K-HEART SPORTS – THURSDAY – 08/03/23
MINOT, ND – North Dakota’s two teams at the Central Plains Legion Baseball Tournament in Rapid City find themselves on the opposite ends of the bracket after day one. The Williston Keybirds lost to Lincoln, Nebraska in the first game of the day 10-5. The Keybirds play a loser out game today against Harrisburg, South Dakota, who lost to St. Michael, Minnesota 4-0. Meanwhile, Fargo Post 2 defeated Eden Prairie, Minnesota 6-2 in the opening round. Post 2 will play Rapid City, South Dakota in the winners bracket tonight. Rapid City defeated Elkhorn-Waterloo, Nebraska.
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PERRIN-NDSU
MINOT, ND – North Dakota’s Gatorade Player of the Year in girls soccer has decided where she’ll play college soccer. Emerson Perrin of Minot High has committed to North Dakota State University. In her junior season, Emerson scored 27 goals and 14 assists. Perrin enters her senior season trying to lead the Majettes to their fourth straight state title along their 51 match unbeaten streak.
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NDSU FOOTBALL-WATCHLIST
AUGUSTA, Ga. (NDSU) – North Dakota State punter Kaedin Steindorf is on the preseason watch list for the 2023 FCS Punter of the Year Award, which is presented annually by the Augusta Sports Council. The 17 candidates on the watch list was compiled based on last year’s watch list, all-conference teams and All-America teams. Steindorf, a junior from Sherwood, Ore., averaged 40.0 yards per punt last season and placed 24 of his 50 attempts inside the 20-yard line. He had 10 punts go 50-plus yards and opponents made 19 fair catches with an average return of 9.2 yards.
North Dakota State running back TaMerik Williams was one of 35 players in the Football Championship Subdivision named to the preseason watch list for the 2023 Walter Payton Award, presented by FedEx Ground and given annually to the national offensive player of the year in Division I FCS college football. Williams, a senior from Angleton, Texas, is entering his third season at North Dakota State. He averaged 7.1 yards per carry on 99 attempts for 702 yards and eight touchdowns last season, the most of any returning NDSU running back. Williams made the Missouri Valley Football Conference All-Newcomer Team in 2021 after transferring from SMU and was an honorable mention to the All-MVFC team last year. He has 1,474 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns in 28 games as a Bison.
North Dakota State opens the season against Eastern Washington at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Saturday, Sept. 2.
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NDSU MEN’S BASKETBALL
FARGO, N.D. (NDSU) – The North Dakota State men’s basketball team will get an early start on the 2023-24 season with a trip to Costa Rica from Aug. 5-12. The Bison will play two exhibition games while in Costa Rica, on Sunday, Aug. 6, and Monday, Aug. 7. NCAA basketball teams are permitted to take a foreign tour no more than every four years, and teams are allowed 10 extra practices to prepare at home before departure. The Bison earned their fifth straight appearance in the Summit League Tournament championship game in 2023.
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UND-WATSON OBIT
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (UND) – The University of North Dakota Athletics Department and women’s basketball program mourn the loss of Dee Watson, who passed away unexpectedly on Thursday, July 27. She was 80. Watson was a pioneer for women’s basketball at the University of North Dakota, serving as the first head coach in program’s history from 1974-79. Over her tenure, she finished with a 54-72 record and guided the Fighting Sioux to their first two winning seasons while the team was a member of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW). Watson coached the first player to receive regional and national attention for the program, as Becky Boll paced the Sioux to an 18-9 record in 1975-76. Boll averaged a double-double and became the first player to score 30-points in a game for UND. A celebration of life will be at a later date.
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TWINS-CARDINALS
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Dakota Hudson pitched seven strong innings in his second start of the season and Alex Burleson hit a three-run homer, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 7-3 win over the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night. Hudson (2-0) struck out seven with three walks and one hit batter. The 28-year-old right-hander retired the first 11 batters he faced before issuing a walk in the fourth. Hudson gave up a one-out hit in the sixth inning when Michael Taylor singled up the middle on his 64th pitch. Joe Ryan (9-8) surrendered nine hits and seven runs in four innings in facing the Cardinals for the first time in his career. He threw 103 pitches and struck four while walking one. The Cardinals smacked four homeruns off Ryan. Matt Wallner hit a three-run homer for the Twins in the seventh. It was just the second hit allowed by Hudson.
UP NEXT
Twins: RHP Sonny Gray (4-4, 3.22) has nine career starts against St. Louis and he is 2-5 with a 5.74 ERA. This will be his first start as a Twin against the Cardinals.
Cardinals: LHP Matthew Liberatore (1-3, 6.75) will be making his first career start and appearance against the Twins. The Twins are the seventh different opponent he has faced for the first time in his career this season.
Twins: RHP Sonny Gray (4-4, 3.22) has nine career starts against St. Louis and he is 2-5 with a 5.74 ERA. This will be his first start as a Twin against the Cardinals.
Cardinals: LHP Matthew Liberatore (1-3, 6.75) will be making his first career start and appearance against the Twins. The Twins are the seventh different opponent he has faced for the first time in his career this season.
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WILD-GUSTAVSSON
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Wild signed goalie Filip Gustavsson to a three-year, $11.25 million contract, avoiding salary arbitration after his strong first season with the club. The Wild have little room left on their salary cap after accounting for Gustavsson’s $3.75 million annual average value, but general manager Bill Guerin said he expects the 25-year-old to compete with veteran Marc-Andre Fleury for the starting job this season. The Wild also have top prospect Jesper Wallstedt waiting in the wings in the AHL. Gustavsson made 37 starts last season, going 22-9-7 with three shutouts, a 2.10 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage. He had a shutout streak of 177 minutes, 13 seconds across four games from Feb. 28 to March 12, the third-longest in franchise history. Gustavsson, who is from Sweden, was acquired a year ago in a trade with Ottawa for goalie Cam Talbot. He was 2-3 in five starts in the playoffs, including a 51-save performance in a double overtime win over Dallas in Game 1 of the first-round series.