Mariners News

The Mariners came up just short in a late game rally last night. The M’s couldn’t overcome a disastrous first inning and lost to the Detroit Tigers 9-6 in the series opener at T-Mobile. Emerson Hancock was pulled before the first inning ended after giving up six runs. Randy Arozarena, Cal Raleigh and Luke Raley all hit home runs in the Mariners’ attempt to come back, but it wasn’t enough as they fell to 2-3 on the young season. Julio Rodriguez added two hits and two runs in the loss.

It was the Tigers’ first win of the season coming off a sweep by the defending World Series champion Dodgers. The M’s will look to bounce back tonight with Logan Gilbert back on the mound. Coverage begins at 5:30 and first pitch is at 6:40 on KPUG.

Torpedo bats have taken the MLB by storm and now the Mariners are getting in on the trend. The Seattle Times reports that the team is in the process of ordering a handful of torpedo bats this week. The bats are shaped like a bowling pin and feature a thicker barrel before thinning off toward the end. They’re made to help players have a better chance of hitting a ball on the “sweet spot” of the bat and the MLB has confirmed they’re legal. The Times reports that Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh and Jorge Polanco are among players that want to experiment with the new bats.

Kraken News

The Kraken couldn’t muster enough offense to pull out a win last night. Kaapo Kakko scored just over a minute into the game, but the Dallas Stars scored the next three goals to take a 3-1 win. The Stars earned their sixth straight win, while the Kraken were handed their fifth loss in six games. It came days after Seattle was officially eliminated from playoff contention. They’ll be up north tomorrow night against the Vancouver Canucks for the start of their final road trip of the season.

College Basketball News

The Final Four is set in the women’s college basketball tournament. UConn and Texas each took wins last night to join UCLA and South Carolina in the national semifinals. Texas beat Yakima-native Hailey Van Lith and TCU to meet South Carolina on Friday. And UConn star Page Bueckers scored 31 points to lead her Huskies past a shorthanded USC team that was without top player JuJu Watkins. UConn will face UCLA in the second Friday matchup. The national championship takes place on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Washington State men’s season has come to a close. The Cougs lost to Georgetown 85-82 in the first round of the new College Basketball Crown tournament last night. Wazzu finishes its first season under head coach David Riley with a 19-15 record. That’s the second-most wins by a first-year head coach in program history.

NFL News

Some big changes are coming to the NFL this season. The touchbacks on kickoffs will now be marked at the 35-yard line instead of the 30. It follows the massive revamp of the kickoff that the league instituted last season in an attempt to make it safer for players. Another rule change will guarantee each team a possession in overtime during the regular season. Previously, the team who got the ball first could win by simply scoring a touchdown. The rule now aligns with postseason overtimes, though regular season overtimes will still be limited to 10 minutes.

And the league will now use Hawk-Eye technology to virtually measure first down distances. Hawk-Eye consists of six 8K cameras that provide a more efficient estimate of the distance between the spotted ball and the line to gain. The technology will replace the chain crew, which will still be on the field as a backup option. But referees will still be responsible for spotting the ball themselves.