Sports
Butler brings Big East road woes to DePaul
Butler Bulldogs forward Patrick McCaffery (22) celebrates a 3-pointer Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, during an NCAA men’s basketball game between the Butler Bulldogs and the Marquette Golden Eagles at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Butler aims to earn a rare road win Saturday night when it visits DePaul for a Big East battle in Chicago.
The Bulldogs (12-14, 5-10 Big East) are coming off a 76-63 loss Tuesday at Xavier, which dropped them to 1-7 in road games this season.
It was a rare off-night for Patrick McCaffery, who has emerged as one of the top 3-point shooters in the conference. He missed all five of his shots from the floor, including two from beyond the arc.
McCaffery averages 11.5 points per game and has knocked down a team-high 58 3-pointers in his first season with Butler after transferring from Iowa. The sixth-year forward canned just 31.2 percent of his 3s for the Hawkeyes, but has converted 41.7 percent for the Bulldogs.
“I put in a lot of work every single day to improve as a player,” McCaffery told the Indianapolis Star. “But this offseason, I knew that to have my best chance moving forward as a professional, and not as a good college player, and somebody that can really help this team if I was able to really (shoot 3s).”
Injury-plagued DePaul (11-16, 2-14) extended its losing streak to four games with Tuesday’s 89-61 loss to No. 10 St. John’s.
Indiana transfer CJ Gunn recorded his first career double-double in the loss, scoring 12 points and pulling down a career-high 10 rebounds. Gunn started the year as a backup, but has jumped into the lineup and reached double figures in 12 straight games to become the Blue Demons’ leading scorer at 12.3 points per game.
One interesting storyline for Saturday is DePaul general manager Lavall Jordan, a Butler alum, coached the Bulldogs for five seasons before being let go in 2022.
Jordan and the Blue Demons are 0-1 against his alma mater this year as Butler won 86-69 on Jan. 25 in Indianapolis. McCaffrey was held to only 3 points in that game while Pierre Brooks II led the charge with 29. NJ Benson scored 20 to pace DePaul, marking only his second effort of 20 or more points on the year.
Brooks averages 15.5 points per outing for Butler and has scored in double figures in five consecutive games.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tyrese Spicer comes off bench to propel Orlando City past Nashville SC
Jul 25, 2026; Orlando, Florida, USA; Orlando City SC forward Justin Ellis (22) battles for the ball against Nashville SC defense Jack Maher (5) during the first half at Inter.Co Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images Second-half substitute Tyrese Spicer scored in the 72nd minute to lift Orlando City to a 1-0 home victory over Eastern Conference-leading Nashville SC on Saturday.
Justin Ellis notched the assist with a clever reverse pass to Spicer, who slipped behind the defense for a clear look at the goal. Orlando goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau turned in his second straight clean sheet with two saves.
The Lions (6-9-2, 20 points) had four shots on goal while Nashville (12-2-3, 39 points) had two. Nashville goalkeeper Brian Schwake had three saves.
In the 14th minute, Antoine Griezmann carried the ball wide into the attacking third and curled a cross to Ellis, whose header was on target but saved by Schwake.
Orlando kept up the pressure in the 28th minute when Ellis found Griezmann, whose left-footed shot bounced into Schwake’s hands.
Ellis threatened again moments later, shaking free of a defender before testing Schwake with a shot from the center of the box that lacked enough power to beat the goalkeeper.
As the first half wound down, Shakur Mohammed carried the ball out of midfield before slipping a pass to Andy Najar. Najar then played a through ball to a sliding Alex Muyl, whose attempt was saved by Crepeau at close range before the two collided.
Nashville had its best scoring threat in the 63rd minute when Najar settled a direct pass from midfield with a back-heel flick to Mohammed. The forward from Ghana blasted a shot in stride that Crepeau snared and quickly smothered.
Orlando withstood sustained pressure in the closing minutes. Crepeau came off his line to claim a corner kick in the 87th minute, denying Nashville a second opportunity.
Later, Daniel Lovitz’s cross in the 89th minute was headed away by Wilder Cartagena. Nashville finished with a 7-2 edge in corner kicks and a 52-48 advantage in possession, but couldn’t find the equalizer as Orlando dug in defensively.
Nashville had its five-match winning streak snapped and lost for the first time in 11 MLS matches (8-1-2).
–Field Level Media
Sports
St. Louis City's Tomas Ostrak delivers only goal needed to beat Rapids
May 9, 2026; Commerce City, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rapids midfielder Paxten Aaronson (10) fields the ball ahead of St. Louis City defender Fallou Fall (27) in the second half at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images Tomas Ostrak scored in the 83rd minute to give St. Louis City a 1-0 home win over the 10-man Colorado Rapids on Saturday.
The victory extended St. Louis City’s winning streak to four regular-season matches and their points streak to seven matches (6-0-1).
After playing 71 minutes with an 11-on-10 advantage, St. Louis (7-6-4, 25 points) finally broke through on Ostrak’s tally. A nice passing play from Tomas Totland set up Ostrak for a superbly-placed shot from the edge of the box that sailed into the right side of the net.
Ostrak’s first goal of the season came seven minutes after the midfielder entered the match as a substitute. It was just Ostrak’s second regular-season match, as leg injuries sidelined him for most of St. Louis’ 2026 campaign.
Rapids defender Rob Holding was issued a straight red card in the 12th minute, and Colorado (6-10-1, 19 points) then went into a defensive shell. St. Louis outshot Colorado 18-2, with no Rapids shots on target.
It made for a quiet night for Roman Burki, as the St. Louis goalkeeper didn’t need to make a single save to earn his second shutout of the season. Nico Hansen made two saves for Colorado.
St. Louis also didn’t deliver much direct pressure, as only three of the home team’s 18 shots were on target. While the Rapids defended well, St. Louis City committed some self-sabotage with a season-high 22 fouls, continually interrupting their own attacks.
Jeong Sang-bin’s shot off the crossbar in the 37th minute was St. Louis’ best chance of the first half. Rapids defender Lucas Herrington made a pair of close-range blocks on Totland and Daniel Edelman during a St. Louis flurry in the 54th minute.
Holding was shown the early red card after he brought down Jeong in open play in the 12th minute, likely preventing Jeong from a breakaway chance. It was Holding’s second ejection in as many matches against St. Louis, as he also received a red card in the 50th minute of St. Louis City’s 1-0 win over the Rapids on May 9.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Hunter Brown in control, Astros down White Sox for 5th straight win
Jul 25, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Houston Astros pitcher Hunter Brown (58) throws the ball against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images Hunter Brown allowed two hits over seven shutout innings and Isaac Paredes drove in three runs to lead the Houston Astros to a 4-1 win over the host Chicago White Sox on Saturday night.
Jeremy Pena was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and Paredes was 2-for 4 for the Astros, who have won five straight, including the first two of the three-game weekend series.
The White Sox, who managed five hits, have lost three of their last four.
They threatened in the eighth with runners on second and third and two out, but reliever Bennett Sousa replaced Bryan Abreu and retired pinch hitter Randal Grichuk on a popout to first.
After Colson Montgomery’s RBI single in the ninth, Josh Hader came in to get the last two outs for his 12th save.
Brown (2-1) finished strong, setting down 12 consecutive batters from the fourth through seventh innings. The right-hander did not walk a batter and struck out seven as he fired 60 strikes in 90 pitches.
Chicago starter Sean Burke (7-5) surrendered three runs (two earned) on four hits in six innings with a walk and 10 strikeouts.
It was a 0-0 pitcher’s duel through five with Burke also retiring 12 in a row, from the second through the fifth, but heading for trouble.
The streak was broken when Burke hit Cam Smith with a pitch to lead off the sixth. Pena’s single and a walk to Yordan Alvarez loaded the bases. Paredes then grounded a single to right that got past right fielder Braden Montgomery for an error that also allowed Alvarez to score for a 3-0 Houston lead as Paredes reached third.
Burke then limited the damage by getting Jose Altuve on a groundout and striking out LaMonte Wade Jr. and Christian Walker.
Paredes added an RBI single in the eighth to make it 4-0.
White Sox left fielder Sam Antonnaci robbed Paredes, who was leading off the fourth, of a likely home run with a leaping catch of his long drive by pulling the ball in just above the fence.
–Field Level Media
