Sports
USC comes up with stop, holds off Rutgers in tight finish
Jan 31, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Rutgers Scarlet Knights forward Dylan Grant (9) shoots the ball against Southern California Trojans forward Jacob Cofie (6) and center Gabe Dynes (45) in the first half at Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Jacob Cofie posted a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double and Ezra Ausra scored a team-high 21 points to lead Southern California to a 78-75 win over visiting Rutgers on Saturday in Los Angeles.
The Trojans (16-6, 5-6 Big Ten) led nearly wire-to-wire and by double-digits for much of the game, jumping out to 20-8 advantage on the strength of a 16-4 run.
USC kept Rutgers (9-13, 2-9) at a distance throughout with its defense, holding the Scarlet Knights to just 39.2% shooting (29 of 74) from the floor. The Trojans leveraged Rutgers’ shooting woes into a 40-33 rebounding edge, led by Cofie’s fourth game with at least 10 boards in USC’s last five outings.
The Trojans appeared poised to blow the game open just before the final media timeout of the second half. After the Scarlet Knights pulled to within eight points, USC erupted for an 11-2 run.
Ausar bookended the run with three made foul shots, the last capping an and-one that pushed the Trojans lead to 74-57 with 4:34 remaining. But Rutgers responded by chipping away at the deficit behind Tariq Francis’s efforts.
Francis scored nine of his game-high 26 points in the final 2:23, fueling a Scarlet Knights run of 18-4 to close the game. He concluded his burst with a pull-up jumper to move Rutgers to within a one-score margin with 36 seconds remaining, and the Scarlet Knights regained possession with a chance to force overtime.
However, the Trojans’ Chad Baker-Mazara came away with a steal from Francis that prevented Rutgers from getting a look at a potential game-tying shot. It was one of only eight turnovers the Scarlet Knights committed on the night — less than half the 17 that USC coughed up — but came at an inopportune time.
Baker-Mazara accounted for a quarter of Rutgers’ turnovers with two steals, punctuating his 17-point performance. He shot 7 of 15 from the floor to help the Trojans to a 51% effort as a team.
USC’s free-throw shooting proved critical, with the Trojans connecting on 22 of 30 to just 9 of 12 for Rutgers.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Whitecaps continue hot home streak, down Rapids
Apr 25, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Colorado Rapids goalkeeper Zack Steffen (1) watches the shot from Vancouver Whitecaps FC forward Brian White (24) (not pictured)as it goes into the goal during the first half at BC Place. Mandatory Credit: Simon Fearn-Imagn Images Brian White scored a brace to lead the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 3-1 victory over the visiting Colorado Rapids on Saturday night.
Cheikh Sabaly also scored a goal for Vancouver (8-1-0, 24 points), which won its fourth straight match, all at home. Yohei Takaoka made two saves for the Whitecaps, who remained three points behind the first-place San Jose Earthquakes, a 3-2 winner over St. Louis City earlier Saturday, in the Western Conference standings.
Rafael Navarro scored a goal and Zack Steffen finished with five saves for Colorado (4-5-1, 13 points).
Vancouver took a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute when Sabaly drilled a right-footed shot from the middle of the box into the right corner. Thomas Muller notched an assist on the play with a one-touch pass from the left wing.
White made it 2-0 midway through the period, taking a long through pass from Andres Cubas outside the left side of the penalty box and then curling a right-footed shot around Steffen and into the far right corner of the net.
Colorado was coming in off a 0-0 draw at Los Angeles FC on Wednesday that saw the Rapids finish with 72.5% possession. They cut the lead to 2-1 in the 32nd minute when Navarro put in a left-footed rebound of his own shot from inside the 6-yard box.
Vancouver appeared to regain a two-goal lead in the 77th minute when Bruno Caicedo knocked in a rebound of his own shot near the middle edge of the 6-yard box. However, the goal was overturned after a lengthy VAR review for a handball when it was determined the ball hit Caicedo in the arm after his original shot was blocked by Lucas Herrington.
The Whitecaps then made it 3-1 eight minutes later when Caicedo fielded a long through pass from Sebastian Berhalter on the left wing and crossed a pass to White in the center of the box. White then smashed a left-footed shot into the left corner of the net for his eighth goal of the season.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Josh Jung’s 2-run blast lifts Rangers past Athletics
Apr 25, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers catcher Danny Jansen (9) scores at home plate as Athletics catcher Austin Wynns (29) attempts to make the tag during the third inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images Josh Jung hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth inning as the Texas Rangers beat the Athletics 4-3 on Saturday in Arlington, Texas.
Corey Seager had two hits and an RBI for Texas, which evened the three-game series after losing the opener 8-1 on Friday.
Rangers starter MacKenzie Gore allowed three runs on six hits with three walks and seven strikeouts over five innings. Cole Winn (2-1), Jalen Beeks and Jakob Junis each pitched a scoreless inning before left-hander Jacob Latz retired the Athletics in order in the ninth for his first save.
Shea Langeliers and Jacob Wilson had two hits apiece for the Athletics, who lost despite out-hitting the Rangers 7-5. The Athletics were 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position and fell back into a tie with the Rangers for first place in the American League West.
The Athletics claimed a 1-0 run in the second inning when Wilson doubled and scored on Darell Hernaiz’s two-out single.
Gore allowed two more runs in the third. With two on and no outs, Colby Thomas singled in a run before Tyler Soderstrom grounded out. Wilson followed with a sacrifice fly to score Nick Kurtz from third.
Texas answered with two runs in the third against Jeffrey Springs (3-2). The Rangers loaded the bases with no outs and pushed a run across on Brandon Nimmo’s sacrifice fly before Seager singled in a run with two outs.
Springs gave up four runs on five hits over six innings. He walked two and struck out four.
The Rangers pulled ahead on Jung’s two-run homer in the sixth. Seager hit a leadoff single and Jake Burger flied out before Jung deposited Springs’ 0-1 slider over the right-center field wall.
The 381-foot blast was Jung’s fourth homer of the season. After going 0-for-17 in March, Jung is batting .371 (26-for-70) with 14 RBIs in his last 20 games.
The Athletics put the tying run in scoring position with one out in the eighth on Carlos Cortes’ double, but Jeff McNeil and Austin Wynns each flied out to end the threat.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Michael Lorenzen, double plays help Rockies top Mets
Apr 24, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; Colorado Rockies pitcher Michael Lorenzen (24) delivers a pitch during the third inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images Michael Lorenzen tossed a season-high seven innings and earned the win Friday night for the visiting Colorado Rockies, who beat the New York Mets 4-3 in the opener of a three-game series.
Jake McCarthy laced the tiebreaking RBI double in the sixth while Troy Johnston had what proved to be the decisive two-run single an inning later for the Rockies, who improved to 11-16. Colorado didn’t win its 11th game last season until June 3, when it was 11-50.
TJ Rumfield hit into a run-scoring groundout in the fifth while Ezequiel Tovar finished with two hits.
Marcus Semien hit into a run-scoring double play in the second and Brett Baty delivered a two-run single in the eighth for the Mets, who had won two straight following a 12-game losing streak.
Baty, Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio had two hits apiece.
Lorenzen (2-2), who entered Friday with a 7.48 ERA and pitched beyond the fifth just once in his first five starts this season, gave up one run on seven hits and no walks while striking out three. He induced three double plays in his longest outing since last Sept. 19, when the right-hander tossed 7 2/3 innings for the Kansas City Royals in a 20-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Mets immediately rallied in the eighth against Jaden Hill, who gave up four singles, including Baty’s hit, while recording one out. But Antonio Senzatela entered and got Vientos to line into a double play.
The four double plays were the most for the Mets since they hit into four against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sept. 9, 2019.
Senzatela threw a perfect ninth to close out his second save.
Freddy Peralta (1-3) took the loss for the Mets after allowing two runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out eight over 5 2/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
Whitecaps continue hot home streak, down Rapids
Anthropic created a test marketplace for agent-on-agent commerce
