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CINCINNATI — Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani had another first in his MLB career.

Ohtani struck out in his first four plate appearances Tuesday night against the Cincinnati Reds, the first time he has done that in his eight seasons and 981 games in the majors.

It’s the sixth time the Japanese superstar and reigning NL MVP has struck out four times in a game. It is the second time this season, with the other coming against San Diego on June 17.

Against the Seattle Mariners on July 17, 2021, while playing for the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani popped up to the shortstop in his first at-bat and then struck out in his next four times at the plate.

Despite Ohtani’s tough night, the Dodgers rallied for a 5-4 victory on an RBI double by Will Smith in the ninth inning.

“Tonight, I just don’t think he saw [Cincinnati starter Nick] Lodolo well at all, clearly. And I think he just got into swing mode,” manager Dave Roberts said. “When he’s [at his] best, he’s getting the baseball up, and he’s using the big part of the field. And especially in this ballpark where he doesn’t need to go to right field. But tonight, just one of those nights that he just couldn’t help him help himself from swinging.”

Ohtani came into the game on a nine-game hitting streak in which he had gone 11-for-36 with 6 home runs, 13 RBIs and 9 runs scored.

Lodolo became the 13th pitcher to strike out Ohtani three times in a game. The Reds’ left-hander got Ohtani to chase a curveball out of the strike zone in the first and fifth innings, and got him looking on a 94.6 mph fastball in the third.

“I was going right after him. I definitely threw some good heaters in some good spots, and I was able to spin the ball well, too,” Lodolo said.

Graham Ashcraft then whiffed Ohtani on an inside slider in the seventh.

Ohtani was one strike away from his first five strikeout game before he flew out to right field on a 2-2 count in the ninth inning of a 4-4 game. Smith was the next batter and delivered what proved to be the winning hit.

Ohtani still leads the majors with 100 runs scored. He is atop the NL in slugging (.612), total bases (254), OPS (.989) and home runs (38).

Roberts says he hopes Ohtani is more disciplined at the plate in the series finale Wednesday night because Nick Martinez is the same type of pitcher as Lodolo.

“Martinez is going to be nibbling, and it’s going to be cutter and changeup down below. And he’s got to get back to the big part of the field and not chase down below,” Roberts said.

Ohtani will also be making his seventh pitching start of the season Wednesday as the Dodgers look for him to go four innings as he continues his return from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in 2023. Ohtani is 0-0 with a 1.50 ERA.

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QB Becht stars as ISU outlasts KSU in Ireland

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QB Becht stars as ISU outlasts KSU in Ireland

DUBLIN — Rocco Becht passed for two touchdowns and ran for another score, helping No. 22 Iowa State beat No. 17 Kansas State 24-21 in the Aer Lingus Classic on Saturday.

Becht was 14-for-28 for 183 yards. He found Dominic Overby for a 23-yard TD in the first quarter and passed to Brett Eskildsen for a 24-yard score in the third quarter.

With 2:26 to go, Iowa State went for it on fourth-and-3 at the Kansas State 16-yard line. Becht found Carson Hansen for 15 yards and iced the game.

“He called a great play, he gave me two plays and let me decide and I knew we were going to have a chance to get it,” Becht said “We’ve worked on it in practice and it’s been working for us and we’re confident with it and I have trust in my guys.”

The Cyclones (1-0, 1-0 Big 12) opened a 24-14 lead in the fourth quarter after a turnover on downs by Kansas State at its own 30-yard line. Becht finished the short drive with a 7-yard touchdown run with 6:38 left.

Avery Johnson passed for 273 yards and two touchdowns for Kansas State (0-1, 0-1). He also had a 10-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

“I mean that’s the thing, regardless of the outcome we have 11 games to play,” Kansas State coach Chris Klieman said. “We have our back against the wall, but now we’ve got to reset and regroup and get ready to play.”

Johnson threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to Jerand Bradley with 6:23 remaining, but the Wildcats never got the ball back.

Both teams struggled to deal with wet conditions in the first half. Kansas State had two turnovers and a turnover on downs, and Iowa State committed two turnovers in the first 30 minutes.

“We just made some great adjustments,” Campbell said. “We saw some things different in the first game and the opportunity to make some adjustments and to have the ability to do that, to have the staff that’s been together for so long that we have the confidence to make those adjustments.”

The Cyclones grabbed a 14-7 lead when Becht found Eskildsen in the corner of the end zone with 1:07 left in the third quarter.

Johnson responded with a 37-yard touchdown pass to Jayce Brown, tying it at 14 with 14:09 remaining in the game.

Hansen led Iowa State with 71 yards rushing on 16 carries. Joe Jackson had 51 yards on 12 carries for Kansas State.

“I thought that the (offensive line) did a really great job in the second half,” Campbell said. “Our tight ends and o-line did a great job of execution and man Carson is a really great player so we’re really proud of him.”

Iowa State has beat Kansas State in five of the past six seasons.

“I think those are great wins, any time you can beat quality opponents that’s awesome,” Campbell said. “We got a long way to go, it’s only game one and there’s a lot of football left and we’re going to have to see if we’re tough enough as a program and team to go home and get ready for a good South Dakota team next week.”

Kansas State running back Dylan Edwards was injured in the first quarter on a punt that he muffed. He didn’t return to the game.

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‘This stings’: Interim Reich drops Stanford debut

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'This stings': Interim Reich drops Stanford debut

HONOLULU — Micah Alejado threw two touchdown passes and Kansei Matsuzawa made three field goals — including a 38-yarder as time expired — as Hawaii outlasted Stanford 23-20 on Saturday night in the season opener for both teams.

Matsuzawa’s last kick spoiled the debut of Cardinal interim Frank Reich, a former NFL head coach, who was hired by one of his former quarterbacks, Andrew Luck, in March. Luck, the Cardinal’s new football general manager, is conducting a national search for a permanent coach following the offseason firing of Troy Taylor.

Saturday night showed Luck, who sat in the coaches’ box above the stadium, that the ACC program has a way to go regardless who is on the sideline.

“Obviously, this is a tough loss, I give Hawaii credit,” Reich said. “They played a tough game, and made the plays they needed to make to win the game. We came in off of what I thought was a very good week of practice, and a very good six months of preparation and hard work. And so this hurts, I’m not going to lie.”

Meanwhile, Hawaii defeated a power conference team for the first time since opening the 2019 season with back-to-back wins over then-Pac-12 teams Arizona and Oregon State. It also won in its first game against an ACC opponent. The Rainbow Warriors are 1-4 all-time against Stanford, all in Honolulu.

“This stings for all of us, especially the players,” Reich said. “But we know this, the message for the team was: We put in that work, not for one game. It’s a long season. So, we didn’t get what we wanted today, but we still have a lot of opportunity.”

Alejado walked gingerly off the field after he was sacked by Matt Rose early in the second half but returned to start the next drive and finished 27-of-39 passing for 210 yards and added 36 yards rushing. Pofele Ashlock had nine receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown.

“Micah is one of the most ultimate competitors, and his competitive nature was not to let his teammates down,” Hawaii coach Timmy Chang said. “And so he wanted to play, and we wanted him to play.”

Hawaii took possession at its own 28 with 1:33 to play and a limping Alejado went 5 of 7 for 51 yards to set up Matsuzawa’s winning kick.

Matsuzawa also made field goals of 40 and 37 yards, with the 37-yarder tying the score with 2:01 remaining.

Micah Ford had 26 carries for 113 yards and a touchdown for Stanford.

Emmet Kenney made field goals of 23 to open the scoring and Brandon White mistakenly downed the ensuing kickoff at the 1. On Hawaii’s first offensive play from scrimmage, Clay Patterson strip-sacked Micah Alejado before Wilfredo Aybar recovered the fumble in the end zone to give Stanford a 10-0 lead with 7:08 left in the first quarter.

Alejado threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Pofele Ashlock to make it 10-7 with 2:19 left in the first.

Jackson Harris — a transfer from Stanford — caught a 19-yard TD pass from Alejado with 42 seconds left in the first half that gave Hawaii its first lead at 14-13. The Cardinal committed three 15-yard penalties on Hawaii’s 75-yard drive.

Stanford put together a 20-play, 85-yard that took more than 9 1/2 minutes off the clock before Ford scored on a 2-yard run that gave the Cardinal a 20-17 lead with 9:41 left in the game.

Kenney added a 46-yard field goal in the first half for the Cardinal.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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UC Davis-Mercer deemed no contest after delay

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UC Davis-Mercer deemed no contest after delay

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The FCS Kickoff game between UC Davis and Mercer was declared a no contest after a weather delay of about 1 1/2 hours Saturday night.

UC Davis, ranked No. 7 in the FCS coaches poll, had a 23-17 lead over No. 11 Mercer when play was stopped with about 7 1/2 minutes left.

“Tonight’s 11th Annual FCS Kickoff has been declared a ‘No Contest’ due to rain and intermittent lightning that has continued to move through central Alabama,” Mercer said on social media. “All statistics from tonight’s game have been voided.”

UC Davis posted: “Mother Nature wins the day as tonight’s game in Montgomery has been called a no contest.”

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