Sports
No. 25 UNLV begins tough stretch by hosting Syracuse
Sep 13, 2024; Kansas City, Kansas, USA; UNLV Rebels head coach Barry Odom looks on during the first half against the Kansas Jayhawks at Children’s Mercy Park. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images Every team faces challenges over the course of a long season, but No. 25 UNLV absorbed a major dose of adversity last week.
The Rebels passed their first test following the departure of starting quarterback Matthew Sluka and will look to ace another challenge Friday when Syracuse visits Las Vegas for an intriguing nonconference matchup.
UNLV (4-0) is ranked for the first time in program history, but it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing for the Rebels.
They won their first three games behind Sluka, who racked up six passing touchdowns while running for a team-high 253 yards. However, Sluka left the team last Tuesday after a disagreement over unfulfilled NIL promises.
The sudden departure left UNLV coach Barry Odom scrambling to get Hajj-Malik Williams ready to start against Fresno State, although that contest turned into a one-sided affair with the Rebels prevailing 59-14. Williams, a transfer from Campbell, threw three touchdowns and ran for a score. He finished 13-of-16 for 182 yards and added 12 carries for 119 yards.
“It’s tough any time you’re playing against someone like Hajj who can run and throw,” Syracuse coach Fran Brown said. “It’s a nightmare for the defensive coordinator and the head coach. You think about it all week.”
Odom, meanwhile, does not want his team to be satisfied with sitting at the end of the rankings. After Friday’s contest, the Rebels play three of their next four games on the road with the only home date being a matchup against No. 21 Boise State.
So UNLV has little margin for error with the tough stretch looming.
“I think it is exactly where UNLV football should be,” Odom said, referring generally to the national rankings. “That’s our goal — one of our goals — is to be in the top 25 and continue to climb and have a position where every single week, on the national stage, we have a place (in the rankings).”
Ricky White has been up and down through UNLV’s first four contests. In Weeks 1 and 3 against Houston and Kansas, respectively, he totaled five catches for 15 yards without a score. In the other two games vs. Utah Tech and Fresno State, he racked up 15 catches for 238 yards and five touchdowns.
White certainly will be part of the focus as Syracuse (3-1) develops its game plan defensively. The Orange limited Holy Cross to 203 total yards and 2-of-14 third-down conversions in last week’s 42-14 romp.
Still, Brown — like his UNLV counterpart — isn’t close to satisfied.
“I don’t think we’re nowhere near where we can be,” Brown said postgame. “We’ve just got to keep growing.”
Kyle McCord has been picked off twice in each of the last two games, but he has generally been impressive in his first season with Syracuse. The Ohio State transfer had 1,459 passing yards and 14 touchdowns through four contests, throwing for at least 339 yards in every game.
Trebor Pena leads the team in catches (26), receiving yards (316) and touchdown grabs (five), although various Syracuse receivers have taken turns shining offensively over the last month.
Jackson Meeks was in the spotlight against Holy Cross, registering 10 grabs for 161 yards and a score.
“My mentality is always the same — attack, attack, attack,” Meeks said.
This is the first ever meeting between the teams.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jenny Shin captures first win in 10 years at Scottish Open
Apr 23, 2026; Houston, Texas, United States; Jenny Shin of Korea hits a tee shot on the first hole during the first round of The Chevron Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images Jenny Shin recorded her first win on the LPGA Tour in 10 years on Sunday by securing a two-stroke victory at the Women’s Scottish Open in North Ayrshire.
Shin entered the final round with a five-stroke lead — and needed it. She overcame five bogeys to finish at 3-over-par 75 on Sunday at Dundonald Links and finished at 9-under 279 for the tournament.
The 33-year-old South Korean’s last win on the tour was her maiden one in 2016, at the now-defunct Volunteers of America Texas Shootout.
“Yeah, my first win didn’t really feel like a win at the time. I didn’t feel like I deserved it,” said Shin, who was still wet after being doused with water during the post-round celebration.
“But this one definitely feels a lot different. This one feels like I earned it. I worked hard for it. I started working with my putting coach four years ago, and he asked me what my goal was. I said I needed to win before I retire.
“So I had been wanting it so badly in the last four years. I’m very, very excited.”
The last LPGA Tour player to go 10 or more years between official victories was Vicki Fergon, who went 12 years and three months between wins at the 1984 S&H Golf Classic and the 1996 Michelob Light Heartland Classic.
Shin carded bogeys on hole Nos. 6-8 before stopping her skid with birdies on hole Nos. 10 and 12. She limped down the home stretch with bogeys on Nos. 16 and 18.
“I feel like I’ve done everything wrong, just wasn’t hitting it like I was the last three days and was hitting it into bunkers, bushes, and it wasn’t fun,” Shin said. “With the three bogeys in a row, I thought, ‘Oh, boy, I don’t know where this is going to go.’
“But yeah, I hung in there and so I’m quite proud of myself. Very happy.”
A Lim Kim recorded a 68 on Sunday to ascend into second place at 7-under, two strokes ahead of Thailand’s Pajaree Anannarukarn (74).
Kim, of South Korea, answered a bogey on the second hole with a birdie on the third. She rattled off four straight birdies on Nos. 9-12.
Germany’s Esther Henseleit (73) finished in fourth place at 4-under for the tournament.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Brewers DFA recently acquired Lance McCullers Jr.
Jul 20, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. (50) throws a pitch during the sixth inning against the New York Mets at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images The Milwaukee Brewers designated Lance McCullers Jr. for assignment on Sunday morning, less than two weeks after they acquired the right-hander from the Houston Astros.
The move comes one day after McCullers allowed three runs on one hit and four walks in 1 2/3 innings in Milwaukee’s 8-5 victory over the Colorado Rockies.
McCullers has posted a 3.86 ERA in two relief appearances since he, left-hander Colton Gordon and cash were sent to the Brewers in exchange for minor league outfielder Jadyn Fielder on July 15.
A two-time World Series winner and former American League All-Star, McCullers has pitched only 44 innings this season, posting a 2-3 record with a 6.55 ERA in 10 appearances (eight starts).
McCullers, 32, is 53-40 with a 3.85 ERA in 156 career games (148 starts) with the Astros and Brewers. He was an All-Star in 2017 and won World Series titles in 2017 and 2022, but he missed three entire seasons (2019, 2023-24) due to injuries.
Also on Sunday, the Brewers recalled right-hander Garrett Stallings from Triple-A Nashville.
Stallings posted a 3-3 record with a 4.11 ERA in 18 appearances (13 starts) with the Sounds. He also pitched three scoreless innings in two appearances earlier this season with Milwaukee.
–Field Level Media
Sports
WTA roundup: Tamara Korpatsch wins Hamburg, first German champ in 34 years
Jun 29, 2026; London, United Kingdom; Coco Gauff of the United States at the net with Tamara Korpatsch of Germany after their match on day one at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-Imagn Images Tamara Korpatsch broke the German curse at the MSC Hamburg Ladies Open by claiming the title in a 6-3, 6-3 win over Hungary’s Anna Bondar on Sunday in Germany.
Korpatsch, born in Hamburg, is the first German since Steffi Graf in 1992 to win the Hamburg Open. Since Graf’s last title, Germans were 0-4 in the final at Hamburg. Korpatsch claimed her second career singles title in one hour and 28 minutes to improve to 5-0 in her career against Bondar.
Korpatsch came out hot in the first set with two aces and won 18 of her 25 first serve points (72%). She won 10 of the first 15 points to jump ahead to a 3-0 lead and wrapped it up by getting a break back to all but clinch the set.
Korpatsch continued to push in the second set and broke Bondar two more times, including to clinch the match.
Prague Open
Austria’s Lilli Tagger won her first ever WTA singles title with a 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory over Daria Snigur of the Ukraine.
Tagger came out firing with nine aces, including five in the first set. She found herself down 5-2 in the first set, but won five of the next six games to steal the set. She was able to get a break off Snigur when she was serving for the match.
Tagger won five of the final six games to clinch the title, breaking Snigur two separate times while never facing a break point herself. Four more aces along with converting 10 of 12 first serve points (82 %) was enough to ice the match.
–Field Level Media
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Jenny Shin captures first win in 10 years at Scottish Open
