in Tbilisi, as they both added three more points from their matches to advance from Group C.

Georgia downed the Swiss 29-5, while Israel finished the job by half-time against Bulgaria, leading 8-1, and maintained that seven-goal gap until the end (16-9).

Something similar happened in Gzira, where France and Malta clinched the necessary wins to go through. France cruised to a 10-24 victory against Ukraine, while the hosts jumped to a 3-10 lead against Portugal in the first half, and their rivals could never get any closer than four during the rest of the match, as Malta triumphed 13-17.

In these two groups, the first place will be at stake on the closing day.