March Madness has just about everything, from future NBA stars to unlikely heroes. But sometimes, it can also uncover heartfelt moments, even in the midst of a blowout.
That’s what happened during No. 16 seed LIU’s 92-58 loss to No. 1 Arizona in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, March 20. The game was virtually over by halftime, but it still provided the Sharks with lifelong memories – especially one player in particular.
Sophomore guard Eddie Munyak, a 6-foot-1 walk-on guard, entered for LIU in the final moments of its loss to one of the national championship favorites and had his one shining moment. He waved for the ball multiple times while the Sharks were down 80-53, and when he finally received the pass, he fired from 3-point range and banked the shot off the backboard through the net for his first career points.
It was only Munyak’s second appearance in a game this season, last seeing the floor for two minutes against Le Moyne on Jan. 29. He was expectedly hype after sinking the shot, putting his arms out as he ran back on defense in jubilation.
“HE’LL REMEMBER THAT FOR A LIFETIME.”
LIU Sophomore Eddie Munyak is playing in his 2nd game this season for the Sharks.
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 20, 2026
“He’ll remember that for a lifetime,” play-by-play commentator Kevin Harlan said on the broadcast. “This is the beauty of this tournament.”
Despite Munyak’s 3-pointer having no impact on the game’s conclusion, his LIU teammates erupted on the bench after he hit his first-career shot. Sometimes it means more than just wins and losses, especially as the Sharks have never won an NCAA Tournament game.
The teams that make deep NCAA Tournament runs in 2026 will be riddled with future professional players. Munyak won’t be one of them, but he certainly made a memory that’ll last a lifetime against Arizona.
If you thought it was odd to see a WWE wrestler on the coverage of Netflix’s NFL games on Christmas, that was just the appetizer.
Netflix will televise on March 25 its first-ever MLB game, the opening-night game between the New York Yankees and the San Francisco Giants. On Friday, Netflix announced that New York Giants quarterback Jameis Winston will be a “special guest” for the event.
Yes, Winston played baseball at Florida State. His initial NFL contract with the Buccaneers prevented him from playing baseball. And he’s a compelling TV presence — funny, entertaining, charismatic.
Still, he doesn’t come from the MLB ecosystem. Baseball aficionados will regard it as unusual to see him on the broadcast.
Netflix doesn’t seem to have an issue with unusual. This year’s Christmas games included clunky in-game interviews with former NFL players. It distracted from the action, and it made the presentation of the game seem amateurish.
There could nevertheless be a strategic benefit to Winston’s presence. “Eating a W” becomes an easy way to add a little something to the ball before a pitch.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Nyla Harris scored 17 points, Lanie Grant had 15 and North Carolina rolled past cold-shooting Western Illinois 82-51 on Friday night in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
Nyla Brooks added 14 points and Indya Nivar had 11 as the Tar Heels, hosting games on the opening weekend for the second year in a row, won a first-round game for the fifth straight season.
Fourth-seeded North Carolina (27-7) will meet fifth-seeded Maryland, a 99-67 winner over Murray State in the site’s first game, on Sunday in the second round.
Mia Nicastro scored 21 points for No. 13 seed Western Illinois (26-6), which shot 30.4% from the field. The Leathernecks were 2 for 15 on 3-pointers. Nicastro shot 6 for 15 from the floor and 9 for 10 on free throws, coming up just short of her 24.2 points per game scoring average.
Grant made four of North Carolina’s 10 3-point baskets. Harris had 12 rebounds as part of the Tar Heels’ 47-32 edge on the boards.
North Carolina built a 23-11 lead while the Leathernecks made only three of their first 17 shots. The Tar Heels had a 38-24 halftime lead, holding Western Illinois to 25% shooting without a 3-point basket.
Western Illinois concluded its second winning season in the last eight years with its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017.
Up next
In a matchup of former Atlantic Coast Conference rivals, North Carolina will play Maryland with the right to advance to the Sweet 16.
Caleb Clark throws at Michigan | Nebraska Athletics
Friday nights between Michigan and Nebraska always seem to turn into pitchers duels. It started off very precariously for both teams on the mound for different reasons, but after they settled down, the offenses went dormant.
Nebraska started the scoring in the first. Mac Moyer led off the game with a hit as he seemingly does every game. This one however was pulled into right field, which is very unlike Moyer. He cruised into second with a double. Catcher Jeter Worthley followed up with a sharp single. Case Sanderson then lifted a ball to left. The Michigan left fielder seemed to fight the sun and dropped the ball, allowing Moyer to score. The Huskers couldn’t do any more damage, ending the half inning up 1-0. Usually a bad omen if you can’t get a big inning on a starter despite being gifted an out.
Husker hurler Ty Horn really had a hard time in the bottom of the inning. He had issues controlling his off speed pitches. Combine that with the size of the zone shrinking to about a 6 inch square and it was a huge relief to get out of there with no runs allowed.
Michigan wouldn’t be denied in the next inning. Senior outfielder Greg Pace Jr hit s hard grounder right back up the middle. He stole second base, and then came home as a ball just barely sneaked between short stop Dylan Carey and second baseman Jett Buck, tying the game at 1-1.
Horn continued to struggle in the 3rd, not locating his breaking pitches and his fastball having a seemingly different zone for the umpire. Three Michigan singles scored second baseman Carson Luna to go up 2-1.
Michigan’s starting pitcher Kurt Barr had his slider working to perfection from the start. Other than the error in the first inning, Nebraska rarely even threatened through 6 innings. Multiple times with a runner on base, he would come back and strike out the final batter to end the inning.
In the 4th Ty Horn found his off speed pitches and went on a run. He struck out the side, part of six straight strikeouts before walking Michigan’s best hitter, Colby Turner with 2 outs in the 5th. He would have to retire at 102 pitches at that point, having thrown way too many pitches in the first couple innings. His line on the day was 4.2 innings, 2 runs on 6 hits with 8 strikeouts and 2 walks. A good battle despite not having anything but a fastball early and an adventurous zone.
Barr made it through 7, getting just an absolute gift of a strikeout call on Rhett Stokes to lead off the inning. The ball ended up about 6 inches off the ground on the chalk line making up the left handed batters box. Moyer then singled to right. He appeared to swipe second baseman despite being beaten to the base by the ball. He was called out on the field and the umpires seemingly couldn’t see an angle where the glove touched his shin after he slid into the back of the base. Barr struck out Worthley for his 10th and final strikeout, to go with no walks.
⚾️⚾️ The zone goes from 6 inches square to all of a sudden including the LH batter box.
It sinks another 3-4 inches from where I could best freeze frame it.
Caleb Clark threw 2 innings of no hit ball in relief of Horn. He struck out 1 and walked 1. Tucker Timmerman came in to take his spot with 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th. He pitched perfect against 3 batters, striking out 2. Grant Clevenger came in and struck out the last batter in the 8th.
The Huskers threatened in the 9th, Miken Miller led off, his first at bat since Florida State due to injury. He hit a chopper to 2nd that was too tough to get him out at first. Preston Freeman came in to pinch run for the catcher, representing the tying run. He didn’t last long, as Drew Grego hit a ball sharply right at the short stop for an easy double play. Devin Nunez gave the Huskers another chance as he took a ball to the hand on a checked swing. Rhett Stokes poked a ball through the right side, bringing up the top of the lineup. Moyer worked a full count, but rolled over a ground ball to the first baseman to end the game. 2-1 Wolverines.
The Husker offense had come in red hot, excelling at getting lead-off runners on. Today that only happened in the 1st and 9th innings. It’s no surprise those are the innings that included their single run and next biggest threat of the game.
Nebraska’s 4-6 hitters of Buck/Carey/Overbeek were a combined 0 for 9 with 4 strikeouts (3 by Carey) and a ground into double play. A Buck walk and Overbeek hit by pitch were the only ways they reached base. Those guys have to be big time contributors for this team to reach their goals.
The two teams are right back at it tomorrow, with first pitch in Ann Arbor at 1pm CDT.
MESA, ARIZONA – FEBRUARY 22: Luis Severino #40 of the Athletics takes the mound before a spring training game against the Cleveland Guardians at HoHoKam Stadium on February 22, 2026 in Mesa, Arizona. (Photo by Justine Willard/Athletics/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Two evening games in a row? What is this, the regular season?
We got another nightcap for you guys as the Athletics play host yet again, this time to the Chicago Cubs. Both teams are just days away from the beginning of their regular season campaigns and are fine tuning their rosters and alignments. The Cubs tonight are actually split up, with half coming to Mesa to take on the A’s and the other half playing host to the Reds on the other side of town. These games still technically don’t matter, but they’re starting to have more weight to them the closer Opening Day comes, for both of these squads.
For the Athletics on the mound tonight they’ll be going with the newly-named Opening Night starter in Luis Severino. The right-hander is set to make his final exhibition appearance, which includes both spring with the A’s and his time playing in the World Baseball Classic with Team Dominican Republic. Sevy is looking to put the finishing touches on his ramp up for the regular season and we’ll be hoping to see some zeros on the scoreboard tonight.
Here’s your A’s lineup for Friday night’s contest:
The A’s are mixing up the lineup a little bit but not too much. We have a new leadoff man tonight in Lawrence Butler, who will be playing right field tonight. That’s a huge update as the final step in Butler’s rehab from patellar tendon surgery is manning the outfield grass. The club is also apparently anxious to get him as many plate appearances as possible after his abbreviated camp.
The rest of the top half of the lineup looks like how you’d expect, with Kurtz and Langeliers again batting back-to-back near the top of the order. The interesting part of tonight’s lineup is near the bottom half of the lineup card though. We’ll be getting to see Jeff McNeil log some time on the grass himself as he slides from second base to center field, displacing Denzel Clarke from the starting nine. And taking McNeil’s spot at the keystone is Andy Ibanez, who is likely to break camp with the club. Could this be an alignment that the A’s actually go to if Clarke’s bat isn’t up to snuff?
The Cubbies will send right-handed veteran Jameson Taillon to the mound themselves for what’ll be his own final spring tune up. The righty has had a tough camp so far but spring stats don’t matter. Still, it’d be nice to rough him up and get another win for our guys in Green & Gold.
We’ll be seeing a mix of the Cubs’ regulars as well as backups. Shouldn’t be too difficult of an assignment for Severino but these guys are getting ready for the season themselves. Everyone wants to hit the ground running and that starts in these games over the final week.
Predictions? A win? A loss? A Nick Kurtz home run? Doens’t matter just yet but let’s still have fun with it on a great Friday night. Let’s go A’s!
