Wolverines Win Gibson Opener – Saturday Sports Wrap

Click on the bold scores for more details.

Gibson Cup
Tyler Loukas scored twice in the second period to lead the Calumet Wolverines to a 3-2 victory over the Portage Lake Pioneers in the opening game of the 2017 Gibson Cup series. Portage Lake could not take advantage of home ice as Calumet held 2-0 and 3-1 leads. Charlie Turner’s goals in the final minute pulled the Pioneers within one, but the Wolverines held on for the win.

Calumet could win the Gibson Cup for the first time in nine seasons tonight at the Colosseum. Faceoff is at 7:30. Pregame coverage will begin around 7:10 on KBear 102.3 and KBear102.com. If necessary, game three will be played Tuesday night at Dee Stadium.

Portage Lake’s loss in its final official Great Lakes Hockey League game of the season keeps them in fourth place, and gives Marquette having an opportunity to overtake them with a win tonight over Mosinee.

MTU
Fourth-seed Michigan Tech faces top-seed Denver in the opening round of the NCAA hockey tournament today. Faceoff is at 1:00 at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati. The game will be televised on ESPNews. A watch party for those who can’t make the trip has been scheduled at Fisher 135 on the MTU campus. Union College and Penn State will meet in the other Midwest Regional semifinal tomorrow evening at 6:00. The championship game will be played tomorrow evening at 6:00.

Finlandia
The Finlandia University softball team swept a double-header at North Central Friday, winning 13-3 and 29-3. In the first game, the Lions scored five runs in the first inning, and added five in the third. Serena Jaime hit Finlandia’s first home run of the season. The Lions also struck early in the second game, scoring 11 times in the first inning. They went on to set a new school record for the most runs in a game, eclipsing the old mark of 28 that was set in 2013. Jaime slugged two more home runs. Harlie Caster and Denia Bent each scored five runs, to tie the single-game record held by three other players. Freshman Emily Nguyen had three hits, scored four runs and drove in six. Those teams play another doubleheader in Minnesota today.

The Finlandia baseball team plays a doubleheader at the University of Northwestern today.

NHL
The Detroit Red Wings lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in overtime Friday evening. Henrik Zetterberg scored Detroit’s only goal. Petr Mrazek too the loss in net. The Wings will host Minnesota tomorrow afternoon at 12:30.

NBA
The Detroit Pistons’ late-season fade continued with a 115-87 loss at Orlando Friday night. Detroit trailed by 18 at halftime, and never threatened. Jon Leuer led Detroit with 16 points. With nine regular-season games remaining, the Pistons are tied with the Bulls, a game-and-a-half behind the Heat in the battle for the final Eastern Conference playoff position.

MLB
In spring training baseball, Matt Boyd turned in another impressive performance, as the Detroit Tigers edged the Atlanta Braves 3-2. Boyd pitched five shutout innings, giving up three hits, and striking out five. Both Atlanta runs came off Mike Pelfrey in the sixth. Alex Presley and Nicholas Castellanos each hit ground-rule doubles as Detroit scored twice in the third inning. The Tigers will face the Pirates this afternoon.

Tigers outfielder J.D. Martinez will miss three to four weeks because of his sprained right foot. The team announced yesterday that he will not need surgery, but will not be in the opening day lineup. Martinez hurt the foot last Saturday while making a catch during a game.

Tommy Milone struggled, as the Milwaukee Brewers lost to the Cincinnatii Reds 12-11 Friday. Milone was charged with seven runs on nine hits before leaving in the fourth inning. The Brewers will play the Royals this afternoon.

NFL
The Green Bay Packers have signed veteran defensive tackle Ricky Jean Francois. Francois played the past two seasons with Washington. He spent the two previous seasons with Indianapolis, after playing his first four years in San Francisco.

NCAA
South Carolina’s Cinderella run in the NCAA Division One Men’s Basketball Tournament continued yesterday. After upsetting second-seeded Duke in the second round, the seventh-seeded Gamecocks dispatches third-seeded Baylor 70-50 in the East regional semifinals Friday. Florida edged Wisconsin 84-83 in the other East semi. Top seed North Carolina and second seed Kentucky advanced in the South. Today, top-seeded Gonzaga will face 11th-seeded Xavier in the West Regional final at 6:09. Kansas and Oregon meet in the Midwest Regional final at 8:49. Hear all of the remaining tournament games on AM 1400 and FM 99.3, WCCY.

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