YSU’s Gebhardt gets HL honor

Senior left-hander Braden Gebhardt (Howland) of the Youngstown State baseball team was named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Week following the opening weekend of the 2026 season.

Gebhardt recorded the most strikeouts in a game by a Penguin in nearly five years as part of a masterful Opening Day pitching performance in YSU’s 2-1 loss to the No. 5 Auburn Tigers in the 2026 season opener on Friday evening at Plainsman Park in Auburn, Ala.

Gebhardt, who collects the first weekly HL award of his career, was responsible for one unearned run on two hits while setting a new career high with 11 strikeouts over six innings on the mound. He posted the most strikeouts in a game by a Penguin since Collin Floyd fanned 12 batters against Milwaukee on April 9, 2021. Gebhardt recorded multiple punchouts in four different frames while fanning seven straight batters between the third and fifth innings.

Youngstown State will continue its early season road stretch on Thursday when it begins a four-game series at Oregon. First pitch for Thursday’s series opener at PK Park is scheduled for 6 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on B1G+.

RedHawks extend win streak to 26

AMHERST, Mass. — No. 22 Miami of Ohio won its 26th straight game to remain the last unbeaten team in Division 1, defeating UMass 86-77 on Tuesday night thanks to 23 points from Peter Suder.

Luke Skaljac had 16 points and seven assists for Miami (26-0, 13-0 Mid-American Conference). Leonardo Bettiol scored 18 points with nine rebounds, Isaiah Placide scored 19 and Danny Carbuccia had 15 for UMass (15-12, 6-8).

Miami led by eight points with 14 minutes left before UMass scored seven straight to make it a one-point game and then added a 5-0 run to take a 62-60 lead. It was tied for the final time at 68-68 when Placide banked in a 3-pointer at the shot clock buzzer, leaving defender Eian Elmer shrugging in disbelief.

But Elmer answered with a 3 for Miami, then Suder hit a layup after a UMass turnover to give the RedHawks a five-point lead.

UMass never got any closer than three points after that.

Up next

Miami will go for 27-0 when it hosts Bowling Green on Friday night.

Bitonio gets more time to think

Cleveland Browns left guard Joel Bitonio will get a little more time to decide if he wants to come back for a 13th season.

The team and Bitonio agreed to push back the void date in his contract to the start of NFL calendar on March 11, according to a cleveland.com report. His contract was originally set to void on Monday.

Bitonio, a two-time All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler, has been a mainstay along the Browns’ offensive line since he was drafted out of Nevada with the 35th overall pick in 2014.

Bitonio contemplated retirement at the end of the 2024 playoffs, but elected to return last season. He never announced that the 2025 campaign would be his last, but he told cleveland.com that his decision would come down to how his body felt. And after the team fired head coach Kevin Stefanski, he added that the new coaching staff would also be a factor.

If he opts to come back for the 2026 season, it would be a positive for the Browns, who have several holes up front.

Cleveland already had questions at left and right tackle with Dawand Jones suffering a season-ending injury three games into this past season and two-time All-Pro right tackle Jack Conklin’s contract expiring.

Add three-time Pro Bowl right guard Wyatt Teller and center Ethan Pocic becoming free agents, and a potential Bitonio retirement could mean Cleveland would need to build an entirely new starting five on the offensive line this offseason.

The Browns even have uncertainty with their backups as guard Teven Jenkins is set to hit the market and center Luke Wypler suffered a knee injury during the second half of a Week 18 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Judge concerned over Moore case

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A judge on Tuesday granted a request for a hearing to learn more about an investigation that led to charges against former University of Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore, who was arrested soon after he was fired for a relationship with his executive assistant.

It’s a victory for Moore and lawyer Ellen Michaels who is defending him against charges of felony home invasion, stalking and illegal entry. They ultimately want the case dismissed.

Moore, 40, is accused of entering the woman’s apartment without permission and threatening to kill himself in front of her on Dec. 10. Authorities quoted him as saying she was to blame for him losing one of the top college football jobs in the country. She had spoken to university officials.

Judge J. Cedric Simpson expressed concern that a police detective didn’t disclose Moore’s employer-employee relationship with the woman — a “glaring omission” — when a magistrate authorized a warrant for his arrest.

“Defendant’s due process may have been violated,” Simpson said.

“This was not solely this personal relationship. The magistrate should have been able to look at that,” said the judge, who set a March 2 hearing to hear from police and other witnesses.

The woman ended the personal relationship a few days before Moore’s firing and did not answer a dozen calls or respond to some text messages from him before his dismissal, police said.

Michaels said a coach calling and texting an executive assistant that many times was reasonable while Moore was preparing his team for a bowl game.

“It’s not stalking if the communication has a legitimate purpose,” Michaels said.

Before Simpson set the hearing, Washtenaw County assistant prosecutor Kati Rezmierski said it wasn’t necessary and would be outside the judge’s discretion.

Michaels accused the woman’s personal lawyer of giving information to police to “villainize Mr. Moore and maximize the chances of obtaining a large settlement from the deep pockets of the University of Michigan.”