YSU’s Gebhardt makes region team

Youngstown State senior left-hander Braden Gebhardt (Howland) has been selected to the ABCA/Rawlings East All-Region Second Team for his performance during the 2026 season, the American Baseball Coaches Association announced on Tuesday.

The 2026 ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Div. I All-Region Teams were announced in all eight regions on Tuesday. The teams are voted on by members of the American Baseball Coaches Association, and the process is led by the ABCA NCAA Div. I All-America Committee.

Youngstown State has now had an all-region honoree in back-to-back seasons after Kyle Fossum earned first-team honors in 2025.

Gebhardt became the sixth player in YSU history and the first since Matt Brosky in 2022 to be named Horizon League Pitcher of the Year in 2026. The Howland, Ohio, native collected all-league recognition for the first time his accomplished career while becoming the fourth YSU pitcher since 2009 to garner First-Team All-Horizon League honors.

Gebhardt enjoyed one of the most successful seasons on the mound in YSU history as a senior in 2026. The southpaw posted a 5-4 record, a 3.19 ERA and 104 strikeouts in 87.1 innings pitched while matching the single-season school record with 15 starts on the mound. Gebhardt was named the Horizon League’s Pitcher of the Week a record six times during the 2026 season, and he was named as one of 43 semifinalists for the 2026 College Baseball Foundation National Pitcher of the Year Award on April 22. The senior led the Horizon League in strikeouts, ERA and innings pitched.

With his fifth weekly HL honor of the 2026 season on May 11, Gebhardt became the first pitcher in Horizon League history to win the league’s Pitcher of the Week award five times in a single season. With this sixth weekly award of the campaign, Gebhardt became just the third pitcher in Horizon League history to win the award at least six times in a career. Gebhardt’s 104 strikeouts in 2026 currently rank as the fourth most in a season in YSU history, and he became the fifth Penguin ever to record 100 or more strikeouts in a season. The left-hander finished with a 4-1 record and a 4.02 ERA in 47 innings over eight starts in Horizon League play. Gebhardt became the ninth pitcher in YSU history to reach 200 career strikeouts during the 2026 season, and he finished his career ranking sixth in school history with 240 career strikeouts. He also concluded his career ranking 11th in program history with 246.1 career innings pitched.

Bengals’ Burrow restructures deal

The Cincinnati Bengals have restructured the contract of franchise quarterback Joe Burrow, a person familiar with the move told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the move was not announced.

The restructured deal was first reported by ESPN and NFL Network.

Cincinnati gains around $10 million in cap space by spreading out some of his base salary over the final three years of the deal (2027 through ’29). Burrow signed a five-year, $275-million extension in 2023.

The Bengals found themselves low on cap space after acquiring defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence from the New York Giants before the NFL draft and signing him to a one-year extension worth $28 million.

Cincinnati is also trying to get some of its key players from its 2023 draft class still under rookie deal signed to extensions before the start of training camp. That group includes DE Myles Murphy, RB Chase Brown, and defensive backs Jordan Battle, DJ Turner and Dax Hill.

Burrow, the top overall pick in the 2023 draft, is going into his seventh season. He led the Bengals to a Super Bowl appearance in the 2021 season and the AFC championship game the following year, but Cincinnati has missed the playoffs the last three seasons.

Burrow played in only eight games last season. He suffered a turf toe injury in a Week 2 win over Jacksonville and was out until late November. He threw for 1,809 yards with 17 touchdowns and five interceptions that included three pick-6s.

Big 12 heads meet to discuss Sorsby

Big 12 athletic directors took part in a conference call Tuesday with Commissioner Brett Yormark to address the situation around Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby and the court ruling that restored his NCAA eligibility for the upcoming season.

The temporary injunction issued Monday by a Texas district court prevents the NCAA from enforcing its ban of Sorsby. The transfer QB had been ruled ineligible for what will be his final college season after he acknowledged years of gambling that included at least 40 bets on his own team while a freshman at Indiana.

Since NCAA rules call for a permanent loss of eligibility for any player who wagered on his own team, the judge’s decision sent shockwaves through college sports, including in Texas Tech’s own league.

Yormark said there was a “thoughtful and productive conversations” with the athletic directors as “we continue to work through the broader implications of this situation.”

In a statement without getting into specifics, the commissioner said many of the ADs voiced their opinions.

“We will continue to have open and honest dialogue amongst the group, and until there is something to report, these conversations will remain within the conference,” he said.

Next will be a meeting of the league’s executive board, when there is expected to be a discussion to present options, but no immediate action is expected then. The full board of directors, made up of presidents and chancellors from the league’s 16 members, is expected to meet next week.

Part of the injunction from the 99th District Court against the NCAA includes a two-game suspension for Sorsby. He would miss games against Abilene Christian and Oregon State, but eligible to return when the Red Raiders play their Big 12 opener at home Sept. 18 against Houston.

The NCAA is appealing to a higher Texas court.

Sorsby made thousands of impermissible bets on college and pro sports that were worth at least $90,000 while at Indiana, Cincinnati and Texas Tech. Those bets include the ones he made while a freshman with the Hoosiers in 2022, though none were on games in which he played that season.

“I think that’s the unpardonable sin,” Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin said Tuesday. “And I think everyone in America grew up knowing that was the unpardonable sin when it comes to sports and gambling.”