LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) — Miguel Cabrera hit his third homer of the spring and Mike Pelfrey pitched five scoreless innings for the second straight time to lead the Detroit Tigers past the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 on Thursday. JaCoby Jones and Nate Schierholtz also homered for the Tigers.

Pelfrey struck out three and allowed three hits in his fourth start of the spring. He lowered his ERA to 1.17. Bruce Rondon, hoping to be the setup pitcher to Francisco Rodriguez in the Tigers’ bullpen, pitched a scoreless inning and saw his spring ERA drop to 8.53.

Carlos Martinez started for the Cardinals and went 2 2-3 innings, allowing two runs and the Cabrera homer. Jeremy Hazelbaker had a three-run homer for the Cardinals.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — For years, Shaka Smart could play the underdog card as Virginia Commonwealth’s coach. Smart’s mid-major program beat the big boys all the way to the 2011 Final Four, and his VCU squads won two NCAA Tournament games in 2012 and 2013.

Now, he’s in his first year at Big 12 member Texas. And for the first time, Smart leads the Goliath from the Power Five conference against the mid-major in March. Texas (20-12), seeded sixth in the West Region, plays Number 11 seed Northern Iowa (22-12) Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Northern Iowa won the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

DENVER (AP) — Monte Morris showed no lingering effects of his right shoulder injury, scoring 20 points and dishing out eight assists in Iowa State’s 94-81 win over Iona in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. Georges Niang’s 28 points led the No. 3 seed Cyclones (22-11), who saw all five of their starters score in double figures. They will play either Purdue or Arkansas-Little Rock on Saturday at the Pepsi Center.

Less than 24 hours after declaring he’d never felt better, Morris went out and proved it. Abdel Nader added 19 points, Matt Thomas had 14 and Jameel McKay 11 for the Cyclones. A.J. English led 14th-seeded Iona (22-11) with 28 points and Jordan Washington scored 26.

ST. LOUIS (AP) – The St. Louis Cardinals say they’re taking allegations that a gay minor-league pitcher abandoned baseball because of homophobia “very seriously.” Tyler Dunnington was drafted by the Cardinals in 2014 and told Outsports.com in a report published Wednesday that he heard derogatory comments from college coaches and later unidentified teammates in the pros. He said “each comment felt like a knife to my heart.”

General manager John Mozeliak told The Associated Press in a statement that he’s “very disappointed” and would speak with MLB’s ambassador for inclusion for guidance.  Dunnington spent most of the summer of 2014 with the Cardinals’ rookie-level affiliate in Florida and says two teammates “mentioned ways to kill gay people.” He says he felt uncomfortable revealing his sexual orientation and retired before spring training a year ago.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Jim Field.

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KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — Jaime Garcia cruised through three innings before allowing four runs on four hits and the St. Louis Cardinals blew a three-run lead before playing to an 8-8 tie with the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday. Kolten Wong and Jedd Gyorko both drove in runs as the Cardinals took a quick 3-0 lead off Braves starter Jhoulys Chacin, who gave up three runs on eight hits in three innings pitched.

Garcia allowed just a hit through his first three innings, but after a lead-off single by Ozzie Albies and walk to Jeff Francoeur, Hector Olivera and Gordon Beckham both drove in runs. Ryan Lavarnway hit a two-run double for the Braves’ 4-3 lead in the fourth. The Braves had a four-run eighth behind a two-RBI double by Jace Peterson to regain the lead. Carlos Peguero hit a pinch-hit solo homer in the ninth to tie the game.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Top-ranked Kansas was the best team in arguably the best league in America. The Jayhawks (30-4), winners of the Big 12’s regular season and tournament titles, open NCAA Tournament play Thursday (today) in Des Moines, against Austin Peay (18-17) as the Number 1 seed in the South Region.

But after second-round losses in each of its last two tournaments as a Number 2 seed, Kansas is more focused on the first weekend than the Final Four. They face a Governors team that made a school-record 16 3-pointers to beat UT-Martin in the Ohio Valley Conference tourney to clinch its first NCAA bid in eight years.

Some Southwest Iowa Track and Field athletes competed at the Iowa State Indoor meet Tuesday and there were a number of top 8 finishers.

4×100 relay: Glenwood, 6th, 44.86

4×400 relay: Glenwood, 6th, 3:31.43.  Mt. Ayr, 8th, 3:36.28.

4×800 relay: Glenwood, 7th, 8:38.81

400 meter dash: Nick Pedersen, Underwood, 5th, 50.94. Kyle Dolecheck, Mount Ayr, 6th, 51.18

60 hurdles: Gratt Reed, Atlantic, 6th, 8.62.  Tony Klocke, SW Valley, 8th, 8.68

High Jump: Alec Hayes, Atlantic, T5th, 6-2

Long Jump: Josh Lee, Glenwood, 2nd, 20-5.5. Nick Wurster, Mount Ayr, 8th, 19-9.

Atlantic Activities Director Matt Alexander has notified local media that a new Head Football Coach has been named pending board approval.  Former Atlantic offensive coordinator and current middle school teacher Mike McDermott is set to take over the program.  The full press release from the athletic department reads as follows:

Atlantic High School and the Atlantic Activities Department are pleased to announce,
pending board approval, the hiring of Mike McDermott as the new Head Coach of the
Trojan Football Team.

Mr. McDermott is an Atlantic High School graduate and teaches social studies at Atlantic
Middle School. He began his coaching career in 1997 as a student assistant at Dakota State
University before returning to AHS in 1998 as a freshmen team coach. From 1999-2002 he
served as the offensive coordinator for the Trojans. He then made a move to Mitchell, SD
and was the offensive coordinator from 2003-2006 at Mitchell High School. In 2007 he
returned to Atlantic and once again joined the football staff as an assistant from 2007-
2009. In 2010 he made the move to coaching football at Atlantic Middle School where he
has served until the present. Coach McDermott also currently coaches boys and girls tennis
and baseball for AHS.

Coach McDermott’s experience and background will be a great asset to the Trojan football
program. He is looking forward to meeting with the players and working with the football
staff in the near future.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Jim Field.

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