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LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas coach Lance Leipold has always been focused on the future: the next game, the renovations that are about to transform Memorial Stadium, the long-term prospects of a program that has long been in the dumps.

“It’s time,” Leipold said after the Jayhawks’ 38-33 win over No. 6 Oklahoma on Saturday, “for me to start talking about how far we’ve come.”

Devin Neal ran for 112 yards and the go-ahead score with 55 seconds left, the Sooners’ Dillon Gabriel threw incomplete to the end zone on the final play of the game, and Kansas fans — finally relishing a bit of success after watching so many downtrodden teams over the years — were left to storm the field and celebrate one of the biggest wins in school history.

The Jayhawks snapped an 18-game losing streak to the Sooners in the teams’ final matchup before Oklahoma departs the Big 12 for the SEC, and they beat their highest-ranked opponent since defeating Virginia Tech in the 2008 Orange Bowl.

“This is a huge moment for this team,” said Jason Bean, starting once again in place of injured quarterback Jalon Daniels.

The Jayhawks (6-2, 3-2 Big 12) looked as if they had squandered their chance to win when, trailing 33-32 with 2:29 remaining, Bean threw a pass that got intercepted. But their vastly improved defense forced Oklahoma (7-1, 4-1) to punt, and after two completions and a fourth-down throw that gained 37 yards, Neal scampered in from 9 yards out against what appeared to be an ambivalent defense to give Kansas the lead back.

But that also gave Oklahoma’s offense another shot with the ball.

Gabriel completed a 39-yard pass to Brennan Thompson to reach the Kansas 34 with 24 seconds to go. After a short throw to Jovantae Barnes and an incompletion, the quarterback who had been nearly perfect all season threw high to the end zone on the final play, touching off the field-storming celebration.

“I got caught in a whole bunch of students,” Leipold said. “I hope nobody gives me a Breathalyzer just off the fumes out there.”

Bean threw for 218 yards with two interceptions while running for 62 yards and a touchdown. Daniel Hishaw had two touchdown runs for the Jayhawks, who had not beaten the Sooners since Oct. 4, 1997.

Gabriel finished with 171 passing yards and three touchdown runs and Tawee Walker ran for 146 yards and a score, although the Sooners were left to lament too many missed opportunities and the end to their perfect season.

“Turned the ball over, penalties — the timing of all of it was really poor,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said. “As I told them, we’re not going to be defined by any one win or any loss. We have a lot still in front of us. But this one hurts. It stings.”

Until the fourth quarter, it had been a dreary homecoming for the Jayhawks.

A sell-out crowd packed Memorial Stadium early to watch Fox’s pregame show, then started getting wet when rain moved in after kickoff. Midway through the second quarter, lightning lit up the sky, causing a delay of about an hour. When the game finally resumed, about half that crowd was left — and a big portion of it was chanting “Boomer Sooner.”

All those Kansas fans who stuck it out were in for a treat.

The Jayhawks had jumped to a 14-0 lead on a pick-six by Mello Dotson and Hishaw’s first touchdown run. But the Sooners, who had been struggling without injured running back Marcus Major, soon found their stride.

When the Jayhawks fumbled a kickoff, Gabriel’s second touchdown run marked 21 unanswered points for Oklahoma.

The seesaw affair was just getting started, though.

The Jayhawks had closed within 21-20 in the third quarter when they pounced on a fumble and Bean ran 38 yards for a score. The Sooners answered with a 75-yard touchdown drive to take a 27-26 lead, only to watch the Jayhawks capitalize on three personal fouls — including one on the Oklahoma bench for arguing about the first — to regain the lead at 32-27.

Kansas nearly made it a two-possession game in the fourth quarter when Oklahoma muffed the ensuing kickoff, but a holding penalty brought back Hishaw’s 20-yard touchdown run and Seth Keller missed a 42-yard field-goal attempt.

The Sooners seized the opportunity. Their defense got a hand on Bean’s pass, and Billy Bowman picked it off at the Kansas 14. Gabriel scored less than two minutes later for a 33-32 lead with 5:22 to go.

Plenty of time for the Jayhawks to score one more touchdown and make a big defensive stand.

“Everyone trusted what we’ve been doing,” Hishaw said. “I guess you could say this is a little bit of payoff.”

The takeaway

Oklahoma: Three turnovers and 11 penalties for 101 yards were big reasons the Sooners’ College Football Playoff aspirations took a big hit. Now they find themselves in a logjam of Big 12 teams with one conference loss.

Kansas: Almost as an afterthought, the public address announcer made note to the field-storming fans that the Jayhawks were bowl eligible again. It’s only the second time in school history they have qualified in consecutive seasons.

Up next

Oklahoma visits Oklahoma State next Saturday in the final edition of Bedlam for the foreseeable future.

Kansas heads to Iowa State next Saturday.

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Canes win series, spoil Markstrom 49-save outing

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Canes win series, spoil Markstrom 49-save outing

After the New Jersey Devils saw their season end in double overtime Tuesday night, goaltender Jacob Markstrom wanted to express his frustration via his stick. He thought about boomeranging it to the boards. Instead, he swung it hard against his goalpost, breaking it in half.

Sebastian Aho‘s goal at 4:17 of the second overtime in Game 5 gave the Carolina Hurricanes a 5-4 win and a 4-1 series victory over the Devils. It was the first puck Markstrom had fly by him in 37 consecutive shots on goal, dating to the second period. That included 18 saves he made in overtime, as Carolina marauded a short-handed and exhausted Devils defense but couldn’t solve the 35-year-old goalie.

“That was one of the better goaltending performances that I’ve witnessed,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said of Markstrom, who finished with 49 saves. “He let in a few early that he’d like to have back. But once he got dialed in, you’re thinking it’ll have to bank off somebody, because we’re not beating him.”

Markstrom’s frustration wasn’t just with the overtime goal. The Devils built a 3-0 lead in the first period. Carolina scored three times in the first 5:40 of the second period to erase it. New Jersey responded with a Nico Hischier goal, only to have Aho knot the score at 4 moments later.

“We put up four goals on the road,” Markstrom said. “We should have brought it home. It should have been enough.”

But as his teammates noted, Markstrom’s effort in the overtimes should have been enough to win Game 5.

“We were under siege. He was outstanding. We were reeling,” coach Sheldon Keefe said.

“He played unbelievable. Marky kept us in that first overtime,” Hischier said. “I feel bad for him because he battled his ass off.”

Markstrom was acquired by the Devils last offseason in a high-profile deal with the Calgary Flames that was intended to fix the team’s goaltending, which ranked 30th in 2023-24. He won 26 times in 49 games with a .900 save percentage and a 2.50 goals-against average. He was outstanding, for the most part, in the playoffs: .911 save percentage and a 2.78 goals-against average in five games.

But Markstrom couldn’t overcome two things in the postseason for the Devils. The first were their injuries. Already without star center Jack Hughes, who had season-ending shoulder surgery, the Devils saw defensemen Luke Hughes, Johnathan Kovacevic and Brenden Dillon leave the series with injuries, with defensemen Jonas Siegenthaler and Dougie Hamilton playing at less than 100%.

“We had a few guys go down in the series. A few guys step up and battle. We’ve got to get better. We don’t like the result,” forward Timo Meier said.

The other factor was the Devils special teams. Their power play was officially 0-for-15. Their penalty kill allowed six goals on 19 Carolina power plays.

“That’s why we lost the series for sure. We couldn’t get the power play going. That’s on those guys, including me, that are on the ice. That’s definitely frustrating,” Hischier said.

But the Devils gutted out the series, pushing Carolina to double overtime in an elimination game despite those deficiencies.

“There’s a lot of will in this room,” Markstrom said. “It sucks right now.”

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DeGrom gets 1st win in 2 years as Rangers rip A’s

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DeGrom gets 1st win in 2 years as Rangers rip A's

ARLINGTON, Texas — Everything came together in the same game for two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom and the Texas Rangers batters.

Texas had a much-needed offensive breakout while deGrom struck out seven over six scoreless innings for his first win in more than two years, though he had pitched well enough to win in several other starts this season.

“When was the last one, ’23? Yeah, it’s been a while,” deGrom said after the Rangers’ 15-2 win over the Athletics on Tuesday night.

“He earned it. He had great stuff tonight, he kept us on our toes,” second baseman Marcus Semien said. “We were just talking about how the time of possession was. You know, we were hitting for a long time and he’s getting quick outs. So usually that’s a good recipe.”

The 36-year-old deGrom (1-1) had gone 737 days since also beating the A’s on April 23, 2023, then made only one more start in his debut season with Texas before Tommy John surgery.

He scattered four singles and didn’t walk a batter in a 65-pitch outing (47 strikes). It was only that short since the right-hander didn’t return after an eight-run outburst in the Rangers sixth that matched their previous season high for runs in an entire game and put them up 12-0.

So just how efficient was deGrom? The right-hander honestly thought he was “probably in the 70s or something to 80,” as did catcher Jonah Heim.

“A lot a strikeouts that I feel like he just overpowered a lot of hitters, which is who he is. He’s got that electric fastball,” Heim said.

“My mechanics were pretty good,” said deGrom, a meticulous worker who was feeling good after a side session the day before the game. “I’m constantly trying to perfect it and get in the best positions that I can get based on performance and health.”

Texas entered the night last in the majors with 91 runs scored, and only 12 combined the previous six games. DeGrom had gotten only nine runs of support in his first five starts.

The Rangers snapped a three-game losing streak while setting season highs for runs, hits (18) and walks (nine). They had three bases-clearing doubles in the same game for the first time in team history – Adolis García and Wyatt Langford each had one during a four-batter stretch in that big sixth, and Kyle Higashioka added his three-run double in the eighth.

Their offensive outburst came after the full squad was required to be on the field for batting practice before the game.

“Good to see you guys break out and have a good game. … Some success, it’s contagious,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “You’re hoping this is something these guys can build on, build some confidence.”

For deGrom, he improved to 3-1 with a 2.55 ERA in his 15 starts for the Rangers since signing a $185 million, five-year contract in December 2022. He is 85-58 in 224 career starts, the first 209 with the New York Mets from 2014-2022.

“He was really good tonight. You know, I said when season started, it’s just going to get better with him as he builds up his strength and stamina,” Bochy said. “Really good command tonight, really good stuff. And it’s just getting better with him.”

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Yanks make history by again opening with 3 HRs

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Yanks make history by again opening with 3 HRs

BALTIMORE — The New York Yankees became the first team in major league history to open a game with three consecutive home runs more than once in a season when Trent Grisham, Aaron Judge and Ben Rice went deep off Baltimore‘s Kyle Gibson in the first inning Tuesday night.

New York started the bottom of the first of its March 29 game against Milwaukee with three homers in a row. In that game, Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger and Judge needed only three pitches to hit three homers.

The Yankees added a fourth home run later in the first inning of both that game and Tuesday’s game, making them the first team to belt four in the first inning twice in a season.

On Tuesday night, the Yankees hit three of the game’s first five offerings out to right field.

“Grish got it going for us and set the tone for us early on,” Judge said after the 15-3 win. “When he goes up there and … sends one to Eutaw Street, it’s pretty impressive and gets you going.”

It was an ugly return to the majors for the 37-year-old Gibson, who made 30 starts for the St. Louis Cardinals last season before Baltimore signed him to a $5.25 million, one-year contract in late March. He’d been working in the minors since then before being called up before Tuesday’s game. He was finally pulled with two outs in the fourth after allowing nine runs and 11 hits.

“He gave up four homers in the first inning. That’s kind of a telling sign,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “At that point I’m just trying to figure out how we’re going to get through the game.”

After Rice’s home run made it 3-0, Gibson retired Goldschmidt on a grounder before Bellinger also homered. Anthony Volpe‘s RBI double made it 5-0 before the first inning was over.

Rice homered again in the second to make it 6-0. Austin Wells hit New York’s final home run — all six came with nobody on — with two outs in the ninth.

“It just shows that we’ve got a lot of depth in the lineup,” Rice said.

Not all the news was great for the Yankees, however. Jazz Chisholm Jr. left the game with right flank discomfort in the first inning.

Chisholm, who is hitting .181 with seven home runs this season, appeared to have hurt himself while he was batting. After being checked on, he stayed at the plate and hit a double, advancing to third on an error by right fielder Ramon Laureano.

Chisholm said he wasn’t worried about needing to go on the injured list.

“I’m really not as concerned as everybody else,” Chisholm said. “I tore my oblique before. I know it’s not torn or anything.”

The Associated Press and ESPN Research contributed to this report.

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