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Davis to speak at First Pitch
Former Major League Baseball outfielder Rajai Davis will be the featured speaker at the 2026 Youngstown State Baseball First Pitch Breakfast on Jan. 31 at Mr. Anthony's Banquet Center.
The event will also provide fans with the opportunity to meet the 2026 Penguins baseball squad, enjoy a breakfast buffet and bid in live and silent auctions on an impressive lineup of Major League Baseball memorabilia, unique experiences and YSU baseball gear. A breakfast ticket will also provide entrance into a door prize drawing, which will be for two different door prizes. The first prize will be an autographed helmet signed by the 2026 YSU baseball team. The second prize will be four 2026 season tickets for Youngstown State baseball home games.
General admission tickets are $55 apiece. Premium Reserved tables are also available for $650 and include eight breakfast/raffle tickets and premium seating at the First Pitch Breakfast. Fans can also join Davis and the YSU baseball staff for an exclusive dinner on Jan. 30 at 5:30 p.m. at Michael Alberini's in Boardman for an additional $200 per guest. Please note there are limited tickets available for Friday's dinner.
For the breakfast on Jan. 31, doors and buffet will open at 8 a.m. with the program commencing at 9 a.m.
Davis played for eight different teams during his 14-year MLB career, and he led the American League with 43 stolen bases while playing for Cleveland, where he hit the game-tying home run in Game 7 of the World Series. Davis finished his career with 415 stolen bases while recording 30 or more steals in seven different seasons.
Davis was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 38th round of the 2001 Major League Baseball Draft as a second baseman. He made his major league debut for the Pirates on August 14, 2006. He finished his MLB career with a .262 batting average, 62 home runs, 387 RBIs and 415 stolen bases. Since retiring in February 2021, Davis has served in the Baseball Operations department of Major League Baseball.
The program is also holding the 2026 YSU Baseball First Pitch Auction. Fans and supporters can bid on exclusive auction items through Feb. 2. Visit BidPal.net/FirstPitch26 to view auction items as they are added to the online site over the coming weeks.
Tickets for Friday night's dinner and Saturday's First Pitch Breakfast can be purchased online or by returning the ticket order form. Fans can also contact associate head coach Will Maddox at wpmaddox@ysu.edu.
Soto and Pirates finalize 1-year deal
PITTBURGH -- Two-time All-Star reliever Gregory Soto and the Pittsburgh Pirates finalized a $7.75 million, one-year contract on Tuesday.
Soto gives the Pirates an experienced left-handed option in a bullpen that will get a makeover in 2026 after relievers Colin Holderman and Dauri Moreta were designated for assignment last month.
The 30-year-old is 15-34 with a 4.26 ERA and 56 saves over seven seasons with five teams. He was an All-Star in 2021 and 2022 for Detroit. He spent 2025 with Baltimore and the New York Mets, who acquired him in late July just before the trade deadline.
Soto struggled in New York, going 1-3 with a 4.50 ERA in 25 appearances. His departure is the second significant subtraction from the Mets bullpen in free agency after closer Edwin Díaz agreed to a three-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier Tuesday.
Pittsburgh appears to be settled at the back end of the bullpen, where Dennis Santana performed well after two-time All-Star David Bednar was traded to the New York Yankees last season. Soto gives the Pirates a pitcher who has filled a variety of roles, including closer.
USC-Brown hoops game canceled
LOS ANGELES -- The men's basketball game between Brown and Southern California scheduled for Sunday in Los Angeles has been canceled. So has the women's game against Monmouth, which was set for Sunday in Rhode Island.
Brown athletic officials announced both cancellations Tuesday. USC said the schools mutually agreed on the decision following the mass shooting on the Ivy League school's campus in Providence, Rhode Island, on Saturday. The shooter remained at large as of Tuesday.
Brown's next scheduled game is Dec. 31 at home.
The Trojans (10-1) will play against an as-yet announced opponent on Sunday at Galen Center.
"The entire USC community sends its support to Brown University following the tragedy that has impacted its students, staff, alumni and the city of Providence," USC officials said in a statement.
Indiana's Cignetti wins COY again
Indiana's Curt Cignetti exceeded expectations again this season and it earned him a second consecutive honor as The Associated Press coach of the year in college football.
Cignetti is the first coach to win the award in back-to-back years since it was first presented in 1998. He is the fourth coach to win it twice, joining Brian Kelly, Gary Patterson and Nick Saban.
The 64-year-old Cignetti is 24-2 while leading the Hoosiers to unprecedented heights in his two seasons since leaving James Madison of the Championship Subdivision to take over what had been the losingest program in major college football. Last year, the Hoosiers won their first 10 games, were ranked as high as No. 5 in the AP Top 25, and reached the first round of the College Football Playoff.
He outdid himself this year, showing his smashing debut was not a one-off.
Indiana is 13-0, Big Ten champion for the first time since 1967, No. 1 in the AP poll for the first time and the top seed for the CFP. He also is coach of Indiana's first Heisman Trophy winner, quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the AP player of the year.
Cignetti was a landslide winner for coach of the year in voting by the nationwide panel of 52 media members who cover college football. Cignetti received 47 first-place votes. Texas Tech's Joey McGuire and Vanderbilt's Clark Lea received two each, and Virginia's Tony Elliott got one.
In 2022, the Hoosiers became the first Bowl Subdivision program to reach 700 all-time losses. They entered this season with 714, a figure that still stands, and they've since been passed by Northwestern (717) for the dubious FBS mark.
In a program that had never won more than nine games in a season before Cignetti's arrival, the Hoosiers have double-digit wins for a second straight year and completed a regular season without a loss for the first time.