SPORTS BRIEFS: Terra State baseball wins Region 12 championship

Terra State baseball wins Region 12 championship SANDUSKY — Terra State Community College won the NJCAA Region 12 baseball championship with three dominant wins this week at Sports Force Parks. The Titans (30-22) defeated Lorain CC 12-4 and Delta (Michigan) 10-1 on Wednesday to advance to the championship game in the double-elimination tournament. Terra State faced Delta again Thursday and won 14-2 to advance to next week's district tournament. Bellevue graduate Cody Lindsey was the winning pitcher in the championship game, allowing two runs and striking out four in seven innings. Thomas Zuccaro, a St. Paul grad, went 2 for 3 with a double and home run in the finale. Zuccaro hit a home run and doubled. Bellevue's Jax LaPata had a hit and drove in two runs and Sandusky's Dennarius Walk added a base hit. The regional title was the second in the last three years for Terra State. In the tournament opener, Walk was 2 for 3 with a homer. He scored two runs and drove in three. LaPata was 3 for 4 and scored two runs. In the second game, Zuccaro went 2 for 3 and drove in three runs. Big Ten reports $1.47B in revenue for 2024-25, average $79.9M full-share payouts ROSEMONT, Ill. — The Big Ten joined the Southeastern Conference in crossing the $1 billion mark in total revenue for the 2024-25 fiscal year, marking a significant uptick in payouts to its member schools. The league reported roughly $1.47 billion in total revenue in its federal tax filing for the term running from July 2024 to June 2025, which covered the first year of westward expansion that brought in UCLA, USC, Washington and Oregon from the Pac-12. That was up from the previous total of roughly $928.1 million in 2023-24. And for schools, that meant a healthy increase in payouts from the league office, driven largely by the Big Ten's lucrative TV deal with Fox, CBS and NBC. The league distributed an average of nearly $79.9 million to schools that received a full share, up from roughly $63.1 million for 2023-24. Those payouts were highlighted by College Football Playoff champion Ohio State receiving roughly $91.6 million followed by fellow CFP teams Penn State (roughly $88.9 million) and Indiana ($81.0 million). Oregon and Washington received reduced shares as part of their deal that secured a spot in the Big Ten to follow USC and UCLA. Oregon received $48.4 million while Washington received $46.7 million. NFL set to release its 2026 regular-season schedule ThursdayNEW YORK — The NFL will release its complete regular-season schedule Thursday.The league already has announced that the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams will meet in Melbourne, Australia, in Week 1. The game will be aired in prime time in the United States at 8:35 p.m. on Sept. 10. Melbourne is 14 hours ahead of New York and 17 hours ahead of Los Angeles and San Francisco, meaning the game will kick off at 10:35 a.m. the next day in Australia.The game between the Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys in Rio de Janeiro will take place in Week 3 (Sept. 27).The other seven international matchups will be announced Wednesday on "Good Morning Football" on NFL Network. The Seattle Seahawks will begin defense of their Super Bowl title in the kickoff game Sept. 9. The opponent has not been announced. NFL, referees agree on a 7-year agreement, avoiding potential work stoppage NEW YORK — The NFL and the NFL Referees Association agreed Friday on a new seven-year collective bargaining agreement that avoids a potential work stoppage and use of replacement officials. The agreement, which was approved by the union's board of directors and ratified by a vote of the membership, runs through the 2032 NFL season. The NFL's collective bargaining agreement with the referees association had been set to expire on May 31, and the two sides began negotiating in the summer of 2024. The league began the onboarding process for replacement officials last month because negotiations weren't progressing. But they won't be necessary. The league and the union said in a joint statement that the deal covers a wide range of issues including economics, performance and accountability. Two people with knowledge of the offer told The Associated Press in March that the NFL had increased its offer to a 6.45% annual growth rate in compensation over a six-year labor deal. Toledo will open 2026 football season at Michigan State on Sept. 4 TOLEDO — Toledo will open its 2026 football season under the lights against Michigan State on Friday, Sept. 4, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. The 2026 season opener was originally scheduled for Sept. 5. Game time and television information will be announced later this month. Toledo is 6-17 all-time against Big Ten programs. The Rockets added one of the top transfer portal classes in the MAC, with 11 players who earned all-conference recognition at their previous schools, including defensive end Andrew Zock, the 2025 FCS Defensive Player of the Year. Toledo's home opener is Sept. 12 against Central Connecticut State. 76ers to donate 500 tickets for playoff games to blunt Knicks' takeover PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers will donate 500 tickets for each remaining home second-round playoff game to area community groups in their latest attempt to keep more of their own fans in the building and avoid a New York takeover. The Sixers' previous strategy to ward off Knicks fans in this playoff series was to try through Ticketmaster to geographically restrict sales to fans in the greater Philadelphia area. The Sixers said 250 frontline medical personnel from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Penn Medicine and 250 local educators selected by Learn Fresh, Breakthrough of Greater Philadelphia, the Philadelphia school district and Camden, New Jersey, school district would attend Game 3 on Friday. The Knicks lead the best-of-seven series 2-0. Nebraska-Missouri and Penn State-Kentucky volleyball matches set for Wrigley Field CHICAGO — Wrigley Field will host a women's college volleyball doubleheader to highlight the Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge Week in September. The conferences announced that Nebraska will play Missouri and Penn State will meet Kentucky at the home of the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 6. Matchups between Big Ten and SEC programs will be played at home sites beginning Sept. 1. The matches will mark the first time volleyball has been played at Wrigley Field. Both outdoor matches will be broadcast live on Fox. Penn State has won eight national championships, most recently in 2024. Nebraska has won five titles, with the most recent in 2017. Kentucky won the 2020 championship and was runner-up to Texas A&M last season.