Author: Sports Radio Service

San Francisco Giants Podcast with Michael Duca: Panda takes on role as bullpen catcher and could be a third string catcher

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

photo from sportsgrid.com: San Francisco Giants catcher Pablo Sandoval (48) will catch in the bullpen and according to manager Bruce Bochy will be the Giants third string catcher this spring

On the SF Giants Podcast with Michael:

1 San Francisco Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval will see action as the Giants bullpen catcher and manger Bruce Bochy might use Sandoval as the third string catcher during spring training games.

2 Sandoval seems like he wants to help out where he can, he’s such a presence in the clubhouse

3 How do you see the additions of Andrew McCutchen, Evan Longoria, Austin Jackson impacting this line up

4 Will the pitching staff be an improvement over last season’s staff

5 Madison Bumgarner says the pitching staff will have to overcome some of the MLB rule changes, less visits to the mound by coaches and managers, less TV time outs or less ads, which translates less time to warm up between innings

#6 Talk with Michael about some of last year’s highlights of former Giant infielder Eduardo Nunez who had a bat and a glove did the Giants make a mistake letting someone of the talents of a Nunez go?

Michael Duca does the San Francisco Giants Podcast each Friday and is covering the 2018 Spring Training games at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Stanford Cardinal men’s basketball takes down WSU 86-84; Davis’ free throws break tie with 10 seconds remaining

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

By Alexandra Evans

PALO ALTO–The Stanford Cardinal Men’s Basketball team (15-13) received a visit from the Washington State Cougars (11-16) at Maples Pavilion on Saturday, which was also Senior Day for the Cardinal.

Cougars’ Drick Bernstine made the first basket of the game, the start of the team’s lead over the Cardinal. It was not until the 7:35 mark that the Cardinal caught the lead.

Unlike Thursday’s match against the Washington Huskies, however, the Cardinal’s lead never made it to the double digits. The highest score by which they exceeded the Cougars was seven, as they kept managing to inch their way close to a tie, until the end of the period when Michael Humphrey, one of the seniors who was honored before the match (along with Dorian Pickens), made a buzzer-beating three-pointer for the Cardinal. The score was 49-40 at halftime

Freshman KZ Okpala, who made the first basket for his team, had the most points for the Cardinal after the opening period with 11. Bernstine exceeded the Cougars with 12 points.

When the second period began, Malachi Flynn made a three-pointer for the Cougars, followed by a layup from Kwinton Hinson. Shortly after, Hinson was fouled and Okpala made both free throws, making the score 51-45. Humphrey then got a layup directly after, and then made a dunk (assisted by Daejon Davis) to give the Cardinal their first double digit lead of the game less than four minutes in. Reid Travis brought the Cardinal’s lead to 12 with a layup at the five-minute mark.

The Cardinal managed to keep their lead in the double digits after Travis blocked a shot from Milan Acquaah, and again Oscar da Silva made a three-pointer at the eight-minute mark. Dorian Pickens then made two free throws to give the Cardinal a 14-point lead.

The Cougars cut their trail to single digits after Robert Franks got a three-pointer. The Cardinal’s lead remained in the single digits (even dropping to a two-point difference with a minute remaining), and then the score was tied 84-84 after Franks got on a breakaway and dunked for the Cougars with 30 seconds left in the game.

Two free throws from Davis put the Cardinal ahead by two points with 10 seconds on the clock, and they took home an 86-84 win.

Okpala and Travis finished the game with 20 points to lead the Cardinal. Franks led the Cougars with 19 points.

The Stanford Cardinal will head to the desert on Thursday, March 1 to take on the Arizona Wildcats.

Stanford Cardinal Men’s Basketball Podcast with Matt Harrington: Cardinal have the offense to put Wazoo away tonight

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

isiphoto.com by Casey Valentine: Stanford Cardinal’s Dorian Pickens who finished behind teammate Reid Travis in scoring on Thursday against Washington takes it to Washington State tonight at Maple Pavilion

On the Cardinal Podcast with Matt:

The Stanford Cardinal (15-13) took a two game win streak into tonight’s game against the Washington State Cougars at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal last beat the Cal Bears at Berkeley last Sunday for their first win and then win their second straight game last Thursday past the Washington State (18-10). Reid Travis led the Cardinal with 33 points. The Cardinal looked like an improved team offensively in their game against Washington.

Three games left in the regular season and Michael Humphrey and Dorian Pickens want to get a shot at the Big Dance. The Cardinal host the Cougars tonight. Matt breaks down the match up.

Matt Harrington does the Stanford Cardinal Podcast each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Condors’ power play dooms Barracuda in 4-1 victory

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

photo from sjbarracuda.com: San Jose Barracuda Rourke Chartier (60) center is sandwiched fighting for the puck between the Bakersfield Condors Dillion Simpson (3) and Ethan Bear (24) during Friday night’s contest at Rabonbank Arena in Bakersfield

By Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda (22-22-3-3) are continuing their slippery downfall after the Bakersfield Condors (21-20-7-1) scored three power play goals to power their way to a 4-1 victory Friday evening at Rabobank Arena. It was the fourth consecutive loss and eight out of their last nine games for the Cuda.

The Condors drew first blood at the 16:05 mark of the first period when Ty Rattie found Zach O’Brien in the slot after slipping a zone-entry check and O’Brien snapped a shot under Cuda Antoine Bibeau’s (14-11-2) left arm for his fourth goal on the season.

Alex True tied the game at 1-1 just 17 seconds into the second period when Radim Simek won a one-on-three battle behind the Condors net before centering a pass to True, who snapped a shot in from the low slot past Condor goalie Laurent Brossoit (6-4-2).

Bakersfield would recapture its lead on the power play as Grayson Downing fired a shot past Bibeau from close range along the left side and then at the 19:09 mark for his third goal of the season. Brad Malone deflected the Condors’ third goal of the night through the five-hole of Bibeau just 12 seconds into Bakersfield’s fifth man-advantage for his 13th goal of the season.

In the third period, Josh Currie would ice the game for the Condors when scored his 14th goal of the season on the team’s eighth power play at the 13:19 mark thanks to a Barracuda failure to clear a rebound from the low slot.

Bibeau suffered the loss after allowing four goals on 37 shots. Brossoit collected the win by making 20 saves on 21 shots.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/3 on the power play, while Bakersfield went 3/8.

San Jose went 0-3-1 on their four game road trip. The announced attendance was 4,591.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda come back to SAP Center next Friday 3/2 when they host the Bakersfield Condors at 11 am PT.

Feature: Sharks In Desperate Need of More Power Play Opportunities

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By: Peter Elliott

CHICAGO–Peter DeBoer’s squad was deprived of something other than a win on Friday night: opportunities on the power play.

The Sharks only had one chance to execute on the man advantage in their 3-1 loss to the Blackhawks. It lasted 22 seconds.

San Jose’s only time on the ice with less than five red sweaters was during the third period, when Chicago defenseman Connor Murphy was booked to the penalty box with an interference minor. 22 seconds later, Brent Burns was sent off to the Sharks penalty box on a holding minor, offsetting the Sharks’ 5-on-4 upper hand. If I haven’t stressed it enough, 22 seconds is not enough time to type a tweet, much less let alone score a goal.

The power play had been a strength for the Sharks all season and a reason for their high offensive benchmarks. But lately, not so much.

The team is suffering through a scoreless 0-19 stretch in the power play category, an unusual drought for a team that has been so stellar on the man advantage for the majority of the season. The Sharks still remain among the best in the league in the category, up there with division leaders Nashville, Pittsburgh, and Tampa Bay. But if their recent struggles continue, they surely won’t keep up with that company for very long.

“We need to get a little bit of that confidence back, stepping over the boards and understanding that it can win us some games,” said Sharks captain Joe Pavelski of his team’s power play scoring skid, per Kevin Kurz of The Athletic. “We need to be better there. Bottom line is we need to execute, make another play, stick one in the net.”

As noted, it’s absence has been sorely missed on the offensive side of the ice recently. Especially on Thursday night during a 7-1 blowout at the hands of Nashville, in which DeBoer’s squad failed to net on a single goal during their five power play opportunities. The Sharks undoubtedly just need both more opportunities and repetitions with the power play. 

Success will come soon.

The power play magic that has helped the Sharks postseason aspirations is currently M.I.A., but luckily for the Sharks, they’ll have time to re-discover it before a Sunday evening game against Minnesota. The Wild boast a pedestrian penalty kill percentage of 80.8%, which makes the playoff contending Wild a ripe target for a power play resurgence.

San Jose has been able to maintain a 6-5 record in the month of February, although that is not ideal for a team in the middle of a tight playoff race. A stronger showing on the man advantage certainly could have alleviated some of those deficits.

The Sharks are set to square off against the Blackhawks again on March 1 in San Jose. Maybe then, the Sharks can get a power play that lasts a whole 30 seconds.

Meier scores lone goal in Sharks’ 3-1 loss to Blackhawks

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By: Ana Kieu

CHICAGO — The San Jose Sharks somewhat proved they were lethal on the road as they carried a three-game winning streak to the Music City, but it came to an end in a 7-1 blowout by the Nashville Predators, who annihilated the visiting team at Bridgestone Arena Thursday night. The Sharks, however, brushed off the tough loss and traveled to the Windy City to play some Friday night hockey with the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center.

Sharks goalie Martin Jones was a huge factor in the opening period as he made a lot of notable saves to keep the Blackhawks’ shots from entering the net. The period ended in a scoreless tie and the shots were 15-11 in favor of San Jose.

Hawks defenseman Jan Rutta broke open the scoreless deadlock with a goal–his sixth of the season–that was initially set up by left winger Anthony Duclair and center Nick Schmaltz at 5:46 of the second period.

Sharks defenseman Joakim Ryan was called for hooking late in the period. As a result, the Hawks received their first power play of the night. Unfortunately, Chicago was unable to capitalize with the man advantage.

The Hawks carried a 1-0 lead to the locker room after two periods of play. Shots were 25-24 in favor of San Jose.

Schmaltz gave the Hawks a 2-0 lead with his 17th goal of the season at 2:01 of the third period. Anthony Duclair picked up the lone assist.

The third period got fairly chippy for both teams. The rather negative action started as soon as an on-ice official was struck by a puck and was down on the ice in pain. Fortunately, the official was able to pick himself up off the ground after a brief moment of disbelief for the majority of fans. The Hawks received a penalty as Connor Murphy was called for interference at 5:33 of the period. The Sharks then received a penalty after defenseman Brent Burns was called for holding the stick just 32 seconds later. Unfortunately, neither team capitalized with the man advantage.

The Sharks managed to cut the lead in half as right winger Timo Meier scored his 15th goal of the season at the 12:09 mark of the period. Burns and captain Joe Pavelski provided the assists on Meier’s goal.

“It’s frustrating, just to lose,” said Burns. “When you bounce back after a tough night, it’s something…We didn’t win, so it’s tough.”

The Sharks pulled their goalie (Jones) for an extra attacker with 1:50 left in regulation. That, however, only made the situation worse. Hawks center Artem Anisimov scored his 17th goal of the season on the empty net with 31 seconds left. Rutta and Tomas Jurco provided the assists on Anisimov’s insurance goal.

The Sharks lost to the Hawks 3-1 on the road. J.F. Berube stopped 42 of 43 shots for Chicago. Jones made 33 of 35 saves in a losing effort for San Jose.

“We had the shots, we had the looks, but we didn’t have enough time to get bodies to the net,” said Pavelski. “But we’ve been addressing that (issue) lately.”

“We didn’t have the bounces that we should’ve,” Sharks right winger Kevin Labanc said. “I mean, every game from here on out is going to be a playoff type of hockey. You just gotta be good defensively on the power play…We gotta score. We gotta improve defensively.”

“Not enough to win,” Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer. “That’s the bottom line.”

Notes
Sharks’ starting lineup: Joe Pavelski (C), Joonas Donskoi, Timo Meier, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Martin Jones.

Hawks’ starting lineup: Tomas Jurco, Artem Anisimov, Jan Rutta, Erik Gustafsson, Patrick Kane and J.F. Berube.

Tonight’s attendance was 21,906.

Up Next
The Sharks head to Minnesota to take on the Wild on Sunday night at 7 pm CT.

San Jose State hosts San Diego State on Saturday night

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: youtube.com

By: Ana Kieu

The San Jose State men’s basketball team hosts the San Diego State men’s basketball team on Saturday night inside the Event Center with a tipoff scheduled for 7:00 pm PT. Tickets for the game are available at the Spartan Ticket Office, which can be reached at 408-924-7589. ESPN3 will broadcast the game live and Spartan fans can listen to the home broadcast by tuning into KLIV 1590 AM to hear Justin Allegri’s play-by-play call.

Game #27
SJSU (3-23, 0-15 MW) vs. SDSU  (16-10, 8-7 MW)
Saturday, February 24, 2018, 7:00 pm PT
The Event Center (5,000)
San Jose, Calif.

TV: ESPN3
Radio: KLIV 1590 AM

Spartans to honor Welage Saturday
Earlier this season, Ryan Welage became the 15th player to reach the 1,000-point plateau in the 108-year history of the SJSU men’s basketball program. Since then, he has risen among the all-time scoring ranks to seventh place with 1,200 points. SJSU Director of Athletics Marie Tuite and head coach Jean Prioleau will present Welage with a ceremonial 1,000-point basketball prior to the Spartans’ tipoff on Saturday night.

SJSU all-time scoring leaders
1. 1,767 – Ricky Berry (84 games)
2. 1,750 – Adrian Oliver (80 games)
3. 1,504 – Stu Inman (123 games)
4. 1,432 – Wally Rank (102 games)
5. 1,272 – Justin Graham (119 games)
6. 1,236 – Chris McNealy (81 games)
7. 1,200- Ryan Welage (87 games)
8. 1,173 – Coby Dietrick (72 games)
9. 1,139 – Terry Cannon (97 games)
10. 1,136 – Johnnie Skinner (73 games)

King of the three-ball
Welage sank four 3-pointers last game at Nevada, which brought him into a tie with Tim Pierce as the all-time leader for made threes in a Spartan career with 153. His first 3-pointer of the night Saturday would make him the all-time 3-point makes leader in program history.

SJSU career 3-point field goals made leaders
1. 153 – Tim Pierce (86 games)
1. 153 – Ryan Welage (87 games)
3. 138 – Adrian Oliver (80 games)
4. 134 – Rashad Muhammad (58 games)
5. 125 – Robert Owens (61 games)

Spartan opponents have been loading up from downtown
In the last two games, Wyoming and Nevada combined to attempt 79 threes against the Spartans. The two combined to make 40.5 of the shots from beyond the arc. Wyoming jacked up 42 shots from downtown, which was a school record for a Spartan opponent. Kendall Stephens and Hallice Cooke shot 26 of Nevada’s 37 threes in the last game, of which they hit 12. Guarding against easy points in the paint, the Spartans have been playing the 3-point percentages against their opponents. SDSU comes in shooting 34.7 percent as a team from beyond the arch, ranking seventh in the Mountain West.

Series history with SDSU
SDSU holds a 37-35 edge over San Jose State in the all-time series. SJSU’s 76-71 win over the Aztecs last season inside the Event Center last year snapped a seven-game losing streak in the series which dated back to 1999.

Last meeting with SDSU
SJSU suffered a 36-point, 85-49, loss to SDSU earlier this season on January 9 inside the Viejas Arena. The one shining moment of the evening was Welage sinking a pair of free throws in the second half for his career-points 999 and 1,000. With that he etched his name in the SJSU history books as the 15th player in the 108-year history of the program to reach 1,000 points.

Mountain West tournament seeding impact
At 0-15 in league play, SJSU is locked in the 11th spot and will play the sixth-seeded team in the opening round of the Mountain West Tournament. Right now, teams four through eight in the MW standings are all separated by 2.0 games, and one of them is SDSU. The Aztecs are currently in sixth place and one of three teams heading into the weekend with an 8-7 record in MW play.

Team defense continues to hold Spartans back
Just a few weeks ago, the Spartans had a top-five field goal percentage defense in the MW of 42.5 percent. However, in the last five games, Spartan opponents are hitting 46.2 percent of their field goal attempts and averaging 81.4 points per game. SDSU comes into Saturday’s game shooting 46.0 percent as a team and averages 77.8 points per game, which ranks seventh in the MW.

Fisher III extends career-scoring high again
Redshirt freshman Keith Fisher III extended his career-scoring high twice in one week with a 23-point performance at Colorado State on February 10, followed by 26 points last Saturday at Wyoming. Fisher has finished eight of the last 11 games in double-figure scoring. Over the last five games he is averaging 15.4 points and 8.4 rebounds while hitting 52.6 percent of his shots. He was limited to just five points in the last game at Nevada after fouling out with just under 12 minutes to play in the second half.

Hillsman returns to starting lineup vs. Wyoming
Jaycee Hillsman not only returned to the starting lineup for the first time since December 5, but he also played a career-high 39 minutes last Saturday at Wyoming. He finished the game with a double-double including 15 points and 10 rebounds. The junior from Champaign, Illinois, is averaging 9.1 points and 4.5 rebounds in 24.4 minutes during conference play.

NHL/Olympics Podcast with Joe Lami: Now it’s time for hockey to grow the women’s game

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

sbnation.com photo: US Women’s Olympic team celebrates after overtime win past Team Canada on Wednesday at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics

On the NHL Podcast with Joe:

1 The US Women’s team played a nailbiter with a 3-2 shootout win over Team Canada, the last time the US Women’s team won gold was in 1998

2 The US broke Canada’s four straight gold medal streak in Women’s hockey

3 It was the penalty shootout that clinched it for Team USA in a game where both teams played it until it hurt

4 It was anniversary of the 1980 Miracle on Ice team when Team USA beat the Soviets. Was this win just as huge as that 1980 game?

5 Canada defenseman Jocelyne Larocque took her silver medal off during the award ceremony because she only wanted to wear gold

Joe Lami will be back with the NHL Podcast next Monday for all the latest in the NHL trade deadline at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Stanford Cardinal defeats Washington Huskies 94-78 for the ​second time this season; That’s two straight wins in a row for Stanford

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

photo by gostanford.com: Stanford Cardinal Travis Reid (22) led Stanford in offense on Thursday night at Maples Pavilion with 33 points

By Alexandra Evans

PALO ALTO—After defeating their archrivals, the California Golden Bears, in Berkeley on Sunday, the Stanford Cardinal Men’s Basketball team (15-13 overall, 9-6 in the Pac-12) returned to Maples Pavillion on Thursday night to face the Washington Huskies (18-10 overall, 8-7 in the Pac-12), whom they beat 73-64 in mid-January on the road. Both teams were 8-6 in the Pac-12 conference going into the match.

Humphrey made the first basket for the Cardinal and Noah Dickerson for the Huskies. The Cardinal kept a lead over the Huskies for the entire first half, which gradually increased as the period progressed. The Huskies started trailing the Cardinal by the double digits 5:29 in after forward Dorian Pickens made a three-pointer.

Huskies’ Dominic Green cut Stanford’s lead back into the single digits at 10:28, but only for 19 seconds, when Stanford’s Reid Travis made a jumper. The lead remained in the double digits from there on out. At the end of the period, the Cardinal exceeded the Huskies by 22 points.

Travis ended the period with 23 points, the highest on the team, and Pickens, Travis’ runner-up, finished the opening stanza with 12 points. Dickerson led the Huskies with 10 points, followed by Jaylen Nowell who had seven.

The second period began with a jumper from Pickens to make the score 50-26. The Huskies began inching their way toward cutting the Cardinal’s lead below 20 (and they came close at the four-minute mark when David Crisp got a layup to make the score 56-36), but the Cardinal held on as Oscar da Silva made a three-pointer at the five minute mark, keeping them ahead of the Huskies by more than 20 points.

Da Silva made one of three free throws just after the seven-minute mark to bring the score to 62-42. Daejon Davis (who was originally committed to the University of Washington) then stepped in for da Silva.

Dominic Green made a jumper for the Huskies to bring the Cardinal’s lead down to 18 points. Additionally, after Josh Sharma was fouled, Nahziah Carter made both free throws to cut the lead to 16 points. Then, Green made a three-pointer with 11 minutes remaining on the clock, and the Huskies trailed only by 13 (62-49), the closest they’d get to a single digit lead since early in the first half.

After much back and forth in the three minutes that followed, a dunk from Humphrey, a three-pointer from Pickens, a layup from da Silva, two free throws from Pickens, and a three-pointer from da Silva, the Cardinal inched their way back up to a 19-point lead, then 21 after da Silva made a dunk. Crisp made a three-pointer for the Huskies, followed by a layup from Humphrey for the Cardinals, and then another three-pointer from Matisse Thybulle brought the score to 78-62.

Carter chimed in on the three-pointer action and shot one for the Huskies with just over 6 minutes remaining in the match, and the score was 80-65. Nowell got a layup with 5:19 remaining and the lead was once again cut to 13 points, and then increased to 14 after Pickens made one of two free throws for the Cardinal.

Travis stepped on the line for a bonus one-and-one, making both shots to bring the score to 83-67. Carter then made a free throw (83-68) for the Huskies.

Carter was fouled with just over four and a half minutes remaining, giving Travis two free throw opportunities, both of which he made. Carter made a three-pointer for the Huskies before his teammate Hameir Wright was fouled, giving Davis two free throws; he made one to make the score 87-71.

A three-pointer from Thybulle cut the Cardinal’s lead to 12, then KZ Okpala made one of two free throws from Stanford to make it 13 once again. Carter missed a three-pointer which would have brought the lead down to 10 points.

The Cardinal closed out their win with one free throw from Travis and another from Okpala.

Travis earned a career high in points and led the Cardinal with 33, and Pickens finished second with 20 points. Nowell led the Huskies with 18 points, followed by Carter with 17.

Stanford will face the Washington State Cougars on Saturday, February 24, which is also Senior Day. Pickens and Humphrey will be honored for their contribution to Cardinal Basketball.

Tony Renteria Headline Sports Podcast: Olympic Gold for Women’s Hockey; Cuban and Mavs operations tied up in a nasty bunch

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

abcnews.com: US Women’s Olympic team powers past Team Canada with a one goal victory to win gold at the 2018 Pyeonchang Olympics on Thursday

On the Headlines Podcast with Tony:

1 Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says losing is a good thing and that the Mavericks can cover their bad roster moves

2 Cuban was fined $600,000 for his remarks. The Mavericks who have only 18 wins and are in last place. Cuban in a meeting with the players said that the regular season is a farce.

3 Cuban was remorseful that former team President Terdema Ussery who worked for the Mavericks for two decades 1998-2015 was reported by team employees for harassing, demeaning, and made unwanted advances. Ussery is now a vice president at Under Armor.

4 The Sacramento Kings who have lost three straight open a three game homestand at Golden One tonight with Oklahoma City, Saturday with the Lakers, and Monday night with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

5. The US Olympic Women’s hockey team got gold with another miracle on ice victory Thursday 3-2 beating Team Canada at the Pyeongchang Olympics

Tony Renteria does headline sports each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com