WBC News
A former Mariner helped take down the United States in the World Baseball Classic title game last night.
Eugenio Suarez drove in the winning run with a late double in the top of the ninth to give Venezuela a 3-2 win over the US.
Venezuela led for most of the game before Bryce Harper smacked a 2-run homer to tie it in the eighth. Harper finished with two hits, but the rest of the US lineup managed just one as their offense came to a screeching halt.
The US didn’t have any Mariners representation either, with Cal Raleigh and Gabe Speier staying put on the bench.
Eduardo Rodriguez tossed just over four innings of shutout ball for Venezuela before Mariners reliever Eduard Bazardo took over to notch a pair of outs.
It was Venezuela’s first-ever WBC title.
Mariners News
With the WBC coming to an end, the Mariners are looking to regroup as a full unit with just about a week to go before Opening Day.
The M’s have five games left in Cactus League play before returning home to Seattle, where they’ll open the season with a seven-game homestand.
The team still has yet to announce an Opening Day starter for their first game against the Cleveland Guardians next Thursday. It’ll be a late 7:10 first pitch from T-Mobile Park.
March Madness News
The First Four of the men’s national basketball tournament continues today.
16-seeds Prairie View A&M and Lehigh are battling it out at 3:45 for the right to face top-seeded Florida in the South Region.
After that, 11-seeds Miami of Ohio and SMU are playing, with the winner moving on to face 6th-seeded Tennessee in the midwest. That game tips off at 6:15 tonight.
The first round of the tourney starts tomorrow, with TCU and Ohio State kicking off a 16-game slate at 9:15 am. 3rd-seeded Gonzaga will play 14th-seeded Kennesaw State at 7 pm in Portland.
March Madness coverage gets underway at 8:00 tomorrow morning on KPUG.
The women’s national tournament also tips off today with Richmond playing Nebraska and Stephen F. Austin taking on Missouri State in another pair of First Four matchups.
WNBA News
The WNBA season has been saved.
ESPN reports that the league and players’ union have reached a verbal agreement to new terms of their collective bargaining agreement
Under the new CBA, the salary cap will start at $7 million, which is up from $1.5 million last season. The average salary will also quintuple to roughly $600,000 with the minimum salary surpassing $300,000.
Players’ union president and Seattle Storm star Nneka Ogwumike was among those to announce the deal to reporters following more than 100 hours of bargaining sessions over the past week.
The Storm open their season at home on May 8 against the Golden State Valkyries.
Kraken News
The Kraken suffered a lopsided loss last night.
They fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 for their fifth loss in seven games. Nikita Kucherov had a hat trick and two assists for Tampa in the win.
Bobby McMann scored his second goal in as many games with the Kraken after being acquired at the trade deadline.
Seattle’s still clinging on to the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, currently tied with the LA Kings for eighth place. The team’s now hitting the road for a six-game trip out east, starting tomorrow night with the Nashville Predators.
Coverage begins at 4:30 and puck drops at 5 on KGMI.
