Gästebereich » - Devon Travis hit his second homer of the game i

The NCAA tournament shed half its teams in the span of 48 hours. Heres what you missed.The weekend belonged to Juli RossiIt took Juli Rossi so long to get on a soccer field for Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, and proved so challenging to stay on the field once there, that perhaps she just wasnt ready to leave.The fourth-place team from the unimposing Ohio Valley Conference, SIU-Edwardsville eliminated ACC regular-season co-champion and No. 2 seed Notre Dame in the first round in no small part because its goalkeeper didnt play the part the script assigned her. Road teams rarely win in the first round. Of the 32 that tried it this weekend, four succeeded. Road teams really dont beat No. 2 seeds in the opening round. That had happened just once since 2008, which also happened to be the year that SIU-Edwardsville moved to Division I.But after playing Notre Dame to a 0-0 draw over 110 minutes Friday night, literally saved by eight stops from Rossi, SIU-Edwardsville advanced on the strength of two more Rossi saves and five conversions from her teammates in a penalty shootout that stretched six rounds.That video you probably saw last week of an iguana running a nightmarish gauntlet of snakes? There were moments, especially in the two overtime periods when watching Rossi dive, stretch and scramble across the goal mouth in South Bend that felt not entirely dissimilar. Perhaps her form wasnt perfect. Perhaps she let a rebound stray. But she kept the ball out of the net.If only in the soccer sense, it was her own survival mode.Rossi didnt play a game in her first two college seasons. At a position with an unforgiving depth chart, she was left to bide her time on the bench behind an upperclassman who obliterated the program record for shutouts. Finally given a chance to play this season, she missed a game and a half early with concussion symptoms. Then she missed nearly a month with a shoulder injury.None of which most of us would have ever known had SIU-Edwardsvilles season ended in the opening round of the OVC tournament against Austin Peay. Instead, after a 0-0 stalemate over 110 minutes, Rossi saved the opening attempt in the penalty shootout and the Cougars made it count. She made nine saves in the semifinal and final, one-goal games with no margin for error.Now she and the Cougars are headed to Durham, North Carolina, to play Northwestern for a place in the Sweet 16.What else stole the show in the first round?Danica Evans flip throw: The flip throw-in, wherein a player acrobatically uses the energy of a handspring to propel the ball, is, frankly, cool. But it is also frequently more fun to watch than it is useful. The aim and trajectory that can be accomplished with a regular long throw are sacrificed. But in the hands of Colorados Evans it is both crowd pleaser and game changer. Evans finished off Colorados 3-1 win against Oklahoma State with a goal of her own, but the game turned on her flip throw that set up Colorados opening goal. She was consistently able to put throws in the 6-yard box with the kind of pace and trajectory that create stress for a defense -- and mistakes like the own goal directly off a throw in the 18th minute.Colorado and Utah, which beat Texas Tech 1-0, are in the tournament in the same season for the second time since joining the Pac-12. They helped the league advance five teams and go 5-0-1 (Pepperdine eliminated Cal in a shootout). The Buffaloes also did this.Nikki Walts sense of timing: The Ohio State junior entered Saturdays game against Dayton with two goals in 19 games. She picked opportune moments to double that total and help the Buckeyes advance to the second round. First, after Dayton solidified the momentum of a goal just before halftime by scoring again to take a 2-1 lead early in the first half, Walts responded with a goal just 30 seconds later to restore order at 2-2. Then with overtime looming, she drilled a free kick from 20 yards into the top corner in the 86th minute for a 3-2 win. It was the latest non-overtime winner of the first round.NC States long wait: When NC State survived a penalty shootout at No. 4 Minnesota -- goalkeeper Sydney Wootten making two saves in the shootout and German youth international Ricarda Walkling clinching it after being helped from the field with an apparent injury -- it marked the first time the Wolfpack advanced in an NCAA tournament since 1995. In the intervening years, neighbor North Carolina won 82 tournament games. Even Duke, with its own legacy of living in the shadow cast by the Tar Heels, won 26 tournament games in that span.Illinois States streak: Illinois State lost its first three games this season and was 2-5-0 after nearly a month of competition. The number in the loss column hasnt budged, and the Redbirds will join SIU-Edwardsville and Northwestern in Durham, North Carolina, this weekend as No. 3 Duke hosts what are officially second and third round games and unofficially the Land of Lincoln invitational. By eliminating host Michigan in a penalty shootout Saturday, Illinois State became one of those four road teams to advance and extended its unbeaten streak to 15 games.Looking out for No. 1sTop seeds Florida, South Carolina, Stanford and West Virginia advanced by a combined 17-0 margin in the first round. Only Florida, which not coincidentally had far and away the toughest assignment at home against Florida Gulf Coast, had to sweat a tie into the second half.History favors the top seeds to make it through the second weekend, too. Since the carnage of 2010, when only one No. 1 seed reached the quarterfinals, 19 of 20 top seeds made it at least that far over the past five tournaments. That doesnt mean it will be easy for this years aspirants.It wont be easy for West Virginia, a potential Sweet 16 pairing against No. 4 UCLA, most of all. Stanford hosts old rival Santa Clara in the second round. And Floridas entire bracket looks like one big trap. But all can look at South Carolinas path and be grateful it isnt theirs.The Gamecocks face the potential of a Sweet 16 game against fourth-seeded BYU, the same team ranked one spot behind them in the NSCAA Top 25 (and with two more first-place votes). That semifinal-quality matchup will only happen if South Carolina first handles ranked Colorado, which tied for second place in arguably the nations toughest conference, and if BYU gets by ranked Oklahoma, which, by the way, already tied South Carolina this year.In six games this season against teams that entered the NCAA tournament ranked, South Carolina scored more than one goal just twice. It also didnt allow many goals in those games, of course, and its defense at home is a formidable thing. But while the Gamecocks remain the favorites, theyre going to have to play like it to survive the week ahead.Second-round must-seesNo. 4 Auburn vs. Connecticut: It wont get as much attention as the matchup that follows on the list, but this could be the College Cup spoiler special. Auburn throttled South Alabama 4-0 in the first round and is 10-2-0 with 30 goals since a narrow loss to South Carolina in September (half of those games against NCAA tournament teams). But Connecticuts Rachel Hill and Stephanie Ribeiro have 37 goals between them this season, including two in a 4-2 first-round win over Albany.Penn State vs. No. 3 Virginia: Its the defending national champion Nittany Lions against a program that reached at least the Sweet 16 in each of the past 11 tournaments. Up and down all season, Penn State was very much up in a 6-0 win against Bucknell in the first round. The sum of individual parts like Frannie Crouse, Nickolette Driesse, Megan Schafer, Charlotte Williams and Salina Williford still has the potential to add up to much more than the typical unseeded offense.Rutgers at No. 2 Georgetown: The first sign that Georgetown was a team of consequence this season, before it beat Virginia and West Virginia, was a 2-1 win over Rutgers. Rachel Corbozs second goal of the game ended matters just 35 seconds into overtime. The Scarlet Knights enter the rematch in a good run of form, comfortable 3-0 winners against Harvard in the first round after wins over Penn State and Northwestern in the Big Ten tournament.Texas A&M at No. 2 USC: One of the most appealing games of the entire week ahead is a potential Sweet 16 encounter between USC and Florida State, the storied Seminoles on the road against a senior-laden success story. But those USC seniors first have to deal with an opponent that has a lot of institutional memory when it comes to the postseason. By winning 1-0 at TCU in front of the second-largest crowd of the first round, the Aggies continued a streak of reaching the second round every year since 1998.Wisconsin at No. 1 Florida: While the FIFA Under-20 Womens World Cup is underway in Papua New Guinea, this game marks the end of the collegiate road for two alums of the 2014 U-20 World Cup. Either Floridas Savannah Jordan or Wisconsins Rose Lavelle will have to turn their attention to the NWSL. Lavelle steered the Badgers here with a long-distance strike for the only goal in a 1-0 win at Marquette, but Jordan has a lot of help in Gainesville.Where are all the people?South Carolina lived up to its seed in a 7-0 first-round rout of Alabama State. But it came close to losing another No. 1 ranking in the process. The Gamecocks entered the first round as the nations attendance leader, averaging more than 3,000 fans per game. But because BYU drew the largest crowd of the first round against UNLV and South Carolina drew just 939 fans to its game, the gap between first and second shrank to almost nil (2,970-2,957).Unfortunately for the tournament, BYU was the exception to the rule with its crowd of 3,276.In all, 19 of 32 first-round hosts drew smaller crowds in the first round than each of those schools averaged in the regular season. The difference was marginal in some cases, but it was also striking in others -- beyond just South Carolina. Penn State drew 573 people, nearly 800 fewer than it averaged in the regular season. Notre Dame drew just 261, down from more than 1,000 per game in the regular season. Virginia drew nearly 1,100 fewer than its average.There were unique circumstances -- it was a decidedly cold night in State College, Pennsylvania; there was a basketball game going on next door at Notre Dame, etc. And there is always the issue of NCAA tournament ticket prices, which are higher than regular-season prices almost across the board (in a handful of cases replacing free admission). But if part of the objective in reshaping the tournament format from 16 sites the opening week to 32 sites was to boost attendance (while simultaneously lowering travel costs), the evidence of success is scarce. Nike Air Max 270 Sale .Y. -- Sabres forward Drew Stafford has witnessed plenty of turmoil during his eight seasons in Buffalo. Cheap Nike Air Max 270 . 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NEW YORK -- Starlin Castro hit a third-inning grand slam off Josh Tomlin that gave the Yankees a six-run lead, Mark Teixeira got two hits after tearfully announcing this will be his final big league season and New York beat the Cleveland Indians 13-7 on Friday night.Jacoby Ellsbury had a four-hit game, and Michael Pineda (6-10) won for the third time in four outings following a six-start winless streak, allowing four runs and six hits in six-plus innings.New Yorks Gary Sanchez made his first league start behind the plate and threw out Jason Kipnis and Mike Napoli trying to steal second base in the first two innings. The rookie, called up from the minors on Wednesday, doubled in the fifth for his first big league RBI and walked with the bases loaded in the sixth.The Yankees had 16 hits, including at least one by every starter, and the Indians failed to retire New York in order in any inning. Cleveland lost for the fourth time in five games, and its AL Central lead over second-place Detroit was cut to two gamesSlowed by injuries, Teixeira said he will retire after this season at age 36. He doubled in the first inning and legged out a single in the third on a ball stopped by Kipnis, the second baseman, in short right field. At .202, Teixeiras average reached .200 for the first time since before play on May 20.Tomlin (11-4) allowed a season-high seven earned runs and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings and is 3-3 in 10 outings since an 8-1 start.NATIONALS 5, GIANTS 1WASHINGTON -- Gio Gonzalez pitched seven innings of two-hit ball, Trea Turner and Wilson Ramos homered and Washington beat San Francisco in a matchup of first-place teams.Washington jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning against Jeff Samardzija (9-8), and Gonzalez made it stand up. Coming off a 3-1 loss in San Francisco on Sunday, Gonzalez (7-9) struck out seven, walked one and had five three-up, three-down innings. The two hits he allowed were a solo homer by Angel Pagan in the fourth and a single by Denard Span in the sixth.Sammy Solis gave up two hits in the eighth and Mark Melancon got three straight outs to complete the four-hitter. It was the fourth straight win for the NL East-leading Nationals.The Giants remained atop the NL West, though their lead is dwindling. Since the All-Star break, San Francisco is 5-14 and has allowed 32 home runs. Samardzija gave up five runs in seven innings and is 0-3 with a 6.85 ERA in his four starts since the break.TIGERS 4, METS 3DETROIT -- Victor Martinez homered and Detroit ace Justin Verlander limited New York to four hits in six innings to help the Tigers to their ninth victory in their last 10 games.Verlander (12-6) allowed only two runs and struck out nine, but the Mets ran his pitch count up to 103 to force him out of the game. Francisco Rodriguez pitched the ninth for his 31st save.James Loney drove in a ninth-inning run with a groundout, and Rodriguez retired Kelly Johnson to end the game. Johnson homered in the fourth for the Mets. They have lost four straight.Noah Syndergaard (9-6) also ran into pitch-count trouble, needing 112 to get through his six innings.CARDINALS 1, BRAVES 0ST. LOUIS -- Jaime Garcia pitched eight scoreless innings and had an RBI single to lead St. Louis past Atlanta.Garcia (8-8) struck out 11 to top the 100-strikeout mark for the third time in his career.He pitched out of a two-on, no-out jam in the fourth, striking out Freddie Freeman and Matt Kemp before getting Adonis Garciia to ground out.dddddddddddd Freeman and Kemp, third and fourth in the Braves lineup, were a combined 0 for 6 against Garcia with five strikeouts.Garcias two-out single in the second drove in Matt Holliday.Seung Hwan Oh got the last three outs for his ninth save. Joel De La Cruz (0-4) was the loser.ORIOLES 7, WHITE SOX 5CHICAGO -- Pedro Alvarez hit two solo shots to extend his homer streak and Baltimore had 16 hits to overpower Chicago and keep pace with Toronto for first place in the AL East.Alvarez has five homers in his last three games. Manny Machado doubled in two runs and scored in the third in a three-hit night, and Adam Jones and J.J. Hardy also had three hits each to help the Orioles win for the fourth time in five games.Yovani Gallardo (4-3) pitched six innings of two-run ball for his first victory since June 29. Zach Britton struck out three in the ninth for his 34th save in 34 chances.Jose Abreu homered for Chicago. Miguel Gonzalez (2-6) was the loser.TWINS 6, RAYS 2ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Eddie Rosario had a pinch-hit two-run homer in the seventh inning, Miguel Sano homered and had three hits and Minnesota beat Tampa Bay.Rosarios seventh homer put the Twins up 3-2 after Erasmo Ramirez (7-9) walked Eduardo Escobar. Sano connected off Ramirez in the eighth. Joe Mauer drove in two more runs with a double in the ninth.Brad Millers solo homer off starter Ervin Santana gave the Rays a 2-1 lead in the sixth. It was the fifth homer in seven games for Miller and his 20th of the season. Santana (5-9) struck out eight in 6 1/3 innings.ASTROS 5, RANGERS 0HOUSTON -- Dallas Keuchel threw a three-hitter and Houston beat Texas for just the second time in 11 tries this season.Keuchel (7-11) allowed a career low in hits while throwing his fourth major league shutout. He struck out seven and walked two.Jose Altuve had two hits and drove in two runs to help the Astros close within 5 1/2 games of the AL West-leading Rangers. Houston had lost three in a row overall. Houston got to Martin Perez (7-8) for four runs in the third. Altuve hit an RBI double, Carlos Correa followed with a two-run single before Tyler White had an RBI single.BLUE JAYS 4, ROYALS 3KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Devon Travis hit his second homer of the game in the ninth inning to lift Toronto past Kansas City.Travis led off the game with a home run, then ripped a 1-2 pitch from Kelvin Herrera (1-3) into the Royals bullpen for his first career multihomer game.Brett Cecil (1-6) pitched the eighth for the victory, and Joaquin Benoit worked the ninth for his first save since Sept. 3 while with San Diego.Francisco Liriano made his first start for Toronto after being acquired Monday from Pittsburgh. He allowed three runs, seven hits and two walks.Paulo Orlando homered for Kansas City.PIRATES 3, REDS 2PITTSBURGH -- Sean Rodriguez homered leading off the ninth inning to lift Pittsburgh past Cincinnati.Rodriguez connected off Ross Ohlendorf (5-7), a 413-foot drive to the left-field bleachers that gave the Pirates their second win in seven games in the midst of 12 straight games against teams who are at least 10 games under .500. It was Rodriguezs second career game-ending homer and his 11th home run of the season.The Reds tied it at 2 in the top of the ninth on pinch-hitter Ramon Cabreras sacrifice fly off Tony Watson (2-3). ' ' '