Fox Sports North announced Tuesday it will televise a record 12 Lynx games this season. That will include a number of games where FSN will simulcast the feed of the affiliate covering the Lynx opponent.
The locally produced telecasts — some of which will be broadcast on FSN Plus — will feature the broadcast team of Marney Gellner and Lea B. Olsen.
The Lynx are already scheduled to have three games broadcast nationally on ESPN2. But that number is expected to rise to as high as seven when ESPN announces updates to its WNBA schedule. That could mean as many as 19 of the team's 34 games could be available.
About time, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. "That's the way it should be," she said. "That's what we've been asking for. I think our fan base deserves it. I think our team deserves it. And let's not hide this. The more we're on, the more we're seen, the more we get to grow the game."
Kent Youngblood
U baseball wins at Northern Illinois
Toby Hanson had run-scoring singles in the fourth and fifth innings and then scored the go-ahead run in the eighth after another single to lead the Gophers over Northern Illinois 3-2 on Tuesday in DeKalb, Ill., in nonconference baseball. Hanson leads the Gophers (24-12) with 31 RBI; Cole McDevitt's single scored Hanson.
Nolan Burchill pitched the first 4⅔ innings and gave up two runs and three hits; reliever Tim Shannon got the win after 2⅓ scoreless innings. Brian Glowicki got his 14th save with a four-out outing. He stranded three runners for the Huskies (12-27) in the eighth inning.
U softball team climbs to No. 4
The Gophers softball team (43-3) moved up one spot to a program-best No. 4 in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association rankings.
Minnesota, which has won 14 games in a row faces North Dakota State (20-26) at 4 p.m. Wednesday in a doubleheader at Jane Sage Cowles Field.
Local golfer Burnham honored
Michigan State's Sarah Burnham, a junior from Maple Grove, was named the Big Ten Player of the Year in women's golf.
She was the runner-up in the recent conference tournament, which her team won, and her 72.17 scoring average is on pace to break her school single-season record of 72.42 set last year.
"Sarah just continues to get better and better," Spartans coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll said. "Being named player of the year is an incredible accomplishment, and it puts her in select company."
Etc.
• The Gophers women's track and field and cross-country program announced the addition of five athletes to its 2017-18 recruiting class. They are Ayesha Champagnie of Barton County Community College in Great Bend, Kan. (pentathlon), Karlie Place of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (pole vault), Hailey Poole of Huntley Project School in Worden, Mont. (discus, javelin), Molly Roach of Bloomington Jefferson (400), and Tate Sweeney of Edina High (800).
• Northern State's Joe Gomez (wrestling) and Sasha Hovind (cross-country, track) were named the winners of the Britton and Kelly Scholar-Athlete Awards for the NSIC, respectively.