Lynx Hold Off Liberty, Stingers Sweep Rox, Twins Fall to Royals

The Minnesota Lynx have started building a winning streak thanks to a close win on the road against the Liberty on Friday. Meanwhile, the St. Cloud dropped game two to Willmar, and the Twins fell to Kansas City in extra innings.

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- The no. 7 Lynx notched their second straight win with an 88-83 decision in New York on Friday night. Minnesota outscored no. 2 New York in three of the four quarters, leading 22-17 after one, and extending that lead to 48-39 at the break. Trailing 70-58 going into the final frame, the Liberty rallied, outscoring the Lynx 25-18, but could not catch up. Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart led the Liberty with a combined 54 points. Kayla McBride led Minnesota with 26 points, and Diamond Miller added 22. The Lynx improve to 12-13 and will stay on the road with a matchup against no. 3 Connecticut (18-6) on Sunday. Tip-off is set for noon.

- The Rox got swept in the two-game series against Willmar with a 14-4 loss on Friday. St. Cloud got on the board first, scoring a run in the bottom of the opening inning. After three scoreless innings, the Stingers responded, sending two runners home to take the lead 2-0. The Rox ran in three more in the bottom of the sixth to retake the lead 4-2. After that, it was all Willmar. The Stingers went off for seven runs in the seventh inning and five runs in the eighth to claim the victory. Luke Williams led Willmar with four RBIs on the day. Haiden Hunt, Anthony Mata, Michael McNamara, and Jackson Hauge each made it home once for St. Cloud. Connor Wietgrefe struck out eight batters and allowed two runs on three hits in the first five innings on the mound for the Rox. The St. Cloud bullpen combined for six strikeouts and 12 runs on 11 hits in the remainder of the game. The Rox fall to 34-22 and trail the Stingers by seven games in the division. St. Cloud will look to turn things around when they host Bismarck on Saturday. Pre-game coverage starts at 5:35 p.m. on AM 1390 and 93.9 FM KXSS.

- The Twins fell 8-5 to the Royals in a wild game Friday night. The game got off to a quiet start, with neither team scoring in the first two innings. Kyle Isbel put KC on the board in the bottom of the third with a solo home run. Then in the fourth inning, Ryan Jeffers tied the score up 1-1 with an RBI single and Willi Castro gave Minnesota the lead with a steal of home plate. The back and forth continued in the sixth inning when the Royals retook the lead with an RBI double and an RBI single. Kansas City extended their lead to 4-2 with another RBI single in the eighth inning. Jorge Polanco tied the score once again with an RBI double for Minnesota in the ninth to force extra innings. In the top of the tenth, Kyle Farmer hit the go-ahead single to give Minnesota the 5-4 advantage. Unfortunately, that lead disappeared in the bottom of the inning when Bobby Witt Jr. hit a walk-off grand slam to seal the win for the home team. The Twins fall to 54-51 and will face Kansas City (30-75) in game two on Saturday. Pre-game coverage begins at 5:30 p.m. on AM 1240 and 95.3 FM WJON.