The St. Cloud State University men's hockey team opened up their run in the NCHC tournament with a win over UMD, the St. Ben's softball team swept their doubleheader to kick off the weekend, the Granite City Lumberjacks dominated in game one of the NA3HL Division Semifinals, the St. Cloud Norsemen toppled the Bobcats in their fight to get into the playoffs, and the Minnesota Twins tied the Orioles in a Spring Training matchup Friday. Meanwhile, the St. Cloud State and St. John's baseball teams came up short, and the Minnesota Timberwolves dropped a heartbreaker in OT to Brooklyn. On Saturday, the Gopher men's hockey team will take on Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament, the Gopher women's hockey team will host UMD in the NCAA Tournament, and the Minnesota Wild will visit San Jose.

RECAPS:

- The no. 8/7 SCSU men's hockey team rallied to beat UMD 3-1 in their first game of the NCHC Quarterfinals. Micah Miller netted two for St. Cloud, while Dominic Basse made 24 saves and allowed one goal in the win. The Huskies improve to 22-11-3 and will play game two of the best-of-three series on Saturday night. Puck-drop is set for 6:00 p.m.

- The CSB softball team swept their Friday doubleheader in Florida. The Bennies beat Kenyon College 10-0 in game one. Gabby Spencer and Kallie Finkbeiner each had two RBIs for CSB. Elly Novak threw five strikeouts and allowed just two hits in the win. Game two was also a shutout with the Bennies topping St. Joseph's College of Maine 5-0. Jordyn Swoboda led St. Ben's with three RBIs while Novak threw 13 strikeouts and allowed three hits. The Bennies improve to 7-1 and will play their final doubleheader of the Spring Break Games on Saturday. Game one against Carroll University is set for 2:00 p.m. followed by a matchup against Belhaven University at 4:30 p.m.

- The Lumberjacks routed the WarHawks 7-1 at home to open the Fraser Cup Playoffs Friday night. Jacob McPartland and Zak Kennett led Granite City with two goals each. The Jacks outshot Willmar 48-19 in the win. The Lumberjacks need just one more win to advance to the Division Finals. They will get their opportunity in Willmar on Saturday at 7:10 p.m.

- The Norsemen dominated in a 5-1 win over Bismarck to open the weekend series. Five different players scored for St. Cloud. Ethan Dahlmeir made 24 saves and allowed one goal. The Norsemen improve to 24-19-3-4 and have moved up into second place in the Central Division with just over a month remaining in the regular season. They will host the Bobcats again on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.

- The Twins tied Baltimore 5-5 in a Spring Training matchup Friday. The Twins are now 6-6-2 in the preseason and will take on the Red Sox on Saturday. First pitch is set for 12:00 p.m. on AM 1240 and 95.3 FM WJON.

- The SCSU baseball team got swept in a doubleheader against Nova Southeastern on Friday. St. Cloud fell 9-2 in game one and 8-4 in game two. Sawyer Smith led St. Cloud State with three RBIs on the day. The Huskies fall to 4-6 and will close out the three-game series against the Sharks on Saturday at noon.

- The SJU baseball team fell to Wabash in a crushing 6-16 loss Friday. Andrew Mahlke and Owen Best each tallied two RBIs for the Johnnies. St. John's had six different pitchers on the mound trying to shift the momentum. Combined, they totaled just four strikeouts with 19 hits and 16 runs allowed. The Johnnies fall to 4-5 and will take on Augustana (Illinois) at 9:00 a.m. Saturday.

- The Timberwolves fell 124-123 to the Nets in overtime Friday. Minnesota outscored Brooklyn in each of the first two quarters but fell behind 97-91 by the end of the third. The Wolves rallied in the fourth and tied the game in the final second with a three-point buzzer-beater to send it to OT. Minnesota did not get so lucky at the end of the extra period, however, failing to hit the basket as the clock wound down. The Timberwolves fall to 34-34 and will face the Hawks in Atlanta on Monday. Pre-game coverage starts at 6:00 p.m. on AM 1240 and 95.3 FM WJON.

PREVIEWS:

- The no. 1 Gopher men's hockey team (25-8-1) will start postseason play on Saturday when they host no. 18/17 Michigan State in the Big Ten Semifinals. The Gophers swept the season series 4-0. Game time is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.

- The no. 2 seeded Gopher women's hockey team will host the University of Minnesota-Duluth in the NCAA Quarterfinals on Saturday. The newly crowned WCHA Champs swept the Bulldogs 4-0 in the regular season. Puck-drop is set for 2:00 p.m. at Ridder Arena.

- The Wild (37-21-7) will look to build up another winning streak when they visit San Jose (19-35-12) on Saturday. Minnesota fell to the Sharks 3-2 in November. The Wild will also be without Kirill Kaprizov who left Wednesday's game early due to an injury. He is expected to be sidelined for three to four weeks. Pre-game coverage starts at 9:15 p.m. on AM 1390 and 93.9 FM Granite City Sports.

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